The Long-Legged Woman looked utterly pitiful. "Weren't you eating hotpot? I'll take whatever leftovers you have, or even just the broth if that's all that's available."

"I remember you often cooked at home. The apocalypse has only been going for a few days—you shouldn't have run out of food yet," Li Xuan said.

The Long-Legged Woman sighed, her expression shifting. "Maybe I'm just destined to suffer and don't deserve a good life."

"I'd like to hear the details." Li Xuan held his instant noodles coated in seasoning, quietly listening to the Long-Legged Woman's story.

Having some juicy gossip while eating was truly a delightful thing.

The Long-Legged Woman faintly heard the sound of Li Xuan eating noodles and subconsciously swallowed. She was absolutely starving, her stomach aching with hunger.

"You've heard rumors about me from the neighbors, right?"

"I've heard some. That you're with a short man with dark skin and an unattractive face—like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung. Many male residents in the complex felt it was such a waste and couldn't understand why you'd like that kind of man. The female residents all think you're psychologically disturbed or have mental issues." Li Xuan nodded.

The Long-Legged Woman paused, surprised by Li Xuan's "honesty" in directly repeating the rumors about her right to her face.

"He's not my husband."

"So the rumors are false?"

"They're false, but the rumors were spread by my husband."

Li Xuan's noodle-eating movement halted as he bit through the noodles. He spoke in astonishment: "All those vulgar rumors about you and the short man were spread by your husband? Your husband is into that kind of thing?"

He had heard about some groups who sought excitement by using their wives as bait, but he'd only seen it online and never encountered it in real life.

Could such an outrageous thing really be happening right below him?

The Long-Legged Woman gave a bitter laugh. "That short man is my husband's older brother, named Yang Taozi. When they were very young, their parents divorced and abandoned them. To survive, the short man took responsibility and went out to work to support my husband."

"Thanks to the short man, my husband was able to go to university and find a decent job. He's tall, handsome, and looks nothing like his older brother."

"My husband was very grateful to him, so when he was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, he entrusted his brother to me. I refused, so he spread rumors everywhere about me and the short man, trying to use the pressure of gossip to force me to agree to take care of him."

"At first I didn't know he was spreading the rumors. It was only before he died that he confessed to me and begged me not to abandon the short man."

The short man had done favors for her husband. They were biological brothers, connected by blood ties that were hard to sever.

But she had married her husband, not the short man. She had no responsibility to care for the short man and no reason to inherit her husband's debts of gratitude.

Her husband owed the short man, not her.

If she agreed to care for the short man, how could she remarry?

What man in this world would want to see his woman taking care of her ex-husband's brother on a daily basis?

Her husband's last maneuver before dying directly ruined her reputation, making it very difficult for her to find a partner.

After her husband died, the short man moved into her home. Of course not into the same room, but outsiders might not see it that way. Whenever she went out, the short man would follow her, as if trying to confirm the rumors.

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow. Was this short man the one mentioned in the intelligence—the one who ate five Giantization Fruits, expanded to eight meters in size, and later joined the Black Earth Settlement?

Yang Taozi was currently living with the Long-Legged Woman, yet in the future, only Yang Taozi had eaten the Giantization Fruits.

The intelligence indicated that Yang Taozi joined the settlement after eating the Giantization Fruits, suggesting that before consuming them, Yang Taozi was a lone operator without a team.

In the future, did the Long-Legged Woman miss out on the Giantization Fruits, or did Yang Taozi abandon her?

......

Room 1801

In the room, Li Xuan was washing dishes while Yun Xiuzhi stood on his shoulder, saying happily: "Oh, I'm really troubling you. Sorry to make you wash the dishes. I actually really want to help you, but unfortunately I'm a pigeon and don't have hands, so I can't assist you."

Li Xuan grabbed Yun Xiuzhi and used her as a steel wool scrubber, rubbing vigorously a couple of times.

"This way you can help me."

"Ah! My feathers are all wet now! You beast—how dare you get a young lady all wet!" Yun Xiuzhi shouted loudly.

Her voice was pleasant, but coming from a pigeon's mouth, it sounded quite strange.

"I'll help you bathe later and clean every single feather thoroughly," Li Xuan said mischievously.

"No, no, no! I can wash myself!"

"Washing with tap water is risky. We can only use mineral water for bathing, and you're just a pigeon—you can't carry mineral water."

"Ah? How can this be?"

After their playfulness, Li Xuan sat on the balcony, gazing at the sky outside the window. "I thought after hearing that story, you'd be overflowing with kindness and want to help her escape her suffering."

Yun Xiuzhi lay on Li Xuan's leg, using her wings like hands to wave them. "Oh, I'm just a homebody. How could I have such great capabilities? If this were before, upon hearing something like this, at most I'd say a couple of good words for her in a crowd, but I wouldn't have the courage to actually help."

"Everyone has their own destiny, and each person's path is different. I heard a saying before that I think makes a lot of sense: if you can't even convince your own parents, how do you expect to convince others?"

Li Xuan used two fingers to stroke Yun Xiuzhi's small head. "That saying isn't quite appropriate here."

"Just an analogy. Things are different now—it's the apocalypse. Food is precious, and I'm worried we might not have enough ourselves. How could I be willing to share with her? What if we give her some and then don't have enough ourselves? Would we borrow from them? But they have no food to give."

"I can't be a saint—I'm just a homebody with a bit of kindness. I feel sorry for her, but I won't sacrifice my own interests to help her, especially since I didn't know her before."

Yun Xiuzhi paused before continuing: "Also, I've read more novels, watched more anime and movies than you. I know perfectly well what happens to saints in the apocalypse. To survive long in the end times, you have to be ruthless. Soft-hearted people don't last long in the apocalypse."

"Small person, full of big principles." Li Xuan smiled.

Should he say this was worthy of a future empress?

Having kindness but not saintliness, with a very clear understanding of her own capabilities.

The first two qualities would allow Yun Xiuzhi to adapt to the apocalypse, while the latter would enable her to survive longer in the end times.

That Yun Xiuzhi wasn't a saint naturally aligned with his intentions. He hadn't yet decided whether to join a settlement in the future, so his current priority was improving himself and his team.

Yun Xiuzhi was the first member he had selected, a major asset for the third version.

Having a saintly heart would hinder his plans.

"Have you been to the future Star Lake Shopping Plaza?" Li Xuan asked.