Qin Zhao signaled for everyone to go inside.
After everyone entered the room, Qin Zhao paced around, inspecting the interior.
In the abandoned building, there was no water or electricity.
It was impossible for people living here to bathe, and they could only relieve themselves in a bucket in the corner.
Food packaging bags, plastic water bottles, unfinished soup bowls and more were scattered all over the floor.
Some were already moldy and maggoty.
Even with the windows open, a strange smell still lingered in the room.
One could imagine what kind of days Qiao Lin had spent here.
On the floor were two unconscious men, their faces beaten beyond recognition.
That was the result of Qiao Lin unleashing her resentment.
Qin Zhao kicked the flat-headed man in the butt. He lost his balance and fell over uncontrollably.
He happened to land right in the food leftovers, wrinkling his nose. He started to retch.
Hearing these sounds, the others also felt infected with nausea and couldn't help but feel like vomiting.
"Is this how you treated Qiao Lin? Letting her live in a place like this and eat your leftovers?" Qin Zhao asked.
Her tone was light, but it sent chills down their spines.
The men all avoided her gaze.
"No, I only made her eat leftovers once. Other times, whatever we ate, she ate," said the man with knife scars on his face.
"Oh? So you did it once, he did it once, and he did it once too? How many times was that total?"
Qin Zhao pointed at each man in turn.
They all had ugly looks on their faces, utterly ashamed.
The knife-scarred man fell to his knees with a thud. "I'm sorry, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me just this once. I'll never bully women again! I want to repent and renew myself!!"
Seeing the knife-scarred man kneel, the other men quickly followed suit, fearing to kneel too late.
With several loud thumps, they made Qin Zhao's eardrums hurt.
She looked at them in disgust. A bunch of spineless worms. If she'd known these men enjoyed kneeling so much, she would have brought some glass shards.
"If kneeling was useful, why would I, Qin Zhao, need to be here?!" she said.
Hearing this, the three men exchanged glances, despair in each other's eyes!
Qin Zhao pointed to the filth on the floor. "You four, eat all of that up. Then I'll let you go. Otherwise, your lives will only end in this smelly room."
They looked at the mess, their stomachs churning, almost throwing up their breakfasts.
Liu Song's eyes rolled back and he fainted.
Seeing this, the bearded man and the knife-scarred man's eyes revealed a hint of envy.
The corners of Qin Zhao's lips curled up. She strode over to Liu Song and slapped him awake, scolding him, "Pass out again and you'll never wake up!"
Not daring to fake fainting again, the others also abandoned the idea.
"Hurry up! If you don't start eating, beware I add something else." Qin Zhao glanced at the bucket in the corner.
The three men were struck by lightning. They crawled over to the filth and lowered their heads to start eating.
The flat-headed man followed suit.
Qin Zhao squinted her eyes, unable to bear watching closely.
With the four men eating like pigs in the background, Qin Zhao left Room 1609.
Going downstairs, she asked the system, "502, didn't you already know that Qiao Lin had escaped?"
502 readily admitted, "Yes."
When the system had hemmed and hawed, telling her not to go upstairs again, she had already guessed something was up.
She couldn't really blame the system for this. Finding Qiao Lin was her own business.
As Qin Zhao wandered aimlessly down the abandoned street, she looked around for any sign of Qiao Lin.
But searching for a needle in a haystack wouldn't reveal the girl anytime soon.
Perhaps Qiao Lin had already left. After all, she was capable of knocking out two strong men. Surely she could make it somewhere safe after escaping?
Thinking this, Qin Zhao headed towards her car.
But just then, the flattened grass by the roadside caught her attention.
She carefully approached the concealed spot in the grass and found the unconscious Qiao Lin!
Qin Zhao hurried over and checked on Qiao Lin's condition.
Her face was pale, but her breathing was steady.
Qin Zhao concluded that Qiao Lin had first fainted from hunger before falling into normal sleep.
"Ah, why did you have to grow so tall? If I carry you back myself, I'd be the one dropping dead from exhaustion!"
Of course, her question remained unanswered.
With great difficulty, Qin Zhao dragged Qiao Lin up and slowly carried her back to the car, resting every few steps. It took a full hour before getting Qiao Lin into the vehicle. Her arms were completely numb.
After catching her breath in the driver's seat, she started the car.
Once they were steadily driving away from the abandoned street, the system suddenly said, "Host, you're so kind!"
But Qin Zhao replied, "It's just out of self-interest. In this survival-of-the-fittest world, 'kindness' isn't really a compliment."
Back home by 6pm, Qin Zhao set Qiao Lin down and saw she was still unconscious. Qin Zhao ate some bread herself, washed up, and collapsed into bed for a dead sleep.
The next morning, Qiao Lin was woken up by the loud growling of her own stomach. Opening her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar environment and couldn't help bellowing, "Ah!"
Qin Zhao groggily walked from the bedroom to the living room and asked, "What are you shouting for?!"
Qiao Lin retorted, "What if I did shout?!"
Qin Zhao said, "...Did you wake up stupid? "
Qiao Lin was furious and interrogated Qin Zhao, "Why did you leave me on the floor? Is this how you treat your guests?"
Qin Zhao leisurely poured herself a glass of water, wet her throat, and said, "I even gave you a blanket. You should be thanking me."
Qiao Lin was speechless. She had never met someone so shameless.
Not only did Qin Zhao fail to properly respond, but she even wanted gratitude?!
Qin Zhao continued, "If you want to know why, just smell yourself. I didn't toss you in the trash can. You should see that as merciful of me."
Before Qin Zhao mentioned it, Qiao Lin hadn't noticed. But as soon as she spoke, a pungent odor rushed into Qiao Lin's nostrils.
It made her soul want to leap into the Yellow River!
Qiao Lin lightly coughed to mask her embarrassment and asked, "Where is your bathroom?"
Qin Zhao pointed to the left.
Qiao Lin immediately fled there like an ant on a hot pan.
Qin Zhao took out a clean set of exercise clothes from her closet and left them outside the bathroom door, saying "I've left clothes here. Take them to change into after your shower."
Qiao Lin replied, "Okay...thank you, Qin Zhao."
"There, that's better," Qin Zhao said.
Half an hour later when Qiao Lin emerged freshly washed, the dining table was already fully laid out with steamed buns, fried dough sticks, soy milk, rice porridge, tea eggs, and more.
Qin Zhao sat at the table slowly nibbling a steamed bun, occasionally sipping some soy milk. She looked utterly content.
Qiao Lin unconsciously swallowed.
The sound was so loud that even Qin Zhao could hear it from 10 meters away!
Qiao Lin's ear tips instantly turned red!
Qin Zhao laughed and beckoned to her, "Come over here and sit, bodyguard sister."
Qiao Lin walked over and pulled out a chair to sit down. The two ate breakfast together.
After half an hour, Qin Zhao asked, "Qiao Lin, do you know why Nan Yue got married?"
