Repaying Kindness With Enmity

"Huh? Are they soldiers?" Li Ran looked behind her and said in astonishment.

Since there were many people, those who were in charge might have missed out on a few things during the inspection. 

"No.

It was an obvious answer.

Li Ran nodded, "How strange."

After saying that, she went straight into the safety base.

What she had said should be enough of a hint. 

After Li Ran entered the base, a person arranged a place for her to live.

She was given a piece of paper with the serial number 1 written on it.

"We have limited space. I'm not sure how many people we will be receiving today, so your room will only be allocated at night. Feel free to walk around and familiarize yourself. I'm going to bring in more people."

As he spoke, the person in charge handed a simplified version of a map to Li Ran.

Just as she was about to take a closer look at the map, the person suddenly turned his head around and looked at Li Ran. She looked really frail.

He kindly reminded her, "Mealtime is at 12 o'clock, but I suggest that you start to queue at 11:30 because the food is limited."

Li Ran smiled sweetly and said in a gentle voice, "Thank you."

Obviously, the person in charge had no obligation to tell her this information. However, he did, out of the kindness of his heart.

It made Li Ran feel warm in her heart. Luckily, there were still compassionate people.

The person then left.

Li Ran looked around. The safety base should have just been built not too long ago. It had very high walls.

There were facilities such as a canteen, a dormitory, a warehouse, and a military district inside.

At a corner, there was a bathhouse.

Ordinary people had no access to the military district. 

The place was large, but the facilities were quite basic.

Li Ran scratched her head and went straight to the bathhouse.

She was very curious. At a time like this where water is scarce, how could there be enough water for bathing?

Li Ran followed the map and arrived at the bathhouse.

"What are you doing here?"

She was stopped by someone.

A person was running towards her. 

"I'm just looking around."

"You can't be here. There are people being examined."

Li Ran paused for a moment. She felt like her trip was wasted. 

"When can I enter the bathhouse?"

"Whenever you want."

A familiar voice could be heard. It was Cui Chong.

His gentle and kind voice made it impossible to tell what kind of person he really was.

'People are so complicated.'

Li Ran then said, "There's no need. I'll go and take a look at other places."

Cui Chong looked at the soldier who stopped Li Ran earlier. He smiled and handed him a bottle of water. "Thank you for your hard work. There's more at the back. Each of you can have a bottle. There's also a variety of drinks to choose from."

The soldier glanced at him but did not take the bottle of water. He only replied, "You may enter the bathhouse if you want to."

His words were directed at Li Ran.

Li Ran nodded gratefully.

"Okay."

The soldier left.

However, Cui Chong had no intentions of leaving Li Ran alone. 

"Thank you. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to get in touch with the head butler so quickly."

Li Ran looked puzzled. She took a step back.

Cui Chong got closer and closer to her.

"Do you know what happened to our guns? Sometimes you're quite smart, but other times you can be stupid. But, you do look quite cute when you think you're smart," Cui Chong looked at her with a smile.

However, Li Ran saw the coldness in his eyes.

"..."

She did not want to get involved with Cui Chong any further but she could not help herself and casually said, "I thought you'd feel ashamed when you see me again, but it was the complete opposite. You look like a human being but you're actually a monster."

Cui Chong was not aggravated by what she said. Instead, he laughed. He was quite calm, even after what he had done. 

"I did nothing wrong. Who are you to me? Is it worth it for me to risk my life to protect you?"

"Even people who had known me for many years abandoned me when they were in danger. I did not complain. It's just human nature. Miss Li, how simple-minded are you? Are you a blank sheet of paper? That can't be it, right?"

Li Ran laughed softly.

He had already made up his mind. There was nothing she could say to change it.

"You repay kindness with enmity."