Earth Survival Guide

Because there was no medical bed and energy was supplied slowly, the repair process took a full ten minutes, and the process was not very comfortable, but it wasn't a big deal since it wasn't during a battle.

Seeing Gu Tao standing up unharmed, Weiwei expressed her surprise, while Liuzi clearly didn't seem as surprised, probably because of his dad and Xin Chen. Even if she didn't know anything, Weiwei had never eaten pork but had seen pigs run.

"You're all dirty, come inside and take off your outer clothes first. I'll wash them for you right here."

Liuzi took Weiwei's hand and led Gu Tao into the house, then the first thing she did was to strip off his clothes...

"Miss, this is going to make things difficult for me," Gu Tao struggled and refused to undress: "Give me a moment to mentally prepare."

"Prepare my ass, what else do you want to do?" Liuzi forcefully unbuttoned Gu Tao's clothes: "Hurry up, before I change my mind."

"Then..." Gu Tao awkwardly held onto his clothes: "Don't laugh at me."

"Why would I laugh at you?"

As she spoke, she forcibly removed Gu Tao's cotton-padded jacket, revealing a T-shirt emblazoned with "XX Compound Fertilizer" and sloppy long johns peeking from beneath the short-sleeved shirt.

There were even holes in the long johns.

Weiwei was taken aback for a moment, then covered her mouth and chuckled softly, but feeling it was inappropriate, she immediately composed herself and stood there with her head down, somewhat embarrassed.

Liuzi, on the other hand, didn't care and carried his dirty clothes and the ones he had just removed to the back room. Before she left, she specifically turned around to warn: "Don't flirt with my little miss! Do you hear me?"

Gu Tao turned his head away, as if someone had just farted.

After she left, Gu Tao could finally take a good look around. Although he had passed by this special courtyard several times, it was really his first time observing it from the inside. What can I say, Gu Tao had a profound impression of this place. Apart from the persimmon he had eaten, it was also the atmosphere that seemed out of place amidst the surrounding high-rise buildings.

In the bustling city, how much would this small courtyard filled with peach, plum, and persimmon trees be worth? Gu Tao made a rough estimate, and if nothing else, the land here would probably be worth enough for Weiwei to buy half an apartment in a top-tier neighborhood, let alone this antique two-story building and all the wooden furniture in their butts and throughout the house.

This furniture, either made of rosewood or agarwood, couldn't possibly belong to an ordinary household, right?

"You're quite rich, huh?"

"Huh?" Weiwei was startled, then gently passed him a cup of tea: "Please have some tea."

When he received the teacup, Gu Tao noticed Weiwei's hands and was instantly captivated. How to describe them? In Gu Tao's limited vocabulary, he couldn't think of too many positive adjectives to describe these hands. Probably just like holding grass so pretty, holding grass so white, holding grass so tender, holding grass so delicate or something along those lines. Anyway, the phrase "holding grass" had to be added to emphasize the point, as not adding these two words wouldn't be sufficient.

Seeing Gu Tao staring at her hands, Weiwei hurriedly withdrew them, gave a shy smile, and said: "This is inheritance from my grandfather. My parents are overseas, and I didn't want to go, so I stayed here to help my grandfather watch over the house. I don't have much money and no stable job. I just embroider some embroidery at home to sell. Most of the time, I just water the flowers and take care of the dogs."

Good heavens, are there still such classically living girls in this day and age? But seeing her flushed and bashful appearance while speaking, Gu Tao thought it was just too amusing.

"Heart rate 141, blood pressure elevated, adrenaline causing pupil dilation."

After Gu Tao's earpiece received this data from Weiwei, he was even more amazed. In an era where people might go to a hotel room after knowing each other for two days, there really existed a woman whose blood pressure rose from shyness after speaking a few words with a man. As rare as a phoenix's feathers... Yes! The term "as rare as a phoenix's feathers" was absolutely fitting.

"Do you usually... not eat much, just getting by on honey, flower dew, and the like?" Gu Tao asked with a chuckle: "Otherwise, how could you be as ethereal as a fairy?"

"That... that's Xiao Longnu..." Weiwei's face was so red it looked like it might burst a vessel: "I... I do eat, I like eating braised fish and sweet and sour... lotus roots."

That reaction!

It was fantastic.

Really, Weiwei's response made Gu Tao very tempted to tease her, the urge similar to a middle school boy in the back seat playing tricks on the girl he liked in the front row. Seeing her discomfort gave him a sense of satisfaction.

"By the way, are you hungry? I have some cookies and pastries that I made myself."

Weiwei quickly walked to a large box and with effort, took out a hefty bunch of pastries from inside and stored in plastic containers. Clumsily holding them in her arms, she walked up to Gu Tao and began placing them down one by one.

"These are cranberry cookies, these are tapioca roast cakes, this is a chocolate cake, these are dry bread slices, these are milk shield cookies, this is..."

She earnestly listed the items from her arms to Gu Tao like naming off dishes, without daring to lift her head or daring to say anything else, altogether looking incredibly adorable.

Let's not beat around the bush, Gu Tao wanted to hug her, and surely no one wouldn't want to hug her...

But although Gu Tao was a bit unconventional and roguish, he was not a ruffian. It wasn't too difficult to suppress the urge, though he couldn't help but take a few more glances, especially noticing her ears turning hot and red.

"Please... please don't stare at me, I'm not used to it," Weiwei's voice trembled a little: "I'm not accustomed... not used to being stared at."

"Sorry..."

Actually, Gu Tao wasn't the kind of person who intentionally caused trouble for others. It was really because Weiwei was just too cute. A higher being's innate protective urge was something he found hard to resist, just like how normal people couldn't help but want to touch and hold a kitten or puppy when they saw one.

After he said his apologies, the atmosphere immediately became very awkward. Gu Tao didn't like this kind of atmosphere either, so he simply shifted his focus to the food. Sipping tea while eating cookies felt pretty nice, especially with a shy beauty sitting across from him. It was delightful...

It wasn't until he had almost finished everything on the table that Liuzi came back carrying the now dry clothes. Only after she threw the sweatshirt over his head did the awkward atmosphere finally lighten up.

"Put it on, put it on. Look at your ratty clothes. Aren't you embarrassed? I've dried the sweatshirt for you, hurry up."

"It's worn on the inside... nobody sees it, anyway."

Gu Tao's remark managed to amuse Weiwei, whose smile brought a sense of spring warmth, making him involuntarily look up at her for a while. Liuliu, on the other hand, stood by with her hands on her hips, "A man with taste must be exquisite inside and out. Look at Xin Chen, he might seem lethargic, but he always pays attention to these things."

"This compound Hefei is his, he has over forty of them. He wears a different one each day and washes them every ten days, even washing them with his socks. If the colors bleed, he still wears them." Gu Tao looked up earnestly and told Liuzi, "He even survives on dog food. I really don't know what standards you're using to measure 'exquisite.'"

"What? He's eating dog food again?"

Again… The use of that word is clever!

"Yeah, he even asked me to join him, and gave me a bottle of chili sauce to mix with it."

"Pfft..." Weiwei couldn't help but chuckle, then hurriedly turned her head away, but the shaking of her shoulders proved that she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Damn it." Liuzi sat down on the couch with her arms crossed, "Is he spending money on his paper wife again?"

"I've already cut off his channels for topping up money, but he still clings to his mobile phone, licking it every day."

"Otaku are so disgusting." Liuzi curled her lip, "What's the use of such a person? I'm telling you, you can't learn from him."

"Actually, it's not too bad. Eating dog food is definitely better than going hungry."

Actually, to Liuzi, the concept of going hungry was really distant, so when she heard Gu Tao mention it, she was quite intrigued and asked with a laugh, "You can go hungry?"

"Hungry." Gu Tao nodded emphatically, "I often don't get enough to eat. The worst was when I had to divide a pack of instant noodles to make three separate soups."

"How have you survived these years?" Hearing this, Liuzi actually began to realize that Gu Tao wasn't joking, and she asked with some concern, "Why is it so tough?"

"Because of self-discipline," Gu Tao replied proudly. "Over the years, I've slept in parks, under bridges, in tree branches, caves, and public restrooms. Even when I was so hungry I caught grasshoppers to eat, I never thought about using my resources to make money."

"Why?" This time it was Weiwei who asked the question.

Gu Tao could probably brush off Liuzi's question, but he really didn't want to be evasive with goddess Weiwei, so he cleared his throat and said, "Interfering with the world's processes is a taboo for an Observer. Our mission is only to investigate and study. If I were to use my devices, knowledge, and technology to make money, it would undoubtedly interfere with Earth's processes, and it might even lead to changes in Earth's properties due to my influence, potentially causing its destruction upon the arrival of the next batch of Observers. Having been chosen as an Observer, I must take responsibility for my mission."

Don't understand...

It wasn't just Weiwei who didn't understand; Liuzi was also confused. If she didn't know that Gu Tao had some qualities that were a bit out of the ordinary, she would definitely think he was either a scammer or a lunatic, just like those who deceive others into believing they're princesses from the Qing Dynasty, with ten billion taels of dragon vein silver, only lacking one hundred thousand yuan for excavation funds.

"So... do you still like my cookies?"

"Like them, like them so much. They're the best thing I've ever eaten," Gu Tao didn't skimp on the praise, "I can't bear to finish them."

After being overtly praised, Weiwei's eyes shone brightly, and then she quickly went over to the big box and started to search through it with difficulty, while Liuzi sat down next to Gu Tao with a look of resentment, pointing at his nose and whispering, "I'm warning you, don't go after my chick."

"What if I actually like her?" Gu Tao didn't feel any shame, "I really do like her a lot. She's super cute."

"Cute, right? Hahaha... No, wait!" Liuzi suddenly came to her senses, "Then you should go after me instead, and leave her alone."

"You?" Gu Tao looked Liuzi up and down, "Just for your girlfriend's sake, I'll definitely be your friend."

"I didn't think you were that kind of person. I won't bring you here anymore," Liuzi turned her head away in a huff, "I didn't expect you to be a jerk, too."

Gu Tao thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed out loud, "Weiwei, what if I chase after you?"

"Ah? Ah!" After a shriek, Weiwei toppled into the storage box...

"You jerk!"

Liuzi hit Gu Tao hard, then rushed over to pull Weiwei out, then glared at Gu Tao reproachfully. However, Gu Tao just smiled cheerfully and said, "I was just kidding. A guy like me is content with having food to eat, how could I be qualified to pursue anything."

Seeing Gu Tao's expression suddenly turn desolate and dejected, Liuzi found it really hard to associate him with the superhero who had just caught a person with his bare hands. In short, there was a strong sense of dissonance.