Shanty.

Located on the southeast side of the Black Grotto Gathering Area, you can see the turbid stagnant water on the potholed street a few steps away, and Liao Ji can smell the smell of stinky socks that seem to have been worn for several weeks when passing by, but judging from the expressions of the people here, it seems that they have long been accustomed to it.

The garbage cans on the side of the road seem to have been piled up for some days, flies and mosquitoes buzzing on them, Irene told Liao Ji that there is usually only a vehicle to dispose of garbage once every half a month, this is because of a plague outbreak in the shantytown a few years ago, in order to avoid similar situations again, the cycle was shortened, otherwise there may not be a garbage truck for even a month.

However, even in the poor area, there are also heights between the residences, and the most you can see is naturally the densely packed shacks, a few wooden poles and a rag, Liao Ji passed by from the gap in the door curtain, you can see that there is only a few square meters of space inside, but it can squeeze a family of three, or even more.

It's a little better, it can afford to live in a mud and stone building, it looks like a mud embryo from the outside, although it is still simple, but at least it is definitely a lot better than a shack in terms of shelter from the wind and rain.

In the end, the most "luxurious" dwellings in this poor area are the small buildings that can barely be called "apartments", each building is about three or four stories high, but each floor has no less than double digits of residents.

The exterior walls and paint of the apartment have long since fallen off, and the ladder used to climb the stairs outside is rusty, and it squeaks as soon as people step on it, making Liao Ji very worried about whether it will collapse directly in the next moment.

Fortunately, Irene's home is not high, it is on the second floor, for some reason, seeing that Ireen is still taking out the key to open the door with an old-fashioned door lock, Liao Ji even gave birth to a feeling that a girl lives too well.

I can only say that the happiness is comparative, which is really right.

Click.

With the sound of the key being unlocked, Irene reluctantly opened the door for Liao Ji, this was the first time she brought a man home from outside, although it was forced by the situation, but it always felt like it was... Weird.

"Excuse me."

On the other side, although the girl had already said in advance that there was no one at home, Liao Ji still symbolically said hello, and then stepped into the house.

In Liao Ji's imagination, the scavenger's home should be the kind of house full of debris, dirty and messy, and there is not even a place to put his feet, and he is also prepared for all kinds of strange smells in the room.

However, the actual situation in front of us cannot be said to be completely different, but can only be said to be completely opposite.

"That's... Do I need to change my slippers? Liao Ji, who had just entered the door, didn't dare to leave, he looked at the clean and tidy floor, and the two pairs of slippers neatly placed at the door.

Even if the slippers look very old, but... It's slippers! Liao Ji felt that in this poor area, just entering the house to change shoes was amazing enough, and it was incompatible with here.

"Whatever you want, my mom isn't here anyway." The girl passed it directly without changing her shoes, and combined with Irene's words, it was obvious that this good habit was obviously a rule set by Irene's mother.

After changing the slippers, Liao Ji also took a preliminary look at the house, Yilin's home is estimated to be almost thirty or forty square meters, but don't look at the small place, it can give people a feeling of being complete.

The most intuitive embodiment is that in this small thirty or forty square meters, there can be two bedrooms and one living room! This is obviously not the design of the original house, many partitions are added later, it is not difficult to see that the owner of this home, did not dislike here, but thought about how to rely on the careful design, to make this home better.

"It's small, you just stay in the living room, I'll go in and change my clothes, and see if I can find one for you."

The girl greeted Liao Ji and walked towards the back room, but soon, Irene poked her head out of it again.

"Don't do anything weird!"

Liao Ji spread his hands speechlessly: "Do you think I look like that kind of person?" ”

"Like!"

While the girl was in the back room and began to pick up the next clothes, Liao Ji, who was idle and had nothing to do, looked around the house.

The sofa with the line open, the worn tables and chairs, the faded dining cloth, and the old light bulb swaying overhead, the faucet that comes out of the kitchen intermittently, a lot of furniture looks like it can't be described as second-hand, in Liao Ji's opinion, it belongs to the kind that even dislikes picking up rags on the blue star, which is enough to see that Irene's family situation is indeed worrying.

But on the other hand, starting from the slippers that entered the house, and now Liao Ji's fingers are running over these old and tattered furniture, there is not much dust, and the garbage bags that are neatly placed in front of the door and carefully tied with ropes are in stark contrast to the dirty mess in this slum area before, which is at least a manifestation of an optimistic attitude towards life.

Finally, Liao Ji's gaze moved to the wall in the corner of the living room.

There are many... Certificate.

[Learning Progress Award], [Third Place in the Black Cave Mathematics Competition], [Moral Excellence Award], [Creation Star], [Outstanding Reserve Nun], [Elementary Mechanical Assessment Passed], [Civilization Model Award]....

The owner of the award is naturally a certain girl... Oh no, the time corresponding to the award certificate should still be Irene when she was a little girl.

This is really a bit impressive for Liao Ji, and he has changed his opinion of Irene a lot, after all, you must know that this is not a peacetime, a certificate of great water like Blue Star, these are all real, from the perspective of the signed institutions, there are schools under the church, and there are also training organizations from abroad.

It can be seen that Irene still had a very good education when she was a child, but...

Liao Ji paid attention to the period of the last certificate, and then compared it with the calendar in the room now, it has been six years, and at that time, Irene, if she had only graduated from elementary school according to Blue Star's algorithm, she felt like it had come to an abrupt end.

This kind of behavior like sticking a wall of awards will only be a parent, but also a parent who is very proud of their children and has great expectations.

Liao Ji looked at the most eye-catching and most attention-grabbing photo next to the award wall.

That's a sheet... Family?

In this precious photo, Liao Ji saw Irene when she was a child, still baby-faced, chubby, white and clean, with happy dimples raised on both sides of the corner of the camera's mouth, which was very cute.

A lady with long brown hair is holding the hand of the little girl in the photo from the right, and this is obviously Irene's mother.

The woman didn't wear any high-end clothes, and she didn't see any beautiful jewelry, and the upper body was just an old linen shirt, even if it was so simple and simple, if you let Liao Ji say, putting it on the blue star will definitely blow up many female stars.

Especially the mature charm of being a wife, coupled with her good looks and elegant figure, Liao Ji feels that Irene can have today's foundation, and this wife's excellent genetic inheritance is absolutely indispensable.

The only thing that makes Liao Ji indescribable is...

So every wife and wife like to tie their hair into a one-sided ponytail and put it on one side of their shoulders? It does seem a little more gentle and virtuous, but...

Madame, your hairstyle is really dangerous!

Liao Ji felt that he might have found the reason why Irene's mother was seriously ill.

At last.

Moved his gaze to the left side of the little girl, logically speaking, this should be Irene's father, but strangely... From this side, the photo looks like someone has forcibly torn off a large piece.

Speaking of...

Since he came into contact with the girl, Ireen has mentioned "mother" a lot, but he never mentioned "father" in front of him, even the slippers at the door of the house, only two pairs.

So...

"He's dead." A girl's voice came from behind Liao Ji, and Irene didn't know when she had changed her clothes and came out.

She glanced at the family photo on the wall that Liao Ji was looking at, and the girl said in a flat voice:

"The cause of death was the backlash of the turbidity in the body, and on the second day of becoming a doomer, he went berserk and lost control, and finally turned into an ugly monster and was killed by everyone."

"And the night before, the man had excitedly sketched out a vision of a better future for his wife and daughter, who were worried about him, that he would soon be able to make a lot of money by the power of the Doomers, and then take them out of this chaotic gathering place and go to live in a big city full of hope."

"Huh, that's ironic, isn't it? In order to pursue that pitiful strength, he abandoned his wife and daughter, abandoned his life, and kept saying that he wanted to protect us and give us everything, but in fact... We have no idea what we really want..."

The girl looked away from the "family portrait", but it was clear from her clenched fists that Irene's heart was far less calm than she seemed.

“... I'm sorry. Liao Ji can seem to say that this is the only thing.

He now understood why Irene had so much resistance to the word "Doomer" when she was in the Chamber of Secrets, and why the little girl with excellent character and learning in the award certificate on the wall ended up on the path of a scavenger.

"So, the kobold clay statue at that time..."Liao Ji has not forgotten the cause of the gangster's annihilation, if you follow the current worldview, turbid items should never be taken out by ordinary people.

Irene didn't hide it much, nodded and said bluntly:

"That's right, it's the turbidity item he accidentally found in the black market, and he just absorbed the turbidity on it to become the doomer, and at the same time... It's the only relic he left us, and I've always kept that clay statue with me, but I didn't expect that one day, I'll use it again. ”

Shaking her head self-deprecatingly, Irene quickly took the initiative to change the subject.

"Okay antique, these were six years ago, it's gone for me, I'm not a little girl to be comforted anymore, and the reason why I'm telling you this is because... No, your clothes. ”

Irene handed Liao Ji the wrinkled worker's uniform that she was holding in her arms and looked like she hadn't worn for several years.

"I don't have a man in my family, the only clothes I can give you to wear are my father's in the past, if you feel unlucky, bear with it."

Speaking of which.

In fact, just now, Liao Ji wanted to say it when he saw Irene who had changed his clothes for the first time when he turned around.

"What do you call... Change? ”

"Rotten coats, torn leather pants, and... Are the earthen boots, in addition to looking like they are freshly washed and cleaner than before, any difference from your previous outfit? Isn't it easy to see at a glance that you're a waste picker? Also, why don't you put on makeup? ”

Liao Ji showed a worried expression.

As for Irene, she was also a little embarrassed when she was said to be in the back room for a long time, but it turned out that there was no difference in the mouth of the young man opposite!

The girl's little hand hidden in the cuff secretly tugged the corner of the faded windbreaker that had been washed several times, and felt a little self-defeating:

"That's... What can be done then! All I have at home is these scavengers' clothes! Nothing else, and no cosmetics! Hmph, I'm really sorry to be poor!! ”

Ignoring the girl's angry speech, Liao Ji pondered for a moment, and finally drifted his gaze to the money bag pinned to Irene's waist.

If I'm not mistaken, this was when the girl was scavenging candles from the corpses of kobolds, and she also touched them out of the gangsters.

For this wealth that should be repaid, Liao Ji could still turn a blind eye before, but now...

"Miss Irene, do you want to experience putting the... What is it like to be a big lady? ”

"I don't want to! Not at all! Irene immediately saw Liao Ji's plan, and the girl desperately protected the wallet on her waist.

It's a pity.

"No, you want to." Liao Ji used the contract to manipulate Irene's body and asked the girl to obediently put the money bag in his hand.

"Also, I also want to dress decently to meet my aunt and make a good impression in my aunt's heart, you should understand, the image of the first meeting is very important, so lead the way, Miss Irene, let's go, um..."

"Just go to the most expensive and luxurious clothing store here."