Lan Li's eyes widened. "Earn money?"

"How much money do you have on you?" An Junlie asked.

Lan Li paused to think. "About ten thousand, wait—no, I spent a chunk last time. I should only have a few thousand left."

"When we get inside, lend it to me," An Junlie instructed.

Lan Li nodded. "Fine. How are we going to make money?"

An Junlie fell silent, offering no answer. The two joined the queue and boarded the sightseeing hover-car provided by Wanjin City free of charge. The vehicle was a spherical, transparent bubble containing only two sofa seats. Once formed, a powerful suction pulled the bubble onto the left side of the hover-car track, where it drifted slowly, hugging the rail with a gentle up-and-down motion.

Only when they were alone again did An Junlie speak. "Wanjin City has the most famous arena in the galaxy. I’ll go up to fight, and you bet on me to win."

Lan Li stared, stunned for two seconds, then burst into booming laughter, beating the sofa.

If An Junlie could guarantee a win, this was the best way to make money!

He hit the sofa so hard that the hover-car’s alarm sounded. "Respected guests, please refrain from damaging public property."

Lan Li finally managed to stop laughing.

An Junlie had never ridden a sightseeing hover-car before and was curiously examining its design and structure, poking and peering at everything.

Lan Li helplessly held his forehead. How could he have seemed so savvy just moments ago, only to revert to looking like a country bumpkin now?

This was a transparent hover-car; everything inside was visible to outsiders.

What an embarrassment.

He glanced around, relieved to see no one paying attention. He pressed a button, and a cocktail instantly appeared before him.

He was fifteen this year, technically too young to drink alcohol. It was precisely because he couldn't drink at home that Lan Li dared to order one. Holding the cocktail, he sat gracefully in his seat, then very ungracefully rolled his eyes at An Junlie. "Hey. Can you stop looking like a hick visiting the city? It's really embarrassing."

"I was just looking for an emergency exit passage," An Junlie replied. "If the hover-car malfunctions or there's a blowout, we'll need a way out."

Lan Li rolled his eyes all the way down, then back up again. "This technology is perfectly mature, okay? A blowout won't reach us."

An Junlie shrugged, having thoroughly investigated the vehicle. He sat down on the seat opposite and asked, "Where's the drinking stuff?"

Lan Li was already accustomed to An Junlie's lack of aristocratic knowledge. He simply pointed toward the hover-car track. "You were too busy fiddling with the car; you deserve it." After his moment of contempt, he adopted a condescending tone laced with immense superiority. "The entire row beneath the hover-car track has all sorts of food and drinks. The red button is the pause button, and the lever controls forward and backward movement. If you select a vendor's food or drink, stop the car right at their door and press the button on the tip of the lever. Open the roof, swipe your passport, and you can retrieve whatever delights you crave."

As Lan Li explained, he proactively demonstrated for An Junlie. An Junlie was a bit hungry, so he selected several items that would fill his stomach and wolfed them down.

Lan Li shook his head and sighed again. A country bumpkin indeed. Couldn't he eat a little more politely?

Truthfully, on the Devil Planet, he had seen An Junlie as nothing more than a wilderness youth, with no discernible appeal whatsoever. It was only after cleaning up at the space station that Lan Li realized An Junlie was actually a very handsome boy.

He wasn't a classical beauty, and his features hadn't fully matured, but their contours already hinted at a future of cool, rugged, masculine handsomeness. If he weren't wearing coarse hemp clothes, if he were dressed in fashionable silks, hordes of infatuated fans would probably be screaming, "Ah, what a stunning young man!"

Lan Li had completely forgotten that he, too, was wearing hemp right now. Thus, his practiced elegance appeared especially comical to outsiders.

They enjoyed the scenery, food, and drinks, the atmosphere becoming increasingly harmonious. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination.

A woman in a well-tailored blue uniform stood smiling at the hover-car docking bay. She held a bill and politely addressed An Junlie as he disembarked. "Welcome to Wanjin City. The total for the two gentlemen is 5,000 Interstellar Credits."

An Junlie was instantly dumbfounded and turned to Lan Li. "What's going on?"

Lan Li was also momentarily stunned. He approached the female attendant, his eyes brimming with false passion. "Beautiful lady, your splendor has momentarily blinded me, causing my circuits to overheat and rendering me incapable of thought. Could you use that captivating voice of yours to explain why these items aren't complimentary? I suspect only then can you retrieve the soul I lost to your beauty."

"Hah?" The robotic attendant's CPU whirred rapidly as she smiled in reply. "Hello, sir. These are all non-complimentary goods. Please refer to the price list. One cocktail is two thousand credits, Star Pastry is two hundred credits, and so on…"

Lan Li took the data disc and flipped through their expense list page by page, mentally cursing Wanjin City as a bloodsucker for charging two thousand credits for such mediocre cocktails.

He desperately wanted to flip the table!

Cursing aside, Lan Li, possessing good aristocratic manners, knew that consumption required payment. He elegantly pulled out the universal card he’d brought when he ran away from home and swiped it across the attendant's screen.

The robotic attendant retreated with a smile.

The moment she left, Lan Li nearly collapsed in despair. They were supposed to be earning money, but instead of profiting, he had spent everything! With only a few hundred credits left, how could they possibly place a bet on An Junlie? He regretted teaching An Junlie how to order things more than anything. Back home, everything was handled by his family’s finance department; he had never witnessed a point-of-sale transaction.

Could it be… Lan Li had a sudden flash of insight. Was the reason they didn't pay on the spot back home because the bills were mailed to finance monthly?!

He felt utterly awful. "Profiteers!" the poor, swindled Lan Li muttered, crouching miserably on the ground. "Leave me alone; I need to go draw circles in the corner! Waaah…"

An Junlie watched Lan Li transform into 'Little Sister Lan' in one second, completely speechless. Surveying the passersby who were casting curious glances their way, An Junlie carefully shuffled his feet, trying subtly to distance himself from Lan Li and pretend not to know him.

Whether Lan Li perceived An Junlie's attempt or not, he immediately spun around and threw himself at An Junlie's feet, desperately clinging to one of his legs and wailing, "It’s all your fault! Why would you do this to me? I could tolerate you cheating my contacts, but you had to drain my cash too! I don't care; you have to take responsibility for me. Since you ruined my life like this, you must be accountable!"

An Junlie, unable to stand Lan Li's absurdity, struggled to yank his leg free from Lan Li’s grasp, gritting out, "Is that enough?"

Lan Li, from an angle only An Junlie could see, made a rude face and whispered, audible only to An Junlie, "Not yet. I can't be the only one losing face."

An Junlie shook his head resignedly, his face still expressionless. "You mentioned you’re the young master of the Lan Clan, right? I don't care; let's just make this bigger. Televised would be best. I wonder what your grandfather will think when he sees this news report."

Before the words were fully out, Lan Li sprang up from the ground at light speed, grabbing An Junlie and fleeing the scene. "Why didn't you warn me sooner? You were jealous because I’m better looking than you, right? If my image right now gets picked up by an interstellar gossip magazine, not only will it shatter the crystal hearts of countless noble young ladies, but it will also cause countless lonely noblewomen to tragically end themselves! Can you afford to take responsibility for that?"

An Junlie rubbed his forehead. Boys these days only worried about such trivialities. The Lan Clan's parenting was truly tragic; no wonder they were becoming increasingly destitute. If Lan Li knew what An Junlie was thinking, he would probably smash his head against a wall.

Once Lan Li finished his tirade, he declared, "Alright, let's get down to business. Time to earn money."

Lan Li nervously hugged a nearby pillar, refusing to move. "My money was just spent. I have nothing left. How are we supposed to play now?"

An Junlie stopped in his tracks. "Not a single coin left?"

Lan Li looked serious. "Yes. You compulsively bought things in the hover-car, draining every single asset I brought when I ran away from home. Tonight, we sleep on the streets."

Hearing this, An Junlie raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and walked to a corner of the street, preparing to sit down on the ground. Lan Li stared in shock. "Hey, you’re not seriously planning to sleep out here, are you?"

An Junlie arched an eyebrow. "And why not?"

Lan Li's voice shot up several decibels. "You expect this young master to sleep out here with you?"

An Junlie sat down on the pavement. "You’ve lived in the primeval forest. These conditions are much better than that. Why shouldn't you?"

Lan Li checked left and right to ensure no one was watching, then crept closer to An Junlie. "It's different here. There were no outsiders in the forest. What if a gossip reporter who has seen my true appearance spots me, takes a picture, and uploads it to the StarNet?"

An Junlie held out his hand. "Tell me the truth, how much money do you actually have left?"

Lan Li checked his card. "Three hundred and twenty-eight left."

An Junlie thought for a moment. "That’s enough."

Lan Li asked, bewildered, "Enough for lodging?"

An Junlie replied, "Enough to place the bet." He quickly glanced at a simple map of Wanjin City by the roadside, located the Wanjin Arena, and added, "It’s a bit far to walk, so we’ll take a hover-car."

Lan Li made a face of utter misery. "I have developed a phobia of those things."

"It’s fine," An Junlie said. "Then we’ll run there. It’s about a half-hour run, just enough time to warm up."

Lan Li: "…"

Seeing An Junlie already jogging ahead, he had no choice but to follow.

The two youths sprinted down the luxurious thoroughfare. An Junlie was tall with long legs; when he ran, he touched down lightly on his toes, his body extended, his breathing synchronized, running with striking ease and coolness. Lan Li tried to imitate him, but being a young master, he had only ever exercised in gyms and was unfamiliar with such primitive exertion. After a few minutes, he was panting heavily, his entire foot slapping the ground with every heavy, uncomfortable step.

By the time they reached the arena, An Junlie was still refreshed and energetic; Lan Li was utterly exhausted.