"Why are you going to the dark alley?"
Ever since she learned what the dark alley was for, Xu Yan didn't really want Xu An to have too much contact with the girl named Mouse.
"I want to investigate something."
"You want to investigate the doctor behind Qin Chuan?"
Xu An nodded. "We can't be sure if he's a重生者 (reborn person) right now, and we're at a disadvantage on the lighthouse. The only person I can think of is Mouse."
"Then be careful. Even if that doctor is some kind of重生者, as long as it has nothing to do with us, it's best not to get involved."
Xu An nodded on the surface, but in her heart, she muttered that things might not end well between them.
Ever since she knew that the so-called doctor was also looking for mushrooms, Xu An had no intention of staying out of it.
No matter what, she was determined to collect those mushrooms.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, after breakfast, Xu An packed some leftover breakfast and left the light screen, heading for the lower levels.
...
"You're back?"
Seeing a vibrant Xu An, Mouse's already smiling face broke into an even wider grin.
"Have you eaten? I brought this for you." As she spoke, she handed the baozi in her hand to Mouse.
Mouse, as the leader of the dark alley, was not short of money. It could be said that Mouse's net worth was enough for her to move to the second level, but Mouse seemed to be infatuated with this dark and cramped alley.
She had always lived here.
Mouse took it and found there was quite a lot. She smiled and said, "Zhizhi went to run errands for me. I won't be able to taste someone's cooking."
Xu An ignored her teasing. "Can't eating shut your mouth?"
Mouse didn't tease her any further. "Let's hear it, what's up?"
Xu An was very measured. Even though she had made an effort to be friendly, Xu An and Mouse always maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
But if you asked if they were friends,
That would probably earn a question mark in Xu An's mind.
"I want you to investigate someone."
"Who?"
"I don't know." Xu An told the truth. She really didn't know the doctor's identity.
"You don't know?" Mouse became interested. She stopped eating her baozi. "How can I find them if you don't know?"
"I only know that the other party should be Qin Chuan's superior, some doctor who does scientific research. I don't know anything else."
Mouse chuckled. "Xu An, do you know how many doctors there are on this lighthouse?"
As if she had thought of something, she suddenly changed the subject. "But I've heard of Qin Chuan. How did you two meet? Qin Chuan isn't someone easy to get along with."
Xu An couldn't agree more with Mouse's words.
She concealed the matter of the mutated beasts and roughly recounted how she and Qin Chuan met.
After listening, Mouse said thoughtfully, "If you put it that way, the scope has narrowed down."
"Do you know Qin Chuan's background?"
Xu An shook her head. She often heard Zhou Zhe call Qin Chuan captain, but she really didn't know much about Qin Chuan's identity.
"Speaking of which, Qin Chuan has quite a tragic past."
This was the first time Xu An had heard about Qin Chuan's past and was immediately curious. However, she didn't show it, just waiting for Mouse to continue.
"Qin Chuan's family has served in the military for generations. From his great-grandfather's time, they were riflemen. His father died on a mission, and he's an posthumous child."
Mouse's words surprised Xu An. She had thought Qin Chuan was just exceptionally capable, and that the chaotic times had created a hero, which was why he had risen to prominence. She never expected him to have such a hidden past.
At the same time, Xu An was curious about how Mouse knew these things.
Seeing Xu An's curious gaze, Mouse smiled. "You're curious how I know Qin Chuan?"
Her thoughts exposed, Xu An wasn't embarrassed, but readily admitted it.
"It's not strange. If we really count, Qin Chuan and I have some connection. In the old society, we were childhood sweethearts?"
Upon hearing this, Xu An was no longer curious but astonished.
"Childhood sweethearts? You and Qin Chuan?"
Seeing Xu An's surprised expression, Mouse swallowed the baozi in her hand in a few bites, her cheeks puffed out as she chuckled, "Yes, actually, my father is Li Shaogang. What, does it not look like it? Hahaha..."
Xu An found it a little hard to believe. Others might not know, but Li Shaogang was one of the most influential figures on the lighthouse!
Except for that supreme leader who rarely showed himself.
Li Shaogang was responsible for all daily affairs on the lighthouse, including coordination and allocation.
Before the apocalypse, he was already a powerful local figure.
Xu An never expected Mouse's background to be so formidable.
"Then you?" Xu An stopped mid-sentence, feeling it might be inappropriate, and then abruptly ended it. If the other party didn't want to talk about it, there were probably insurmountable issues.
Otherwise, why would Mouse give up her status as a leader's daughter and hide in the "gutter" like a mouse?
"It's okay, there's nothing I can't say. Everyone in this alley knows my identity."
Hearing this, Xu An was also taken aback. She suddenly remembered that Zhizhi had told her that Mouse had taken in all the homeless children in the entire dark alley, but Mouse didn't raise them for free.
These children needed to earn their keep through their own labor in exchange for rewards from Mouse.
When Xu An heard this, she thought Mouse was a clear-headed woman with great compassion and a good sense of judgment.
She never expected such a powerful background behind Mouse.
This also made it understandable why Mouse could establish a place like the dark alley on the lighthouse, and moreover, why she could obtain various items from the second level at low prices.
It turned out she had the capital all along.
Xu An looked at Mouse with a gossipy expression, seeming to want to ask but feeling too shy.
"Curious about my story?" Seeing Xu An nod frantically, Mouse couldn't help but reveal a smile. Those who knew her identity in the past mostly came to curry favor with her, but she had never liked flattery. Later, the apocalypse arrived, and she had a falling out with her family over some matters. After arriving at the lighthouse, at first, people gave her some respect by virtue of her status, but later, when they realized her father truly didn't care about her anymore, many people began to treat her badly. She didn't live in the dark alley from the moment she arrived at the lighthouse. No, to be precise, the dark alley didn't even exist at the beginning of the lighthouse's establishment. The so-called dark alley was merely a small space divided by several abandoned transport pipes crisscrossing each other. "Before the apocalypse, I was a teacher."