Chapter 93: The Rich Lack Virtue, The Virtuous Lack Wealth
"Lab Rat No.1, your good friend—Jiang Ran. Yes, he has survived another week without live broadcasts, successfully reaching Round 27. If he survives this round, he will tie the highest record in our game. I won't elaborate too much on his deeds—those watching the stream know them all too well."
As soon as the live stream started, the viewer count jumped from 0 to 40,000. By the time Jiang Ran's introduction finished, it had easily surpassed 100,000.
Middle-aged Uncle: [Hey, the host changed how she refers to the lab rats! It used to be 'the nth one', but now it's 'No. n'?]
Fairy Sister: [Not sure, but this numbering seems clearer. Doesn't matter though—just a different way of addressing them.]
Domineering Female CEO: [Right, let's keep watching. I'm curious whether Xiao Q, Ke Bei and the others escaped. Are they still alive?]
The long-haired beautiful host, who seemed to have been monitoring the chat, responded:
"Disappointing news—Xiao Q and Ke Bei from last round didn't escape. They're still locked in Room 1001. As for Li Mengmeng, she's still alive but also imprisoned. So none of the next four lab rats are them."
"Lab Rat No.2: Sun Yijie, male, 32, professional fitness trainer with messy relationships, frequently getting involved with female clients. Recently hooked up with a married female student whose husband happens to be a locally influential figure. He issued a martial arts world bounty on Sun, forcing him to flee his city. During his escape, he signed our contract and took refuge in Alice Apartment at 10,000 yuan per day."
The introduction concluded as the large screen behind the host displayed multiple photos of Sun Yijie.
The photos showed an average-looking man with exaggerated muscles—clearly a fitness fanatic who spent all his time working out. The reveal of Lab Rat No.2 and his background sparked heated discussions.
Middle-aged Uncle commented casually: [A fitness trainer? No wonder. Gyms are chaotic places—hetero, homo, whatever. Even an innocent newcomer can get corrupted there. This guy just had bad luck messing with a powerful man's wife.]
Fairy Sister: [Don't get me started on gyms! My ex-boyfriend loved going there, constantly surrounded by women, and eventually cheated on me.]
Little Dragon Girl: [Thankfully I have a private home gym.]
Little Aunt: [Who watching this stream doesn't have a private gym? The real issue is having a partner with wandering eyes. If it's not the gym, it'll be somewhere else.]
Domineering Female CEO: [Enough, girls! Why bother with boyfriends? Just keep some young studs as pets—dump them if they misbehave. That's the way. But this Sun Yijie cracks me up—hiding from a martial arts bounty in Alice Apartment, completely unaware it's actually the gates of hell.]
While discussions about Sun Yijie continued, the host moved on without waiting:
"Lab Rat No.3: Wu You, male, 19, college student. His father has cancer and their family is impoverished. He signed our contract to stay at Alice Apartment at 10,000 yuan per day to earn medical fees for his father."
The introduction was followed by photos of Wu You—an ordinary-looking, thin male student with exhausted eyes, perpetual worry between his brows, and a slightly hunched back.
Fairy Sister was first to comment: [Entering Alice Apartment to earn his father's medical fees? What a filial son! So touching!]
Little Aunt: [Indeed. I almost wish he could survive longer to earn more money. Sadly, that's not up to me.]
Middle-aged Uncle: [In all the rounds I've watched, few lab rats were this type—most act out of selfish desires, but this one is trying to save his father. Tragic that he might lose both the money and his life.]
I am the Hero: [Exactly—high chance of losing both. Alice Apartment's danger is no joke... Also, this situation is common nowadays—family members getting sick. Not treating them feels inhumane since they're blood relatives, but treatment might leave you bankrupt with the patient still dying. Losing everything either way.]
The Ultimate Rich Kid, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke: [This Wu You lacks ruthlessness and decisiveness. If I were him, I wouldn't treat my father at all. Poor people shouldn't bother—even if they scrape together treatment fees, recovery isn't guaranteed. Better to give up immediately than ruin your entire life.]
Middle-aged Uncle sighed: [Few people would do as you say. Most would try to treat their family if possible. Ultimate Rich Kid—if you were actually in his shoes, could you really act as you claim?]
Ultimate Rich Kid: [Uncle, no hypotheticals. My family is wealthy—I'll never face such poverty. But hypothetically, if I were Wu You, I could spend all my money but would never go into debt or risk my life for my father's treatment.]
The host continued introducing:
"Lab Rat No.4: Wang Anjian, male, 22, orphan, high school dropout."
"Special case—after dropping out, he worked odd jobs before using his savings to volunteer teach in remote mountain villages. Regularly donated supplies to impoverished children. Unfortunately, was diagnosed with cancer last month and signed our contract to stay at Alice Apartment at 10,000 yuan per day."
Photos showed an unremarkable young man whose most striking feature was his radiant positivity—his face wore a gentle smile that starkly contrasted with his tragic circumstances as an orphan battling illness.
Middle-aged Uncle: [Another cancer patient? Obviously here to earn treatment money.]
Fairy Sister: [Such a tragic life, yet he's such a good person! Sadly, no good deed goes unpunished.]
Domineering Female CEO @Fairy Sister: [Little sister, do you really believe good people get rewarded in this world?]
Fairy Sister: [I've always believed! Good begets good, evil begets evil!]
Domineering Female CEO chuckled: [You're too naive. That saying is a lie.]
"Just look at us viewers—who among us hasn't done dirty, wicked things? Yet has 'good begets good, evil begets evil' held true? We're all living lavishly!!!"
Middle-aged Uncle immediately countered: [Don't lump me in with you! I built my fortune from nothing as a commoner. I understand ordinary people's hardships!]
Domineering Female CEO laughed: [Hilarious! Middle-aged Uncle, you know the saying—'The rich lack virtue.' Do you know what comes next?]
"I'll tell you—the next line is 'The virtuous lack wealth!'"
"A commoner like you building wealth from scratch? The unethical things you must have done outnumber ours by far!"