206: Chapter 206 Qingxue, Big Star, Let's Go Downstairs

"If you want to go down, hurry up."

Lin Fan's tone did not carry the slightest hint of urging them to stay; he was not someone who couldn't live without women.

The Karst Cave suddenly plunged into a death-like silence.

Su Qingxue stood in place, her hands clasped in front of her.

During yesterday's confrontation, she had thrown all the chips, trump cards, relatives, and even responsibilities she could muster right in front of Lin Fan.

Now the path was truly cleared, and that slope leading to freedom was right in front of her eyes, yet she hesitated and couldn't take a step.

Before Su Qingxue could speak up to break the awkwardness,

a rustling friction sound came from the tattered canvas in the corner.

Zhou Kai propped himself up on the rough ground with both hands, laboriously moving his torso upward a bit.

His wounds hurt terribly, and a layer of cold sweat had already seeped out on his forehead.

He spoke.

"Brother Fan."

Lin Fan tilted his head slightly.

Zhou Kai coughed twice in succession, clearing the dry hoarseness in his throat.

"I am staying."

"With this leg of mine, I can't get down to the ground at all in the short term. Going down to the beach would just cause trouble for others, and maybe they wouldn't even leave me a single sip of water."

He raised his head, looking straight at Lin Fan.

"But I choose to stay not just because of this leg."

"Brother Fan, I can't control what other people are scheming in their heads. I only know that since the day the cruise ship capsized, if it weren't for you, I, Zhou Kai, wouldn't have even survived the first week of landing on the island."

"You led the way to find water in the forest. When we encountered the wild boar, you saved my life."

Zhou Kai took a heavy breath, his chest heaving violently a few times.

"I don't understand much. Back in the company, we were just beasts of burden in cubicles, working ourselves to death just for those few thousand bucks at the end of the month."

"Coming to this island, money has become waste paper, and that PLB thing, a machine worth over a hundred thousand, sounds pretty high-end, but is it really useful?"

"We've endured on the island for so long, and even a passing bird in the sky wouldn't bother to drop dung, yet you expect this gadget to summon a rescue ship out of thin air?"

He raised his hand to wipe away the cold sweat on his face.

"I don't believe in machines, I believe in people. Brother Fan, I'll put my words right here. Even if a ship really comes, as long as you don't plan to leave, I, Zhou Kai, will stay in this cave to keep you company."

"You give me a bite to eat, and I'll help do whatever work I can. This life of mine was given to me by you in the first place."

Zhou Kai saw the situation clearly, and even more clearly saw the true nature of that group of people down on the beach.

Talk about survival with a cold-blooded mercenary like Wang Laoliu who risks his life for money?

Talk about morality with a spoiled heir like Yang Ningcong who would bite back at any moment?

That would be better than staying here, where at least one's life can be preserved.

Song Ya rubbed her mud-covered trouser legs hard with both hands and stood up.

"I am staying too."

Song Ya lowered her head, not looking toward Yang Ningcong and Liu Feifei.

"My thoughts are the same as Zhou Kai's."

She was usually clumsy, but being a sales intern at the company wasn't for nothing.

Who was the real deal capable of protecting people, and who was just a paper-thin facade, she could tell crystal clear.

"I trust Lin Fan's judgment. If Lin Fan isn't going down, there must be a reason for it. I don't know how to do anything, but I am obedient. There are too many man-eating things on this island, and I'd rather do odd jobs here than go down there."

Hearing this, Yang Ningcong really couldn't hold it in anymore.

His hands were tied behind his back, and his body twisted twice on the gravel, a sarcastic sneer escaping from his nostrils.

"Psycho."

He muttered.

In his second-generation rich logic, Zhou Kai and Song Ya's actions were simply the outbreak of lower-class inherent flaws.

Having the chance to return to civilized society to enjoy life, yet insisting on staying here to act like dogs for a penniless intern.

But it didn't matter.

Once he went down and turned on the PLB, the Yang Family's helicopter and private rescue boats would arrive.

Bringing a few more people along was a matter of convenience, and leaving two fewer people behind would save even more space.

Since these two poor ghosts were so blindly willing to follow Lin Fan and act like primitives on the island, they could just fend for themselves on this lousy island.

Lin Fan ignored Yang Ningcong's taunts.

He glanced at Song Ya, then at Zhou Kai, with no extra emotional changes on his face, which could be considered tacit approval of these two people taking sides.

Immediately, his gaze shifted.

It landed on Xu Zhixia beside him.

Lin Fan stared at her for two seconds and spoke.

"Zhou Kai is staying, Dr. Xu, you will have to stay as well."

This sentence was not a question, let alone a negotiation.

This was simply a notification.

Lin Fan knew very well that medical resources and doctors were the top-tier hard currency on a Deserted Island.

Keeping Xu Zhixia in the cave wasn't just because she could treat illnesses, but even more so to completely cut off the medical supplies for Wang Laoliu and that group of people down below.

Since Zhou Kai, the severely injured person, expressed his stance to stay here, he definitely couldn't let Xu Zhixia go.

Xu Zhixia tilted her head to look at Lin Fan.

As a private doctor who had received higher education and witnessed countless upper-class feuds, Xu Zhixia was far more rational than Song Ya and Zhou Kai.

Last night, she and Su Qingxue had calculated the probabilities: five billion in rescue investments, countless ships and planes, hadn't even touched a single hair of this sea area in two months.

Expecting that small machine in Yang Ningcong's hand to turn the tide?

The probability was probably less than thirty percent.

Rationally speaking, Lin Fan controlled water, food, high ground, and military force; following Lin Fan yielded the highest survival rate.

But from the perspective of her identity, she was an accompanying consultant hired by the Yang Family with a heavy sum. Directly defecting to Lin Fan was equivalent to completely tearing up the contract, and when she went back in the future, her whole family would suffer along with her.

Xu Zhixia's mind spun quickly twice, and she stood up, patting the dust off her trouser legs.

She didn't directly swear allegiance, nor did she find an excuse to decline.

Looking into Lin Fan's eyes, she gave an extremely precise neutral answer.

"I am a doctor."

Her tone was very calm, without much fluctuation.

"Wherever there are patients, that is where I will be."

These words were airtight.

Not only did she gain a justifiable reason to stay in the cave and manage medical supplies, but she also didn't have to carry the burden of taking sides.

"I am staying not because of taking a side, but because there is a wounded person with a rotting leg lying here."

Even if rescue really came, she could tell Yang Ningcong that she did not violate her doctor's oath.

After listening, Lin Fan didn't speak.

This woman was shrewd to the bone.

But this didn't hinder the overall situation; as long as the person stayed and the medicine stayed, what the excuse was didn't matter at all.

Yang Ningcong at the side heard Xu Zhixia's words, and a wave of disdain welled up in his heart.

"Putting on airs of high-mindedness."

He cursed inwardly.

This woman, who took an annual salary of millions from the Yang Family, was now actually eager to cozy up and act as a follower for a lower-class odd-job worker.

She was originally just a commodity bought with money to stick around; Yang Ningcong didn't take Xu Zhixia to heart at all.

What if they were missing a doctor?

As long as the equipment was turned on and they returned to civilized society, what kind of top experts couldn't he hire?

Yang Ningcong moved his sore shoulders, his gaze impatiently passing over these people and landing on Liu Feifei and Su Qingxue.

He knew that in this Karst Cave, the only valuable one was Su Qingxue.

As for Liu Feifei, just to give Su Qingxue a little face, he still casually called out.

"Qingxue, Big Star, let's go down."