Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 394 Snacks? Where are the snacks?
The man, who looked like a homeless man, did not respond to Caitlin's calls. He came to his senses and his gaze swept back and forth across the three faces, looking somewhat confused, as if he did not recognize them.

Barry could understand that the other person didn't recognize him, since they had never met before, but this situation seemed extremely unusual for Cisco and Caitlin.

Looking at Ronnie, Caitlin guessed that he might not be in a good mental state, so she cautiously called out again, "Ronnie, do you remember me? It's me, Caitlin."

Upon hearing the name, Ronnie's expression suddenly turned pained. He clutched his head and shook it violently, instinctively denying, "I'm not Ronnie."

“You’re Ronnie, Ronald Raymond,” Cisco couldn’t help but say. “Have you forgotten? Back then, during that particle accelerator accident, we all thought it was you—”

“I said, I’m not Ronnie!” the homeless man replied, enunciating each word clearly. “I’ve said it twice already. Now, you’d better stay away from me.”

Caitlin wanted to say something more, but the homeless man seemed to have no intention of continuing the conversation. He took a few steps back, as if trying to get as far away from Caitlin as possible.

"Ronnie! We can help you remember who you are!"

"fire"

"what?"

"Firestorm!"

A burst of intense flames exploded, and the three of them couldn't help but take several steps back under the scorching heat. Caitlin looked up in astonishment and found that Ronnie's eyes had turned bright white and his whole body was engulfed in flames, making him look like a walking fireball.

"What the hell is this?"

Sisko stared in disbelief at Ronnie, but Ronnie ignored them. A high-speed jet of flame erupted from his feet and hands, propelling him into the air like a rocket, and then soaring over the parking lot.

Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin were stunned as they watched the trail of smoke and flame disappear into the horizon like a shooting star.

The next day, at the Starry Sky Laboratory.

"Here I am again."

Ma Zhaodi greeted everyone and walked into the laboratory. This time, he didn't bring a food cart, but instead brought his Siamese cat and a woman—the same woman who had been drugged yesterday, the "hide-and-seek" user, the teleportation ability user, Shauna Betz.

Perhaps because the alcohol had worn off, Xiao Na's expression was somewhat tense and wary, and she didn't seem as relaxed as she had been the night before.

“Shauna, this is Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, you met at the bar yesterday. This is Dr. Wells, the head of Star Labs.”

"Everyone, this is Shauna Bates, you met her yesterday."

No one seemed too surprised by Xiao Na's visit, because this time was different from the last. After they expressed their dissatisfaction with Ma Zhaodi suddenly bringing people to the laboratory last time, Ma had apologized. This time, before bringing Xiao Na over, he had informed everyone in the laboratory in advance and obtained their consent.

"Hi."

Xiao Na greeted the people in the lab, but her attitude wasn't as enthusiastic as it had been the night before; it was somewhat cold.

In fact, she didn't have this attitude when she woke up this morning.

"Where am I?" The morning sunlight shone on the sleeping Xiao Na's face. She couldn't help but open her eyes because of the light and vaguely saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

"you're awake?"

A familiar male voice rang in her ears, and Xiao Na was startled. She immediately remembered everything that happened last night. She had met a few people at the bar, had a few drinks with one of the men, and somehow got drunk.

She quickly threw back the covers and checked her clothes and the bag on the bedside table. Finding that it seemed to have been untouched, she subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that she was worried about being taken advantage of while drunk. Americans are generally indifferent to such things, not to mention that Shawna herself is a frequent bar patron and used to petty theft. However, knowingly and willingly being violated are two different things. If her money or clothes were actually taken, Shawna would definitely teach the perpetrator a lesson in the next second.

"Are you hungry?" Ma Zhaodi took a bite of the bun in his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't make a Western breakfast, but you can try the buns. They're freshly made and still warm."

"Did you take me back to your house?"

Xiao Na got up from the bed and looked around the simple little room. The space was only twenty or thirty square meters, but it was bright and clean. The walls were covered with wallpaper, the furnishings were simple, and it was very clean. There was no strange smell in the room, and a silly-looking Siamese cat was snoring on Lao Ma's head.

“Yes,” Ma Zhaodi replied, “Hotels are too expensive; at least renting a room is free.”

".Thank you."

Xiao Na glanced at the bedside table, the thought of simply grabbing her bag and leaving flashing through her mind, but the enticing aroma of the steamed buns in Ma Zhaodi's hand wafted into her nose, making her hesitate for a moment.

When she came to her senses, she was already sitting at the table and had picked up a steamed bun.

Nothing happened between us yesterday, right?

"What happened?" Ma Zhaodi shook his head: "Didn't you say you had a boyfriend? I'm a pure love warrior, emphasizing being a 'no bull' (a derogatory term for someone who is single and unambitious)."

There was something else he didn't say explicitly: Xiao Na didn't meet his criteria for a partner—she frequented bars, engaged in petty theft, had a criminal record, had multiple past relationships, and had no emotional foundation with Ma Zhaodi.

Ma Zhaodi's attitude towards relationships is "better to have none than a bad one," even to the point of being somewhat old-fashioned. To him, any relationship not aimed at growing old together is immoral—although there are many immoral people these days, getting married and then divorcing, both men and women, he genuinely doesn't want to be part of that.

Relationships are a serious matter, and life should not be taken lightly. One should be determined and persistent, rather than being fickle.

"Uh," although she couldn't understand what Ma Zhaodi's last sentence was saying, Xiao Na still thanked him for his first sentence: "Thank you, you are a true gentleman."

"Ha, this is the first time I've ever heard someone praise me like this." Ma Zhaodi laughed: "Praise me a few more times, I have no objection."

Shauna was speechless at his words and didn't dare to continue praising him.

"Although what I said might be a bit redundant," Ma Zhaodi continued, "you should still be more careful in the future. Having a boyfriend and still daring to go to bars to drink—it's lucky you ran into me; if you had run into someone else—"

"Snacks, boss, where are the snacks, meow?!"

The silly cat suddenly climbed up from Ma Zhaodi's head and made a strange meowing sound, which was the sound of hunger.

(End of this chapter)