Chapter 57: Chapter 51: Bought a Piece of Clothing
"Hey, you’re stepping on my stuff," a youthful boy’s voice sounded from the side.
Tang Mo looked down at her feet. Sure enough, her foot was on a white short-sleeved shirt. When she moved it, a large footprint was left behind.
"This trick again," the man running the stall next to them said disdainfully, rolling his eyes. "He really thinks people are fools."
The boy sat behind his stall, biting his lip tightly. In his arms, he held a large, panting Golden Retriever.
Noticing the Golden Retriever, Tang Mo couldn’t help but take a second look.
’In this age of famine, only people like Uncle Wen would keep a dog just to make their wives happy. How could an ordinary family possibly afford a pet?’
’People can barely stay alive themselves. Who would be willing to share their food with a pet? It’s a wonder they haven’t eaten their own pets already.’
In truth, this was because Tang Mo had encountered very few families with pets. If she had known more, she would have realized that pets had long since become food for their households.
Some who truly loved their fur babies couldn’t bring themselves to do the deed, so they would swap pets with someone they knew. It was a form of psychological comfort, a way to get past their own conscience.
"Sorry about that. I got the shirt you’re selling dirty."
Tang Mo glanced at where the shirt was placed and understood immediately. It was clearly laid out past the edge of the stall—a classic extortion scam. Anyone with eyes could see it.
"Since you got it dirty, you have to buy it. I want half a bottle of clean water. A quarter of a bottle will do," the boy said, not quite daring to meet Tang Mo’s eyes, but he managed to finish his sentence.
"And what if I don’t have any water?" Tang Mo asked.
"No water... If you don’t have water, then just go." There was no struggle on the boy’s face. Hearing Tang Mo say she had no water, he actually seemed relieved.
"Oh? Why only water? You don’t want food?"
It wasn’t strange for Tang Mo to be curious. The base’s filtered water wouldn’t kill you right away, but food seemed far more important.
"I only want water. Bo Niou can’t drink the filtered water."
The boy hugged the dog in his arms. The big Golden Retriever’s name was Bo Niou.
As if sensing the fluctuation in her owner’s emotions, Bo Niou struggled to lift her big head and licked the boy’s palm with her wet tongue.
Tang Mo’s heart softened a little. ’You can’t trust people in the apocalypse, but animals still retain their simple, kind nature, unconditionally trusting and loving their owners.’
"What’s your name? And your family?"
"I... I’m Xiao Fei. My parents are gone. Bo Niou is the only family I have left. I can’t lose her."
"But this shirt doesn’t seem to be worth the price of water, does it?"
"If you have water, you can take anything you want from my stall. Take it all!" Xiao Fei answered crisply.
Hearing this, Tang Mo actually crouched down and picked up the pure white T-shirt. The shirt was brand new, with the tag still attached. It felt nice to the touch. Tang Mo didn’t recognize the brand name on the tag, but she figured it must have been expensive back in the day.
Xiao Fei’s stall was mostly filled with luxury goods for young people—sneakers, sunglasses, backpacks, watches, and the like.
It was clear his family must have been well-off before the famine. For a rich kid like him to be living like this and still taking care of a dog was truly remarkable.
Tang Mo rummaged through the items, picking out a black baseball cap and a large pair of sunglasses.
"This should be enough for half a bottle of water."
Then, she took out the half-empty bottle of mineral water from her backpack and tossed it to the boy.
Xiao Fei clearly hadn’t processed what was happening and was hit squarely by the flying bottle.
Bo Niou turned her head and gave Tang Mo a displeased look. Even Tang Mo, who had never owned a dog, could clearly understand the meaning in that gaze.
"She really is intelligent," Tang Mo said, looking at the Golden Retriever with amusement.
"Hey, young lady, what are you buying that junk for? Hurry up and get your water back! Look at my stall, I’ve got all sorts of good, useful stuff!"
Seeing that Tang Mo actually had something to trade, the man at the next stall grew anxious. If he weren’t so far away, he would have dragged Tang Mo right over to his side.
Tang Mo glanced at the items on the neighboring stall. They were mostly daggers, tools, and the like—far more practical than what Xiao Fei was selling.
However, she had already commissioned a custom-made dagger at a high price from the Alliance Exchange. These ordinary crafts couldn’t possibly catch her eye.
"I know you’re doing this out of pity."
Young boys always have the strongest sense of pride.
"Still, thank you."
Sometimes, pride isn’t so important when compared to the things you love.
"It was an equal exchange."
Tang Mo brandished the items in her hand, gave a wave, and left.
After browsing all the small stalls and confirming that there was nothing else that interested her, Tang Mo walked back toward her apartment, a little disappointed.
’Sure enough, it was naive of me to think I could find some hidden treasure here.’
"Tang Mo?"
Downstairs from her apartment building, Ah Lian, who had come to the mission center to find a suitable task, spotted Tang Mo holding a pile of things.
"Been shopping?"
"I didn’t have a change of clothes, so I traded some leftover jewelry for them," Tang Mo said nonchalantly.
"You live here?" Ah Lian’s gaze shifted to the apartment building beside them.
’The rent here...’
"Yeah. I’m pretty tired, so if there’s nothing else, I’m heading up."
It would be too obvious to deny it now that she was standing right here. Ah Lian’s question made Tang Mo feel inexplicably uncomfortable, so she said a quick goodbye and left.
Only after going upstairs did she find the girl in white from next door still clutching that tattered little teddy bear, squatting right in front of her door.
"I saw you and your friend downstairs just now," the girl said, taking the rare initiative to speak.
"He’s not my friend," Tang Mo said as she unlocked her door. ’If I don’t absorb that Intermediate Crystal Core soon, I’ll feel like I’ve left a task unfinished today.’
"I heard him say your name is Tang Mo. I’m Xiao Mo. My ’Mo’ is from the word for jasmine. What about yours?"
"The ’Mo’ from ’apocalypse’."
Compared to the girl’s fresh and elegant name, Tang Mo felt hers was so unpoetic.
"Can I come in and sit for a while?" the girl asked.
Tang Mo, who had just opened the door, froze for a moment.
’This Xiao Mo doesn’t seem like the autistic child her mother described.’
"Come in," Tang Mo said, opening the door wider and stepping aside to let the girl in.
She could sense that the girl’s attribute value wasn’t high. There was an indescribable feeling about her, as if something very similar to herself existed within the girl, but it hadn’t yet sprouted.
Once inside, Xiao Mo politely sat down on a chair, placing the teddy bear obediently on her lap.
"How old are you?" Tang Mo asked, trying to make conversation.
"Twelve."
"You don’t look twelve." Tang Mo had thought Xiao Mo was at least fourteen. She was already quite developed, with slender, long legs showing beneath her white nightdress.
"Uncle says I don’t look twelve, either. He promised my mom he would wait until I’m fifteen to be with me."
Xiao Mo’s tone was very placid as she said this, and Tang Mo couldn’t be sure if the girl truly understood the deeper meaning behind her own words.
