If this had been the old Tang Tang, the old man would not even have needed to put on an act.
The moment she saw him sitting on the ground, she would have eagerly sent him to the hospital.
But people’s hearts in the Apocalypse were a thousand times more sinister than this.
The old man’s little trick could actually be considered rather harmless.
Although Tang Tang was wealthy, she did not want to be a sucker.
The people around had already finished lunch. With nothing better to do, they stopped one after another to watch the commotion.
“This young girl has no manners. She knocked down an old man and doesn’t even care about him.”
The shop owners basically all knew this old geezer.
He was the local bully of the market who specifically targeted young people.
But in such a huge market, there were always some onlookers who had never heard of his reputation.
Seeing Tang Tang standing there with her arms crossed, they took the moral high ground and began criticizing her.
Some even raised their phones and started recording this wonderful moment of everyday life.
“Exactly. Young people these days are so cold-hearted.”
For a moment, the uninformed crowd began chiming in as well.
Seeing that he had an audience cheering him on, the old man became even more enthusiastic with his performance.
Tang Tang glanced at the watch on her wrist.
There was not much time left.
Only eight hours remained before the Apocalypse.
She did not want to waste any more time here.
The old man put quite a bit of genuine emotion into his performance, saying that his family had a difficult life and that, despite his old age, he was still the main breadwinner. What would his family do if something happened to him?
He spoke through tears.
If Tang Tang had not been certain that she had never touched him, she might almost have believed him.
“It’s up to you. Either take me to the doctor, or I’ll call the police.”
After seeing that Tang Tang still had not reacted despite all his acting, the old man finally threatened her.
There were no surveillance cameras in this market. Even if the police were called, there would be no way to investigate anything, so he was not afraid.
Normally, people would obediently admit defeat at this point and hand over some money.
This young girl looked easy to bully today. She was so young, yet somehow had so much money. She was definitely not from an ordinary family.
He would make sure to extort a good sum from her!
Tang Tang lowered her eyes, her expression filled with impatience.
“Sure. Then let’s call the police.”
The satisfaction in the old man’s eyes instantly turned into anger.
But before he could say anything, a well-meaning person in the crowd spoke up.
“Young lady, how can you be like this? You should take the old man to the hospital first. What if he suffered a serious injury from the fall?”
Tang Tang stared coldly at the person who had spoken. Her eyes were clear, but her gaze carried a powerful sense of intimidation.
“If we go to the hospital, are you paying the medical expenses?”
Whether he had been frightened by her gaze or was afraid that she would actually make him pay, the man immediately shut his mouth and hid himself in the crowd, glaring angrily at Tang Tang.
Hmph. With such terrible manners, she deserved to be scammed!
More discussion erupted from the crowd.
“See? I told you young people would teach you a lesson.”
“Ah, I lost the bet. I lost the bet.”
“How could she be like that? I thought she’d obediently pay compensation. What bad luck.”
The old man watched Tang Tang fiddle with her phone, and his face gradually turned pale.
Damn this young woman!
She was actually going to call the police.
But Tang Tang was merely browsing a shopping mall’s mini program.
She had just discovered that a chain shopping mall had its own app. She could select a store directly through the app, place an order, and have everything delivered within two hours.
Tang Tang lowered her eyes and stared at the old man sitting on the ground, just about to speak.
Suddenly, she noticed someone leaving the crowd.
She immediately understood what the seed shop owner had meant by saying the market was “chaotic.”
What was truly chaotic was the people.
This old man was actually working with a whole gang.
No wonder she had been surrounded so quickly.
Tang Tang raised her delicate eyebrows and changed her approach.
Her tone sounded gentle and conciliatory, but she had already taken control of the situation.
“How about this, Grandpa? I don’t have any cash on me. Would this diamond necklace work for you?”
Although the old man did not have much money, he was not stupid.
He knew that even after he died, they could still burn something like this from his ashes.
What he wanted was money!
Real, genuine money!
The old man shook his head.
“How do I know you’re not trying to fool me with a fake?”
Tang Tang took off the watch from her wrist as well.
It was a gold watch she wore to match her outfits. She had always complained that she rarely had an occasion to wear it, but she had never expected it to come in handy today.
The old man barely managed to conceal the excitement on his face.
He did not know whether the diamond was real, but he was interested in gold. He even had a gold tooth himself!
The old man exchanged a glance with his accomplices in the crowd.
He cleared his throat.
“All right. I’ll reluctantly agree to take this as my medical expenses.”
The old man snatched the gold watch and grinned smugly, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
He was already thinking about buying a bottle of cheap liquor tonight and having a drink with his son.
Tang Tang could not be bothered to waste any more time with him and turned to leave.
Seeing that there was no more excitement to watch, the surrounding spectators dispersed one after another.
Tang Tang did not feel that she had lost anything.
Those people were probably still congratulating themselves, thinking they had taken advantage of an easy mark today.
That gold watch would absolutely not be easy to sell for a high price in such a short time.
Since those people were willing to stage a scam for money, they certainly would not sell it as ordinary gold at a low price.
But only Tang Tang knew.
In just a few hours, gold, jewelry, and luxury goods would all be less valuable than a packet of instant noodles.
After several twists and turns, Tang Tang finally found the shop that sold “smuggled goods.”
The storefront was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to enter.
A cool breeze rushed toward her, making the inside feel like a completely different world from the scorching heat outside.
The shop itself was also very cramped.
A dim incandescent bulb hung overhead. The concrete floor and moldy white walls gave the place a gloomy appearance.
“Boss, are you here?”
A door in the corner of the shop opened.
A thin young man wearing a white shirt walked out.
“Can I help you?”
Tang Tang was somewhat surprised.
She had not expected the owner of a shop that sold “smuggled goods” to look about the same age as her.
“Old Hai from the northern entrance of the market recommended me.”
The young man nodded and pointed at the acrylic boxes on the shelves.
“Take a look yourself and see what you want.”
The boxes were empty, with labels stuck on them.
Tang Tang looked through them one by one, keeping a calm expression on the surface.
Inside, she was already screaming.
Indian medicine was nothing compared to these. The other labels became increasingly outrageous the more she looked.
CHNO₃, KMnO₄, S, KNO₃, NH₄NO₃…
Tang Tang pressed her lips together slightly, her long eyelashes trembling.
If she said she did not want to buy anything, would she be able to walk out of this shop alive?
Tang Tang secretly glanced back at the shop owner.
“Not satisfied with the goods? Then do you want to pick them out yourself?”
The young man keenly noticed her gaze and pointed toward the door behind him.
Through the crack in the door, she could vaguely see that the space inside was spacious. There seemed to be more to the shop than met the eye.
Tang Tang hurriedly shook her head.
“No, no. That’s not necessary.”
She was only joking. She was afraid that if she went inside, she might have to leave two kidneys behind to get out.
The young man went inside. When he came back out, he was holding a bag of white powder, which he casually tossed onto the table beside Tang Tang.
“Do you want this?”
Tang Tang froze when she saw the white powder before her.
Taking a closer look…
It was white sugar!
She did not have much use for these other things anyway. Other people were stockpiling food while she was stockpiling explosives?
But since she was already here, Tang Tang still bought a large amount of everything.
She ordered ten tons of white sugar alone.
There were also various controlled medications, outdoor survival supplies, military entrenching shovels and daggers, solar panels, hand-crank generators, walkie-talkies, radio transmitters…
This shop even had gasoline!
Tang Tang could not have been happier.
She had originally been worried about where she could get a large amount of gasoline. After all, gasoline could only be pumped into a fuel tank.
If she bought it in oil drums, she would have to go through the necessary procedures.
Otherwise, she could only fill up one vehicle at a time, pump the gasoline out of the tank, and then go to another gas station to fill it again.
If she really did that, she would probably exhaust herself to death without managing to stockpile much.
As Tang Tang lowered her head to fill in the delivery address, the young shop owner glanced at it.
His eyes became thoughtful.
Could it be that he wasn’t the only one?