“This group of people had low combat ability and couldn’t adapt to the wasteland world, so over time, they were classified as defective humans.”
Huo Tao watched Shen Guoguo’s expression carefully. Seeing that she remained calm, he continued.
“To avoid wasting the base’s resources, defective humans were restricted from trading and from engaging in many professions.”
“So that’s how it is!”
Shen Guoguo nodded, indicating she understood. “If they can’t trade, can they still transfer money?”
This identity problem wasn’t going to be easy to fix. Still, letting her star coins sit in her account collecting dust didn’t make sense either.
Huo Tao shook his head.
Defective humans weren’t common—he had never interacted or traded with one before.
Shen Guoguo raised her slender wrist. “Come, come, let’s test it.”
After setting her wristband, she tapped her snow-white wrist against Huo Tao’s.
【Sorry, defective human, no right to transfer funds】
Damn it!!!
Others could transfer money to her, but she couldn’t buy anything or transfer money to anyone else.
Looking at the 2,650 star coins in her account, Shen Guoguo scratched her head.
Being poor wasn’t scary—what was scary was being me and poor!
“Do you really need money that much?”Huo Tao tilted his head and looked at her.
“…” Shen Guoguo lay flat on the cold, hard metal bed.
If she couldn’t spend money or buy anything, what was the point of living?
A low chuckle came from beside her.
“If you want to buy something, you can use my money.”
Huh?
Like a dying patient suddenly revived, Shen Guoguo shot up and looked straight at him.
His handsome, firm features softened slightly under her peach blossom eyes. Seeing she didn’t respond, Huo Tao added,“We’re family now—you said it yourself.”
He had already guessed what had happened.
She must’ve gone out wanting to buy something for the house, only to find she couldn’t because of her identity, which explained why she came home late and empty-handed.
Shen Guoguo stared at him in silence for a full two minutes before speaking slowly.
“You’re already in this condition. How much money could you even have?”
“But don’t worry—next time I make money, I’ll have them transfer it to your account. That way we’ll still have money to spend.”
“You stay here, I’ll go handle something.”
Now that she understood the situation and had a temporary solution, Shen Guoguo jumped off the bed and got to work.
She was never one to dwell on problems.
Her motto was simple: Read whichever page the wind blows open; if you don’t understand it, tear it out.
So what if she couldn’t spend her own money?She could spend Huo Tao’s—same thing!
“I…”
Huo Tao touched his wristband. He actually did have money.
Five years ago, he’d been a well-known high-level warrior in Fengtu City. Before his accident, he had just hunted down a rare pair of mutant firebirds.Someone from another city bought them, paying him 100,000 star coins.
But before he could tell his family about it, the accident happened.After that, his mother’s attitude toward him changed drastically.He had fallen into despair, leaving the money untouched all these years.
And now… his little wife wanted to use it.
Shen Guoguo carried the big basin to the faucet and began washing the things she had brought back.
She had already cleaned them once at the slaughterhouse; now she was just doing a final rinse.
The spoiled cow stomach had to be discarded, so she soaked the remaining mountain chicken pieces in clean water.
Her delicate brows furrowed tightly.
“Um… Huo Tao, do you have 500 star coins? We need to buy some things.”
“If not, we can sell one nutrient injection. Don’t worry—we’ll make the money back soon.”
There were too many things missing in this home.
Some money had to be spent.
Huo Tao rolled his wheelchair to her side and gently patted her head.“I have it. Let’s go now—it’ll be dark soon.”
Shen Guoguo stood, straightened her clothes, grabbed her small pouch, and pushed Huo Tao toward the inner city.
Her money couldn’t be used, and Huo Tao wasn’t exactly wealthy either.
They had to shop smart and compare prices.
She checked several condiment stores on the wristband’s map.
Chefs needed seasonings to process food, and apart from nutrient injections, the wealthy still enjoyed real meals—so seasoning stores had their market.
But the prices were outrageous.
“What?! A single jar of salt costs 150 star coins? Why don’t you just rob people?” Shen Guoguo was stunned.
The sales robot’s mechanical voice replied:【Please mind your language. I have no intention of robbing you.】
That jar weighed maybe one jin (half a kilogram).Converted to soft currency—it was 150 yuan per jin!
Who could afford that?
And sugar was even worse—claimed to be “naturally crystallized from rare plants,” priced at 300 star coins a jar.
In the end, Shen Guoguo grit her teeth and bought one jar of salt and one jar of natural alkali.
As for the other condiments—she’d either make them herself or wait until she earned more money.
Watching Shen Guoguo’s pained expression, Huo Tao silently memorized the names of all the seasonings she wanted.
Next, the two went to a general store—something like a hardware shop.Most of the items were made of metal but were quite cheap.
“Fengtu City has its own iron mines, so steel and iron products aren’t expensive,” Huo Tao explained when he saw her confusion.
“No wonder,” Shen Guoguo murmured as she browsed the shelves.
She picked out a cutting board, a knife, a pot, a spatula, a ladle, two bowls, and four plates.
Oh, and also chopsticks and a simple gas stove.
Then she added one chair and three large basins—one for washing her face, one for washing her feet, and one for washing her own small clothes.
When Huo Tao lived alone, cleanliness wasn’t much of a concern.But now that there were two of them—it was different. Hygiene mattered.
Once Shen Guoguo was done selecting, Huo Tao raised his wristband and obediently paid.
【Beep, payment successful】
Across both lifetimes, this was the first time Shen Guoguo had gone shopping with a man—and he paid.
Not gonna lie—it felt great.
As Shen Guoguo turned to leave, Huo Tao asked, “Is that all? I still have money. If you want to buy more, let’s get it together.”
He had never gone shopping with a girl before.He didn’t know much about romance, but he just wanted to buy her more things.
“No need. We’ll need money for other things later—let’s save some. When I start earning…”
She stopped herself.
I’ll keep you, were the words that almost slipped out.
She had planned to buy a bed earlier, but she wasn’t thick-skinned enough for that.
Imagine—a newlywed wife using her husband’s money to buy a separate bed to sleep alone.Who could bear that?
So Shen Guoguo gave up on buying the bed.And honestly, judging by Huo Tao’s condition… well, there wasn’t much he could do anyway.
The two returned home before nightfall.
Every street in the city had preinstalled natural gas pipelines.Using the flexible metal hose that came with the stove, Shen Guoguo skillfully connected the line to the gas outlet by their door.
Now, they finally had the basic conditions for cooking.
In the outer city, no one cooked for themselves—everyone just ate nutrient injections.Natural gas hadn’t been used for years.
Her actions drew attention from all the neighbors—people returning from work gathered in the alley to see what she was doing.
Even Huo Mother and Huo Hai came after hearing the news.
The moment they reached the doorway, they were hit with an indescribable stench.