The wicker basket also held mutated potatoes.
Mandy: “…Aunt Grant, your daughter has a wonderful personality.”
‘It really is!’
‘She knows how to protect what’s hers.’
“My daughter doesn’t really have a mean bone in her body.
It’s just these times we’re living in,” May Grant said, giving her daughter’s arm a gentle, chiding pat.
“Please don’t be offended.”
“Of course I’m not.
She’s just trying to protect you,” Mandy said.
She genuinely admired Holly Grant—a girl covered in thorns that pointed outward, but who was soft on the inside.
Holly Grant didn’t pull her arm away.
She repeated, “Flattery won’t work on me.
I’m not lending you any food.
We already told you where the gathering area is, so go dig for it yourselves.
If you won’t dig, you can buy it from the authorities.
It’s 500 grams for one point.”
“We’re neighbors.
Be nice,” May Grant said, patting her daughter again.
Heavy, slow footsteps echoed in the hallway.
A few people, their faces etched with exhaustion, trudged up the stairs.
When they saw May Grant and Mandy, they reacted just like Holly Grant had.
They clutched their wicker baskets, hastily unlocked their doors, and slipped inside.
‘So these were the neighbors they hadn’t met yet!’
They had moved so fast that Mandy hadn’t even gotten a clear look at their faces.
Seeing how the other neighbors reacted, Holly Grant fixed her gaze on Mandy.
“I’m not here to borrow food,” Mandy said, fighting a smile at the girl’s intense stare.
A second later, Mandy’s smile vanished.
The moment Mandy said she wasn’t there to borrow food, Holly shot back even faster, blurting out, “You can’t borrow water, either—”
‘This girl has such a one-track mind.
Why is she so convinced I’m after their things?’ Mandy gave up trying to be friendly with Holly.
“…Aunt Grant, are you free tomorrow?
I was hoping to go to that place we talked about.
I need to buy a few things.”
“See?
She’s not here to borrow anything like you thought,” May Grant said, tucking a stray strand of her daughter’s hair behind her ear.
“You misunderstood her.”
“Well, as long as you’re not borrowing anything.
You should’ve said so sooner,” Holly Grant muttered, realizing her mistake.
She slipped inside with her two wicker baskets, leaving the door cracked just enough for May Grant to get through.
“That girl…” May Grant’s hand, which had been on her daughter, was left hanging in the air.
She gave Mandy a resigned sigh.
“Honestly, it’s a good thing she’s like that.
Most people wouldn’t be as protective as she is.
She’s looking out for you and your home, which is wonderful.” The praise flowed freely from Mandy, who spoke of Holly Grant as if she were her own child.
“Having a daughter like her is better than having a house full of them.”
Hearing her daughter praised, May Grant smiled happily.
“Holly is a good girl.”
“I actually have two sons as well, but they married out long ago.”
“Don’t even mention your good-for-nothing second son!
The neighbor’s right, you should appreciate me more,” Holly called out without showing her face.
She had been hostile to their neighbor several times, but the woman had never held it against her.
That, combined with today’s misunderstanding, made her too embarrassed to come out.
‘What an interesting girl,’ Mandy thought.
‘If I had a son, I’d scoop her up for him in a heartbeat.’ She returned to their earlier topic.
“So, is tomorrow okay?
We don’t have anything at home!
We managed to gather some mutated potatoes, but we have no way to cook them.”
“Hey, neighbor!
Give us 500 grams of your mutated potatoes, and I’ll cook 500 grams for you.
You provide the water,” Holly Grant said, poking her head out of the doorway, her face slightly flushed.
“Firewood is hard to gather.
Mutated potatoes are only one point, but firewood costs two.”
“Deal,” Mandy said.
She turned back into her apartment, picked out about a kilogram of the potatoes Gary Moore had washed, and came back out with a bottle of their rationed water.
Outside the door, May Grant was twisting Holly’s ear.
“She says one nice thing about you and suddenly you think you can run a business?
How much trouble is it to help them cook a few potatoes?”
“I think it’s a great idea.
This way, everything’s clear and straightforward, and nobody owes anyone anything,” Mandy said, stuffing the items into Holly’s hands.
She then turned and grabbed May Grant’s arm.
“Let’s get back to what we were talking about!”
Holly Grant made a face at her mother.
As she took the potatoes, she noticed they were already washed sparkling clean.
She handed the water back.
“I don’t need this, then.
I’ll bring them over when they’re ready.”
“Thanks, Holly.
I’m Mandy Donovan, but you can call me Mandy.
I’m older than you, so just Mandy is fine.” She held onto May Grant to stop her from pinching Holly’s ear again, then gave Holly a little wink.
“Mandy!” Holly’s face grew even redder.
Clutching the supplies, she ducked back inside the door.
May Grant said sheepishly, “You really didn’t have to give her 500 grams.
We’re neighbors, after all.”
“Could you knock for me tomorrow, Aunt Grant?
I don’t know when you’ll be leaving.” ‘Going to the Black Market is the priority,’ Mandy thought.
‘Socializing isn’t the main goal.’ She had a good feeling about the girl, Holly, but that’s all it was—a good feeling.
With a neighbor like her, at least you didn’t have to worry about them overstepping their bounds.
“Oh, look at me.
With that interruption from Holly, we’ve been talking all this time and I haven’t even explained properly,” May Grant said, tapping her forehead.
“I’m also going to buy things tomorrow, but I should warn you.
The goods there are a little expensive, so make sure you bring enough points.”
“It’s settled, then.” With tomorrow’s plans arranged with May Grant, Mandy felt a weight lift from her shoulders.
She was already thinking about what she’d buy: a few low-contamination wood planks to make a bed base, some other necessities, and a bit of meat.
Inside the Grant family’s apartment, Holly and Henry Grant were straining their ears, listening to the conversation outside.
Henry Grant whispered to his daughter, “See?
You can relax now.
She really wasn’t here to borrow anything, just to ask your mother to show her the way.”
“She isn’t borrowing now, but what about later?
It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.
I’m telling you, from now on, we’re not lending our things to anyone.
No one.
My brothers are married men—like spilled water.
We won’t even lend to them if they come back,” Holly said, full of conviction.
Her hands never stopped moving as she chopped the mutated potatoes into chunks.
“We’re having this for dinner tonight, too!”
“Whatever you say, we’ll eat.
You’re the boss,” Henry Grant said, helpless against his daughter’s force of will.
“You and Mandy next door are about the same age.
You two could hang out, you know.”
In the kitchen, Holly faced the wall and muttered under her breath, “I’m so busy every day, where would I find time to ‘hang out’?
If I go out to play, what are you and Mom going to eat?
Air?
I still have to be on guard for my second brother coming back to steal things.
You should take a good look at the kind of son you two raised…”
Mandy closed the door.
Inside, two pairs of eyes were fixed on her hands.
She had given the mutated potatoes to Holly, leaving her with only the bottle of rationed water.
Mandy gave each of her companions a playful ruffle on the head.
“Our neighbor is going to cook them for us.
We don’t have anything here, so otherwise, we’d be eating them raw!”
“The girl next door is named Holly Grant.
She’s actually a good kid.
Very protective of her mom, which is nice to see.”
“Good?
She sweet-talked 500 grams of mutated potatoes out of you,” Etta Moore said, rubbing her cheek against Mandy’s palm.
“What’s so hard about cooking food?
You just boil it in water, right?”
Hearing that, Mandy wanted to facepalm.
She could already imagine what Holly would be bringing back.
“Well…
even boiling requires a certain amount of skill.”