The stall owner who had been howling at Zhao Zhenzhen and pleading on Spock’s behalf was named Adam.
He was cradling the unconscious Spock in his arms, repeating over and over, “Just forgive him, won’t you!”
Making Zhao Zhenzhen almost feel like she’d picked up an evil mother-in-law script, currently beating apart a pair of lovebirds with a stick.
“What does this have to do with me? It’s not like I made him faint.”
Adam took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and was about to start howling again.
Seeing this, Zhao Zhenzhen got scared and quickly waved her hands, “Fine, fine, fine! I’ll try!”
“Oh.” Adam immediately shut his mouth.
“?” Zhao Zhenzhen.
Great, she’d learned another new lesson: even if someone showed up as a neutral white name, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t play tricks.
Zhao Zhenzhen shot Adam an exasperated glare, then pressed her thumb hard into Spock’s philtrum!
Spock immediately showed signs of stirring.
Someone nearby gasped quietly, “See, see, he’s waking up now—it really was her casting a spell—”
“…” Let me see just who’s talking nonsense and ruining my reputation!
Zhao Zhenzhen whipped her head around, only to see a group of innocent-looking passersby.
Seeing her look over, they glanced behind themselves in confusion, then turned back to meet Zhao Zhenzhen’s gaze.
Wearing expressions of pure innocence, with faces that had clearly never been bullied, they stared back at Zhao Zhenzhen.
“…” Sly foreigners, playing dumb like a bunch of silly deer.
Zhao Zhenzhen clicked her tongue and turned back to look at Spock.
Spock’s eyes were rolling, his eyelids half-open and half-closed.
“What’s going on?” Adam asked, turning to Zhao Zhenzhen for help. “Zhao, why don’t you give it another go?”
“It’s different when you do it.” Zhao Zhenzhen leaned in to look. “You’ve got more strength, you do it.”
Adam waved his hands vigorously, “I can’t! I’m not blessed with the touch! You should do it!”
“…” Blessed with the touch my ass, where did this feudal superstition come from?
Oh, it’s from a capitalist country? Then never mind.
Zhao Zhenzhen reached out and pinched hard again, finally managing to snap Spock back to his senses this time.
“Spock! You’re finally awake!” Adam hugged Spock, shaking him. “It was Zhao who saved you! Say thank you!”
Spock turned his head and locked eyes with Zhao Zhenzhen. His legs twitched, his eyes rolled back, and he was about to faint again.
…Wait, is she really that terrifying?!
Adam moved quickly—”SMACK!”—slapping Spock across the face. The sound was so loud that even Zhao Zhenzhen couldn’t help but wince.
“Spock!” Adam shook him frantically. “Say thank you! Hurry up!”
…Bro, no need, bro. You’re scaring people like this.
Zhao Zhenzhen was stunned.
But before she could say anything, Spock, who’d been slapped back to his senses, actually sat up and sincerely thanked her. As he spoke, he grabbed her hand, pressed it to his forehead, and started crying.
Not just crying—he kept apologizing nonstop.
…Aaaah! Tears! Dirty tears were running all over her hand!
Just as her pupils were shaking from the shock, an ambulance arrived—”SCREECH—” it slammed to a halt at the roadside.
Even Spock forgot to cry, staring wide-eyed at the ambulance. He whipped his head toward Adam, “Did you call that for me?!”
“No! I didn’t!” Adam waved his hands frantically.
Zhao Zhenzhen took the opportunity to yank her hand back. While wiping it off, she gloated, “Maybe some kind-hearted passerby called it for you?”
…Heh heh.
This time it was Spock’s turn to have his pupils shake. He shouted at the ambulance, “I’m fine! I don’t need an ambulance! Go away!”
The driver sat motionless in the car, staring at him like he was an idiot, along with the paramedic in the passenger seat.
The rear door opened, and the tall officer helped the fat officer step out.
“Zhao, Zhao!” The fat officer clutched his waist with one hand, weakly waving money at Zhao Zhenzhen with the other. “I—I forgot to pay earlier.”
“…” Zhao Zhenzhen was dumbfounded.
The fat officer endured the pain, shuffling over step by step, and shoved the money into Zhao Zhenzhen’s hands. He grabbed both her hands and shook them vigorously up and down. “Thank you! If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead today. Thank you!”
“…You should really get to the hospital,” Zhao Zhenzhen said with a blank face. “You didn’t have to come all the way here just to give me the money.”
The fat officer cut her off. “How could I not?”
“My grandmother once sternly reminded us—never owe money to anyone, but especially never to a psychic!”
“…” Zhao Zhenzhen.
More whispers drifted from the crowd. “See, see? I told you—psychic—”
…Who exactly was spreading such nonsense!
Zhao Zhenzhen turned her head again, glaring furiously at the crowd.
This stall was absolutely impossible to keep running.
As soon as the ambulance drove off, Zhao Zhenzhen grabbed her cardboard sign and her newly acquired stool, and slipped away too.
Mrs. Dalins hadn’t expected Zhao Zhenzhen back so early and thought something had gone wrong. She came out of the kitchen with a look of concern.
Coincidentally, Zhao Zhenzhen also wanted someone to vent to, so she recounted everything that had happened to Mrs. Dalins in full detail.
Mrs. Dalins gasped repeatedly, her eyes sparkling, and kept pressing, “And then? What happened after?”
She even lamented that Zhao Zhenzhen hadn’t gone along with Emma and the others to see how things turned out.
“I wonder how it all ended,” Mrs. Dalins said wistfully, cupping her cheeks.
She looked like someone who’d heard a wonderful story but was left regretting not knowing the ending.
“It should have turned out well,” Zhao Zhenzhen said. “At least I can guarantee Emma got her money back and stopped Blake from robbing her home. And Nana’s life is no longer in danger.”
The 2 experience points belonging to the two of them were already sitting in her panel, which meant things had resolved favorably.
“That’s wonderful.” Mrs. Dalins clutched her chest in relief, gazing at Zhao Zhenzhen with a moved expression. “Oh… Zhao, you saved three people today.”
How wonderful!
“Are you going back this afternoon?” Mrs. Dalins looked at her expectantly.
Zhao Zhenzhen shook her head. “I’ll go again tomorrow.”
They chatted a bit more, and Zhao Zhenzhen used resting upstairs as an excuse to return to her room and sort through the day’s earnings.
Before closing the door, she heard Mrs. Dalins on the phone, enthusiastically telling someone about what had happened during her fortune-telling outing today.
Zhao Zhenzhen smiled and shut the door to block out the sound.
A total of 35 people had played the age-guessing game. Nana and Emma had given 15 dollars total, and then there was the 50 dollars the fat officer had given her afterward. Another 100 dollars banked.
Zhao Zhenzhen rolled up the money and couldn’t help bouncing a few times.
But the most exciting thing was the points that had appeared on her panel.
Yesterday she’d only had 1 point, but today she’d gained a whopping 254 points in one go!
Of those, 200 points came from the fat officer and Nana. 50 came from Emma.
That meant saving a life and pulling them away from their original death outcome earned her 100 points.
As for Emma’s 50, Zhao Zhenzhen guessed it was because Emma had originally been robbed blind—a loss severe enough to cripple her, knock her down, and change the course of her life entirely.
But now that she had changed it, she was rewarded with 50 points.
Of the remaining 5 points, 1 was from White last night, and the other 4 were the total from her age-guessing games with people?
Even counting those few at school?
Each person giving 0.1 points would add up to those 4 points.
However, this experience value didn’t display decimal points, so this was just Zhao Zhenzhen’s speculation. It would be simple to confirm—just pay attention every ten people the next time she guessed ages.
In any case, Zhao Zhenzhen now had a total of 255 points!
Exchanging them all would net her 2,550 dollars.
That covered a quarter’s rent!
But Zhao Zhenzhen didn’t plan to exchange them all.
She only exchanged 70 points.
As the points on the panel jumped to 185, she immediately felt something extra appear in her pocket.
Zhao Zhenzhen reached in and pulled out two rolls of bills.
All brand-new 10-dollar denominations.
Adding that to the cash she already had on hand, Zhao Zhenzhen now held a total of 1,152 dollars.
Quarterly rent was 1,050, and based on the original body’s memories, choosing the cheapest Nokia phone would cost about 50 dollars.
Leaving 52 dollars in change was enough for daily expenses.
If it wasn’t enough, she could exchange more points at any time.
Convenient and quick, with no worry about losing it.
Zhao Zhenzhen wasn’t one to procrastinate. She neatly organized the money into an envelope, went downstairs, and handed it to Mrs. Dalins.
Then she headed out to the supermarket to buy a phone.
In the era Zhao Zhenzhen came from, 5G had already been fully rolled out and promoted.
Now she was back in the 2G era, and she found it utterly archaic. Even as the salesperson talked up the latest phone with glowing praise, Zhao Zhenzhen wasn’t the least bit tempted.
The salesperson, however, kept boasting with pride, “You’re in the most advanced, wealthiest, and freest place in the world, so naturally you should use the freest and most advanced phone too! Come on! Trust me—if you want to make more friends and have plenty of social connections, you have to pick this latest model.”
“Look at this beautiful body—sleek, stylish, the trendiest flip phone right now. This V-series is perfect for you!”
Well said, but please don’t say it again.
No matter how sweetly he pitched it, in Zhao Zhenzhen’s eyes, they were still “tears of the times.”
“I’ll take this one that can play Snake,” Zhao Zhenzhen said firmly, rejecting his recommendation outright.
Trying to lure her into a consumer trap? Hah, talk to her again when smartphones come out.
Zhao Zhenzhen, thirty years ahead of the fashion curve, looked down on the latest models of now.
Author’s note:
Salesperson: Take a look at this latest model ahead of the trend! It’s the top choice for today’s youth, a symbol of fashion! The epitome of cool!
Zhao Zhenzhen: Oh? And it is?
Salesperson announces with solemn grandeur: Mo—to—ro—la!