A night of dreamless sleep.
Hearing the rustling sounds of people waking up all around her, Shen Tangtang gave a giant yawn and climbed out of bed.
She picked up her little basin and headed out to the courtyard to wash up.
Spotting her up and about, Lin Daiyu looked rather surprised. “Tangtang, didn’t you say you weren’t going out scavenging today? Why are you up so early?”
“Ah… couldn’t sleep.”
Another massive yawn escaped Shen Tangtang’s lips. She rubbed her face in a hazy, half-asleep daze, looking the very picture of someone who hadn’t gotten enough rest.
Lin Daiyu gave her a suspicious look, but didn’t press further. After finishing her routine, she headed off toward the assembly point alongside the young girlfriends she had pre-arranged to go with.
Shen Tangtang watched their retreating figures for a moment. Those three girls were the ones Aunt Wang had pivoted to badgering yesterday after failing to fleece them—they were in the exact same graduating batch and would be leaving the orphanage right alongside them next year. She had no idea when Lin Daiyu had even made plans with them.
She spent a little while in the courtyard practicing the martial arts forms she’d learned in her past life, followed by a one-hour jog around the perimeter of the orphanage. It wasn’t until the hustle and bustle of people heading out to scavenge began to die down that she finally returned to her small courtyard to wash up.
“Tangtang-jie, aren’t you going out scavenging with Big Sis today?”
Ten-year-old Lin Qiqi looked up in surprise as Shen Tangtang walked in through the doorway. Being raised under her older sister’s care, the little girl was plump and fair-skinned, her clear eyes filled with absolute puzzlement.
“Nope, I’ve got some errands to run today.”
Catching sight of Qiqi, a soft smile touched Shen Tangtang’s face as she answered in a brisk, cheerful tone.
She picked up the small basin she’d left in the corner and walked over to the water well. “Why are you up so early? I thought you didn’t have morning lessons today.”
“Aunt Li asked me to help watch her grandson today, and I said yes.”
After wiping her face clean and giving her hair a casual, messy swipe with her fingers, Lin Qiqi flashed a happy grin. “Alright Tangtang-jie, I’m heading out!”
“Go on then.”
Shen Tangtang nodded. Recalling what Lin Daiyu had mentioned yesterday about someone striking it rich with an energy stone down in the southern wasteland sector, she figured Aunt Li had likely run off to join the commotion.
Aunt Li’s family lived in a modest household right next to the orphanage, and she frequently dumped her grandson at the orphanage for the other kids to watch, making them quite familiar with each other.
By the time Shen Tangtang finished tidying up, the sky was just barely beginning to brighten.
She returned to her sleeping mat and fished her little cloth pouch out from under the pillow.
It was a small pouch roughly the size of an adult woman’s palm, which the original owner had used to store small snacks back in her childhood days. Ever since the original owner’s parents vanished in the wasteland and she herself spiked a fatal fever, Shen Tangtang had never found any snacks inside the pouch. Nowadays, she treated it mostly as an accessory—she felt like heading out to “go shopping” without carrying a bag completely lacked the right vibe.
After a ten-minute walk, the trading lobby finally loomed into view.
Shen Tangtang hadn’t visited the trading lobby more than a handful of times, so she had no clue which specific window handled weapon transactions.
Noticing that every single line was packed with people, she simply picked a random queue and drifted to the back.
Sensing someone standing right behind him, the man ahead of her instinctively took a sharp step forward, widening the physical gap between them.
Shen Tangtang couldn’t care less; in this wasteland world, a healthy dose of paranoia was standard operating procedure.
Before long, it was her turn.
“What are you looking to trade? Credits or physical goods?”
“Could you help me check how many credits these are worth?”
With that, Shen Tangtang pulled a taro root tendril and four leaves out of her sack and placed them neatly on the service counter.
“Certainly.”
The clerk showed no trace of condescension at the sight of the raw roots and leaves, picking up the taro tendril to place it directly on the scanner.
[Scan result: Radiation level 21%, edible, 5 catties, 13 credits.]
[Scan result: Radiation level 20%, trace toxins present, edible, 19 catties, 16 credits.]
[Scan result: Radiation level 17%, trace toxins present, edible, 22 catties, 18 credits.]
[Scan result: Radiation level 25%, trace toxins present, edible, 17 catties, 13 credits.]
[Scan result: Radiation level 24%, trace toxins present, edible, 11 catties, 9 credits.]
The clerk shot a look of utter astonishment at Shen Tangtang. She hadn’t expected the produce brought in by this young girl to boast such remarkably low radiation levels. Foliage with radiation levels this low—even with mild traces of toxins—was fiercely coveted by the nobility.
“Congratulations, that comes to a total of 69 credits.”
After calculating the final value displayed on her screen, the clerk smiled as she transferred the credits directly into Shen Tangtang’s account, then politely inquired, “Is there anything else I can assist you with?”
Shen Tangtang looked up at the clerk, flashing a pair of small canine teeth as she spoke in a soft voice, “Um… do you happen to sell daggers here?”
Noticing the young girl’s apparent shyness, the female clerk smiled warmly. “We do. You can take a look at the catalog and pick whichever style you prefer.”
With a few quick taps on the terminal beside her, a holographic display popped up showcasing several item diagrams accompanied by their listed prices.
Right there on the screen were the daggers Shen Tangtang needed.
A pitch-black dagger took pride of place near the top, carrying an eye-watering price tag of 100,000 credits.
Shen Tangtang inwardly clicked her tongue—was that dagger supposed to be a divine artifact or something?
Seemingly reading Shen Tangtang’s thoughts, the clerk offered a polite explanation. “This was recovered by the esper strike team from inside a mutant beast nest. It’s been tested and confirmed to be forged from dark iron, making it peerlessly sharp. Plus, the groove along the blade can be embedded with energy stones, turning it into an energy-powered weapon. It can even—”
Catching herself when she noticed Shen Tangtang’s utterly unblinking, blank expression, the clerk cut herself short. There’s no point explaining advanced gear she wouldn’t understand, she thought, scrolling all the way down to the bottom where a selection of lower-priced, ordinary daggers was listed.
Of course Shen Tangtang understood what the clerk had left unsaid—it could easily slice through a mutant beast’s heavily armored hide like a hot knife through butter. But what good did that do her when she didn’t have anywhere near that kind of fortune?
In the end, Shen Tangtang settled on a dagger priced at 100 credits. It wasn’t that she didn’t want something cheaper; it was simply that this was the absolute lowest-priced option on the list, while everything else hovered in the thousands or tens of thousands. No wonder so few people inside the safe zone owned weapons.
Accepting the dagger handed over by the clerk, she noticed a distinct notch missing near the base of the blade, though it had been meticulously repaired.
Shen Tangtang didn’t nitpick. She wrapped it securely inside her burlap sack, then turned back to ask the clerk, “Do you happen to have hoes here as well?”
“A hoe?” The clerk blinked in confusion, cast a critical eye over Shen Tangtang’s slight, slender frame, and answered with professional patience, “Plants grown by individuals still carry radiation levels, you know. You’d really be better off not wasting your time on that.”
“Mm-hm, thanks anyway, miss. It’s fine, I just want to give it a try.”
Hearing that, Shen Tangtang knew for a fact they stocked hoes, and gave an obedient nod.
“Hoes are 20 credits.”
Realizing the girl wasn’t going to be swayed by her warning, the clerk decided not to meddle further and tapped through the system until she pulled up the icon for a farming hoe.
Once the credits were deducted, the clerk stepped into the back storeroom and emerged a moment later carrying a standard iron hoe.
Moments later, Shen Tangtang walked out of the trading lobby with a hoe slung over her shoulder and a remaining balance of a mere 12 credits to her name. That trading lobby was an absolute credit-devouring monster; the credits she had just earned hadn’t even had time to warm up before they were entirely wiped out. If she hadn’t exercised foresight this morning by unearthing those taro leaves and tendrils, she wouldn’t have even come close to affording a dagger and a hoe.
After ducking into a secluded alleyway to stash the hoe safely inside her spatial storage, she kept to the shadows to dodge the blazing sun all the way back to the orphanage gates. Raising her gaze to look outside, she saw the ground baked dry and cracked; dumping a full bucket of water out there right now would probably cause it to instantly vanish into the thirsty earth.
Shaking her head, she slipped back inside the safety of the dormitory.