With the dormitory completely empty, Shen Tangtang climbed up onto her bed, sat cross-legged, and pulled out the nutrient paste she’d been issued yesterday, eating it slowly.
She had already mapped out her tasks for the day, which was why she hadn’t consumed her paste before returning yesterday, and by now she was practically hollow with hunger.
After finishing half the tube and feeling the burning knot in her stomach finally settle, she closed her eyes in blissful satisfaction, folded over the remaining half, stashed it back into her spatial storage, and drifted off to a comfortable sleep.
Taking an afternoon nap in the dorm was pure luxury—no need to stress over sudden danger lurking around every corner, and no need to hunt for scraps of shade.
“Keep it down, shh, hurry up before they get back.”
“Coming, coming. Turns out my observation yesterday was spot on; this girl really did leave a leaf behind.”
“Move faster! If anyone catches us, we’re totally screwed.”
Roused awake by the chatter, Shen Tangtang sat up and peered toward the lower bunk across the room. Catching sight of the two figures rummaging through the bed, she drawled in a lazy, unbothered tone, “What are you two up to? Care to cut me in on the loot?”
“Buzz off, there barely isn’t enough for ourselves!”
One of the young girls snapped back with a harsh, irritable tone while still chewing on a leaf she’d snagged. It wasn’t until her companion noticed the weird tone of voice and turned around, staring in sheer terror at Shen Tangtang sitting up on the upper bunk, that she choked up.
“Shushu, th-there’s someone here.”
“What? Someone?”
Bai Yanshu whipped her head up and spotted the figure gazing down at her with an ambiguous, mocking smile. The leaf in her mouth nearly dropped to the floor in fright.
Shen Tangtang: Cue polite smile…
“Sis, w-we went to the wrong room!”
The two little girls stammered and tugged at each other, desperate to make a run for it.
“Did I say you could leave?”
Shen Tangtang’s voice turned ice-cold. She had zero tolerance for thieves, especially since she was the only one holding down the fort in this room today—any missing items would inevitably get pinned on her.
“Either you put the stuff back right now, or we take a little trip down to see the director. Which is it going to be?”
“W-We don’t want to go to the director! Sis, please, spare us! We’ll never do it again!”
Terrified at the mention of the director, the two six-or-seven-year-old girls burst into tears, their previous cocky arrogance completely evaporated.
The orphanage didn’t have overly draconian punishments for petty theft, but escalating things to the director was a whole different story. Back when someone tried to sneakily swipe Shen Tangtang’s reserved night ration, a light-sleeping Tangtang had caught them red-handed, and the director had ultimately forced the culprit to reimburse her with a fresh tube of nutrient paste to settle the matter.
“Put what you’re holding back where you found it! As for the girl whose bed that is, you can apologize to her yourself when she gets back tonight, though heaven knows how she’ll handle it.”
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Shen Tangtang watched the two kids hastily toss the leaf back into place before scrambling out the door.
The orphanage housed dozens of orphans. To keep the older kids from being disturbed while prepping for scavenging runs, the older ones were grouped into shared dorms while the younger ones slept in the adjacent quarters.
Those two kids were likely from the next room over; having tagged along to watch the commotion yesterday, they must have figured someone would leave a snack behind.
Checking her wristband, Shen Tangtang saw it was 2:30 PM. She had slept for two solid hours—no wonder she felt so refreshed and energized.
Climbing down from the bed, she scooped up the small basin from under her frame and stepped out into the courtyard.
A sudden burst of sobbing drifted over from the corner nearby.
“Waaah… what do we do, Shushu? That big sis saw us stealing! Is she gonna tell the director? I’m so scared.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry about her—she’s just a nosy, meddling witch. I’ll get my older brother to teach her a lesson.”
“Waaah… is Jun-ge going to yell at us too?”
“What’s there to be scared of? The food my brother brought home yesterday was so skimpy it wasn’t even enough to fill a pot, and I didn’t even get to eat my fill this morning. If he dares yell at me, I’ll go tattle to Mom and Dad.”
“If the director finds out I sneaked you in here, I’ll get yelled at too. We can’t tell Jun-ge, or the director will throw me out.”
“Don’t worry. When I’m older, I’ll take you out to find food ourselves. I heard there are tons of yummy leaves and fruit out in the wilderness.”
“Has Shushu eaten them before?”
“O-Of course! My brother just didn’t want me talking about it.”
Following the sound of the voices around the corner of the wall, Shen Tangtang finally spotted the small gap hidden behind a pile of deadwood where the two girls were still chattering away.
From their exchange, it was clear one of them was the male lead’s younger sister, Bai Yanshu. In the original novel, this girl was notorious for her abrasive, sharp-tongued attitude. Being the youngest and thoroughly spoiled by her parents, she had developed a toxic habit of resenting anyone doing better than her, eventually driving the female lead to pressure the male lead into splitting up the household, only to meet a miserable end out in the wasteland.
Silently returning to the well to draw water, Shen Tangtang got a solid read on the kid’s character. The girl had acted all submissive and pathetic just because she got caught red-handed, but the second she was out of sight, she went right back to running her mouth and cursing people out.
She offered a silent prayer for Daiyu-jie. If anyone bore the brunt of this brat’s bullying, it was definitely the white moonlight supporting actress, and even poor Lin琪琪 had been lured out into the wilderness and killed simply because Lin Daiyu had shared a single potato with Qiqi, leaving Bai Yanshu to cry crocodile tears while her helpless brother could only flash awkward, apologetic smiles at Lin Daiyu.
After tidying up, Shen Tangtang headed out the door, though the two kids had already vanished from the corner.
Luggage sack in hand, she quickened her pace toward the safe zone’s outer gates.
Passing through the shanty town, the pungent stench in the air hit her nostrils like a physical blow. Not a soul was in sight; everyone had already trudged out to scavenge.
Venturing outside the safe zone and heading another kilometer east, she began spotting mobility-impaired scavengers hunkered down by the roadside. They were out purely to try their luck—if they couldn’t find food, they settled for gathering dry branches. Winters in the wasteland were brutally unforgiving, so people began hoarding firewood as early as spring just to stave off freezing to death.
Seeing Shen Tangtang walking briskly past, nobody batted an eye. They remained locked in a numb, robotic trance, scanning leaves that had already been pawed over by countless others in the desperate hope of turning up as the next lucky soul to find an edible bite.
Her woven sun hat cast a deep shadow over most of her face. Carrying a practically weightless sack and walking with purposeful speed, her distinct lack of hesitation caught the attention of two men lurking in the shade of a tree.
They exchanged a glance, their eyes gleaming with the predatory excitement of hunters spotting fresh prey.
Hearing the pair of footsteps trailing behind her, Shen Tangtang frowned slightly but kept right on walking.
Another kilometer out along the main road leading into the wild, the density of scavengers thinned out. Some were squatting in the brush scanning foliage, others sheltered in the shade, and a few injured survivors sat in dead silence tending to their wounds.
The footsteps behind her grew closer and closer. Shen Tangtang didn’t even need to turn around to know these two were tailing her in broad daylight, completely unbothered by who might see them.
Wasteland accidents happened all the time; nobody ever wasted energy sticking their nose into other people’s business out here.
A knowing smirk touched the corner of Shen Tangtang’s lips. Spotting an isolated, low-visibility corner ahead, she veered straight off the path and plunged directly into the thicket of brush alongside it.
The two men flashed wicked grins and eagerly followed her in.