“There weren’t many people when I went over, so I came right back after exchanging my things.”
Lin Daiyu replied while washing up, her tone bubbling with excitement. This was her first time having credits of her very own and actually spending them, and she couldn’t mask the thrill in her heart.
Starting today, they could finally build up their own private stash of pocket money. The orphanage was only keeping them for one more year, and this year was their window to hustle for credits.
If they couldn’t scrape together enough credits to buy a home in the slums and pay the taxes, they’d have no choice but to move into the shanty town, where they’d still have to pay an annual tax of 20 credits.
Anyone truly too broke to afford even the shanty town wouldn’t even be allowed to stay there; the district chief would give advance notice, ultimately denying them entry into the safe zone altogether.
“Tangtang, we’re going to stay in the safe zone.”
Lin Daiyu declared with fiery determination.
Shen Tangtang nodded. She was fully on board with that.
Realizing it was too dark for Lin Daiyu to see her expression, she piped up, “We’ll stay in the safe zone. Let’s both give it our all, Daiyu-jie.”
Buying a place right in the slums might be out of reach, but snagging a decent spot within the shanty town was totally doable.
Loads of people died in the shanty town every year, leaving plenty of empty housing behind. As long as your credits were on point, the district chief would gladly approve a spot closer to the slums.
The male lead’s family lived right on the edge of the slums, keeping them clear of the filth and chaos of the outermost rings.
Crawling back onto her sleeping mat, Shen Tangtang quietly shut her eyes and drifted off. Ten minutes later, Lin Daiyu slipped inside as well. With no nighttime entertainment, the younger girls were already fast asleep, save for a few late-returning stragglers whispering softly in the dark.
Lin Daiyu slept in the lower bunk right beneath Shen Tangtang, and Shen Tangtang could feel the faint shifts as she tossed and turned.
Fatigued from the day’s hustle, she drifted off into a hazy sleep.
When Shen Tangtang woke up, the sky outside was still pitch black.
The sound of rustling movement filled the air as people began waking up all around.
She tapped her wristband to check the time: precisely 3:00 AM. Time to get moving—by the time they prepped and walked over to the assembly point, it’d be 4:00.
When she climbed down, Lin Daiyu groggily dragged herself awake too.
“Tangtang, you’re up? I was so excited last night I stayed up super late, and now I’m still wiped.” Her raspy voice gave away just how bone-tired she really was.
Muttering a few more half-asleep complaints, Lin Daiyu stumbled over to wash up in a daze.
They arrived at the staging ground even earlier than yesterday. Several transport buses heading to different wasteland sectors were available for selection.
The two besties unanimously decided to head back to yesterday’s wasteland sector. Their haul yesterday had been solid, and since it was newly developed, it was miles better than sectors that had been picked over for months.
As Shen Tangtang hauled Lin Daiyu into the queue, an obnoxious voice chimed in from behind.
“Daiyu, Tangtang, what a coincidence! I wanted to head to yesterday’s sector too—let’s go together!”
Bai Yanjun had been waiting here for half an hour. Spotting the two of them at last, he hurried over from the corner to join the line, putting on a masterclass of feigned surprise.
His acting skills rivaled an A-list movie star; if conditions permitted, Shen Tangtang would’ve loved to hand him an award.
What a coincidence, my foot. If she hadn’t read the novel, she might’ve actually bought that the male lead was just this desperate for food, waking up at 2:00 AM purely to “happen” to run into the supporting female lead.
It was all because tagging along with the female lead guaranteed he’d find food. If he went out alone, he could spend an entire day roaming around without uncovering a single edible leaf.
Why was she called the “white moonlight”? Mostly because the white moonlight supporting character had crossed paths with him during his absolute rock-bottom days, only for him to “accidentally” get her killed later on. Even after he transformed into a universally praised philanthropist in the future, he’d still reminisce every now and then, thinking back to his innocent white moonlight from the old days.
“What a huge coincidence, Big Brother Bai,” Shen Tangtang drawled with an innocent blink, dropping words sharp enough to draw blood. “Running into you two days in a row—I’d almost think you were staking us out.”
Lin Daiyu let out a little snort of laughter, but catching the dark look flashing across Bai Yanjun’s face, she quickly reined it in and batted her eyelashes shyly. “Jun-ge, my little sister’s just teasing, don’t take it to heart.”
Bai Yanjun’s expression shifted through a kaleidoscope of emotions before finally breaking into a brilliant smile. He shot a wink in Tangtang’s direction. “No worries at all. Tangtang is so innocent and cute, I couldn’t be mad even if I tried.”
That single remark made both girls’ expressions curdle.
Lin Daiyu shot Bai Yanjun a look, then glanced at Shen Tangtang, her eyes carrying a complex mix of emotions.
Shen Tangtang felt like the nutrient paste she’d digested last night was staging a comeback, threatening to force its way right back up her throat.
Listen here, big bro—you’re something else. Flirting with one girl clearly isn’t enough, you gotta multitask and hit on the bestie too? Get real.
Shen Tangtang rolled her eyes at Bai Yanjun and completely tuned out the delusional pest.
A real woman never wastes breath on verbal spats. Next time she got the chance, she was definitely tossing a burlap sack over his head and landing a solid beating just to vent her frustration—after all, the current male lead was nothing more than a stat-less scrub.
Shen Tangtang and Lin Daiyu paid their 2 credits as usual, while Bai Yanjun followed the same routine as yesterday, signing his name in the alternate ledger to forfeit a third of his harvest in lieu of bus fare.
There was zero chance the male lead was going to waste actual food to trade for credits. Back at home, he had a father bedridden from mutant beast injuries sustained years ago, an aging mother, a ten-year-old younger brother, and a six-year-old younger sister waiting to be fed. With an entire family depending on him, he didn’t have a single scrap of spare food to trade for credits.
Shen Tangtang silently lit an imaginary funeral candle for Lin Daiyu. The male lead was setting her up to get fleeced again.
Completely oblivious to this layer of scheming, Lin Daiyu happily beckoned Bai Yanjun over to stand right next to them.
The transport bus packed in tighter than sardines, immediately shoving Lin Daiyu squarely into Bai Yanjun’s arms.
Lin Daiyu lowered her head, blushing furiously, while Bai Yanjun wore a crooked, knowing grin. If they weren’t stuck on a rattling public bus right now, these two could probably put on an R-rated performance right on the spot.
Only Shen Tangtang silently averted her eyes.
Too cringe to look.
The secondhand embarrassment was so intense she felt like she was clawing out a three-bedroom apartment with her bare toes.
Suddenly, Shen Tangtang grabbed the groping hand of a sleazy-looking middle-aged uncle standing in front of her, flashed a blinding smile, and twisted it backward.
Crack—
“Ah—you stinking bitch!”
The bald uncle felt as though his wrist had been snapped in half by the tiny brat in front of him. Enraged, he raised his other hand, intending to strike her.
Before he could swing, his wrist was seized in a crushing grip once more. Panic instantly overriding his anger, he begged for mercy, “Grandma, I’m wrong! Please, let go of me!”
He couldn’t fathom how such a scrawny, pint-sized girl could possess such freakish strength and lightning-fast reflexes. He had seriously kicked a steel plate today.
Shen Tangtang tossed his skeletal hand aside without bothering to press the issue further.
Mercenaries were stationed right at the front of the transport—not just to safeguard the convoy, but to keep riots from breaking out.
Because the buses were perpetually crammed to bursting, groping and petty harassment were everyday occurrences. It wasn’t just girls who had to watch their backs; even good-looking guys faced the exact same headache.
The commotion beside them finally snapped the two star-struck lovers out of their daze.
Lin Daiyu cast a worried look at Shen Tangtang to make sure she was unhurt, then glared viciously at the bald man before turning to her. “You okay, Tangtang? Did he manage to touch you anywhere?”
“Nope.” Shen Tangtang shook her head.
She ran into this kind of trash on a daily basis; handling them had long since become second nature.
She certainly wasn’t the type to let herself get taken advantage of.
By 5:00 AM, they reached their destination as the sun crept over the horizon.
The moment the doors opened, the disembarking scavengers poured out like wild horses breaking free from their reins, scattering in small groups toward their respective target collection zones.
Shen Tangtang exhaled a long breath as she stepped off the vehicle.
If it weren’t for the sake of survival, she’d rather die than cram onto these death-traps of a bus.
In her past life, she fought crowds to ride the bus to school; now, she fought crowds to ride the bus just for a bite of food.
Such was the cruel reality of fate…
“Pfft—Tangtang, why are you so adorable?”
Lin Daiyu burst out laughing at Shen Tangtang’s tragic, martyr-like expression. Who wasn’t going through the exact same grind? Plenty of other scavengers would kill for the credits to squeeze onto the bus in the first place.
“Wah—Daiyu-jie, you’re making fun of me.”
Putting on an exaggerated pout, Shen Tangtang threw her hands out to swat at Lin Daiyu’s chest.
Well, okay—she might have copped a tiny feel while she was at it.