Chapter 243 - 233: Moving into the Fishing Village
Chapter 243: Chapter 233: Moving into the Fishing Village
Tang Mo listened carefully to every word of the chaotic discussion, and she finally understood.
It turned out this small fishing village had once been very warm and hospitable. For some reason, their seaside location had largely spared them from the effects of the apocalypse.
Mutant beasts from the mainland rarely came near, and even on the rare occasion they did, it was only a few scattered ones.
Although the sea creatures had mutated, their attack power was practically zero, so the villagers still made their living from the sea just as they had before.
At first, their relatively peaceful life didn’t change these simple, honest people.
But gradually, people who stumbled upon this place wanting to rest their feet would often decide to stay.
It would have been fine if they had only rested for a few days. But when these people saw how peaceful life was here, some decided they didn’t want to leave at all, hoping to live as freeloaders.
Others would even pilfer some food on their way out.
Over time, the villagers’ attitude toward outsiders changed from warm and hospitable to extremely hostile.
’So that’s how it was. No wonder.’
Tang Mo actually understood how these people felt. In the apocalypse, kindness was always taken advantage of.
The price for their kindness was much steeper now than it had been before the apocalypse.
"Hello, Ma’am. Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not here to take advantage of anyone. I’ll pay rent."
Tang Mo pulled a twenty-pound bag of rice directly from her Space.
"Can I use this rice as rent? If I stay longer and it’s not enough, I’ll add more! Don’t worry, I’m not short on food."
Tang Mo could tell that the people here were still simple and honest at heart; they were just terrified of being taken advantage of again.
Most of them were just ordinary folk living ordinary lives. To them, things like Crystal Core Crystal Coins were less valuable than rice.
After all, besides Crystal Core Crystal Coins, rice was now a hard currency.
The onlooking women were all stunned when Tang Mo suddenly pulled a bag of rice out of thin air.
They had seen so many freeloaders over the years that they were almost taken aback that someone was actually offering to pay rent.
Rice...
Living by the sea, they wouldn’t starve.
But as for rice, they’d all forgotten how long it had been since they’d last eaten it.
"Stay at my place! My house is spacious, and I have a spare room."
"Sister Wu, your house is so close to the sea, it’s so damp. How could a girl from the inland stand it? She should stay at my place instead."
"Your place? You have that little baby who cries in the middle of the night. Aren’t you afraid of disturbing her rest?"
...
It seemed the power of rice was truly immense. Tang Mo quickly went from an unwelcome guest everyone found annoying to a prize everyone was fighting over.
"Stop fighting!"
Just before Tang Mo’s arm was about to be torn off, the woman who had spoken first finally intervened.
"Since you’re not staying for free, you can stay. I’m the Steward here. You can just call me Sister Lai."
’Since she’s not here to freeload and has shown her sincerity, letting her stay is an option.’
"What are your requirements for lodging, miss? That way I can make the proper arrangements for you."
"I don’t have any requirements. It’s just me and my fox. As long as the room is clean, it’ll be fine."
’Tang Mo did have standards for her quality of life, but this wasn’t a vacation. Of course she wouldn’t be picky.’
"Alright. Xiang, go get that kid Da Yu."
Sister Lai quickly arranged for Tang Mo to stay with a family.
When they heard Sister Lai mention Da Yu’s name, the other women fell silent and stopped their squabbling.
"Miss, I don’t believe we’ve caught your name yet."
"Tang Mo."
"Tang Mo?"
Hearing the name Tang Mo, Sister Lai looked a little surprised. ’It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it? The person ranked number one is coming to stay here?’
The other women nearby didn’t have much of a reaction to Tang Mo’s name, still immersed in their grief over losing the rice.
Apparently, life here was too comfortable. Most people, even if they had an ID Watch, didn’t pay much attention to it. They all still lived their lives as if it were the old days.
Tang Mo just smiled at Sister Lai and said nothing.
"Since you’re staying, you’re our guest, so let me give you the lay of the land. That boy, Da Yu, is fifteen this year, and he has a younger sister. Their parents went out to sea the year before last and never came back. Now he’s raising his sister all by himself, and it’s not easy for him. His father built their house the year before he died, so it’s still quite new and has plenty of empty rooms. It’ll be a perfect fit for you."
Sister Lai gave Tang Mo a general overview of the situation.
Da Yu was fifteen, and a boy after all, so she was afraid Tang Mo might mind, which is why she mentioned it in advance.
’Fifteen? To someone like me, who’s lived two lives, he’s just a child.’
’Besides, who cares about such things now? For safety during missions, it was common for men and women to be crammed into the same room.’
’Compared to staying alive, other things just didn’t seem so important anymore.’
But from this, Tang Mo could also see that the people in this small fishing village were actually quite kind-hearted.
Sister Lai was clearly having her stay with them as a way to help those two kids.
After all, that twenty-pound bag of rice could feed two children for a long time.
Da Yu soon came running over, led by Xiang. He ran so fast that by the time he reached Tang Mo, he was bent over, panting for breath.
"You silly child, it’s not like anyone was chasing you."
Sister Lai patted Da Yu on the back. After Da Yu and Xiao Yu’s parents died, she had taken special care of the two siblings.
"Auntie, is it true about the twenty-pound bag of rice?"
Hearing that he could get a twenty-pound bag of rice just for providing a room, Da Yu was so excited he could hardly believe it.
"It’s true. Isn’t that the rice right there on the ground?"
One of the women nearby pointed out the twenty-pound bag of rice on the ground to Da Yu.
"Deal! Deal! This older sister can stay at my place! I have lots of rooms!"
Da Yu was grinning from ear to ear.
With the rice, he could cook rice porridge for Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu was only three; if she ate more rice, her belly wouldn’t be so swollen.
And just like that, Tang Mo followed Da Yu to his home, while Da Yu held the bag of rice tightly in his arms as if it were some precious treasure.
Da Yu’s house was a moderate distance from the seashore. It was much newer than the others around it, with fine workmanship and good materials.
You could tell that when Da Yu’s father was alive, he was a meticulous and hardworking man.
"Xiao Yu, look what big brother brought back for you! You’ll get to eat porridge tonight!"
Da Yu’s house had three rooms. He and Xiao Yu shared one, and the other two were empty.
Da Yu first pushed open the door to his room to check on Xiao Yu.
Tang Mo saw a tiny little girl crawling around on the bed, a rope tied from her wrist to the headboard.