Chapter 45 warped values
After arriving in the wasteland, this was the first time Zuo Shan hadn't felt the pinch when paying for the dagger; the more she looked at it, the more she felt it was well worth the price.
Both of the expenses I made today were in the thousands, but they were both well worth it.
For example, the heat-insulating suit she's wearing now is incredibly effective.
It's already extremely hot now, and I wake up drenched in sweat every morning. It's even worse when I'm walking on the street; I'm constantly sweating.
But after putting on this heat-insulating suit, I felt much cooler. Although it was still hot, at least I wasn't sweating profusely.
But with 3,500 yuan suddenly gone from my account, leaving only 46,424 yuan in balance, I still felt a sense of unease, like my savings were about to run out. I had to hurry up and make money!
After taking the bus back to the 49th District bus stop, Zuo Shan jogged home with her backpack on her back. As she passed Lin's convenience store, she felt a gaze fixed on her.
There's only one road from the bus stop to her home, and if she wants to avoid Lin's convenience store, she'll have to walk at least a kilometer more.
Besides, she hasn't done anything wrong, so why would she take a detour?
But being stared at like that was really uncomfortable, so she couldn't help but turn her head to look over, and met Lin Dandan's complicated gaze, which contained fear, jealousy, and resentment.
Zuo Shan was particularly puzzled. The original owner of this body did not hate her, the woman who stole her childhood sweetheart, so why did she hate her in return?
Qiangzi and the other two died too quickly; she didn't even have time to ask if Lin Dandan was behind it all. But seeing the terror in her eyes, Zuo Shan was pretty sure.
Even if she didn't bribe them to do it, she at least played a role in instigating it.
She remembered this grudge and would get her revenge someday.
Inside the Lin family's small shop, Qi Yang was engrossed in repairing weapons when he inadvertently noticed that Lin Dandan's legs were trembling in front of him.
What is she afraid of?
He looked up and saw the figure walking away in a large, heat-insulating suit.
Even though she had changed into new clothes, he recognized her familiar running posture at a glance.
Is that a small fan? Did she just come back from District 48?
When she had her last conflict with Lin Dandan, she said that she would never set foot in Lin's convenience store again in her life, so he guessed that if she wanted to shop in the future, she would definitely go to District 48.
She's so smart; as soon as she asks around, she'll choose Old Wu's convenience store.
He knew that their relationship was over, but he still wanted to give her the Snow Cloud Brocade Dagger that had been specially made for her.
So he took advantage of his trip to District 48 to purchase parts and found Wu Qiong.
He had dealt with Wu Qiong several times. He always left the scavenging tools he assembled from scrap parts at Wu Qiong's shop to sell. He didn't put the money into his own account, but used it to buy new parts and reassemble new tools and weapons.
He used the money from selling new weapons and tools, along with the snow-cloud brocade stones he salvaged from old weapons, to forge this dagger for Little Fan.
Unfortunately, before the dagger was even finished being forged, she had already severed ties with him.
Once he finally got his hands on the dagger, he took it directly to Wu Qiong and begged him repeatedly to sell it to her at a low price.
To make the dagger look less valuable, he deliberately aged the scabbard, making it look dusty and gray.
He secretly asked Meng Feiyu about it. She had a good harvest during her trip to the Black Pine Forest, especially those three low-radiation pine nuts. Those were priceless treasures, no longer listed in the exchange hall. Each nut could be exchanged for at least 500 silver coins.
With 35 moderately irradiated pine nuts, each worth at least 20 silver coins, the total should be over 2000 silver coins.
That way, she could afford the dagger he had sold to her cheaply.
His only worry was that she wouldn't be willing to spend the money.
But she didn't know that no matter how careful you are when scavenging in the wild, there will always be times when you encounter danger. Having a weapon for self-defense greatly increases your safety.
Qi Yang assumed that Lin Dandan was so angry that her legs were shaking when she saw him, but he didn't expect that she was actually frightened.
Lin Dandan was really scared. That day, Qiangzi and the other two came to the convenience store to sell things. Her years of experience working behind the counter made her realize at a glance that they were selling stolen goods.
But the rule of the small shop is that it doesn't ask where the customers' goods come from, as long as it makes money.
Two days ago, she overheard a neighbor of Zuo Shan, Sister Liu, saying in a sour tone that Zuo Shan had hooked up with two mercenaries and had stopped collecting wild vegetables lately. Instead, she went to the bamboo forest every day to pick bamboo leaves, just to make bamboo leaf tea for the mercenaries.
So when she heard Qiangzi's partner say that pregnant women are more enjoyable to have sex with, she seemingly unintentionally brought up Zuo Shan.
They say she's the most beautiful and seductive woman in District 50, and that she's pregnant with a mercenary's child, but he won't marry her. Now, in order to get more money from the mercenary, she goes to the bamboo forest every day to collect bamboo, because the mercenary likes to drink water infused with bamboo leaves.
Qiangzi and his two companions said that since they were free these days, they might as well go and sleep with this slutty woman on the left and see if she was as fun as the landlady said.
That day, she watched Qiangzi and the other two walk towards the 50th district, but they didn't return until it was dark and the shop was closed.
For the past two days, she had been wondering where those three had gone. Could it be that they had accidentally killed Zuo Shan and then gone somewhere else to lay low?
But today she saw Zuo Shan run past her perfectly fine. She looked very energetic, and her lower abdomen was noticeably protruding. She didn't look like she had been violated at all.
How could a pregnant woman like her survive and come back alive after encountering Qiangzi and his two companions?
And since Qiangzi and the other two didn't kill her, why didn't they come back that day?
This is truly terrifying to think about!
However, she later came up with another reason: perhaps Qiangzi and the others had some urgent business and turned back halfway, and although she had been keeping an eye on the outside, there were always times when she was careless and just happened to miss it.
She simply couldn't believe that Zuo Shan had the ability to kill Qiangzi and the other two strong men.
In Lin Dandan's mind, the women in District 50, apart from those who could awaken supernatural abilities, were all just obediently taking a cutting knife to scavenge in the wild every day. Those who could keep themselves from starving were considered capable.
In short, she considers this matter closed, and she was lucky this time to have escaped a disaster.
If she manages to have a smooth journey and successfully give birth to the illegitimate child in her womb, she will try to persuade some old bachelor in District 49 to harass her again, and preferably marry her, so that she can no longer bother Qi Yang.
**
Zuo Shan ran home and couldn't help but show off her newly bought dagger and heat-resistant suit to Mao Li.
Mao Li scoffed at her heat-insulating suit: "The material is far inferior to the heat-insulating suits in our Flowing Light Galaxy, and it doesn't even have radiation protection."
Upon seeing her dagger, Mao Li trembled: "Master, you've already killed three people, and now you've bought such a sharp weapon. Are you planning to kill even more people?"
"I'm not crazy, why would I kill someone for no reason? I only bought this weapon for self-defense."
Self-defense, you understand? It's for defending yourself when attacked. If, by chance, the person attacking me is malicious, then I'll have no choice but to kill them as well.
When Zuo Shan uttered those last words, she was shocked to realize that her values had become distorted. How could she be so indifferent to murder now?
Is it possible that once bloodshed and violence are started, they become like a flood that has been released from its dam, and can no longer be controlled?
No, no, she needs to reflect on her actions. She is a law-abiding, model youth who would never kill someone in the past, and she will never do so again.
Unless that person... truly poses a threat to her life.
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