Central Supermarket.
Su Shu pushed the shopping cart, in which sat a high-and-mighty cutie pie of about five years old. She couldn't remember how, before coming to the supermarket, she had read from the girl's lively eyes that she was "hungry."
Anyway, she had now pushed the little girl around the snack aisle several times.
"Xiao'ai, is there anything you'd like? Auntie will buy it for you," she pointed at the rows of snacks on the shelves.
Xiao'ai lifted her chubby little face and tilted her head as she seriously examined the items on the shelves, looking incredibly adorable in her meticulousness.
Except… she didn't speak.
Su Shu: …╮(╯_╰)╭
What else could she do?
She had actually tried before to pick some snacks she thought were tasty and put them in the cart, but the next second, those items were crisply "thrown" out by the little girl!
Thrown…
Su Shu: "..."
After being rejected a few times, Su Shu finally realized that this little girl, though small in stature, had quite the temperament; anything not to her liking was absolutely unacceptable.
Su Shu suddenly remembered when she went to pick up Xiao'ai from the Songshan Welfare Institute. After staying with Xiao'ai for a while to get acquainted, she bent down to ask her if she wanted to go home with her.
At that time, Xiao'ai, wearing her little yellow duck backpack, didn't say a word either, but she suddenly took a step closer to her.
Confused, the director of the Songshan Welfare Institute was very pleased and said, "That means she agrees!"
Afterward, she completed the formalities and took Xiao'ai out.
Looking at her now, choosing items from inside the cart, and recalling the tragic fate of those snacks thrown out earlier, Su Shu suddenly felt comforted.
At least, Xiao'ai hadn't rejected her like she had the snack packets.
Oh well, if she's aloof, she's aloof; if she doesn't speak, then so be it. She's all the family I have, little as she may be, but as long as Xiao'ai is healthy, that's stronger than anything.
Thinking this way, her mood began to lift.
If Xiao'ai doesn't like what she picks, then let her choose herself. As long as it's her choice, I might as well buy more! If we can't finish, I'll just store it in the space for later when the Apocalypse comes, to satisfy Xiao'ai's cravings.
Anyway, she needed to start planning to gather supplies. Oddly enough, the planning was starting with a little girl's snacks.
Su Shu: "..."
Why does she feel it's indescribably... cute?
In a past life, the Apocalypse was tough, a packet of cookies could cause a brawl, and many children died of hunger, their mothers, in despair, held their deceased children and wailed in agony. Each time she witnessed that, she felt as if her heart was being pricked by needles.
Sometimes, she would be moved to give some of her hard-found food to those children.
But the Apocalypse was harsh, and her help was often just a drop in the bucket. Sometimes her actions didn't just fail to help others, but also brought trouble upon herself because of the little food she had. In her previous life, she had hit countless walls and suffered many losses before becoming who she was today.
She wouldn't casually offer her kindness again, nor would she easily give in to any person or setback any longer.
Hardship accelerates growth. Reborn, she had prepared herself for a prolonged, tough battle.
Yet she hadn't expected that Xiao'ai's arrival would be like the flapping of a butterfly's wings, bringing changes she had never anticipated.
As she was lost in thought, a little hand suddenly lifted in front of her, pointing in a direction on the shelf.
Su Shu turned to look, quite surprised.