Su Su took too long to respond. In the town mayor’s eyes, that meant she was overwhelmed by the windfall that had suddenly fallen into her lap.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you not like canned fruit?”
“I don’t want…”
“Take it.”
Facing Su Su’s refusal, the town mayor didn’t take it to heart. Without allowing any argument, he stuffed the can into her hands.
His appearance was only about five or six out of ten, but his smile was warm, his demeanor gentle, carrying a mature and steady temperament that others lacked.
Before Su Su could refuse again, the town mayor directly changed the topic: “There’s an empty room upstairs. You’re just a little girl—sleeping on the floor with others isn’t too appropriate. Why don’t you go up and stay there?”
As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Su Su. His dark pupils reflected her figure, as if he was giving her his undivided attention.
Su Su’s heart was beating fast—so fast that she had to clench her palms tightly just to force herself to calm down. She gave an answer completely different from her previous life.
“Okay.”
The town mayor nodded in satisfaction and handed her a key. “Go on, it’s the room at the very end of the second floor.”
Su Su did not meet his eyes. Lowering her head, she hugged the canned fruit and walked past him, then dashed up the stairs.
Halfway up, she instinctively turned back—
The town mayor hadn’t left. He stood where he was, tilting his head slightly upward. The moment their eyes met, a faint smile appeared in his gaze once more.
Su Su’s heartbeat skipped again, and she vaguely heard the murmurs of others in the hall.
“A whole big can of yellow peaches!”
“Why did the town mayor give the canned fruit to Su Su? Could he be trying to curry favor with Lin Weiran and the others?”
“Tch, Lin Weiran doesn’t have much of a relationship with Su Su. What’s the point of trying to please her? If you ask me, the town mayor must have taken a liking to Su Su’s face. He wants to pursue her!”
“That’s actually… If I looked like Su Su—no, if I were even half as good-looking as her—I wouldn’t even need to go out searching for food!”
“I really want to eat yellow peach canned fruit. Just one piece, just one piece… Does the town mayor like men? Actually, I have pretty fair skin too…”
“……”
Ability users had sharp hearing. Su Su felt that the town mayor must have heard these words too, yet his gaze never once left her.
Su Su clutched the can of yellow peaches tightly in her arms, turned, and ran off.
It wasn’t until she reached the second floor, unlocked the room, and shut everything outside the door completely that she finally collapsed onto the floor, her legs weak.
In her past life, she had made the opposite choice.
Still haunted by the shadow of Wu Zhi, she had reacted to the town mayor’s sudden goodwill like a hedgehog encountering danger—bristling with spines, wary, panicked, and resistant.
The yellow peach canned fruit he handed her—she didn’t take it. She resolutely stuffed it back into his hands.
The key to the room he offered—she didn’t take that either. She turned and ran into the group of ordinary people, choosing to sleep on the floor with everyone else instead.
But it was as if he couldn’t understand her silent rejection. Time and time again, he showed goodwill, occasionally granting her small privileges. In the end, even the people in her group started looking at her strangely.
In an environment where everyone was struggling with hunger and hardship, sarcastic remarks grew more frequent.
She… inevitably, was ostracized.
“Hiss~ hiss~”
The familiar sound of a snake hissing interrupted Su Su’s thoughts. The black snake, having finished digesting its prey, slithered out of the backpack, lazily scanning the room as if patrolling its territory.
Seeing it, most of the fear and panic in Su Su’s heart dissipated.
She sat on the floor, struggled to twist open the can of yellow peaches in her hands, and then pulled out a pair of chopsticks from her backpack, picking up a piece of the golden, syrupy peach.
“Xiao Hei, want some canned fruit?”
The black snake turned its head and gave her a lofty glance before slowly gliding over and stopping in front of the human.
Su Su brought the peach to the black snake’s mouth. The next second, the snake’s head shot up at lightning speed, swallowing the entire piece in one gulp.
Gulp.
The peach landed in its stomach.
“Is it tasty?”
Terrible.
The black snake barely refrained from spitting the peach back out.
For the first time, Su Su saw a trace of human-like disdain in its vertical pupils, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re a snake—you definitely wouldn’t like fruit, especially preserved fruit.”
The black snake narrowed its eyes at the human before it, suspecting that she had done it on purpose, deliberately feeding it something it disliked.
“Hiss!”
Just as its crimson tongue was about to brush against Su Su’s ankle, a familiar white light suddenly flashed, calming the black snake that had been about to attack. Only in this state would it remain obediently coiled on the ground, like a hibernating snake, devoid of any threat.
Hugging the can, Su Su picked up another piece of yellow peach and took small bites.
The outer layer of the fruit was crisp, while the inside was soft and juicy. The syrupy sweetness, in this apocalyptic world, was an unparalleled delicacy.
Before she realized it, she had eaten more than half of the can and even drank half the syrup.
Her stomach was already feeling a bit full. Su Su placed the half-eaten can on the bedside table, turned her head, and saw that the black snake had already found a sofa, where it was curled up in a corner, pretending to nap with its eyes closed.
“He gave this to me of his own will. This room too, he gave it to me willingly. I shouldn’t let his goodwill go to waste.” She didn’t want to talk to others, but she was willing to murmur to a cold-blooded creature. “Xiao Hei, let’s enjoy some good days together, alright?”
Xiao Hei opened its eyes, gave her an indifferent glance, and had no reaction whatsoever.
Thanks to Lin Weiran and the other ability users, the town mayor had supplied water and electricity to the entire second and third floors of the guesthouse. Su Su went to the bathroom and carefully wiped herself clean. Before getting into bed and pulling up the covers, she peeked at Xiao Hei on the sofa.
“Good night.”
“Hiss~”
Su Su took it as a response.
After turning off the lights and lying down, her thoughts were far from calm.
She already fully understood what the town mayor’s intentions were—having lived through her past life, she could see through it all.
It wasn’t for the reason everyone assumed—that he had fallen for her at first sight and wanted to pursue her.
Instead, it was a kind of… predatory amusement.
He had his sights set on these newly arrived ability users, and she just so happened to be Lin Weiran’s cousin—a natural excuse to get close. The more he acted as if he cared for her, the more obsessed he seemed, the less wary they would be.
As for whether it would bring her trouble, whether she accepted it or not—he didn’t care at all.
After all… Su Su was just an ordinary person without abilities—at most, she was a little prettier than average. But in the apocalypse, beauty was nothing more than a consumable resource.
A dreamless night passed.
After washing up, Su Su finished the remaining half of the canned peaches and syrup, then quietly waited.
As expected, before long, there was a knock on the door.
Standing outside was the town mayor. He was holding a bag, and when he saw that Su Su was still wearing the same clothes from before, a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes.
“You probably didn’t have time to change clothes on the highway, right? I brought some spare clothes for everyone. Try these on?”
“…Thank you.”
Su Su did not refuse his kindness and directly reached out to take the bag he handed over.
“Go ahead and change inside. I’ll wait for you out here,” the town mayor said, his tone polite and considerate.
Su Su expressionlessly nodded and closed the door.
Inside the bag were three sets of clothing—one was a simple outfit of pants and a top, one was a bright and stylish short dress, and the last was a white dress.
It was practically an all-encompassing selection.
Having lived another life, some things she once insisted on upholding had quietly changed.
Su Su put on the white dress, stood in front of the bathroom mirror, and loosely tied her hair into a half-up style.
She patted her cheeks lightly, bringing out a natural rosy hue.
Looking in the mirror again, the girl inside was fresh and refined, her clear eyes like a tranquil lake. Her delicate features were pleasing to the eye, her skin fair and smooth—without the two scars that had once marred her brow bones.
Su Su tugged at the corners of her lips.
Since the town mayor was willing to play the game of the hunter and even prepared bait inside the cage, there was no reason for her to suffer the losses.
The moment she opened the door, the waiting town mayor lifted his head.
He was momentarily stunned, his eyes flashing with admiration.
Of course, he had always known the girl before him was beautiful. But yesterday, dressed in tattered rags with dust-covered hair and face, even outstanding beauty had been reduced to mere charm.
Now, his gaze swept over her from head to toe, and he sincerely praised, “This dress suits you very well.”
“Thank you.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
“Not yet.”
The town mayor naturally pulled a bag of bread from his pocket. “Eat this to fill your stomach a bit.”
Without hesitation, Su Su took it and stuffed it into her backpack.
But the moment she did, she suddenly shuddered and yanked her hand out.
The reason was simple—her fingertip had been licked by a cold, slick snake tongue.
Hidden deep within the bag, the black snake caught a faint glimmer of light and was now glaring dangerously at the bag of bread tainted with a stranger’s scent. The flames in its mouth flickered restlessly, as if it was about to burn the bread to ashes in the next second.
Fortunately, the white light appeared just in time, narrowly preventing Xiao Hei from scorching a hole in her backpack.
The town mayor keenly noticed Su Su’s trembling and asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Su Su shook her head, just about to say something—when the sound of a door opening interrupted her.
“Yo! Found yourself a new patron already?”
Zhao Zhenyu leaned against the doorframe, watching the interaction between the two with a mocking expression. His gaze repeatedly swept over Su Su’s white dress, and the sarcasm in his eyes grew even more pronounced.
He walked straight over and stopped in front of Su Su. “Do you still remember Wu Zhi’s death? You abandoned your conscience so quickly and clung to a new ability user?”
After saying that, he didn’t even wait for Su Su’s response before turning to look at the town mayor.
“Town Mayor, I advise you to stay away from this woman. The last ability user she got killed was a Tier 2, and he died without any clear reason. And what happened? This woman didn’t even shed a single tear. She turned around and immediately went looking for a new backer!”
The town mayor didn’t seem frightened by Zhao Zhenyu’s words at all. Instead, he gently persuaded, “Ability User Zhao, Su Su is just a weak ordinary person. You may have misunderstood her. Besides, things between us aren’t as bad as you’re making them out to be. She’s Ability User Lin’s cousin—I just wanted to look after her a little.”
Zhao Zhenyu didn’t believe a single word. He was about to throw in a few more sarcastic remarks when several doors suddenly opened.
“Town Mayor?” Lin Weiran looked over in surprise. “You’re here so early. Is there something going on?”
After asking, she finally noticed Su Su’s presence. The white dress she was wearing made her the most eye-catching person in the crowd.
Several ability users had a look of admiration flash through their eyes.
Lin Weiran was stunned for a couple of seconds. “Su Su? What are you doing here? And where did that dress…”
“I gave it to Miss Su,” the town mayor said with a slight smile. “She’s your cousin—I can’t treat her poorly.”
Lin Weiran’s lips moved slightly. She couldn’t exactly say—You don’t need to take special care of her just because of me, could she?
Not knowing how to respond, she instinctively looked toward Si Zhe beside her.
The latter, however, paid no attention to Su Su’s change in appearance. To him, she was nothing more than the fallen relative of the woman he loved. Without hesitation, he redirected the conversation.
“The town mayor came so early—he must have something to discuss, right?”
“Of course.” The town mayor smiled cheerfully and stated his purpose. “You’ve had breakfast, I assume? Today, I’d like to take you to see the town’s grain reserves and discuss how much food you’ll be taking with you when you leave.”
The moment the topic shifted to serious matters—especially one of their greatest concerns—the visiting ability users exchanged glances.
“Alright, then we’ll trouble the town mayor to lead the way.”
“Sure, follow me.”
The town mayor led the group forward for a short distance before suddenly turning back to glance at Su Su, who had been left behind.
“Miss Su, why don’t you come along too?”
Zhao Zhenyu impatiently interjected, “Why bring her along…”
“Zhenyu.” Si Zhe rarely looked so expressionless as he did now. “Don’t waste time.”
Zhao Zhenyu grudgingly shut his mouth.
Throughout Zhao Zhenyu’s insults and the collective disregard from the others, Su Su’s face remained completely unbothered—no shame, no embarrassment. She didn’t even bother to argue back.
Just like that, she followed the group, about to visit the town’s grain warehouse.
The ability users in front chatted and laughed, while Su Su trailed at the very back. She appeared to be isolated, but in reality, only one thought occupied her mind—
In her past life, the town mayor had followed through on his word, gifting Lin Weiran and her group a large amount of food. At the very least, on their journey south, they hadn’t had to worry about food for two whole months.
As for herself, due to the town mayor’s “sudden goodwill,” she had spent several days hiding in the town, missing out on many things. It wasn’t until much later that she learned Lin Weiran and the others had once left town with the town mayor and returned fully loaded with supplies.
She knew nothing about the specific details—only that not long afterward, Lin Weiran and Si Zhe had advanced to Tier 3 ability users.
In stark contrast, she had struggled to keep up with the group, bearing a disfigured face.
And this time?
This time, she possessed an ability. She had also changed her approach toward the town mayor. Would she be able to avoid the tragic fate of her past life?
Or perhaps… could she seize this opportunity to strengthen her ability as well?