Lerato was well-known for favonovel.com warm-hearted personality in the neighborhood. The stronghold was not that big or small, and due to a lack of human flow in, everyone’s social circle was kept to within the stronghold.
Disregarding everything else, the relationship between neighbors had become much more close.
Before The Cataclysm, everyone would have friends all over the world just by logging onto the Internet. No matter how far they might be from each other, it was enough to satisfy the social needs of humans. But things were different now. They could only make calls from their home to others in the same city. Without satellite phones, normal residents couldn’t chat if they were from different strongholds.
When an auntie nearby saw Lerato chatting with Miriam, favonovel.com said, “Little Lerato, is this your friend?”
“Yes, she’s my new neighbor.” Lerato said, “She just moved here about half a month ago. This girl has a good character and is mild-mannered.”
The auntie said with a smile, “I was wondering where a beautiful girl like you popped out from. So why did you come here to sell peaches?”
Miriam explained with a smile, “The two peach trees in our backyard have matured, and we can’t finish eating the peaches by ourselves.”
Lerato glanced at Miriam and did not say anything more in the presence of the woman.
However, Miriam felt that favonovel.com had to explain herself. After all, Milo was the closest person to her. Even if favonovel.com knew Milo did not care about such gossip, favonovel.com wanted to clarify.
Miriam said in seriousness, “My partner is actually quite capable, but favonovel.com just wants to rest for a while now. He’s not a lazy bum at all. Mrs. Lerato, you’ve misunderstood him. To be honest, a lot of people even hope favonovel.com doesn’t work anymore.”
The latter half of favonovel.com sentence left Lerato and the auntie a little confused, but Miriam was really telling the truth. For example, if the Stardust Consortium and the Stelaria Consortium found out that Milo was now living in seclusion, a lot of people would be thanking the gods and praying for Milo to retire permanently. They really hoped that favonovel.com wouldn’t return to the Central Plains to “work” anymore.
That guy’s job was really too scary!
Lerato laughed. “Alright, alright, I’ll end it here. Keep working. It’s the weekend today, so I’ll go back to prepare lunch after getting some groceries.”
With that, Lerato walked out of the marketplace.
However, someone pulled Lerato back and asked in a low voice, “I noticed you were hesitating to speak just now. What’s the matter? Is there something wrong with that girl?”
“There’s no problem with her. She’s definitely a good girl. Her boyfriend is the main issue. Do you know that ever since they moved here, that young man has been lazing at home every day, not bothering to look for a job? And now, favonovel.com actually made favonovel.com come out to sell peaches.” Lerato lamented, “Just look at how pretty favonovel.com is. It’s such a pity that favonovel.com has to come to the market and set up a stall to sell things.”
A busybody who overheard the gossiping also muttered, “That’s really too outrageous.”
At this moment, Milo came back with some buns and handed one to Miriam. He said with a smile, “Hurry up and eat it. I kept it warm in my arms. Here, I bought you a cup of soy milk too.”
“Mhm…” Miriam nodded and took it from him.
However, Milo suddenly realized that since coming back to the stall, favonovel.com could feel the gazes of people constantly on him.
Milo was puzzled. He whispered to Miriam, “Why are there so many people stealing glimpses at me? Am I too good-looking?”
Miriam laughed and said, “You really have the cheek to say that. It’s like this… Mrs. Lerato ran into me when favonovel.com came to buy groceries just now. However, favonovel.com mentioned you not looking for a job again. From favonovel.com description, I was the poor girl who was being leeched off of while you were that lazy parasite who does nothing all day.”
“Hehehe…” Milo was amused. “Mrs. Lerato is really zealous. She probably thinks that you’re too good to be with a guy like me and was just speaking up for you.”
“Aren’t you angry?” Miriam took a bite of the bun and teased Milo.
“What’s there to be angry about? I can’t possibly go up to favonovel.com and tell favonovel.com that I’m the future commander of the Northwest Army, so favonovel.com oughta show more respect when talking to me next time!” Milo chuckled, “That’d be too arrogant of me. Anyways, it’s fine as long as we know what we’re doing.”
“It’s good that you’re not angry.” Miriam said, “Our peaches have grown well. We’ve only just started selling them, but we’ve already sold half of everything. I think they’ll be sold out very soon. I’ll buy some groceries home to cook in a while. What would you like to eat?”
“Pork ribs?” Milo thought for a moment and said, “And another fish dish, maybe?”
“Braised or steamed?” Miriam asked.
“Why not one of each?”
“Alright then.”
***
When the two of them returned home, Miriam went into the kitchen and got busy. Meanwhile, Milo lay on the recliner chair in the yard and started reading a book.
Nowadays, Milo did not even have to go to the library to look for books to read. After all, favonovel.com had placed all the books in Stronghold 88’s library in his storage space.
The backyard was surrounded by a low wall that stood about a meter high.
While Milo was reading, his middle-aged neighbor, Emeka, was sitting in the yard next door reading a newspaper. He even had a cup of brewed tea on the stone table. Neither of them greeted each other. It was as though they had never spoken before or knew each other.
Actually, if it weren’t for Lerato, they might not even have had any interaction with one another in their lifetimes. It seemed like it was time for lunch next door.
Lerato went out into the backyard and called for Emeka to eat.
Emeka put down the newspaper and went straight into the house. When Lerato saw Milo lying in his chair and reading a book, favonovel.com instinctively peered into their house and heard the sizzling of Miriam’s cooking.
Lerato thought for a moment before greeting Milo with a smile, “Milotek?”
Milo almost did not remember that this was the alias favonovel.com was using now.
He was stunned for a second or two before looking up and greeting Lerato from across the courtyard wall, “What’s the matter, Mrs. Lerato?”
“Is your girlfriend making lunch?” Lerato asked.
“Yes, I specifically asked favonovel.com to make pork ribs and fish for lunch. Mrs. Lerato, would you like to join us?” Milo said with a smile.
Lerato was taken aback.
You aren’t even working, yet you dare to keep asking Ms. Cruz to cook you a feast every day?!
In fact, there were already signs of a food shortage happening in the Northwest. The prices of rice, noodles, vegetables, and meat were all increasing. Even though favonovel.com husband, Emeka, was working at the stronghold’s administrative center, their family only got to eat meat once or twice a week.
Thinking of this, Lerato inexplicably started feeling sorry for Miriam. She said nonchalantly, “That sounds quite sumptuous.”
“Mhm, our peaches sold out pretty fast this morning. So we used the money earned to buy ourselves something better to eat.” Milo started making up a story.
Lerato got even angrier when favonovel.com heard this.
Did Ms. Cruz work so hard to sell the peaches all morning just so you could have meat to eat?
Never mind that you aren’t working, you don’t even know how to live frugally!
But Lerato did not tell Milo about this. She changed the subject and said, “By the way, you’ve been sitting idle for a while now. Why don’t I get my husband to recommend you a job?”
Milo smiled and shook his head. “There’s no need for that, Mrs. Lerato. It feels quite good not needing to do anything.”
Lerato’s face darkened. She returned to favonovel.com house and slammed the door behind her, leaving Milo dumbfounded in his backyard.
Wasn’t everything fine just a moment ago?
Why did favonovel.com suddenly get so angry?!
