Thomas cast his gaze forward to an extremely bustling and lively street, lined with various shops packed tightly together, a feast for the eyes.
Despite it being a weekday morning, the area was still full of noise, with a constant stream of people coming and going, and the occasional honking of car horns.
It truly was the city center; Thomas saw more people here than he had seen on his entire journey so far.
The first shop at the entrance was a bakery emitting a rich aroma, with a sign that read "Boris's Bakery."
Thomas glanced at the raven perched on his shoulder, squawking excitedly, and presumed this was the origin of its name.
Thomas reached out and patted Boris's head soothingly: "Wait for us outside; we'll buy you bread when we come out."
Boris's beady eyes stared intently at Thomas, as if evaluating the credibility of his words. A moment later, it spread its wings and flew to a nearby street tree.
Alas, it was lunchtime, and the smell of bread was truly enticing. Thomas could hear his and Severus's stomachs growling.
But they had no money, so Thomas pulled Severus along, continuing forward, carefully observing the surrounding shops, looking for ways to earn money.
The opportunity came very suddenly; as they were walking, a brown shadow rushed towards them.
Thomas immediately pulled Severus to the side, and upon closer inspection, it was a corgi, its short legs churning incredibly fast. A man in a uniform was chasing it from behind, shouting as he ran: "Catch it!"
Thomas released his Wood Element Ability. This energy has a strong attraction to both plants and animals. Wood Element Ability users possess a maxed-out affinity for nature, capable of communicating with all living things.
Sure enough, the little corgi, which had already run ahead, was drawn by this power and waddled its butt towards Thomas. Thomas squatted down and picked it up, saying, "Little fellow, don't run around."
The puppy's fur was still damp, clearly having escaped during its bath.
After a while, the man caught up, leaning on his knees and panting, looking quite exhausted: "Phew... Thank you..."
This was a very young man, with fair skin, neatly styled golden-brown hair, and a pair of expensive-looking leather shoes. Yet, he wore a mismatched brown-grey uniform with the shop name "Pet Home" written on it, indicating he was an employee of a pet store.
The man reached out to hold the puppy, explaining, "My name is Mark, and I'm the owner of the pet store up ahead. Today, Pudding's owner brought him in for grooming, and a staff member carelessly forgot to close the door, letting him escape! Thanks to you, I don't know what I would have done."
The little corgi buried its head in Thomas's arms, turning its peach-like little rear towards Mark, and barked, "Bad guy!" It clearly didn't want to go back with him.
The man scratched his head, looking a bit troubled.
Thomas felt he might be some kind of chosen one in this world. A pet store, he thought, this was a heaven-sent good job!
Thomas gave Mark an eight-toothed smile: "How about I help you carry him back?"
Thomas turned sideways, avoiding the man's outstretched hand: "You don't seem to be his owner."
"That would be great!" Mark was very pleasantly surprised, not at all noticing Thomas's ulterior motive.
Mark's pet store was at the very end of the street. The exterior wall of the shop was painted a warm off-white, paired with a wooden doorframe and window sills. The exquisite sign bore the shop name—"Pet Home." The side facing the street also had a large glass display window, where rows of small animals could be seen in special cages. Some children were pressing against the shop window outside, looking in.
Mark was indeed very grateful to Thomas. He could tell these two children were not well-off. Once they were in the shop, he not only arranged for them to sit and rest in the customer lounge but also asked a staff member to bring out some snacks for guests: "Eat as much as you like!"
After settling them, Mark went to the workroom to continue bathing Pudding. A lot of time had already been lost, and Mrs. Hill would be arriving soon to pick up her little darling!
Thomas's purpose wasn't to freeload in the lounge. He had Severus stay put, and after asking Mark, he followed him into the workroom. While Mark bathed Pudding, Thomas used his Wood Element Ability to help soothe the mischievous little corgi.
Because Pudding was cooperative enough this time, the entire grooming process was completed quickly. Mark looked at the time, almost moved to tears: "Thank God, Thomas, you truly are my angel!"
He had never once had such an easy time bathing any of Mrs. Hill's puppies! Mark couldn't help but inwardly grumble about his pet store's big patron; pets are like their owners, and Mrs. Hill's dogs were as difficult as she was!
The two of them returned to the lounge together. Mark took off his wrinkled uniform, revealing a well-tailored purple suit that perfectly outlined his tall figure. He took an exquisite wristwatch from the pocket of his suit lining and put it on, clearly a man who lived a life of quality.
Seeing Mark like this, Severus had already stood up from the sofa, somewhat nervously pressing close to Thomas.
Thomas noticed he had only carefully eaten two pieces of pastry from the top of the plate; if you didn't look closely, you wouldn't even notice they had been touched.
Thomas, however, was even more disheveled than Severus. His white shirt was not only marked with several small black paw prints from Pudding, but splashed water had also left mottled stains on his shirt, making him look both messy and comical.
Thomas sighed, smoothed out the wrinkles on his shirt, and seriously said to Mark: "Mr. Mark, do you still need employees? As you can see, I have a lot of experience in pet care and training."
This was not a lie; in the apocalypse, he often helped the base train animals as combat support partners. His partner was a giant mutated Alaskan Malamute that was bitten to death by zombies while saving him during a mission... Mark paused. Although he also thought Thomas would be a good helper and very suitable for working in their shop, he said: "Uh... Thomas, although I really want to hire you, you're too young. I can't hire child labor; it's illegal."
"..." Thomas had long forgotten that modern society still had the concept of child labor.
Mark looked at the somewhat dejected Thomas, turned, took 2 pounds from the cash box, and handed it to him, smiling as he patted the boy's head: "This is to thank you for your help. After you turn 16, if you're still willing, I'd be very happy to have you work part-time in my shop to earn tuition!" He thought highly of this child, believing his future was limitless.
"Thank you, I really need this money." Thomas graciously accepted the money; this was his earned income.
Pulling Severus along, Thomas politely bid farewell to Mark, still carrying the snacks Mark had packed for them. Thomas felt both grateful and frustrated. Good news: dinner was taken care of. Bad news: he only earned 2 pounds after half a day's work!
Alas, others start with their first pot of gold, but I start with a single coin.
Hopefully, these 2 pounds can buy some seeds or a fresh fruit. Being a "zoo director" didn't work out, but there's still a chance to be a "fruit tycoon"!
Actually, it was because Thomas had no concept of Britain's currency divisions; otherwise, he would have known what a huge sum 2 pounds was for a child like him.
When Thomas left the seed shop, holding the pile of shillings the owner had given him as change, he still had a feeling of being in another world. Why does he feel richer after buying things?