this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Jiang Ci quickly threw on a coat and slipped into her slippers to answer the door.
To prepare for such emergencies, Jiang Ci now slept in comfortable loungewear that wasn’t too revealing, allowing her to move quickly to greet customers.
She turned on the soft overhead light in the hall, eyes squinting slightly at the sudden glare.
Seeing the light inside, the knocking outside became even more urgent.
Jiang Ci opened the wooden door to find several people standing outside. It had started raining again, and the wind carried a chill.
It was Zhou Xiong and his group, all injured. They had barely escaped with the help of Song Jinchuan’s Cheetah Squad and now were facing the rain.
Normally, a little rain wouldn’t have been a problem, but with some team members severely injured, the virus in the rainwater could be the final blow. They urgently needed a safe place to take shelter.
“S-Sorry to disturb you,” even the usually composed leader Zhou Xiong stammered upon seeing Jiang Ci.
They had actually imagined many scenarios, but they didn’t expect the person who opened the door to be such a young, beautiful, and seemingly fragile girl.
Jiang Ci didn’t pay attention to the tone of the other party, her gaze falling on the survivors outside. Many of their clothes were half-stained with blood, and their wounds were mixed with dust and dirt, making them look particularly disheveled.
She quickly stepped aside and gestured for the survivors to come in first. “Please come in and rest for a while. It doesn’t look like the rain will stop anytime soon.”
“Thank you,” Zhou Xiong thought he would have to do some convincing, but he didn’t expect Jiang Ci to be so straightforward.
The group of people swarmed into the hotpot restaurant, and the place instantly became crowded.
As they stepped into the hotpot restaurant, a warm feeling enveloped the survivors. Knowing they were dirty, they didn’t sit on the chairs but instead sat on the floor.
Jiang Ci went to the kitchen to boil several pots of water, then poured it into a large basin before bringing it out for the survivors to clean their bodies and wounds.
Originally, Zhou Xiong and the others were just grateful to have a place to shelter from the rain, but they hadn’t expected Jiang Ci to go out of her way to help them and even bring them clear, clean water.
Such precious water yet it was only meant for cleaning their wounds.
The survivors couldn’t resist and took a sip with their hands. It had no bitter taste, only a hint of sweetness.
They exchanged glances, each seeing the shock in the other’s eyes.
However, two of the survivors were severely injured. After a brief moment of astonishment, they didn’t hesitate any longer and quickly used the water to clean their wounds before applying medicine and bandaging them.
Because they were constantly on the move, they always carried medical supplies in their bags.
“Did you run into a group of zombies or mutated animals? How did you get so badly injured?” Jiang Ci noticed that some of the wounds had blackened, as if they had been burned by something, and asked curiously.
Zhou Xiong shook his head. “It was Zong Tao from the Black Eagle Base. We were almost certainly going to die, but then we encountered the Cheetah Squad, who saved our lives.”
In the post-apocalyptic world, these two names should be well-known to everyone.
But to completely unfamiliar Jiang Ci, apart from the name Zong Tao that seemed somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it from somewhere before—she was completely clueless.
[Previously, the one who bombed Hui Hui’s lair was Zong Tao,] the system dutifully explained, sensing Jiang Ci’s confusion.
Jiang Ci suddenly understood why the name sounded so familiar—she had heard it mentioned by the other survivors before.
She hadn’t expected Zong Tao to be so ruthless, inflicting such severe harm on fellow human survivors. One of the survivors had a wound so deep that the bone was visible, while another had lost an arm.
It made Jiang Ci’s heart race with fear. It seemed that only now did she truly understand the cruelty of the post-apocalyptic world.
After all the wounds were bandaged and the survivors leaned back wearily on the ground, the feeling of hunger gradually emerged.
They rummaged through their bags and pulled out a few nutrient solutions, but the quantity was clearly insufficient.
Zhou Xiong frowned slightly, “Let’s share them, prioritizing the heavily injured members. Once the rain stops and we return to the base, we can get more nutrient solutions.”
“Not enough food?” Jiang Ci spoke up at this moment, sensing the heavy atmosphere. “How about having hotpot? I run a hotpot shop here. Although the menu isn’t very extensive at the moment, there’s definitely enough rice to go around.”
“Hotpot?” Zhou Xiong’s frown deepened. After confirming that she wasn’t joking, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
In the end, they couldn’t resist the temptation of good food. With so many people, they ordered two pots of broth, ten plates of fatty beef, ten plates of potato slices, and rice for fourteen people.
They paid a total of five third-level crystal cores and nine second-level crystal cores.
Seeing that there was mineral water, Zhou Xiong made a decision and bought fourteen bottles, one for each person, paying another two second-level crystal cores and eight first-level crystal cores.
After all, Jiang Ci had been so kind as to let them in to take shelter from the rain and even provided them with precious water resources. Zhou Xiong felt that spending these crystal cores was worth it.
Jiang Ci, on the other hand, was beaming with excitement. This single transaction not only allowed her to complete her task directly but also consumed a large amount of points.
The food and mineral water totaled 6,180 points, and when added to her previous points, it amounted to 21,400 points.
“This night shift is really worth it,” Jiang Ci thought to herself as she chopped vegetables with dark circles under her eyes.
While Jiang Ci went to the kitchen to prepare the dishes, Zhou Xiong and his group went to the restroom to wash their hands and faces briefly, brushing off the dust from their clothes.
By the time they returned, the small table beside the main table was already filled with dishes.
Soon after, Jiang Ci came out carrying a pot of clear broth, and the aroma instantly captivated Zhou Xiong and his group. Fourteen pairs of eyes involuntarily followed Jiang Ci’s movements.
“It really is hotpot…” one of the teammates murmured.
“You… you run a hotpot restaurant here? What about the zombies and mutated beasts?” another survivor asked incredulously, genuinely finding the situation unbelievable.
“Zombies and mutated beasts can’t get close to my restaurant, so it doesn’t affect my business or the customers enjoying their hotpot,” Jiang Ci replied with a smile.
It was only then that the survivors realized they hadn’t heard any sounds of zombies or mutated animals outside since they arrived.
Naturally, the survivors were surprised by this explanation and began to speculate in their minds. Could Jiang Ci be raising a high-level mutated beast cub? Or was there a high-level zombie or advanced mutated beast nearby that they didn’t know about?
But how could high-level zombies and mutated beasts be so docile as to allow humans to use them? If such monsters existed, this wooden cabin would have been flattened long ago.
No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t figure it out.
However, since Jiang Ci didn’t elaborate, they didn’t press further. Knowing too much wouldn’t necessarily benefit them.
Now, with delicious food right in front of them, the survivors couldn’t be bothered to think too much and started eating heartily with the warm rice.
The steaming hot rice, broth, and ingredients soothed the survivors’ hungry stomachs and, unbeknownst to them, were also slowly replenishing their body’s energy.
During the meal, the entire hotpot restaurant became very quiet, with only the sounds of chopsticks and bowls clinking, and the sounds of chewing and swallowing food.
Jiang Ci sat at the counter, using the computer as a cover, and opened her personal panel to take a look. The third task, selling twenty portions of fatty beef, was indeed already marked as completed, with the fourth task already appearing in her task list.
Jiang Ci focused her gaze and saw that the fourth task read: [Receive fifty sincere compliments from customers to unlock the beef tallow soup base.]
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
Beef tallow soup base! The last bit of drowsiness in Jiang Ci vanished upon seeing these words. In that instant, it felt as if the air was filled with the spicy, fragrant aroma.
It had been a long time since she had eaten beef tallow soup base. Although there were hotpot restaurants in the city where she worked, the taste was never authentic.
As a native of City C, eating hotpot was truly satisfying only when it was spicy.
“Does the fifty sincere compliments have to be spoken out loud in the store, or do compliments in the heart count? Can the same person compliment twice and have it count?” Jiang Ci asked in her heart.
[The compliments must be spoken out loud in the store. The system will determine if they are sincere. Each person can only compliment once; repeated compliments will not count toward the task,] the system answered one by one.
Jiang Ci looked up and saw that there were fourteen people right in front of her. She should be able to complete nearly a third of the task soon.
After the survivors finished eating the hotpot, Jiang Ci somewhat shyly made her request, “Could I trouble each of you to share your thoughts about our store?”
Although she used the word ‘thoughts,’ the hopeful gleam in Jiang Ci’s eyes clearly indicated that she wanted them to say something nice.
The survivors, now full and with their energy restored, were happy to put in a little effort, and compliments began to pour out one after another.
“Delicious.”
“So good.”
“This hotpot restaurant is my favorite place in the apocalypse.”
…
Jiang Ci listened to a total of fourteen compliments, and the task progress bar quickly rose, stopping at (14/50).
Jiang Ci, who was naturally thin-skinned, felt her cheeks flush with a hint of pink, even though the compliments were about the hotpot.
Just as the atmosphere was warm and harmonious, the wooden door was knocked on again.
Since it was very late, Jiang Ci had closed the door after the survivors entered to prevent the cold wind from coming in.
Hearing the knock, she was somewhat surprised. It was already past three o’clock in the morning—who else could be wandering outside at this hour?
Zhou Xiong and the others immediately became alert. They knew they weren’t bad people, but there were always those who would covet this hotpot restaurant, like Zong Tao and his group.
Having received the owner’s kindness, they felt that no matter what happened, they had to protect her.
The door swung open, and Jiang Ci found herself staring into a pair of exceptionally dark and profound eyes.
Upon seeing Jiang Ci and the people behind her, the man raised his thick eyebrows slightly. “Quite lively here, huh?”
only beef tallow soup base and tomato soup base r acceptable answers for hotpot!!!
Beef tallow soup base (っ´ཀ`)っ
you get me!!