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as translator, proofreader and editor!
Xiao Yu agreed readily and started to help Sun Qing clean the dirt from the wounds of these people.
When Jiang Ci came out with a kettle of boiled water, she happened to see one of the men’s sleeves being cut open by Sun Qing, revealing a charred arm.
The entire arm looked as if it had been burned. Sun Qing knew the arm was beyond saving, so she calmly tied off the main artery with a rope, then swiftly severed the entire arm with a knife.
Seeing this, Jiang Ci was startled, not expecting such decisiveness from the seemingly delicate girl.
However, having already witnessed death, Jiang Ci’s mindset had undergone a significant shift. She was only momentarily surprised before returning back to normal.
“Was this caused by fire or electrocution?” Jiang Ci frowned, squatting beside Sun Qing as she watched her attentively bandage the wound.
“Electrocution,” Sun Qing replied. Because Jiang Ci had provided so much help, Sun Qing had already decided in her heart that she was a good person and didn’t mind sharing about their situation.
The more Jiang Ci listened, the more familiar this person seemed, somewhat like the survivor named Zong Tao that Song Jinchuan and others had mentioned, who was also injured and used lightning abilities, attacking fellow human survivors.
“A customer who came to my restaurant before seemed to have also fought with this person, apparently they’re ruthless with formidable abilities. You guys are quite unlucky to have such a teammate,” Jiang Ci sighed, knowing that in the apocalypse, being too much of a holy mother1 was most taboo.
Sun Qing’s expression darkened at the mention of Bai Tingting. She hoped Bai Tingting had died at the hands of that ability user; otherwise, she would definitely personally go after her to avenge her teammates!
The mutated beast corpses and other items from Sun Qing’s mission were all in Bai Tingting’s space. Fortunately, more important personal items were on their own persons, and medical supplies were mostly split amongst them, allowing her to bandage everyone up.
After all her teammates had been bandaged, Sun Qing was nearly exhausted. Her own wounds hadn’t even been treated yet, her clothes and flesh sticking together. In the end, Jiang Ci helped cut open her clothes, then cleaned and bandaged her.
Sun Qing pressed a sixth-level crystal core into Jiang Ci’s hand, struggling to keep her heavy eyelids open, “Thank you. Could you prepare some food for us, nutrient solution, anything. If it’s not enough, I’ll give you more when I wake up.”
After saying this, Sun Qing immediately fell into a deep sleep.
She also knew that in the apocalypse, one couldn’t trust strangers too much, but there was no other choice now. She could only take a gamble.
The eight of them slept on the floor of the hotpot restaurant for nearly a day and night, not waking until dusk the next day. Fortunately, there were no customers came that day, or seeing eight people lying there in a row, with blood on their clothes, might have made them think this was some sort of shady establishment.
The first to wake up was Xu Feng. Seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, he immediately became alert. The pain in his body brought him back to reality, and his memories gradually returned. After escaping from the mall, they had encountered another group of zombies and barely managed to flee from them. Finally, when they saw a faint light in the distance, they mustered the last of their willpower to move toward it before losing consciousness.
At that moment, Xiao Yu emerged from the kitchen and their eyes met. Instead of speaking, Xiao Yu turned and ran away. Xu Feng heard Xiao Yu’s hushed voice, as if calling out to someone.
Soon after, footsteps approached. Xu Feng felt a sudden brightness as the lights were turned on, and a beautiful girl leaned in closer to examine him, asking with concern, “You’re awake? How are you feeling?”
Xu Feng propped himself up to sit. His shirt had been removed, and almost his entire chest was wrapped in bandages.
“Where is this…?” Xu Feng inquired.
“This is my hotpot restaurant. Yesterday, all of you collapsed at my doorstep. Later, that girl woke up and bandaged your wounds,” Jiang Ci explained. Xu Feng glanced over and saw that Jiang Ci was referring to Sun Qing.
Seeing that his companions were still alive, Xu Feng breathed a sigh of relief, and the tension in his nerves eased slightly. He realized that the person before him was their savior and expressed his gratitude once more.
Soon, the others began to wake up one by one. Through Xu Feng and Sun Qing’s explanations, they learned where they were and how they had miraculously survived.
The sticky feeling on their bodies was gone, likely because they had been cleaned. According to Sun Qing, they had used quite a bit of Jiang Ci’s water. It was quite unexpected for them to encounter such a kind-hearted person in the apocalypse.
As they spoke, the aroma of food gradually filled the wooden cabin.
The voices in the room fell silent almost simultaneously. Having not eaten for a day, their stomachs began to protest loudly.
Jiang Ci emerged from the kitchen carrying two hotpot bases, followed by Xiao Yu, who held plates of meat and potato slices.
“Since everyone’s awake, let’s eat something first,” Jiang Ci said as she set down the hotpot bases and handed each person a bottle of mineral water. “Feel free to eat your fill. I’ve already taken your crystal cores, so I’ll make sure you all leave satisfied.”
The survivors now saw clearly that what lay before them was a hotpot meal! The ingredients beside it included not only potatoes but also meat.
Sun Qing handed over the crystal cores to Jiang Ci, never expecting to enjoy such a feast. She had thought a few bottles of nutrient solution would be the best they could hope for.
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:
Somewhat dazed, everyone sat down at the wooden table. The ingredients were already in the pot, and Jiang Ci instructed them to help themselves to the condiment station and rice.
For the eight of them, Jiang Ci had prepared two hotpot bases. For the first round of dishes, she served sixty plates of meat—thirty plates of pork belly and thirty plates of fatty beef—along with ten plates of potato slices.
All of this had only cost two fourth-level crystal cores, seven third-level crystal cores, nine second-level crystal cores, and six first-level crystal cores, totaling 27,960 points.
Sun Qing had given Jiang Ci a sixth-level crystal core, worth one million points, which was enough for them to eat dozens of meals. Jiang Ci decided to settle the final bill later and let Sun Qing pay with those crystal cores again when that time came.
The survivors were still completely unaware of the situation until the meat in the pot changed color. Someone started reaching for their chopsticks, and soon everyone joined in.
The taste of the hotpot briefly allowed them to forget their sorrow and pain, as they kept taking bite after bite.
The meat was delicious, and so were the potatoes. Each table ordered an additional thirty servings of meat and five servings of potatoes, totaling one fourth-level crystal core, two third-level crystal cores, and five second-level crystal cores.
After finishing the food, the survivors were completely satiated, and their exhausted bodies seemed to be re-energized in that moment.
Jiang Ci recalculated the price and returned the sixth-level crystal core to Sun Qing, asking her to take out a few lower-level crystal cores instead.
Sun Qing was somewhat anxious. She had originally thought that her sixth-level crystal core wouldn’t be enough and had even considered using an eighth-level crystal core from her bag to pay for the meal.
To her surprise, the sixth-level crystal core wasn’t even needed, as the highest level used was a fourth-level crystal core.
“Isn’t this too little? We also used so much water. Maybe you should just take the sixth-level crystal core,” Sun Qing said.
Jiang Ci waved her hand dismissively. “I run a hotpot restaurant, not some shady business. The prices are fair and clearly displayed. We only charge what’s due.”
Jiang Ci asked each of them to say a word of praise for the hotpot restaurant, and thus, the task was completed exceeding its target.
However, since the restaurant was too crowded at the moment, she only claimed the reward and didn’t do anything else for now. Moreover, with two more tasks completed, the system notified her that it was time for another lucky wheel spin and upgrade.
The sky had already darkened, and the survivors were almost all injured. It was impossible for them to leave now, given the great danger outside, so Jiang Ci let them stay for another night.
The survivors were already quite accustomed to the hardness of the wooden floor. The place was warm, safe, and provided food and drink—far better than anywhere else.
Jiang Ci had stayed up late the previous night and spent the day looking after the survivors. Now, she was truly exhausted.
After leaving a small lamp for the survivors, Jiang Ci went to her room to rest. Xiao Yu initially wanted to stay and keep watch for her, but Jiang Ci insisted he didn’t need to and sent him back to sleep. Xiao Yu had no choice but to return to his storage room.
Everyone was well-behaved, and didn’t wander around even if they were curious, staying quietly where they were.
Jiang Ci fell asleep quickly and slept soundly through the night without any dreams.
The next day, she woke up early. After a good night’s sleep, she felt much more refreshed.
When she stepped out of her room, she noticed that the eight survivors were already awake and standing in the courtyard, seemingly puzzled as to why there were no zombies or mutated beasts around the hotpot restaurant.
The survivors looked much better, which didn’t match up to their usual state after being injured, feeling as if the food at the hotpot restaurant might have something to do with it.
Resting at the hotpot restaurant for two days felt better than recuperating in the base for several days.
When they saw Jiang Ci, Sun Qing and the others were preparing to leave. Expressing their gratitude, they knew words couldn’t fully describe it; they would remember this in their hearts.
They needed to hurry back to the base to report the situation since Bai Tingting might have already died at the hands of Zong Tao. The death of an ability user was significant for a base, and they also needed to inform their teammates’ families of their deaths.
Jiang Ci escorted the guests to the door, waving goodbye and inviting them to return for hotpot whenever they had the chance.
Shortly after Sun Qing and the others left, Chen Cheng, Xu Ling, and their team returned. They had sustained some minor injuries, but nothing serious, and it seemed they had successfully completed their mission.
They were dragging a massive black mutated beast with sharp, curved horns and coarse, tough fur. It looked somewhat familiar yet terrifying at the same time.
“This is a mutated black ox. Our mission target was its horns, fur, and hide. The bones are also valuable, so we decided to bring the whole thing back,” Chen Cheng explained, noticing Jiang Ci’s gaze fixed on the beast.
Jiang Ci nodded. So it was an ox—no wonder it looked somewhat familiar. “Are you going to eat the beef from this?”
Chen Cheng shook his head. “No, the meat of mutated beasts is toxic and tastes terrible. Once, a survivor who was on the verge of starvation tried it, and even in such a desperate state, found it nearly impossible to swallow. What’s worse, they died just three days after eating it.”
Jiang Ci instinctively took a step back, putting more distance between herself and the mutated black ox.
- 圣母 in particular is used to describe someone with excessive compassion but with a condemning attitude towards people with a different view from his/her own. ↩︎
