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Jiang Ci did the math. Five fourth-level crystals per person meant 50,000 points, two hundred and fifty servings of meat, and a thousand servings of vegetables, not even counting the rice and soup base. Her smile froze on her face. Could there really be people who could eat that much?
“What if multiple people come to eat together?” Jiang Ci asked.
[As long as the average consumption per person reaches 50,000 points, it counts,] the system replied, offering a relatively lenient condition. However, Jiang Ci still found the number daunting.
Just as Jiang Ci was talking to the system, a survivor came in from outside. Pausing at the doorway, they hesitated before stepping inside.
“I passed by during the day and knocked on the door, but no one answered. I thought it was an abandoned store, but I didn’t expect you to still be open,” the survivor said, wearing a hat and mask. After removing them, Jiang Ci realized the person in front of her was a woman—a short-haired woman with a striking and heroic face.
“I had some business to attend to during the day,” Jiang Ci explained briefly. “What would you like to eat? Here’s the menu, feel free to take a look.”
The woman nodded, her gaze falling on the small blackboard. The dishes listed were things she had never heard of since the apocalypse started.
The woman frowned slightly. Could this be a shady establishment? She glanced at Jiang Ci again. The other woman didn’t seem like a bad person at all. Plus, the warm, bright lighting in the room made her almost instinctively feel at ease.
Earlier that day, she had also encountered another group of survivors waiting outside the shop. They were regulars, having eaten here several times. They described the food as heavenly, something out of this world, making everyone present feel hungry just listening to them talk.
The woman got up and took a look at the condiment station. Although it had been years since she last smelled them, she recognized the distinct smell of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili sauce.
She sat back down and ordered a spicy hotpot base, a plate of egg fried rice, ten plates of fatty beef, and ten plates of potato slices.
Still cautious, the woman didn’t order too much, wanting to test the waters first. Jiang Ci calculated the total: five third-level crystal cores and six second-level crystal cores.
Jiang Ci went to the kitchen to prepare the food while the woman waited at the table.
Soon, the aroma wafted over, causing the woman’s stomach to growl uncontrollably. She swallowed, her usually calm eyes showing a rare hint of anticipation.
After the hotpot base and ingredients were served, Jiang Ci started preparing the fried rice. All the seasonings were already pre-prepared, with Jiang Ci only needing to cook it.
Fortunately, the system had already measured out the seasoning amounts. Otherwise, with Jiang Ci’s lack of cooking skills, the result would have scared customers away.
When Jiang Ci brought out the fried rice, she noticed that all the previously served food had already been put into the pot, the woman dipping it in chili sauce.
The woman ate quickly, though not ravenously. Instead, there was a sense of efficiency and satisfaction to the way she ate.
The portion of fried rice was indeed large—enough to feed five or six people in Jiang Ci’s world.
The fried rice was fragrant, with plenty of eggs and scallions to enhance its flavor. Just the smell of it was enough to whet your appetite.
The woman silently and swiftly finished all the dishes and the large bowl of rice, turning her gaze to Jiang Ci.
“Finished eating?” Jiang Ci asked, noticing the woman’s look.
The woman shook her head, her eyes now much more sincere than before. “I’d like to order more.”
Under Jiang Ci’s expectant gaze, the woman ordered fifty more plates of fatty beef, thirty plates of pork belly, and another plate of fried rice.
Jiang Ci noted down the order, asking the woman to wait before returning to the kitchen to prepare the food.
As Jiang Ci chopped vegetables in the kitchen, she calculated the points she had earned this time: two fourth-level crystal cores, one third-level crystal core, and seven second-level crystal cores, totaling 21,700 points. She was still 28,300 points short.
Jiang Ci sighed as she finished her calculations. This task was indeed something that couldn’t be easily accomplished.
The dishes were gradually being served as the woman ate heartily, a smile gradually spreading across her face.
After finishing all the dishes she had just ordered, the woman asked for twenty bottles of mineral water, stuffing them all into her backpack.
However, Jiang Ci found the backpack rather peculiar. No matter how many bottles were stuffed inside, it remained the same size, showing no signs of reaching capacity.
“I’m a spatial ability user,” the woman said openly, not trying to hide it upon noticing Jiang Ci’s curious gaze at her backpack.
Jiang Ci nodded in understanding. The backpack was likely a smokescreen used to conceal her spatial ability.
“Can I take some to-go?” the woman asked after organizing her backpack, looking at the half-finished hotpot in front of her. “I’m heading somewhere far away this time, and I might not be able to return to this city for a while.”
“Of course,” Jiang Ci quickly nodded, asking how much she needed.
“A hundred portions of fatty beef, a hundred portions of pork belly, fifty portions of potato slices, and fifty portions of egg fried rice,” the woman listed, then paused. “Is that too much?”
“Not at all,” Jiang Ci replied, gritting her teeth. She had already calculated that with these additions, the total income from this meal would be 66,700 points. Completing one-tenth of the task was worth the extra effort.
However, the ‘extra effort’ Jiang Ci had imagined turned out to be far more exhausting than she expected. Her arms were nearly numb after slicing two hundred portions of meat and frying fifty portions of egg fried rice.
It was unclear where the woman had gotten so many containers from her spatial storage, but she managed to pack all the egg fried rice into her space. The raw meat slices and potato slices were cooked in the hotpot before being packed, with the remaining broth poured over the meat.
Watching the process of the woman storing the food methodically satisfied Jiang Ci’s slight obsessive compulsive streak.
After packing all the food into her spatial storage, the woman stepped into the night without looking back, leaving only her name—Lin Fei—and a wave of her hand as she walked away.
Jiang Ci had chatted with Lin Fei briefly and couldn’t help but admire her. She thought it was incredibly brave for a woman to travel alone in the apocalypse with just a large backpack on her.
Watching Lin Fei’s figure disappear into the distance, Jiang Ci returned to the hotpot restaurant.
She glanced at the time and realized it was almost one o’clock in the morning. Jiang Ci closed the restaurant’s door and went back to her room to wash up and prepare for bed.
The recent upgrade had expanded her bedroom slightly, but it was still cozy and comfortable, just the way she liked it.
Jiang Ci changed into her pajamas and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She had several nonsensical dreams throughout the night, most of which were set in her hometown.
Jiang Ci realized she was feeling a bit homesick. When she woke up in the morning, she roughly guessed the time over there and called her mother.
Hearing the familiar voice on the other end of the line, Jiang Ci’s nose grew sour with emotion. However, her mother sounded puzzled, “What’s wrong, baby? Didn’t we just talk last night?”
Jiang Ci snapped back to reality, remembering that one month here was equivalent to just one day in the real world. To her mother, it really had only been one night since they last spoke.
Jiang Ci quickly changed the subject, exchanged a few pleasantries with her parents, and then excused herself by saying she had to go to work before hanging up.
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ci let out a deep sigh. The bustle here had truly made her lose track of time.
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:
Today, a light drizzle fell outside, with the wind carrying a bitter taste as it howled.
However, the rain didn’t dampen the survivors’ enthusiasm for coming to eat hotpot.
Most of the people who came to the store today were those who had received flyers from the Crimson Base, along with some survivors who happened to pass by.
The business in the shop seemed to have suddenly picked up. From having one or two tables a day or even only one or two tables over several days, it had now reached a point where all eight tables and chairs in the shop were fully occupied, with several groups of survivors waiting for a seat in the courtyard outside.
Jiang Ci had been busy in the kitchen all day, chopping vegetables and meat. It wasn’t until she had a moment to step out that she noticed the leaders of three different bases had come to buy bottled water.
Taking advantage of the fact that the survivors were still eating, Jiang Ci inquired about the quantities each base needed to purchase.
Perhaps having already learned the process from the Crimson Base, they had directly driven several large trucks over.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting,” Jiang Ci said, shaking the remaining water droplets off her hands as she addressed the survivors in front of her.
“No problem, no problem. Boss Jiang, take your time. It’s fine for us to wat a bit longer,” said the deputy leader of the Red Sun Base. He had brought eight survivors with him and driven over two large trucks, an indication of their plan to purchase a significant amount.
“I can take a break now. Please let me know the quantities you need, and I’ll prepare them shortly,” Jiang Ci said. “But we’ll have everyone come in one base at a time. The space here is quite small so we might not be able to accommodate everyone at once.”
“Of course, of course,” the deputy leader of the Red Sun Base quickly replied.
From the crowd, a man let out a disdainful snort. She was just a little girl, looking so frail that a gust of wind could knock her over. Why bother even being so polite to her?
Hearing the sound, Jiang Ci glanced up and saw a young man standing at the back of the crowd, accompanied by a woman.
Coming out to handle base business but bringing his woman along—his casual demeanor made it clear he wasn’t someone who had a serious attitude toward things.
Jiang Ci wasn’t without a temper either. Seeing this, she didn’t feel like engaging with him and turned back to continue speaking with Sun Yong, the deputy leader of the Red Sun Base.
“Brother Sun, you can start first,” Jiang Ci said to the man in front of her.
Sun Yong felt a warm sense of relief. Usually, people who controlled resources acted arrogantly, and regardless whether you were a base leader or deputy leader, you still had to flatter and ingratiate them before getting anything. To be honest, he had been sweating bullets before coming here, thinking he might even have to resort to grovelling this time, but he hadn’t expected such a pleasant and welcoming interaction.
The hotpot store was indeed busy, but those waiting to buy water were also well taken care of. Not only were there chairs to sit on, but they were also provided with warm water.
“Just call me Little Sun, Boss Jiang,” Sun Yong said with a cheerful smile.
Jiang Ci looked at the tall man who was half a head taller than her and found it hard to address him as ‘Little Sun.’ She quickly changed the subject, “So, how many boxes of mineral water does your base need?”
“After discussion, we would like to purchase ten thousand boxes first,” Sun Yong carefully stated the number, feeling somewhat uneasy. After all, the Crimson Base had only bought five hundred cases. Could the hotpot shop really provide ten thousand?
bringing a woman out isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the subtext referring to that guy is that he’s out doing a serious job for the base, yet he’s brought his woman along that has nothing to do with his work—furthermore, he judges people at face value and looks down on others—clearly a frivolous person
Ty for the new chapters!!