this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Song Jinchuan was still cleaning up the remaining mess in the kitchen when a fragrant aroma wafted past his nose. He looked down and saw Jiang Ci holding a pot helmet out to him.
“I specially saved one for each of us. We should at least test how good it tastes,” Jiang Ci said, shoving the pot helmet into Song Jinchuan’s hand before turning and leaving the kitchen.
She needed to order some food for the two of them. It was so late, and if they didn’t eat something soon, she was going to faint from hunger.
As Jiang Ci opened the ordering system on her computer, she took a bite of the pot helmet in her hand. The crust was crispy and flaky, while the meat filling inside was wrapped in a savory broth, making it unexpectedly delicious.
Song Jinchuan stood in the kitchen, holding the warm pot helmet in his hand. He felt his heart warming up, just like the heat at his fingertips.
After eating enough to fill their stomachs, the two of them returned to their respective rooms.
For Song Jinchuan, working at the hotpot restaurant was much easier than going on missions, and there was no life-threatening danger involved. So he wouldn’t feel tired even if he had to work a few more hours.
But Jiang Ci had said that their hotpot restaurant was a legitimate business and would never treat employees like working animals. They had to clock out on time.
After returning to her room, the system issued Jiang Ci a new task: within the next 24 hours, she needed to earn one million points to unlock the delivery service.
Jiang Ci sat up abruptly from her bed. “Can I change the task reward? The restaurant is already too busy, there’s simply no time for us to do deliveries.”
[Sorry, the task reward cannot be changed. The task is closely related to the future development of the hotpot restaurant,] the system rejected her coldly.
Jiang Ci fell back onto her pillow with a thud, looking utterly defeated. Great, she hadn’t even completely mastered the pot helmet yet, and now she had to start doing food deliveries.
[Host, don’t worry. There will be delivery fees included in the takeout, which will also count as additional income for you,] the system added.
Jiang Ci rolled over, trying to block out the system’s manipulative tactics. Unexpectedly, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep almost immediately.
Jiang Ci had initially thought that Song Jinchuan had gotten up so early because he couldn’t sleep as it was his first day at the restaurant. But contrary to her assumption, Song Jinchuan had already gotten ready and prepared a lot of ingredients and stored them in the freezer by the time she woke up in the morning.
“You really don’t have to get up so early,” Jiang Ci said, somewhat helplessly.
Song Jinchuan simply replied that it was fine; after all, his body was already used to waking up at a fixed time every day.
Hearing this, Jiang Ci had no choice but to let him be.
After more than a day, Song Jinchuan had already familiarised himself with the kitchen and the dining area. Since there wasn’t much technical skill needed, Jiang Ci felt comfortable leaving it to him.
She herself headed straight to the pot helmet stall, hoping to make some in advance while it was still early.
But when she opened the stall’s window, she saw a horde of survivors waiting outside, some even with tents pitched up, as if they had slept there overnight.
“Are there still purchase limits today, Boss?” the survivors asked eagerly as soon as they saw Jiang Ci.
Jiang Ci nodded. “Today, it’s still two per person. Please line up properly.”
“Boss, good morning. What are you selling?” A familiar voice sounded from not far away. Jiang Ci looked up and saw Zhong Xiaofeng walking over, followed by a few survivors.
“Good morning. This is the pot helmet that just came out yesterday. It’s five first-level crystal cores each.”
“Pot helmets! I love pot helmets!” A young woman following Zhong Xiaofeng exclaimed excitedly, then quickly lined up at the back of the crowd.
Song Jinchuan came out of the store to distribute number tags. There were only so many bases in the vicinity, and most of the ability users knew each other, including Zhong Xiaofeng. Her team had even interacted with Song Jinchuan’s team before.
While others might not know, Zhong Xiaofeng had always been aware that Song Jinchuan was actually a dual-ability user. Such individuals could thrive in any base. At this moment, Song Jinchuan was helping Jiang Ci greet customers, chopping and washing vegetables, just like an ordinary restaurant employee. Zhong Xiaofeng found it somewhat surreal to witness.
“Captain Zhong,” Song Jinchuan sensed a gaze and looked up to see Zhong Xiaofeng. He nodded at her, then immediately returned to his tasks after just a glance.
As he had said before, the affairs of this world no longer concerned him.
The line in front of Jiang Ci grew longer and longer. The news that the hotpot shop had started selling pot helmets spread quickly, with more and more people rushing over to taste this snack that had only appeared for years in their dreams.
Whenever Song Jinchuan had a moment of rest from his busy schedule, he would come over to help Jiang Ci make pot helmets, then package and hand them out.
Zhong Xiaofeng and her team found a private room to sit in. The variety of ingredients at the hotpot store had increased significantly compared to their first visit, with the flavors becoming even more diverse.
Some survivors had been here before, but for others, it was their first time. The abundance of dishes and egg fried rice made the survivors’ eyes light up.
Although nutrient solutions could fill their stomachs, it still couldn’t compare to real food.
*
Cheng Jing and Cheng Meng stood in front of the ruins of a collapsed building in City C, removing their UV blocking masks to reveal their youthful faces.
“Sis, is this City C?” Cheng Meng asked, panting.
The two had just finished killing a group of level two zombies and had only just found a quiet spot to rest.
“It should be. There are no landmarks or road signs anymore, so we can only rely on this map. According to the map, we should indeed be in City C,” Cheng Jing said as she unfolded a rather old map in her hands.
The two sisters had just escaped from a farm in City R. They were originally the owners of the farm. After the apocalypse arrived, their parents quickly built high walls around the farm.
The farm had abundant resources, which attracted some survivors. Eventually, it became a small shelter, and they had lived there for many years. Later, their parents passed away, leaving only the two sisters to rely on each other.
The base had always maintained a harmonious coexistence. Despite there being no formal management, everyone still remained quite self-disciplined.
The base had been peaceful until recently, when the sisters discovered that their uncle had conspired with a few newcomers to rally a portion of the survivors under his control, directly seizing power from them and driving them out of the home they had lived in for decades.
Their biological aunt, who had witnessed all this, remained indifferent. When they were finally driven out, she even accused them of uneven resource distribution, claiming that they, their relatives, had never once benefitted.
Those words were loaded with accusations, showing no regard for the kindness they had received during those moments they had been between life and death.
Those who tried to speak up for them were all suppressed by force, even attempting to brainwash the survivors into not taking orders from two women.
Cheng Jing and Cheng Meng were almost amused by the absurdity of it all. There had never been any class distinctions here; everyone had been supporting each other to move forward. How had it come to the point where they were seen as giving orders to everyone?
Ultimately, they were concerned about the farm their parents had left behind as well as the companions they had lived together with for so long. In the end, they had no choice but to leave, driven out.
After leaving the farm, they decided to head to the Hope Base in City C to look for their maternal uncle, who had left home several years ago, and then make further plans when the time comes.
After several days, they finally reached the outskirts of City C.
“Sis, do you think we’ll find Uncle? And if we do, will he still be the same as before?” Cheng Meng pouted, already losing hope in these relatives.
“I don’t know either,” Cheng Jing replied, her eyes filled with a hint of uncertainty. “Let’s see first. Don’t rush to reconnect. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll just find a base to stay in for now.”
Cheng Jing calculated her crystal cores. She had carried most of her belongings with her, and the crystal cores should last them for a while.
After resting for a bit, they heard some movement nearby and quickly got up, heading toward the urban area of City C.
*
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:
Jiang Ci had been busy all day, so busy that she didn’t even have time to greet acquaintances. By the time she came to her senses, the sun had already set.
Before 24 hours had even passed, the system notified her that today’s task had been completed. This was the first time Jiang Ci felt so stressed upon completing a task.
Regretfully, the task reward arrived as scheduled, regardless of her feelings.
With no customers around, Jiang Ci opened the task reward at eight o’clock after closing the shop while Song Jinchuan was still tidying up in the kitchen.
She discovered that although the unlocked feature was a delivery service, she could control the amount herself—minimum three orders, with no upper limit. The medium through which survivors could place orders was an electronic menu produced by the system.
This menu looked no different from a paper one, except that any dishes ordered on it would be relayed back to Jiang Ci. She would prepare the food and then send it out.
Delivery would be more expensive than dining in, and whether an order could be placed depended entirely on the number of orders Jiang Ci set to accept and as well as the order in which the food would be delivered in.
The delivery vehicle was the foldable electric scooter that had been given to Jiang Ci earlier.
The shop also received some takeaway boxes, disposable pots, and insulated delivery bags.
Since there was now an additional employee in the shop, these items no longer appeared out of thin air, but arrived in the form of packages placed at the entrance of the hotpot restaurant instead.
When Jiang Ci opened the door, she saw a pile of delivery boxes stacked at the entrance. She called Song Jinchuan over to help move the pile of packages into the kitchen.
Then, they unpacked them one by one and arranged them properly.
“What are all these for?” Song Jinchuan asked, puzzled. For example, those stacked pots felt a bit soft to the touch. Were they even usable?
“These are for our future delivery service,” Jiang Ci replied, sounding utterly resigned.
“Delivery service? Our shop is going to offer delivery?” Song Jinchuan’s face showed clear surprise. To think that in such an environment and under these conditions, a delivery service could even exist.
Jiang Ci nodded, “Yes, we’ll be even busier from now on. We have to manage the shop and also handle deliveries.”
“It’s okay, I’ll take care of the deliveries from now on. I can run fast,” Song Jinchuan volunteered to take on the delivery tasks.
a delivery service in a zombie apocalypse is indeed quite crazyyy
