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“When we came, we also took a look at the base that was attacked. Several survivors’ bodies were completely skinned, with some bodies not even fully intact. I don’t know what kind of organization could be so heartless. In the end, we’re all human after all—is it really necessary to go to such extremes?” The man shook his head again, his voice filled with gravity.
As they entered the base, the atmosphere became even more oppressive. Most people were lying on the floor, looking utterly defeated and despondent. Although their wounds had all been roughly treated already, they still appeared quite serious.
“These people were also quite unlucky. After escaping, they ran into a few mutated beasts, which made their injuries even worse.”
“Lin Fei!” Jiang Ci’s voice suddenly rose a bit.
Lin Fei, who was bandaging a survivor’s wound, looked up at the sound. Her previously serious face instantly lit up with a smile, and she waved her free hand at Jiang Ci.
This was indeed not the time for small talk. After exchanging a knowing glance, the two quickly got back to their respective tasks.
Song Jinchuan was explaining their purpose for coming to his friend Yu Chuan. Yu Chuan’s eyes grew wider and wider, and he even reached his hand out to test the temperature of Song Jinchuan’s forehead, “You’re not running a fever, are you?”
This was the apocalypse after all; how could there be such selfless people? Yu Chuan instinctively thought he was joking.
But he knew Song Jinchuan’s character—he wouldn’t joke about such serious matters. So, were they really here to do charity work?
Yu Chuan found it utterly unbelievable.
Song Jinchuan brushed off Yu Chuan’s hand from his forehead, “I’m not joking with you. Remember to come and help later.”
Jiang Ci had already set up the table, the pot, and the ingredients. Lin Fei also came over to help. It had been a while since they last saw each other, and Jiang Ci wondered how Lin Fei had ended up in City E.
As the aroma of the food began to waft through the air, the survivors lying on the floor were gradually drawn to it, their eyes fixed on the large black pot where Jiang Ci and the others were cooking.
Yu Chuan had already gone to communicate with a team of survivors, with everyone beginning to organize the survivors into queues to receive food.
Some survivors who had ordered takeout heard that Jiang Ci and her team had arrived and hurried over to collect their meals.
Although they hadn’t had a proper meal in several days, seeing how busy Jiang Ci and her team were, they didn’t rush to get their takeout, but instead, all came over to help.
Not long after they started cooking, Jiang Ci saw the little boy she had rescued earlier and his mother come in from outside.
When they saw Jiang Ci and the steaming pot in front of her, they were momentarily stunned. Upon learning that she was the owner of a hot pot restaurant from City C and had come to do good by helping them, the little boy felt a sense of confirmation in his heart.
Only people with a kind heart would lend a hand to them in such circumstances.
By the time the soup and pot helmets were ready, it was already midnight.
However, everyone didn’t seem too tired. Instead, they all looked forward to the soup and pot helmets in front of them.
Before Jiang Ci distributed the food, she took out the list of names written down earlier and read them one by one to see if anyone responded.
Unfortunately, more than half of the people on the list were no longer with them, and only a very few responded when their names were called.
Jiang Ci solemnly crossed off one name after another and then told the remaining survivors who was looking for them.
The survivors were naturally happy to learn that their loved ones were still alive and asked for a few more details.
Jiang Ci didn’t keep the survivors waiting long. After finishing this task, she began serving the food, with Jiang Ci ladling the soup and Song Jinchuan packing the pot helmets beside her.
Seeing his friend’s skilled movements, Yu Chuan still found it unbelievable. He and Song Jinchuan had run into each other after the apocalypse. On that occasion, their team had nearly been wiped out because of a traitor, but Song Jinchuan’s squad had saved him. The two had been university classmates before the apocalypse, though their relationship had been quite ordinary and were only acquaintances.
However, since that incident, the two had become very good friends.
In his impression, Song Jinchuan had always been decisive and highly capable, with an exceptionally high level of supernatural abilities, and was considered a powerful figure in the eyes of many survivors.
But now, this person widely renowned as a powerful figure was standing in front of a pot helmet stall, deftly packing pot helmets as skillfully as a seasoned pot helmet vendor with ten years of experience for the survivors in front of him. It was truly eye-opening.
After all the survivors had received their food, Jiang Ci also gave a portion to those who had helped and distributed the takeout orders to the survivors one by one.
Once everyone had eaten, the system notified Jiang Ci that both tasks were completed. She finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling genuinely tired this time. She glanced at the time; it was already early morning, and it was clearly too late to head back. She decided to find a spot to set up a tent and rest for the night.
She wanted to share the tent with Lin Fei, but Lin Fei was nowhere to be seen, busy with other tasks, so she had to give up on the idea.
This was the first time Jiang Ci had used this tent, so it took her and Song Jinchuan a while to figure out how to set it up.
After the tent was set up, Song Jinchuan looked at the small tent in front of him and said to Jiang Ci, “I’ll keep watch outside. You go in and rest.”
Jiang Ci looked at the tent and agreed that it wasn’t suitable for two people to sleep inside together. “Let’s take turns sleeping. I’ll switch with you in the second half of the night.”
“No need, I can stay up all night without any issues,” Song Jinchuan said.
Jiang Ci, however, waved her hand, indicating that no matter what he said, she was determined to follow her own plan.
But as soon as she stepped into the tent, she found that the interior was nothing like the cramped space she had imagined.
Not only was it not narrow, but it was also divided into two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and even a small kitchen.
Even though she had seen many miraculous aspects of the system, Jiang Ci couldn’t help but be stunned. This was exactly like the magical tent from that fantasy movie she had watched before!
Jiang Ci remembered how envious she had been of the characters on screen back then, wishing she could just jump into the TV. She never thought that dream would come true.
Jiang Ci went to check the bedroom and found that there was even a bed, with a light installed on the ceiling. Although it was simple, such a setup was quite luxurious for a tent.
After touring the tent, Jiang Ci didn’t forget to call Song Jinchuan in.
Song Jinchuan leaned against the wall nearby. When Jiang Ci asked him to enter the tent, he suddenly felt nervous for some reason, his ears reddening slightly. He stammered, “This isn’t appropriate.”
“No, just come in and see for yourself,” Jiang Ci said, feeling too tired to explain much. She grabbed his hand straightforwardly and pulled him into the tent.
Song Jinchuan felt his heartbeat gradually quicken as he almost stumbled over his own two feet, his mind struggling to keep up with what was happening.
Once inside the tent though, Song Jinchuan realized he was overthinking it. The space was much larger than he had imagined, with two rooms facing each other. It was nothing like the scenario he had imagined of the two of them sharing such a cramped space.
“This way, both of us can sleep. I’m going to bed now, I can barely keep my eyes open,” Jiang Ci waved her hand and then disappeared into the room on the right.
Song Jinchuan nodded silently, watching as Jiang Ci entered the room and the door curtain fall, blocking the view inside. Only then did he raise his hand to cover his left chest.
His heartbeat had been racing just moments ago, something that hadn’t happened in years, leaving him feeling somewhat unsettled.
*
Jiang Ci slept in the next day, waking up to find it was already half past nine in the morning. There was no movement outside, and according to Song Jinchuan’s habits, he should have woken up a while ago.
Jiang Ci wasn’t in much of a hurry. She first checked her task rewards; the fish maw chicken hotpot base and seeds were already in her possession.
The next task was then promptly issued: within seven days, achieve a revenue of 100 million points for the hotpot restaurant to unlock a barbecue restaurant.
Jiang Ci sat up straight in bed. A barbecue restaurant? Was it the kind she was thinking of?
[Yes, host, it’s a regular barbecue restaurant.]
After the initial excitement, Jiang Ci felt another headache starting. She was already overwhelmed with just one restaurant, yet now another one was about to be added.
[No need to worry, didn’t the system already help the host unlock the function for recruiting employees? The host can go ahead and hire people, as long as they sign a contract not to do anything detrimental to the store,] the system tried to comfort her.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ci’s anxiety dissipated somewhat.
Because a task had temporarily been added, Jiang Ci had now completed two tasks since the last lottery draw, so she could spin the wheel for rewards again.
Jiang Ci rubbed her palms together, then placed her finger on the center of the wheel.
*
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:
Song Jinchuan had barely slept all night, and according to Jiang Ci’s expectations, had gotten up very early. As soon as he got up, he went to the base outside to see if Yu Chuan needed any help, and after estimating the time, he returned to see if Jiang Ci had woken up.
Just as he reached the tent entrance, Song Jinchuan suddenly heard a scream. His expression changed immediately as he quickened his pace, throwing caution to the wind and directly lifting the curtain to Jiang Ci’s bedroom, “What happened?”
As he lifted the curtain, he saw Jiang Ci sitting on the bed wrapped in a blanket, staring at a spot in the air with a look of surprise.
The sound of Song Jinchuan entering startled Jiang Ci, and she came back to her senses before addressing the anxious Song Jinchuan, “I’m fine. Sorry, did I scare you?”
Song Jinchuan shook his head, “It’s good that you’re fine.”
After saying this, he realized that his actions might have been inappropriate, and after leaving that remark, he hurriedly retreated.
Jiang Ci was ecstatic because she had just drawn the automatic cutting machine she had been longing for. Whether it was meat or vegetables, as long as they were placed in the machine’s preparation area, the machine could figure out what the ingredient was itself and quickly cut them into the prepared plates.
With this tool, the workload in the kitchen would be greatly reduced.
As for the store’s upgrade, it still had to wait until there was no one around.
Having drawn something she liked, Jiang Ci felt that her mood after staying up late the previous night had lifted.
After she got up, she found that Song Jinchuan was no longer in the tent. After washing up, she quickly packed away the tent.
Song Jinchuan was outside talking to his friend Yu Chuan, who noticed that Song Jinchuan was somewhat distracted, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the direction of the tent.
Yu Chuan spoke for a while without getting a response, and with one look, he knew his brother had fallen hard.
He winked at Song Jinchuan, “What, has the old tree finally blossomed?”
Song Jinchuan side-eyed him without speaking, but his lack of rebuttal spoke volumes to the other man.
“Starting from university to the apocalypse, several people have confessed to you, yet you’ve always been the first to avoid them. Now that you’re so proactive, does the girl know about your feelings?” Yu Chuan asked, itching for gossip.
Jiang Ci happened to come out of the tent at this moment, waving in Song Jinchuan’s direction, looking extremely happy. Song Jinchuan felt his heart skip a beat, then turned to Yu Chuan and said, “Alright, stop talking nonsense.”
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk.” Yu Chuan crossed his arms, his face full of mischief as he teased him. Turns out he was still at the stage of secretly crushing on her.
Since Yu Chuan had been here for a few days without washing his face or shaving, the expression looked a bit lewd.
“Are you done with your tasks?” Jiang Ci asked after packing up the tent.
“I’m fine, I’ve already finished making the arrangements,” Song Jinchuan said.
Seeing Song Jinchuan answering every question and appearing particularly docile in front of Jiang Ci, completely unlike his usual cold and taciturn demeanor, Yu Chuan immediately started clicking his tongue in amazement.
Jiang Ci turned to look at him and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing, he didn’t get enough rest last night and is speaking without thinking. Don’t mind him. Once you’re ready, we can head out first,” Song Jinchuan said.
Yu Chuan: “…”
Jiang Ci didn’t understand what the two of them were talking about, but she didn’t pay it much attention either. Her thoughts had already drifted back to the hotpot restaurant.
“You two go ahead. On behalf of everyone, I want to thank you,” Yu Chuan finally spoke seriously. “I’m truly grateful. The meal you brought might just be the spark that reignites their will to live. It’s incredibly important.”
“It was no big deal,” Jiang Ci waved her hand casually, then hopped onto the electric scooter and rode off with Song Jinchuan.
Jiang Ci didn’t want to disturb her in the middle of her work since Lin Fei seemed to be very busy. This time, the two of them didn’t get a chance to talk properly, so Jiang Ci could only bid her goodbye before leaving.
Just as they passed the factory gate, Jiang Ci spotted a boy standing not far from the entrance.
Song Jinchuan stopped the scooter, and the boy walked over, pulling something out of his pocket.
Jiang Ci took a closer look—it was a fang-shaped object, smooth and jet-black on the surface, with a sharp end one one side and the other cut flat.
“Sister, I got this early this morning. It’s a tooth from a level three mutated beast. It can be forged into a good weapon,” the boy said, handing the black tooth to Jiang Ci. “I don’t have much to repay you with right now, but I hope you’ll accept this.”
Seeing the sincerity in the boy’s eyes, Jiang Ci eventually took the black tooth from him.
“Thank you,” Jiang Ci patted the boy’s head, then reached into her bag and pulled out a box of egg fried rice, handing it to him. “Take this back to eat.”
Without waiting for him to refuse, she signaled for Song Jinchuan to drive the scooter away.
Hearing the boy call out to her from behind, she waved her hand at him without looking back.
Before returning to the hotpot restaurant, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan made a stop at the abandoned base to deliver the list of remaining survivors to the other survivors.
Seeing Jiang Ci return, the survivors quickly gathered around, eagerly opening the list to see if their loved ones were still alive.
the translator has nothing to add ◡̈
