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“Boss Jiang, I know this isn’t worth much anymore, so just take it back as a small trinket for yourself.” Despite Mo Sisi bringing out such a good item, she still felt that her sincerity was lacking, her face flushing with embarrassment.
“I’ve already signed a contract with Aunt Mo Yun; it’s just a matter of mutually helping one another. There’s really no need to be so polite.” Jiang Ci still shut the lid of the box and returned it to Mo Sisi.
“Boss Jiang, please accept it. I’m often out and about, and I’ll have to trouble you to take care of my mother more. If you don’t accept it, I won’t feel at ease when I go out on missions.”
Mo Sisi spoke with utmost sincerity, and in the end, Jiang Ci accepted the set of jewelry.
After accepting it, she asked Mo Sisi to wait a moment while she went to the backyard to fetch a bag. She filled it with vegetables and hid a few pieces of meat at the bottom, then handed it to Mo Sisi, who was waiting for her at the back door.
After a bit of obligatory back-and-forth, Jiang Ci insisted that Mo Sisi take the bag.
Jiang Ci opened the jewelry set and looked at it again, growing fonder of it the more she stared at it. Finally, she stored it back in her space. She didn’t plan to sell this set for money, but rather preferred to keep it for its potential to appreciate in value.
Instead of returning to the front of the shop immediately, Jiang Ci opened the system to check on her next task.
The next task required her to sell 500 portions of lamb chops at the barbecue store. Upon completion, she would receive duck intestines ingredients for the hotpot restaurant and barbecue sauce for the barbecue store.
Perhaps because the starting point of this store was too high, the goal required for the task was also quite high. Jiang Ci reminisced on when the first task for the hotpot restaurant was just to serve five customers.
Despite the current tasks having a higher threshold than before, they were still much easier for her to complete compared to when she first arrived.
After checking the task, Jiang Ci returned to the front of the shop to help. There were already a lot of people there by this time in the morning.
The newly added beef balls and hand-pulled noodles were extremely popular in the hotpot restaurant, especially the hand-pulled noodles. The survivors hadn’t eaten noodles in a long time, so almost everyone who came ended up ordering a portion.
The hand-pulled noodles were very chewy, and were the kind of noodles that were two fingers wide. When served, the staff or the survivors themselves would have to stretch the noodles.
After cooking them in the spicy, clear, or seafood broth for a while, they became exceptionally flavorful.
The noodles that were coated in the broth were savory and full of flavor, with just a hint of the natural aftertaste of wheat. They were so good that it was hard for the survivors to stop eating.
The beef balls were also exceptionally springy and chewy, with a generous portion size and large pieces.
The lamb chops at the barbecue shop weren’t just selling well—they were selling like hotcakes.
The lamb chops were very tender, and were still full of juice after grilling. The marinated meat also had a particularly good texture.
Paired with mushrooms, with just a taste of the juice and dipped in chili sauce, the flavor was so fresh it felt like you could swallow your tongue.
It seemed the task of selling 500 lamb chops would soon be completed.
At noon, Jiang Ci ordered beef balls and lamb chops for everyone to try, and the staff all agreed that it was delicious.
The next day, in the afternoon, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan were in the backyard packing the 500 portions of vegetables they needed to sell to the survivors the next day. They worked until nightfall when Mao Qianqian knocked on the door to call them for dinner. Only then did Jiang Ci realize how late it had gotten.
After dinner, the two continued packing until all 500 portions of vegetables had all been packed, finally finishing up at ten at night. By then, the restaurants outside had already closed, and the surroundings were quiet, with not even the an insect or bird making a sound.
Back in her room, Jiang Ci played with Xiao Lulu for a while. As she held Xiao Lulu in her arms, a vine gently extended from her wrist, gradually forming a bracelet. Then, small pink and yellow flowers started to bloom on the vine.
Jiang Ci was pleasantly surprised. She had been so busy these past two days that she hadn’t paid much attention to Xiao Lulu. She hadn’t expected it to have such mastery over its own abilities already.
“It’s so beautiful, thank you,” Jiang Ci said, gently stroking Xiao Lulu’s head with her fingertip.
Xiao Lulu seemed very happy at the praise and wriggled in Jiang Ci’s arms.
The next day, Jiang Ci woke up just as early as she normally would, but turns out there were even more survivors outside her door than the day before.
The survivors’ bodies had evolved after the apocalypse, making them incredibly strong. Staying up late was just a common occurrence for them, so they showed no signs of fatigue or dark circles under their eyes.
Jiang Ci set up her small table, and without needing a reminder, the survivors proactively started to form a long line. Seeing that everyone was in place, Song Jinchuan began distributing the numbered tokens he held.
Soon, all five hundred tokens were handed out. Most of the survivors who hadn’t received a token the previous day managed to get one this time.
Those who got their tokens continued to wait in line, while those who didn’t went to queue up at the nearby hotpot and barbecue restaurants, hoping to see if the Boss would announce any spots for the next day.
However, the survivors were destined to be disappointed. Jiang Ci had no plans to sell vegetables again the next day. If she were to sell any, it would have to wait until the next batch of vegetables was harvested.
That evening, Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan planted seeds in all the remaining empty plots. This time, they used up all the rewards she had drawn, with Jiang Ci even going to the system’s mall to buy another large bag of mixed seeds.
After scattering the seeds and watering them, all they had to do now was wait for them to sprout and mature.
The system’s task was completed the very next day. The hotpot restaurant unlocked duck intestines, while the barbecue restaurant unlocked a special barbecue sauce.
The barbecue sauce was special mix, with an indescribably refreshing taste that perfectly balanced the greasiness experienced after eating too much barbecue.
The duck intestines only needed to be boiled for about a minute before they were ready to eat—crisp, tender, and smooth, with no hint of gaminess.
At noon, Jiang Ci ordered a portion of hot and sour duck intestines. Stir-fried with pickled ginger and chili, it suddenly felt as if she had returned to her hometown, stepping into a small, heritage restaurant hidden in an alley. The old chef would whip up a bowl of hot and sour duck intestines in just a few minutes over high heat, and the flavor was absolutely mindblowing.
As she ate the hot and sour duck intestines, she suddenly felt homesick again. She had been in this post-apocalyptic world for several months already, yet in the real world, probably only a few days had passed. If she called her parents and told them she suddenly missed home, they would probably think something had happened to her and immediately buy tickets to rush overnight to the city where she worked.
Jiang Ci quickly suppressed her emotions and finished her meal.
The next task came suddenly in the middle of the night, a week after she had completed the previous one.
After finishing the last task, she had been puzzled because the system hadn’t issued any new tasks, with no new tasks appearing for the next several days.
When she asked the system, all she received from it was the vague instruction to wait. But as for what she was waiting for, Jiang Ci had no clue.
However, today, she finally understood what she had been waiting for.
The task bar was flashing red, releasing an urgent mission: [Deliver at least two hundred pot helmets and milk tea to the Western Base before they are wiped out.]
This task meant that not only would she have to prevent the Western Base from being wiped out but that she would also have to ensure the survival of at least two hundred people. Otherwise, with either of these conditions missing, her mission would end in a failure.
The reward for successfully completing the mission was a barbecue street stall.
It was a small cart-like stall that could be taken out of the store independently. Its functions seemed to go beyond just selling barbecue skewers, but Jiang Ci didn’t look closely and closed the mission panel.
The mission was still currently green, but after Jiang Ci checked on the reward, it slowly turned into a yellow color in warning.
The system said that if the mission turned red, it meant the situation had already become extremely urgent.
Jiang Ci quickly got out of bed, hurriedly called Song Jinchuan from next door, briefly explained the mission, and said they needed to make at least two hundred and fifty pot helmets and milk teas.
Without hesitation, Song Jinchuan swiftly got dressed and went to help Jiang Ci pack.
While packing, Jiang Ci kept an eye on the mission’s color. Fortunately, it didn’t change, indicating that the survivors at the base could still hold out for a while.
Soon, the two of them finished packing the hot milk teas and pot helmets. Jiang Ci’s space already had plenty of food, so along with this sudden addition, they had more than enough. They quickly loaded everything and hopped onto the electric scooter.
Before heading to the Western Base, Jiang Ci had Song Jinchuan drive the scooter to the Mao sisters’ 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:
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The lives of the two Mao sisters had been busy and fulfilled lately, especially Mao Jing, who had mostly stayed at home before. Although she never said it out loud, she had still secretly longed for the outside world.
Now that she had this job, people no longer brought up her disability or gossiped behind her back about her being a burden. The looks she received were more that of envy than malice.
For her, this kind of life was already good enough for her.
Late at night, the sisters had only been asleep for a few hours when they heard knocking at the door.
Mao Qianqian woke up with a start, reaching for the wooden gun by her pillow.
“It’s so late, who could it be?” Mao Jing also woke up, frowning as she propped herself up, seemingly about to move herself into the wheelchair beside her.
“Sis, don’t move. I’ll go check,” Mao Qianqian said, nimbly getting out of bed and silently walking out of the room.
“Qianqian, are you home? It’s Jiang Ci,” the knocking continued, and alongside it was Boss Jiang’s voice.
Mao Qianqian’s guard immediately dropped as she quickly opened the door.
Seeing the door open, Jiang Ci hurriedly said, “We have to go out, and we definitely won’t make it back to open the shop tomorrow morning. Here, these are the keys to the hotpot and barbecue shops. Please open them for me. You can cook lunch for yourselves using whatever ingredients you want, just don’t waste them.”
After saying this, Jiang Ci shoved the keys into Mao Qianqian’s hand and quickly turned to leave.
Mao Qianqian’s address had been given to her by the base leader. As soon as Jiang Ci arrived at the base, it had caused a stir among the higher-ups. Given Jiang Ci’s special status, no one in the base dared to offend her, and they were all eager to curry favor with her, hoping that when the hotpot shop introduced something new, Boss Jiang would think of them more.
However, Jiang Ci declined their enthusiastic suggestions, only asking for Mao Qianqian’s address before leaving with Song Jinchuan.
When they left Mao Qianqian’s place, the base leader and others were still waiting for them, insisting on seeing them off.
After Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan left the base and walked a considerable distance, they looked back to see the crowd slowly dispersing.
With these matters clarified, Jiang Ci felt half of her worries lifted. Now, she could focus all her efforts on rushing to the Western Base.
ahhhhh SKEWERS i haven’t had skewers in so long bc they’re so expensive in australia QAQ but skewered rice cake or gluten ??? LAMB !!! ugh so good
