this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
Flames and lightning almost enveloped Jiang Ci as they surged towards her at high speed. Without a second thought, Jiang Ci immediately released her black devouring ability.
The massive flames and lightning, upon encountering the black energy in Jiang Ci’s hands, were like a drop in the ocean, without even a ripple.
Jiang Ci, who had discovered a new use for her ability, was clearly delighted. So this was what devouring was—it could devour others’ abilities. This ability was incredibly useful.
The two ability users opposite her almost had their eyes popping out. What the hell was this?!
Jiang Ci even called out to the two of them, “More, more, let me try again.”
The two survivors nearly spat out blood. This was a strike they had poured all their effort into, leaving them with almost no remaining energy reserves left to manoeuvre.
Yet, their attacks had vanished, as if cursed.
They stood frozen in place, actually beginning to feel a hint of fear and desire to retreat.
At that moment, a black shadow swiftly approached, followed by a fist as hard as steel.
Upon closer inspection, it really was a steel fist. The massive fist was entirely encased in hard metal. If it hit an ordinary person, they would likely be turned into pulp in a few strikes.
Jiang Ci quickly enveloped the sudden large fist with black mist. Then, with a scream, the large fist in front of her was directly devoured by the black mist, losing more than half of its mass.
The buzz-cut guy opposite her forcibly pulled his hand away, only to find that everything from the wrist down was gone, the limb now spurting blood.
The buzz-cut guy’s face turned deathly pale, realizing that he had been tricked today. Just as he was about to turn tail and flee, the black mist behind him had already caught up.
Then, the buzz-cut guy, along with the two ability users beside him, were completely devoured by the black mist, leaving only an abruptly cut-off scream.
Jiang Ci controlled the force in her hand, slowly retracting the black mist that had surged out.
No wonder the system had warned her to use it cautiously. Before she fully mastered it, the black mist in front of her was indeed prone to losing control, especially after bloodshed. Jiang Ci could even feel the black mist churning, as if it had a life of its own.
After retracting the black mist, Jiang Ci decided not to use it for now, instead focusing on shaping her water sphere.
Jiang Ci was lost in her own thoughts, naturally oblivious to the ghostly looks from the other survivors.
The buzz-cut guy was their leader and also the strongest among them. With his metal attribute ability protecting his body, no weapon could possibly penetrate his defensive wall.
Yet, such a powerful ability user was completely helpless in Jiang Ci’s hands.
Wasn’t it rumored that only Song Jinchuan and the tortoise in their shop were capable of fighting? No one had mentioned that Boss Jiang was this formidable either.
The intelligence they gathered clearly showed that no one had ever seen Jiang Ci personally take action.
But now, not only was the mysterious black mist in Jiang Ci’s hands a deadly weapon, but also that giant blue water sphere as well. The once crystal-clear water inside had now been tinged pink with blood, looking both enchanting and eerie.
The survivors were truly terrified. With their leader now dead, there seemed to be no point in holding out any longer. It was better to prioritize saving their own lives.
Thus, the survivors began to retreat one after another, fleeing the scene at top speed.
Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan didn’t give chase. After watching them escape, they started cleaning up the scene using Jiang Ci’s water orb.
It must be said, the giant water orb was not only useful in fights but also excellent for cleaning. It could actually even absorb all the corpses and bloodstains.
Finally, Song Jinchuan hopped onto the electric scooter, as Jiang Ci controlled the water sphere. Together, they threw the sphere, now filled with all sorts of debris onto an abandoned open space. Jiang Ci then dispersed the water in the orb, leaving only a field of corpses behind.
Jiang Ci felt that she wasn’t very proficient in controlling such a large water sphere yet, and that it was much harder to manage than smaller ones. She silently resolved to practice more when she got back.
*
When the employees heard the commotion and came out, they found Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan barbecuing in the courtyard outside the hotpot restaurant, with golden beers by their side.
After the recent exertion, Jiang Ci felt particularly hungry and decided to drag Song Jinchuan along for a late-night snack.
Seeing her employees, she waved them over to join the barbecue.
“I’ve prepared a lot of ingredients and we can’t finish it all by ourselves. Come on over and eat,” she said.
Seeing this, the employees walked over to Jiang Ci and started picking up skewers to eat.
At first, everyone might have been a bit reserved, but after a couple of drinks, they all gradually relaxed. Some even went to the barbecue stall to grill their own food.
Mao Jing wheeled her wheelchair over to Jiang Ci, “What happened just now? I thought I heard gunshots.”
“It’s nothing, just a bunch of troublemakers. They’ve already been driven away,” Jiang Ci said, taking a bite of a meat skewer and squinting her eyes in delight, casually summarizing the earlier events as a minor disturbance.
Mao Jing still felt something was off, but seeing the open space outside clean and without a trace of blood, she thought maybe it really was just a few troublemakers.
“Next time, no matter what happens, you can call us,” Mao Jing added. “We owe you a lot, so it’s only right that we do something for you.”
Zhou Qing, who had just recovered and was still hesitant to eat barbecue or drink beer, nodded vigorously beside her.
Jiang Ci waved her hand dismissively, “Don’t mention it. I’m not that noble, and you don’t need to always think about doing something for me. I hired you all for the sake of my business, just a mutually beneficial agreement.”
But Mao Jing and Zhou Qing were convinced that Jiang Ci was just comforting them. After all, her wheelchair and Zhou Qing’s life were all thanks to Jiang Ci.
Although her words might not have been the most pleasant, Jiang Ci had always been sincere and warm-hearted towards her employees, and naturally, they reciprocated with their full abilities in kind.
Everyone enjoyed barbecue and beer together, the lively atmosphere lasting until the early hours of the morning. After cleaning up the mess together, everyone gradually dispersed.
Jiang Ci told them to rest well and announced a half-day holiday for the next day.
The employees cheered and then returned to their dormitories in small groups.
Jiang Ci and Song Jinchuan also walked back to their small courtyard under the moonlight, with Hui Hui slowly following behind while carrying Xiao Lulu on her shell.
After washing up and lying in bed at night, Jiang Ci realized that her tasks had been completed, indicating that the three new products had been successfully produced.
The breakfast shop was located next to the barbecue restaurant. Jiang Ci noticed that this breakfast shop was quite different from the small shop with large steamers she had envisioned and actually looked quite spacious.
Jiang Ci fell asleep with anticipation for the breakfast shop.
The breakfast store had been unlocked, meaning her menu had added many breakfast ingredients. Just thinking about this made Jiang Ci’s mouth water.
*
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:
The next day, she woke up slightly later than usual but couldn’t wait to check out her breakfast store.
Survivors outside had long been waiting early and saw the notice Jiang Ci had posted about the half-day holiday. However, some were unwilling to leave and were simply content with staying there to wait.
When Jiang Ci went to the breakfast store through the back door, she found survivors gathered outside, discussing and speculating about what this new store was and what it would sell. Some were even guessing whether Jiang Ci would hire new staff.
The mention of hiring excited the survivors like a shot of adrenaline. Everyone knew what the staff benefits here were, which naturally included the affordable and comfortable housing. Although many wanted to join, the available spots were limited.
Without alerting these survivors, Jiang Ci directly opened the back door of the store and walked in.
Inside the breakfast store’s hall was a long counter with several small windows facing the customers.
It seemed these were the windows for selling breakfast. After the customers finished selecting what they wanted and paying with crystal cores, the food would be handed out through these windows.
Jiang Ci checked the menu. Currently, the shop offered soup dumplings, hot soy milk, and iced soy milk.
Steamed buns cost one second-level crystal core per basket, while soy milk was five first-level crystal cores per cup.
Jiang Ci’s shop interface now included an option for the breakfast store. Opening it, she saw ingredients like flour and soybeans available for purchase.
She bought some and placed them in the kitchen, which was equipped with a large soy milk machine, several large steamers, and smaller steamers specifically for steaming soup dumplings.
Other items included a chopping board, kitchen knives, and a meat grinder.
It seemed she would have to handle tasks like kneading dough and making the dumplings herself.
She wondered if any of her employees knew how to make flour-based food. If there were, she planned to transfer them over first and then hire more staff to fill the positions in other shops.
Jiang Ci thought about this and once again felt grateful that she had persistently persuaded the system to enable the recruitment function. Otherwise, she would have been exhausted trying to manage so many shops on her own.
When the employees started their shifts in the afternoon, Jiang Ci went to ask if anyone was skilled at making flour-based foods, and if they were skilled at it.
Aunt Mo Yun was the first to raise her hand, “I can do it. I’m from the north, and I’ve been learning how to from my parents since I was a child. Before the apocalypse, I was the one who steamed the buns and dumplings for our family during festivals.”
Another person who raised her hand was a woman in her thirties, one of the new hires Jiang Ci had recently recruited. Jiang Ci remembered her name was Jiang Hong. “I’ve specialized in making flour-based foods. Not only can I make buns and dumplings, but also bread and cakes. As long I have the ingredients, I can make them. I originally planned to open a dim sum store, but then the apocalypse came so that plan was put on hold.”
This was a real talent! Jiang Ci’s eyes lit up, and she immediately decided to let both of them try their hand at the breakfast store.
The survivors, who had thought that the apocalypse would relieve them of any societal pressure, suddenly realized that having a skill was still very important.
Aunt Mo Yun and Jiang Hong went to the kitchen of the breakfast store, each taking a chopping board. Under Jiang Ci’s timing, they each made a steamer of soup dumplings.
Jiang Ci’s requirements for them were not only for it to taste good, but also its uniformity and their speed in making them.
After all, once the shop opened, the demand for soup dumplings would surely increase. If they were slow in making them, it would only cause customers to wait.
At first, Aunt Mo Yun and Jiang Hong’s movements were a bit awkward, but they quickly became proficient.
Jiang Ci felt as if their hand movements were on 2x speed, so fast that she could hardly see them clearly.
In no time, two baskets of beautifully shaped soup dumplings were ready and placed in the steamer.
After a while, the soup dumplings were ready and brought to Jiang Ci.
Each basket contained ten perfectly sized dumplings, each looking small and round, with a bit of oil seeping through the skin. Jiang Ci swallowed her saliva.
the actual translation was xiaolongbao, but i only realised after i searched baidu that the xiaolongbao in china seems to look more like small steamed buns with thicker skin rather than the fragile and thin skinned xiaolongbao we have abroad. i just left it as soup dumplings because that’s still technically what they are but because the ‘bao’ in xiaolongbao automatically has it categorised as baozi in chinese, the translation to english ends up being a bit awkward bc ur interchanging a dumpling for a bun
