Chapter 29 p1
Ji Yang sighed in her heart and saw Xie Muzhi, who seemed to have noticed her gaze, ask, “Want some?”
Ji Yang glanced at him silently and didn’t say anything.
Xie Muzhi chuckled. “It’ll be ready soon.”
Just as Zhou Baoping’s noodles were cooked, he called out, “Time to eat!”
“Coming!” Ji Yang was the first to respond, so actively that it made people look twice.
She handed over her lunch box, and Zhou Baoping ladled the noodles into it, a large bowl for each person. Then, Xie Muzhi came over and gave each person a spoonful of minced meat. Ji Yang was the first to get hers. She immediately stirred it. The beige noodles were coated with the brown minced meat, and the aromas mixed together. She took a large mouthful.
The salty and fragrant taste was just right, and there was a hint of spiciness, which was even more to Ji Yang’s liking. It was a pity that each person only had one portion. Although it was enough to fill her up, it couldn’t satisfy her craving.
After Xie Muzhi had served everyone, there was still a little left in the pot. He was wondering who to give it to.
He turned his head and saw Ji Yang eating with relish while staring at the pot.
He cooperatively scooped a spoonful and handed it over.
“Thank you,” Ji Yang showed a smile and quickly handed over her lunch box.
The delicious minced meat fell into her bowl.
She didn’t find it salty at all. After stirring, she ate even more happily.
After she finished eating, she stretched contentedly and went to wash her bowl.
With her experience from her previous life, in Ji Yang’s heart, nothing was more important than living comfortably. Eating, drinking, and relieving oneself were the top priorities. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have hoarded so much cooked food whenever she had the chance.
Ji Yang ate happily, and so did the others.
And she didn’t say anything, didn’t express it. The others, after tasting Xie Muzhi’s cooking, were amazed. They quickly hugged his thigh. “Boss, I will be loyal to you for life!”
“As long as you’re willing to provide meals, I don’t want a salary!”
“Wuwuwu, it’s so delicious. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten such delicious food. What a miserable life I’ve been living…”
Xie Muzhi kicked away a person who had really come to hug his thigh and said with a laugh, “If you come over again, you can cook for yourself in the future.”
The person quickly fled.
Ji Yang was the first to eat, but she was not the first to finish. So, by the time she had slowly washed her lunch box and returned to the tent, most of the others had also finished and were looking for something to do.
They couldn’t advance the mission in the middle of the night, so naturally, they had to find a way to make themselves more comfortable. So, someone got a plastic bag, and the two brothers used the plastic bag to soak their feet in hot water. The reason they were good brothers was that they had to hold the plastic bag with both hands, and they needed someone to help, otherwise the water would leak.
The others, seeing this, were amazed and quickly followed suit.
Ji Yang stared with a strange expression for a few seconds, then took out a foldable bucket from her hiking backpack and unfolded it.
The others: “!”
The bucket was not big, but it was completely fine for soaking one’s feet.
After Ji Yang had soaked her feet, she kindly lent the bucket to them. They were all very sensible and put a bag over it before pouring water. This way, there was no direct contact, and they didn’t have to hold the bag miserably. You had to know that after the bag touched the ground, it would get cold very quickly.
After the noisy fuss, the group decided on the people for the night watch and then went to sleep.
Ji Yang successfully drew the blank lot and happily slept until dawn. When she got up, some people in the room were sleeping, and the others were gone. Xie Muzhi was warming himself by the fire and also roasting a sweet potato. Seeing her come over, he handed the sweet potato to her. “It’s just roasted.”
Ji Yang subconsciously took it, broke it open, and a sweet fragrance wafted over.
Is this a sweet potato?
Ji Yang hadn’t even eaten it yet, but she already felt a sweet taste on the tip of her tongue. She ate it in small bites and asked, “Where are Zhou Baoping and the others?”
Xie Muzhi: “They went to find a buyer.”
Since they were here to do business, they naturally had to find customers.
Ji Yang understood. She briefly admired Zhou Baoping and the others’ excellent communication skills, and then continued to eat. It was quite delicious, but she seemed to have forgotten to brush her teeth.
Oops!
Ji Yang hesitated for a moment, whether to put it down and brush her teeth or to eat first and then brush. In such a short time, she had accidentally finished the whole sweet potato. Now she didn’t have to hesitate. She went directly to brush her teeth. There was boiling water on the stove next to her. She added two ice cubes, and the water temperature dropped, just right for use.
After a simple wash, Ji Yang ate a corn and an egg.
She thought to herself that Xie Muzhi’s supplies were really abundant. The food for a mission was really good.
In her previous life, when she was on a mission, she mostly ate biscuits. Later, when supplies were scarce, insect biscuits became the staple food. In comparison, it was too tragic.
And she had even felt sorry for her future diet before she left.
She had felt sorry for nothing.
—
Ten o’clock in the morning
The team members on night watch also woke up one after another.
Everyone cheered for breakfast. Every day of the disaster, eating became the most anticipated thing.
At noon, Zhou Baoping and the others came back with happy expressions. “It’s done! There are many forces that want to buy the seeds. It just so happens that the Juri Base we’re looking for is among them.”
This time, their merchant caravan had gotten the latest researched cold-resistant potatoes from Changnan City and had come here to exchange for firearms and food. The reason was also legitimate. It was difficult to trade for firearms in other cities, and the geographical environment of Yun City also allowed them to have a lot of grain.
“Juri?” Feng Yexing repeated, “That name is a bit strange.”
Zhou Baoping coughed lightly. “I also think it’s strange, so I inquired about it. I heard that many of the high-level members of this base might be from the neighboring Xiao Country.”
The few of them were at a loss for words.
“No wonder the human experiment site is hidden in this base,” someone complained.
Zhou Baoping spread his hands, and Liang Yuan said, “To avoid being noticed, we treated everyone the same. The transaction with Juri Base is the day after tomorrow in the afternoon. Before that, everyone’s mission is to familiarize themselves with the roads here. Little Zhou and I will see if we can get in touch with the other party and find out where the laboratory is.”
Xie Muzhi nodded. “No problem. You guys do your thing. I’ll be in charge here.”
The crowd discussed for a while. Liang Yuan and Zhou Baoping and the others warmed themselves by the fire for a while and then quickly went out. The remaining few people were divided into three teams to scout the roads. Ji Yang and Yan Cheng were together, Feng Yexing and Xie Muzhi, and the remaining two young people were together.
Ji Yang immediately understood her position—a fighter.
She still carried her hiking backpack and followed behind Yan Cheng. This time, they didn’t drive. Less than ten minutes after they went out, they were robbed by a group of survivors. Yan Cheng directly took out a knife and pointed it at them, his expression cold.
Those who wanted to rob were all skin and bones. When they saw this situation, they immediately didn’t dare to come over, their numb faces full of despair.
Ji Yang stared at them for two seconds and took out a pack of compressed biscuits. This kind of thing was extremely filling. After eating this pack, you basically didn’t have to eat for a day.
As soon as the thing appeared, the survivors’ eyes went straight, and they kept swallowing their saliva.
Some people even wanted to rush over, regardless of the weapons in their hands.
Ji Yang raised her voice slightly. “If you want it, you can. Trade it with jadeite. I like that stuff.”
Yan Cheng: ?
He was stunned, and the cool guy’s words became more frequent. “You’re trading compressed biscuits for this?!”
Ji Yang: “I’m not short of this little bit of food. I just like beautiful things.”
And the survivors were also stunned. It had been almost a year since the disaster. There was actually a naive and sweet person who liked stones with only looks? But after a brief moment of stunned silence, someone asked, “How to trade?”
“Ten jin of jadeite for a pack. The jadeite has to be of good quality.” As soon as Ji Yang’s voice fell, everyone quickly ran away.
It wasn’t that they were stupid and easily believed others.
It was that these two people looked like they were from out of town. They had known yesterday that a foreign convoy had come to Yun City. They didn’t know what they were doing, but in these times, to be able to drive over, they must be capable.
They were at the end of their rope and really couldn’t eat their fill. They didn’t want to starve to death, so they had thought that these two people were alone and could be robbed. Who knew that they were also carrying weapons.
Their bodies, which had not been well-fed for a long time, could not win at all. Under such circumstances, they had all resigned themselves to their fate and given up. But someone said that they could exchange jade for food. Regardless of whether it was true, with a glimmer of hope, they wanted to give it a try.
Shen He was one of them.
He ran back quickly. His weak body made him tired after just two steps, but fortunately, he lived nearby. Speaking of which, he was unlucky. He had originally come here with his girlfriend for a winter vacation. The original plan was to let both their parents come along.
But both sets of parents preferred to stay at home. It was a little cold, but with a bunch of relatives, they could still visit relatives during the New Year and have a lively time. So, it was just the two of them.
Who knew that after just three days, it started to snow heavily.
Later, the snow didn’t stop, but instead became heavier and heavier.
Shen He noticed that something was wrong, and his girlfriend was also in a panic. The two of them tried every means to book tickets to go back, but they found that the trains, high-speed rails, and planes were all not running. They had no choice but to stay here. After three difficult months, they were hoping that the government could help send them back, but then they ran into a prison riot. With inside and outside cooperation, the government was overthrown.
So, step by step, they had fallen to this state.
When he got home, Shen He first knocked on the door with their secret code. The main door opened, and he said quickly, “Quick, bring that batch of jadeite we found.”
His girlfriend was dumbfounded. “What’s going on?”
“A group of outsiders came and said they could exchange ten jin of jadeite for a pack of compressed biscuits. Let’s try with ten jin first!” Shen He patted his girlfriend’s shoulder. Because that group of people had established their own bases, and some disgusting people, in order to please them and throw their weight around, would abduct good-looking young girls. So, his girlfriend couldn’t go out and show her face at all.
After he finished speaking, his girlfriend had also packed up. Hearing this, she was overjoyed. “Really? Then you should go quickly. Be careful.”
Shen He smiled. “Mm.”
He went out with a heavy bundle, for fear that if he was late, the compressed biscuits would be gone.
—