Chapter 32 p1
Lunch was tomato and egg soup, and tiger-skin green peppers.
Xie Muzhi’s culinary skills were stable, and Ji Yang ate with great satisfaction. The frozen tomatoes were more suitable for making egg soup, and it was easy to get the juice out. The soup was also sweet and sour. Not to mention the tiger-skin green peppers, which were slightly charred on both sides after being pan-fried. The taste was salty and fragrant, and it went very well with rice.
The two of them had one dish and one soup, which was a little less.
But at this time, it was already very sumptuous.
Ji Yang ate very happily, so she was also more tolerant of the chef, pretending not to see his gaze that occasionally fell on her face.
She was clearly always on guard. How could she have made the move of putting things into her space when Xie Muzhi was close?
It seemed that she had to be more careful.
Ji Yang was secretly pondering. After eating, she went to wash the dishes. She was just about to warm herself by the fire for a while and then continue to touch the stones when a fat, roasted, and oily sweet potato appeared in front of her.
“There’s more?” Ji Yang took it with some surprise.
“Mm, there’s a little more,” Xie Muzhi said casually, glanced at the already finished food, and also took a sweet potato to eat. Fortunately, he had seen that Ji Yang had liked it last time and had thrown in two.
He had estimated the food intake of the two of them, but he had underestimated her food intake and was not full himself.
It seemed that when she was in the team before, she had been holding back.
Ji Yang’s mood became even more pleasant. She almost had an impulse to say that if Xie Muzhi had to carry out a mission in the future, she could also participate. Fortunately, at the critical moment, her reason returned, and she swallowed these words.
Once in a while was fine, but if she often did missions, life would not be so wonderful.
The sweet potato was sweet and greasy. The first few bites were very delicious, but after eating too much, she felt a little sick of it. If she were alone, she would have put it in her space, and it would still be hot the next time she ate it. But at this time, she could only speed up and finish it, and then drink two mouthfuls of water.
After eating and drinking her fill, and with too much carbohydrate intake, Ji Yang was a little drowsy. But after resting for ten minutes, she still forced herself to get up. “Xie Muzhi, I’ll go down and see if there are any good materials. You help me see which window has the mountain materials.”
“Okay,” Xie Muzhi nodded in agreement.
Ji Yang immediately ran down.
There was not much time. She couldn’t let Xie Muzhi move the jadeite alone, so she didn’t have much time left.
Ji Yang sped up. When she encountered a stone that she couldn’t move, she directly used a crowbar to pry it open, letting them roll everywhere. She only cared about touching the stones. When she found a suitable one, she would store it in her space.
At the twenty-first minute, Ji Yang finally encountered a material that could be said to be top-grade.
However, the material was not big, only the size of a palm.
When it was stored in her space, it instantly added a hundred square meters of area, while before, it would only increase by fifty square meters after collecting dozens of jin.
In comparison, the deposit and final payment that Xie Muzhi had given her were of really high quality.
More than forty minutes later, Ji Yang finally finished touching the last material. The small pond in her space had also successfully increased to two thousand six hundred square meters!
It wasn’t easy!
She climbed up. On the other side, Xie Muzhi had also found a warehouse of mountain materials in another warehouse, but relatively speaking, the quality was not as good. At least at a glance, there were no top-grade ones.
That was true. If the light of a top-grade jade was not hidden, it would be spotted at a glance. Where would it be placed here?
Ji Yang slapped her head, feeling that she had suddenly become stupid. So, after hesitating for a long time, she still said, “It’s enough to pick some. If the quality is not very good, it will just take up space if we take it back.”
This way, with the time saved, she could continue to touch the stones.
Xie Muzhi naturally would not disagree. The two of them cooperated and transported some of the materials that Ji Yang had taken a fancy to. Then, she let Xie Muzhi go and rest. He had been driving all morning and had been busy until now. He should be tired too.
The two of them agreed to leave at four in the afternoon to chase after the main group.
So, for the next two hours, she was frantically touching the stones. As long as the quality was a little better, she would directly send it to her space. After one warehouse was finished, she would climb up and go to the next warehouse, her speed fast, and she was reluctant to stop.
Finally, at four o’clock, she had almost swept through all the raw stones.
The space had also successfully expanded to six thousand seven hundred square meters.
The remaining small ones, with poor quality, even if they were all stored in her space, would probably only increase the space by two or three hundred square meters. Ji Yang was too lazy to take them. And it was also for the sake of safety, to prevent Xie Muzhi from taking a look and noticing that too many stones were missing.
And a pond of nearly seven thousand square meters was already very large. The live fish and shrimp she could get would definitely be enough. The rest could be saved up slowly.
—
The jade-looting operation was over.
The two of them rushed back.
It was still Xie Muzhi who was driving. As soon as Ji Yang got into the passenger seat, she said, “Let’s each drive for three hours. Remember to wake me up.”
“Okay,” Xie Muzhi nodded.
Ji Yang leaned against the back of the chair and sat for a while. Seeing that Xie Muzhi was driving quite steadily, she fell asleep peacefully.
She had been drowsy at noon. After being busy for so long, her arms and legs were so sore that she was really sleepy.
In the middle of it, she seemed to have heard Xie Muzhi say something. She didn’t remember, but she had been alert for a while at that time. After realizing that she was not in danger, she continued to sleep. When she woke up again, she was awakened by a burst of noise.
It was actually Zhou Baoping and the others.
“Boss, we won’t leave without you!”
“Boss, boss, how much jadeite did you get? Is there the legendary imperial green?! Wuwuwu, I’m so poor, I’ve never seen these ruthless characters.”
“No!” The man who was surrounded in the middle was asked without a break and said with a laugh, “Do you think people would leave jadeite worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions outside for no one to take?”
Even now, in a disaster, even if they couldn’t eat their fill or wear warm clothes, this kind of truly top-grade item still had its value. Who would be willing to leave it unattended?
“Alright then…” a wave of disappointment from the crowd.
Ji Yang looked at the time. Okay, she seemed to have overslept. It had been more than five hours, and it was almost ten o’clock now.
She sat in the warm car, looking at the lively scene below. For a moment, she hesitated whether to go down. It was Feng Yexing who had been paying attention to this side. Seeing her wake up, she immediately shouted, “Ji Yang, you’re awake. We were planning to have a late-night snack. Want to join?”
The crowd immediately looked over.
Ji Yang shook her head. “No, I’m very full from the afternoon.”
After a pause, looking at the enthusiastic eyebrows and eyes of this group of people, she said, “The jadeite in the car, you can take some if you like.”
The crowd was overjoyed, but they very rationally shook their heads. “We’ll just take a look. This thing is heavy. It’s a burden wherever you go. We don’t want it.”
“That’s right. I’ll just take a look. I haven’t seen any good things before the disaster. Now I can finally see one.”
Only a few said they would pick a small one to make their wives and children happy when they went back.
The things were all raw materials and had not been polished. The color was beautiful, but it was far from as enticing as a polished work of art. Everyone was just like Lord Ye who loved dragons, not really fond of them.
Seeing this, Ji Yang didn’t say anything more and let them choose, and then she slowly got out of the car.
Xie Muzhi had just finished chatting with someone. Seeing Ji Yang come down, he immediately strode over. “When we were close to here, we received a signal. The people who were rescued have gone back with the government officials first. They thought that since the mission was completed ahead of schedule, much earlier than expected, a little delay wouldn’t matter.”
Ji Yang: “Mm, that’s good. It’s just that I can’t eat your cooking anymore~”
Xie Muzhi raised his chin. “It seems my culinary skills are really quite good.”
He was not even interested in the culinary skills of the master chef who had followed them.
Ji Yang thought for two seconds and affirmed his pride. “That’s right, it’s very delicious.”
The master chefs’ culinary skills were very good, but it was the feeling of a big pot of rice, or a restaurant’s back kitchen where it was cooked and eaten on the spot. The meals that Xie Muzhi had cooked these few times were more like a gathering of friends and family, where he would show off his skills and amaze everyone, or the feeling of a family meal.
In terms of personal taste, she preferred what Xie Muzhi made.
The corners of the man’s lips, hidden under his scarf, curled up into a brilliant arc. Just as he was about to say something, Zhou Baoping and a few others came over to call him for a late-night snack.
Seeing this, Ji Yang said, “You go. I’ll go back to the car to rest.”
Xie Muzhi: “…Mm.”
The excitement outside only died down after more than an hour.
Ji Yang went back to the car she had come in to rest. She was half-asleep. It wasn’t until everyone had returned to their respective resting places that she really fell asleep.
After that, the convoy did not stop again.
Ji Yang found that lunch and dinner were all cooked by Xie Muzhi.
Originally, the chef who had followed them wanted to cook, but Zhou Baoping and a few others had eaten Xie Muzhi’s cooking for the past few days. Now that they had just completed a mission and were at their most energetic and excited, they boldly jeered and asked Xie Muzhi to cook.
Xie Muzhi was also in a good mood and readily agreed. The first day, he had made braised pork. Today, he had made braised chicken with yellow sauce. The taste was very good.
Before the disaster, Ji Yang had actually rarely eaten these things. She had to lose weight, and her family was not short of money. Her diet was very healthy. Even when she ate, the ingredients were carefully selected and simply cooked, preserving the original flavor.
But after experiencing the disaster, she only wanted to satisfy her appetite and ate whatever was delicious.
So, what she had hoarded in her space were all the dishes that could often be seen on the market.
After all, it was a restaurant. To attract people, the taste was relatively strong, and a lot of oil was used. After being packed in a takeout box, it would still feel greasy if you ate too much.
And Xie Muzhi cooked directly in a large iron pot. The steaming hot and bubbling dishes were served in a bowl. One bite, and it was as if everything was just right, very much to her liking.
It was flavorful, but not greasy.
Unfortunately, if there were no accidents, they would be able to reach Changnan City this afternoon, which meant that it would be difficult to eat Xie Muzhi’s cooking.
Ji Yang felt a pang of regret. Just as she was feeling regretful, Xie Muzhi’s voice suddenly sounded in her ear, “Ji Yang, come here.”
Ji Yang got up and went over, a little puzzled. She saw Xie Muzhi casually put a large spoonful of the just-reheated braised chicken with yellow sauce into her bowl. “You eat quite fast. Then eat more.”
“Thank you,” Ji Yang was very happy and also very polite. Then, listening to his words, she went to get another spoonful of rice.
As expected of a “daoye,” the supplies were abundant, and there were leftovers of both dishes and rice.
Just now, she had seen that there were at least two more spoonfuls in the pot.
However, she was not greedy. It was enough to have some.
After she had finished, she went to find a place to sit down. She didn’t see Xie Muzhi staring at her back as she turned to get rice without any hesitation, and he gritted his teeth.
At this time, Zhou Baoping came over with a bowl. “Boss, I also want another bowl.”
Xie Muzhi: “There’s no more.”
Zhou Baoping looked at the pot in shock.
Xie Muzhi had served it all into his own bowl in front of him. “I haven’t eaten yet.”
Zhou Baoping: …
He silently slipped back and said to Feng Yexing, Chen Li, Yan Cheng, and the others who had been waiting behind, “You guys were right. The boss is really not right.”
The three of them got their answer and nodded in satisfaction, then got up to wash their bowls.
—