Curled up in the beanbag chair, Rong Hui lazily opened the photo box to choose a picture, like an emperor flipping through plaques to select a consort. However, emperors chose beauties, while she chose food.
Suddenly, a flash of fresh green caught her eye. She selected the photo and enlarged it. In the picture, she and two friends were seated around a bamboo table, with a lush bamboo forest behind them. The table was filled with delicious dishes, and all three of them wore bright, youthful smiles.
The photo had been taken when she traveled with her university classmates to Shaoxing in Zhejiang. They had done a great deal of research beforehand and reserved a local farmhouse restaurant. Under the owner’s arrangement, they enjoyed a lavish all bamboo feast, sitting at a bamboo table, using bamboo bowls, and eating bamboo shoots.
It had been the season of spring rain. With a roll of spring thunder, tender bamboo shoots had just emerged from the ground before being harvested and turned into dishes. At the center of the bamboo table sat a pot of milky white rich soup, the landlady’s specialty perfected over more than ten years, Yan Du Xian.
Yan Du Xian was a famous yet humble dish from the Jiangnan region. Crisp, delicate spring bamboo shoots were paired with salted pork and fresh pork ribs. After stir frying, pork bone broth was added and the mixture simmered for a while. Finally, several slices of celtuce were added for garnish before the dish was served.
Just recalling the rich and savory flavor made Rong Hui’s mouth water uncontrollably. Today she decided to choose this beauty!
With a flash of white light, a pot of Yan Du Xian appeared in front of her, accompanied by rice and yellow rice wine. This yellow wine was a specialty of Shaoxing. At the time, her friend had insisted on trying it. Its flavor was spicy and mellow, and now it was perfect for warming the body.
Grabbing a ladle, Rong Hui took a big gulp of the steaming soup. Warmth spread from her stomach throughout her entire body, and even her frozen feet began to warm up. On a damp and bitter winter night, a bowl of hot soup alone could bring satisfaction, allowing the apocalypse and missions to be forgotten.
Rong Hui had eaten nothing but a few bowls of porridge since last night and was starving. She lowered her head and devoured the meal eagerly.
The freshness of the bamboo shoots and the tenderness of the ribs complemented each other perfectly. Then she took a bite of the salted pork. It was rich without being greasy. The saltiness had fully infused into the soup, bursting with a delicate savor on the tip of her tongue.
After finishing a large bowl of rice with the dishes and drinking another bowl of hot soup, Rong Hui set down her chopsticks and leaned comfortably against the sofa, overcome by post meal drowsiness.
After experiencing so many hardships in succession, she did not want to resist this brief moment of laziness. She simply sprawled on the sofa, doing nothing while listening to the fierce wind outside, which sounded almost like the accompaniment of a rock band.
After dozing for a while, Rong Hui opened her eyes again. Outside the window, everything had grown quiet. She checked the system and saw that it was already ten at night.
Just as she was about to move into the sleeping bag and continue sleeping, the system interface suddenly popped up. Shen Li’s avatar flickered slightly, and a small red notification dot appeared like a message alert in a chat app. Curious, she opened it.
Shen Li: “Did you get home? Did you run into any danger?”
Shen Li: “Are you there? Why aren’t you replying? Did something urgent happen?”
Shen Li: “Your avatar is still online, so you probably aren’t in life threatening danger, right? Reply when you have time.”
The first message had been sent half an hour earlier. Rong Hui had been asleep and had not seen it. Shen Li had thought something had happened to her and sent several more messages.
Rong Hui had not deliberately ignored him and replied directly.
Rong Hui: “I got home safely. How about you?”
Almost immediately, Shen Li replied.
Shen Li: “Good that you’re safe. I thought you ran into danger.”
Rong Hui: “You said earlier you had something to ask me. What is it?”
Shen Li: “That can wait. Right now I can’t get into my house. Do you have any handy weapons or tools?”
Rong Hui: “?”
After Shen Li explained the whole situation, Rong Hui almost felt like applauding him. What incredible bad luck.
After struggling through great hardship to finally reach his home in the instance world, he discovered that strangers had already occupied it and even changed the locks. When he knocked on the door and declared himself the homeowner, he was met with cold ridicule and was told to go call the police if he had the ability. Then they locked the door and ignored him completely.
At a time like this, not to mention calling the police, even if someone froze to death on the road, no one would care. Shen Li wanted to find tools to break open the door. With his temperament, once the door was opened, no one inside would have an easy time afterward.
Rong Hui could not help laughing at his misery. This was the first time she had seen someone so unlucky. She searched through the System Backpack for a moment and found a fire axe and an iron shovel. These two items could both function as powerful weapons and tools.
Rong Hui: “I have an axe and a shovel.”
Shen Li: “I want both. I’m going to beat those idiots inside until they call me father!”
A system notification appeared.
[Survivor Shen Li has offered to trade the item “100 grams of gold.” Accept / Cancel.]
One hundred grams of gold?
Rong Hui was somewhat stunned by his generosity.
Rong Hui: “That’s too much. Were you the one who robbed the gold shops on the first floor of the mall?”
Shen Li: “No. When I was placed here I was already rich. My bank account has eight digits. I converted half of my money into gold bars. One hundred grams of gold isn’t much. You saved my life.”
Rong Hui: “I only helped a little. I wouldn’t call it saving your life. I just passed along a message.”
Shen Li: “You probably don’t know this yet. Not long after we left yesterday, the mall’s glass roof collapsed. If I had still been hiding on the second basement level, I wouldn’t have been able to crawl out. Thank you, Sister Rong, for saving my dog life!”
Rong Hui could not help laughing at his words, but she also felt a lingering fear. After seven straight days of hail and blizzards, the roof of Jincheng Department Store could not possibly have lasted much longer. That had also been the main reason she decided to interfere.
She stopped declining his offer. This unlucky man was probably someone whose only remaining wealth was money. She tapped accept, and a heavy gold bar appeared in her hand, stamped with the mark “Au 100g.” After touching it curiously, she traded the fire axe and shovel to him.
Shen Li: “Thanks, Sister Rong. Wait for my good news!”
Rong Hui could not help laughing aloud. Although he was older than her, his temperament still resembled that of a student. Perhaps it was the kind of clarity that came from not yet being beaten down by society.
It was already late. Rong Hui closed the system and spread out her down sleeping bag. For now, these warming tools were still enough. If the temperature dropped further, they might not be sufficient.
She lay flat and relaxed. Just before drifting into sleep, Rong Hui felt as if she had forgotten something.
Right.
The emergency supply package from the government had not been sorted yet.
She intended to take it out of the System Backpack to check it, but her heavy eyelids stopped her. Turning over, she fell into deep sleep.
She would deal with it tomorrow.
After all, nothing was more important than sleeping.
…