When Li Ming, Zhao Feng, and the others emerged from the bathroom, everyone felt like they had become entirely new people.
Hot water.
Clean, hot water.
In the apocalypse, this was more precious than gold but here, it was available without limit.
Li Ming nearly cried as he scrubbed layer after layer of mud from his body. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had taken such a thoroughly satisfying bath.
Zhao Feng, a towering seven-foot man, also hid in the bathroom, quietly wiping away tears several times.
After washing away the blood, dirt, and exhaustion, and changing into the soft, clean cotton clothes provided by the hotel, they felt reborn.
Even Xiao Ya was cleaned up by Mrs. Wang, the middle-aged woman from the couple, her hair tied into two cute braids, and dressed in a pink dress.
Looking in the mirror at a version of herself no longer a “little mud monkey” but like a little princess, Xiao Ya’s eyes narrowed into joyful crescents.
When Gu Han led them to the restaurant on the second floor of the hotel, they were once again deeply shocked.
The restaurant wasn’t large, but it was exquisitely arranged.
Clean tables, comfortable chairs, and even a vase of unknown but brilliantly blooming flowers on the corner of the table.
On the table, five bowls of… white porridge had already been set.
The porridge was thick and perfectly cooked, each grain of rice plump and fragrant with a pure, rich aroma.
Beside it were a few side dishes: a plate of stir-fried green vegetables, a plate of golden scrambled eggs, and a neatly cut plate of… luncheon meat?
Seeing this food, everyone’s eyes instantly reddened.
In the apocalypse, what had they been eating?
Moldy biscuits, earthy-tasting roots, and poorly cleaned, blood-streaked mutated meat.
It had been far too long since they’d seen something so “normal.”
Especially that bowl of white porridge.
In peaceful times, this would have been a humble, inexpensive dish.
But in the apocalypse, a bowl of hot porridge made from clean rice and pure water was a life-saving treasure!
“Eat.”
Jiang Lingyue’s voice came from nearby.
She was sitting at another table not far away, holding a glass of juice, watching them with interest.
With the hotel owner’s permission, everyone could no longer hold back.
Li Ming’s hands shook as he picked up the steaming bowl of porridge, taking a deep breath first.
This is the taste!
The taste of rice!
Carefully, he scooped a spoonful and put it into his mouth.
The warm, soft porridge slid over his chapped lips and down his throat, instantly warming his cold, empty stomach.
The pure, faintly sweet aroma exploded on his taste buds.
Delicious.
Absolutely delicious.
It was the best thing he had eaten in five years.
Tears, uncontrollable, streamed down his weathered face like broken pearls, dripping into the bowl.
He didn’t bother wiping them away, just kept shoveling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.
He ate quickly, urgently, as if swallowing five years of hunger and suffering along with the porridge.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Zhao Feng, the D-class abilities user who had remained calm in the zombie horde, now held a bowl, eating ravenously while silently crying.
The middle-aged couple clung together, sobbing uncontrollably.
Only Xiao Ya didn’t fully understand the adults’ grief.
She simply thought this porridge was a hundred times tastier than anything her father had ever given her.
She sipped the porridge in small mouthfuls, using her spoon to reach the plate of scrambled eggs.
“Fairy sister, this is so yummy too!” she mumbled to Jiang Lingyue.
The only sounds in the restaurant were the slurping of porridge and suppressed, low sobs.
Lu Xiao, sitting next to Jiang Lingyue, watched the group cry so openly and didn’t understand.
“It’s just a bowl of porridge… is it really worth it?” he muttered quietly.
Though he had been hungry before, as an S-class, he could always get food, and had never experienced this near-starvation desperation.
“You don’t understand.”
Jiang Lingyue sipped her juice calmly.
“For someone dying of thirst in the desert, a cup of water is their entire world.”
“And for them, this bowl of porridge is their entire world.”
Lu Xiao nodded, half understanding.
He watched Li Ming lick the last grain of rice clean from the bowl, then carefully finish all the side dishes.
Finally, he even poured the remaining oil from the plate into his bowl, rinsed it with hot water, and drank it.
His reverence for the food moved Lu Xiao slightly.
Perhaps he had indeed been too fortunate before.
A meal eaten with ritual and care.
Once everyone finished eating, Jiang Lingyue stood and approached them.
“Are you full?” she asked.
“Full! Full!” Li Ming jumped up excitedly. “Madam, this is the most satisfied I’ve ever been in my life!”
“That’s good,” Jiang Lingyue nodded. “From now on, you’re temporary residents of the hotel.”
“Your rooms are on the fourth floor. Li Ming and Zhao Feng have single rooms, Mr. and Mrs. Wang share one, and Xiao Ya has her own.”
“All facilities in the rooms are free to use. But…”
Her tone shifted.
“Starting tomorrow, your food will need to be exchanged with points.”
She explained the points system, which she, Gu Han, and Lu Xiao had designed, in simple terms.
After hearing it, everyone didn’t feel it was harsh they accepted it as natural.
Nothing in the world comes for free.
In the apocalypse, this truth was even more pronounced.
The hotel owner had already given them a safe place to stay and their first full meal an enormous blessing.
Trading labor for food was only right.
“Don’t worry, madam! We’ll work hard on the missions and never cause trouble for the hotel!” Zhao Feng spoke first, full of motivation.
As long as he could eat meals like this every day, he’d fight mutated beasts without hesitation!
“Good.”
Jiang Lingyue was pleased with their attitude.
“Gu Han, take them to their rooms. Also, give them this.”
She redeemed several tablets from the system and handed them to Gu Han.
“These are the hotel’s internal terminals. They’ll update your mission list and points in real time. From now on, you’ll accept missions and exchange supplies through these.”
After completing all this, Jiang Lingyue felt a bit tired.
Being a hotel owner wasn’t easy especially managing the food, hygiene, and well-being of so many people.
She realized she needed to recruit some management staff soon.
Just as she was thinking this, the monitoring system beeped again.
A survivor squad has been detected approaching the hotel.
Jiang Lingyue walked to the monitors and saw a team of seven or eight people moving quickly toward the hotel, carrying a stretcher.
At the front was a man in a white lab coat. Though dusty and weary, he exuded a gentle, refined air.
He looked scholarly, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, not like a combatant.
Yet his eyes were unusually bright and calm.
He seemed to already know the hotel’s location, moving with clear purpose straight toward it.