The three cooks, two food servers, and one cleaner had already gathered at the entrance of the cafeteria. Tang Ye unlocked the cafeteria doors with her fingerprint. “Sorry, a new batch of survivors arrived today, so I only just finished up.”
“It’s nothing, we didn’t wait long. It’s a good thing that our shelter is getting more and more people.” The girl Zhou Yao, who had been the first to speak up about applying for the cook position, replied.
Once the doors opened, everyone began their respective duties. On their first day of work, they all looked full of energy. They put on hats, gloves, and masks, then took their positions.
The three cooks began preparing ingredients with practiced ease. Before long, survivors who had heard the news started coming in.
They could not wait to see what kind of food would be available, but first they had to convert their mutated crystal cores into energy points at the machines.
A long line quickly formed in front of the machines.
Following what Tang Ye had taught them the day before, the survivors placed the mutated crystal cores into the machine. After facial recognition, the converted energy points were stored directly in each survivor’s personal account.
While everyone was busy, Tang Ye began setting prices for the dishes. Meat dishes were thirty energy points per serving, vegetable dishes were ten, and rice was five per portion.
The variety of food here was far richer than the one-energy-point meals Tang Ye had purchased from the System.
She input the prices into the machine at the serving counter through her wrist device. Once the prepared dishes were placed on the machine’s platform, the total price would be calculated automatically, and the energy points would be deducted through facial recognition.
For the survivors, these prices were not expensive at all. If anything, they could even be considered extremely cheap.
Moreover, being able to eat in such a lively, smoke filled place made it especially rare for them. It could be said that no other shelter outside could achieve something like this.
Although the food was not fully ready yet, the survivors had already lined up at the windows, watching eagerly through the transparent glass that connected to the kitchen.
Vegetables were washed and prepared, and finally the cooking began. The kitchen soon became a flurry of activity, and even through the glass, the intense heat and energy could be felt.
As noon approached, trays of dishes were finally brought out, rich in aroma, instantly filling the senses of all the survivors.
One by one, the survivors picked up trays, selected the dishes they liked, then placed them on the pricing machine and paid with facial recognition. The process was quick and convenient.
The two survivors serving food followed Tang Ye’s instructions strictly, giving generous portions without the slightest hesitation.
This left the survivors who came to the cafeteria extremely satisfied, especially since they could enjoy so many different dishes in one meal.
From her wrist device, Tang Ye could see the energy points increasing steadily by dozens at a time. In the blink of an eye, she had already earned several thousand energy points.
Adding the accommodation fees collected earlier, her total energy points had returned to 77,077. Previously, after exchanging for raw materials, she had been left with just over fifty thousand. Now she had finally recovered a bit.
The newly arrived group, including Su Rui, did not understand why the place was so lively. Only when they came over did they realize it was a cafeteria.
They had not expected that in just a few short days, the shelter had already built a cafeteria.
Looking at the bustling scene and smelling the enticing aroma, they could not resist spending mutated crystal cores to buy a meal.
After eating, all trays were placed into a designated box. At that point, it was time for the newly appointed cleaner, Sun Jie, to begin her work.
Only after the survivors had mostly finished eating did the staff sit down for their own meal. Working here included one free lunch, so they simply made do with the remaining dishes.
Even so, for them, this was already an excellent benefit.
“Host, enough garbage has been thrown into the waste processing station. You can now proceed to the recycling and reconstruction station for construction.” Just after finishing her meal, Tang Ye heard the System’s voice.
She quickly placed her tray into the box and took the elevator down to Basement Level 1.
The recycling and reconstruction station was located next to the laboratory. Tang Ye first went into the lab and collected the finished products made by the three machines, preparing to have the survivors who had placed orders come and pick them up later.
As she was about to continue exchanging for raw materials, she noticed a new item on the page, insect repellent powder. Its main function was to repel poisonous insects. The raw materials required five hundred energy points, and one batch of materials could produce ten portions of the powder.
In the apocalypse, this was extremely important. Compared to zombies and mutated animals, poisonous insects were actually the hardest to guard against.
Whenever they appeared, they did so in swarms. Because of their small size, they were difficult to detect, and in large numbers, they could reduce a human to a skeleton in just a few minutes.
Tang Ye had suffered quite a few losses from them in the past, so she decisively exchanged for fifty batches of materials, intending to produce more.
In addition, bed space was starting to become tight. Tang Ye once again exchanged for seven rooms on a single floor. Now, each floor had fifteen dormitories, each accommodating eighteen people.
The newly built rooms were constructed opposite the original ones, facing each other, which made better use of the available space.
After finishing all this, she went next door to the recycling and reconstruction station.
Inside, one of the progress bars on the massive machine had risen by a few segments, indicating that garbage had already been generated.
It was Tang Ye’s first time operating this machine, and with the System’s assistance, she finally figured it out.
At that moment, several options were displayed on the screen, all items that could be recreated from garbage, such as towels, toilet paper, plastic basins, toothbrushes, and other daily necessities.
Toilet paper and sanitary pads were scarce items. After the apocalypse, even having mutated crystal cores did not guarantee obtaining them. Naturally, Tang Ye prioritized them. She used three units of garbage to recreate toilet paper, two for sanitary pads, and used the remainder to produce towels.
The machine rumbled to life, and it seemed it would take quite some time to complete. Tang Ye went next door to the laboratory and took out twenty eight sets of gas masks and radiation protection suits, preparing to distribute them to the survivors.
As soon as she finished distributing them, more survivors came over after seeing how affordable they were, purchasing gas masks and radiation protection suits.
A total of fifty five sets were sold. Fortunately, plenty had been produced yesterday and today, so the inventory was sufficient.
The survivors quickly received their purchases. Once they got them, they realized that unlike the bulky and stifling equipment they had used before, these gas masks and radiation suits were thin, almost like a second layer of skin, soft to the touch.
A survivor tried one on and found that once worn, it felt as though nothing was there, like naturally grown skin. Yet it completely covered the face, providing far better sealing and breathability than any gas mask they had used before.
They clearly had not expected something so cheap to be so effective, and they were overjoyed.
Ge Shu and Su Rui also bought gas masks and radiation protection suits from Tang Ye. By now, Ge Shu was completely convinced. When he first followed along, he had still been uneasy. His wife had always been in poor health due to radiation and could not endure another ordeal.
He had not expected to be so pleasantly surprised after arriving here. He and his wife were assigned a bunk bed. Once they drew the curtain, it became their own small private space. Food, water, and electricity were no longer problems.
Ge Shu felt that his wife’s health had even improved since coming here. When she spoke to him just now, she sounded stronger than before. This decision had indeed been the right one.
After finishing selling goods, more people came one after another to exchange for laundry coins. By the time everything was done, it was already close to dusk.
Tang Ye had just returned to her room when she heard a knock on the door. When she opened it, she saw Jiang Yufeng standing outside. His fever had not completely subsided, and a faint flush lingered on his pale face, giving him the appearance of a frail beauty.
“What is it?” Tang Ye asked.
“You saved me again yesterday, I caused you trouble.” Jiang Yufeng lowered his head slightly, his hair covering his eyes, his voice still hoarse from illness.
“It’s nothing, just a small matter.” Tang Ye’s expression remained calm, as if it truly had been insignificant.
Jiang Yufeng seemed to chuckle softly. “Is the Administrator this kind to everyone?”
“What?” His voice was a little unclear, and the corridor was noisy, so Tang Ye did not hear him clearly.
“It’s nothing. Can I call you Yezi? You saved me twice, I feel close to you. My family is no longer around.” Jiang Yufeng’s voice dropped, like a puppy with its tail lowered.
“Suit yourself.” It was just a form of address, and Tang Ye did not care much. What he said about his family being gone also stirred something in her.
Most of her own family and friends had also died in this disaster. She had a younger cousin who used to cling to her and call her Sister Yezi, sweet and obedient, but he never woke up again later.
Seeing that Tang Ye agreed, Jiang Yufeng’s lips curved slightly. “Then I’ll head back first, Yezi.”
As he spoke, he seemed unable to stand steadily and fell toward Tang Ye. She instinctively caught him.
“Sorry, Yezi, I felt dizzy and lost my balance.” Jiang Yufeng’s voice came as half of his weight leaned against her.
“Your body is really too weak.” Tang Ye steadied him with some effort. “You should focus on recovering during this time. Go out only after you get better.”
“Okay, got it.” Jiang Yufeng responded obediently, but the blood in his body surged and boiled because of this warmth he had never experienced before in his life.
This feeling was unfamiliar to him, so he wanted to understand what it was.
After sending Jiang Yufeng away, Tang Ye let out a breath of relief. She was really not good at dealing with people like him.
After finishing dinner and washing up, the sky outside the window had completely darkened.
At the same time, a group of three people was sprinting toward C City. Behind them was a large pack of mutated beasts, their footsteps causing the ground to tremble.
As they ran, they searched for a place to hide. If they kept running like this, their stamina would not hold out.
Moreover, it was already night. The apocalypse at night was even more dangerous than during the day, not only because all kinds of poisonous creatures emerged, but also because of limited visibility. They could not stay outside for too long.