The night deepened. The bun shop was quiet, with only the “tick-tock” of the clock on the wall. Qian Chuanchuan glanced up—it was already past ten.
“I need to get the dough rising quickly…” she muttered, tying on her apron and heading to the workstation. The fillings in the refrigerator were ready-made and could be wrapped tomorrow, but the dough had to be prepared tonight.
She scooped several large spoonfuls of flour into the kneading machine and added yeast, sugar, salt, and warm water in sequence. The machine started with a low hum, and the flour in the stainless steel bowl gradually clumped together, rotating and kneading until it became increasingly smooth.
Qian Chuanchuan stared blankly, her thoughts spinning along with the dough until a “beep” signaled it was finished.
She reached in and pulled out a lump, slamming it twice onto the cutting board. The dough bounced back with great elasticity. Nodding in satisfaction, she covered it with a damp cloth and let it ferment quietly.
Next, she took the bun fillings out of the refrigerator. There was a wide variety: braised meat, beef, Orleans chicken, pork with corn, pork with mushrooms, pork with cabbage, leek with egg, zucchini with egg…
Qian Chuanchuan didn’t plan to take them all out. In the apocalypse, she didn’t need to increase her competitiveness through variety; people would be lucky just to have something to eat.
There were four layers of steamers in total, so she simply chose four types of fillings: braised meat, beef, pork with corn, and zucchini with egg.
Logically, pork and corn should have been considered a meat bun, but since it wasn’t as meaty as the first two, San San simply categorized it as a vegetable bun.
In its words: [We’re not hurting for that little bit!]
Qian Chuanchuan had no objection to this. Since the system provided the goods and it didn’t care about the difference, she certainly didn’t!
She only worried about one thing now: whether anyone would actually show up tomorrow.
[Host, rest assured. Although the human population has dwindled to less than one-tenth and most live in major bases, there are still ability users who come to the cities to scavenge for survival supplies.]
Once the system said that, Qian Chuanchuan’s worries vanished. Given the current conditions, as long as someone came, she wasn’t afraid they wouldn’t buy!
Time to sleep!
There was a mini-bathroom in the corner of the bun shop. Though it was so small that turning around was a struggle, it was fully equipped with a water heater and a sink. After a quick wash, Qian Chuanchuan pulled the folding bed from the wall, unfolded it with a “click,” and collapsed onto it.
She soon drifted into a dreamland.
…
The morning light pierced through the clouds, and a layer of gray haze floated over the ruins of An City.
The roars of zombies drifted from the distance, intermittent, sounding like a rusty saw tearing at the dawn.
In a narrow alleyway, the sounds of hurried footsteps and heavy breathing intertwined—
“Faster! Faster!”
Four or five figures sprinted through the ruins, followed by a tide of zombies.
In the middle of the group, a pale man was being supported by two others as he stumbled forward. His right leg was a bloody mess, and cold sweat dripped from his chin, leaving dark marks on the dusty ground.
“Boss… leave me…” He swallowed with difficulty. “If this keeps up… everyone will die…”
The veins on the crew-cut man’s arms bulged, his knuckles white from the strain, yet he still held onto his companion tightly. “Save your strength! Instead of talking nonsense, think about how to lose those zombies behind us!”
“Exactly!” The bearded man panted as he joined in, sweat trickling down his stubble. “You’re the only strategist in the team. Without you, us brutes would have been finished long ago!”
The woman running at the very front sneered without looking back, “Xu Wang, you’re the only brute in the team. Don’t drag us down with you.”
Despite it being a life-or-death escape, Xiang Mingchen couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. The wound on his leg burned with pain, but the warmth in his chest couldn’t be suppressed—these guys were finding roundabout ways to tell him:
No one is giving up on you.
The foul stench of the zombies was getting closer, yet Xiang Mingchen felt more clear-headed than ever. With teammates like these, even if he really had to meet his end today…
It was worth it.
Just then, an incredibly domineering aroma of steamed buns drifted into the noses of the four.
“Crap! Is that the smell of buns?! Am I really dying? I’m having hallucinations! I actually smell buns!”
The bearded man, while supporting his teammate, couldn’t help but take deep breaths.
“I smell it too!” The woman running ahead also took a sharp breath of the food fragrance floating in the air.
In the next second, her stomach let out a protest of hunger.
“Run toward the scent!” the crew-cut man, Song Jin, growled with a tone of desperate determination.
Zombies didn’t need to eat; only a living person could be steaming buns.
Whether it was a trap or hope, that scent was their only life-raft at this moment.
As for whether they would involve the owner of the buns?
Song Jin gave a bitter smile. Having struggled in the apocalypse for three years, he had long ago buried the luxury of moral standards like “not involving the innocent,” along with all the other decencies of civilized society.
Survive.
Let his people survive.
That was enough.
Xiang Mingchen was the first to understand Song Jin’s intent. He glanced at him, bit his lip, and said nothing.
As the person who had known Song Jin the longest, he knew better than anyone—this man, who once would have held an umbrella for a stray cat on a rainy day, now had to lock his last bit of kindness in the deepest corner of his heart. Three years of doomsday were enough to grind anyone’s softness into a sharp blade.
“Look ahead!” Xu Wang suddenly shouted.
Following the rising white steam, an intact shop stood abruptly amidst the ruins. The words “Bao-Satisfied Bun Shop” on the sign were glaringly eye-catching, and the price board by the door reflected the morning light.
What was even more shocking was that, through the misty window, they could see a slender figure watching them. Judging by the silhouette, it was a young girl, and—
“She’s alone?” Xu Wang’s voice rose sharply.
The zombie horde behind them had closed in enough for the stench of rot to be palpable, yet in the bun shop before them, there was only one girl…
Instantly, the last bit of light in the four people’s eyes dimmed.
They really seemed destined to die here.
At this moment, the four of them couldn’t help but slow their pace.
They were torn about whether to go over. Going over didn’t seem like it would change anything; instead, it would just claim another life.
It didn’t seem like a fair trade.
If the girl’s life could be traded for the lives of the four of them, perhaps they would have gone, but the girl was inside the shop, and that shop door didn’t look sturdy at all.
They had no grudge against the girl; there seemed to be no need to drag her to death with them.
At this moment, the four didn’t even have time to wonder why there was a bun shop here!
Why there was a girl in the shop!
And why a girl would dare to sell buns alone in the apocalypse!
Just then, the girl opened the door!
She… opened… it!
Revealing a bright and enthusiastic smile.
They heard her say, “Four guests, would you like to buy some buns?”
Qian Chuanchuan had woken up early to steam buns. The buns were ready, but she hadn’t seen a single soul.
After much anticipation, four people suddenly burst out of the alley ahead, running in her direction.
A swarm of zombies followed behind them.
She directly ignored the zombies in the back and looked at the four people sprinting toward her with glowing eyes.
Those four seemed to see her too.
And then… their speed actually slowed down.
Slower and slower…
Just as the zombies were about to reach the backs of their heads.
She couldn’t hold back any longer.
People she had waited so long for—don’t die yet!
At the very least, die after you finish buying!
So, she couldn’t help but open the door.
And asked that question: “Four guests, would you like to buy some buns?”