It was nearly one in the afternoon. When the woman with dreadlocks and her group arrived and saw the car parked in front of the bun shop, they weren’t too surprised.
However, there was no sense of warmth or camaraderie despite coming from the same base.
They had already guessed that the people watching from the base would eventually grow restless when they saw that their group hadn’t returned for a long time. It was just that now, they would have to split the afternoon’s buns in half.
But what they didn’t expect was that these people would be even more shameless than they had imagined.
“You’ve bought quite a few over the past few days, haven’t you?” A man from the base group sneered, crossing his arms. A muscular man pointed at the high stack of steamer baskets and said, “How about you let us have this batch?”
“Bullshit!” the woman with dreadlocks was the first to speak up. “Yan Tianlei, do you have any shame at all? What does how much we buy have to do with you?! We got these because we were brave and diligent! Unlike some people, who always think they’re so powerful, but shrink back like a turtle the moment something happens, only daring to stick their turtle heads out once they’re sure it’s safe! Why on earth should we give them to you?”
“Yao Xuelan! Who the hell are you calling a turtle?!” The muscular man named Yan Tianlei instantly flew into a rage. He pointed at Yao Xuelan’s nose and roared, “Do you think I won’t kill you right now?!”
Yao Xuelan wasn’t intimidated in the slightest; she even rolled her eyes. “You think I’m scared of you? We’re both Level 5 ability users; it’s not certain who would end up killing whom!”
“You!”
Yan Tianlei let out a roar, and a brownish-yellow light of earth energy instantly surged around him. Not to be outdone, Yao Xuelan’s fingertips crackled with purple lightning.
Seeing that the two were about to start a fight, the others finally stepped forward to play peacemaker—or rather, to pull them apart.
Qian Chuanchuan sat on a small stool by the door, watching this chaotic scene with great interest. She hadn’t expected the woman with dreadlocks to be so fierce when cursing someone out!
Then, she turned her head to look at Song Jin and his three companions, who had remained bystanders the entire time. She asked, “Aren’t you guys going to help break them up?”
Song Jin shook his head. “They won’t actually fight.”
Xu Wang added, “Boss Qian, don’t let their appearance fool you. They’re actually very shrewd; they won’t truly come to blows.”
Yan Weiyu also curled her lip, clearly sharing Xu Wang’s opinion.
Xiang Mingchen smiled and said, “Boss, can we be first in line when the buns are ready later?”
Qian Chuanchuan looked him up and down and commented, “You’re even shrewder than they are.”
“However… you can only be second in line.”
Xiang Mingchen was stunned for a moment, then heard Qian Chuanchuan say, “Look, the person for the first spot is here.”
The group turned around and followed her gaze, only to see a tall man walking toward them with steady, graceful strides.
“Whoa! This guy is stunning! Is he your boyfriend, Boss Qian?”
Qian Chuanchuan shot a sharp glare at Xu Wang.
Please do not defile the pure monetary relationship between me and my God of Wealth!
“Don’t talk nonsense. This one is God.”
Xu Wang asked, “Then what about us?”
“Customers.”
Everyone: “…”
Ling Zhanlou’s footsteps paused almost imperceptibly, and a trace of a smile flickered across his cold, stern face.
On the other side, Yan Tianlei’s shouting match came to an abrupt halt. He squinted as he sized up this powerful man who had suddenly appeared. “Yao Xuelan, who is this?”
Yao Xuelan gave him a “Do you really think I’ll tell you?” look and turned toward the steamer baskets.
“Damn it!” Yan Tianlei cursed behind her, but one of his lackeys quickly stepped forward. “Brother, should we get in line too?”
Yan Tianlei glared at his lackey, but he still walked toward the steamers.
This shop owner had just attacked Wei Shi earlier, and he hadn’t even seen how she did it; he certainly wouldn’t be her match either. Since he couldn’t win a fight, he could only follow her rules.
In the end, Ling Zhanlou still bought thirty meat buns, Song Jin’s group bought thirty-five, and the remaining one hundred and sixty buns were split equally between Yao Xuelan’s and Yan Tianlei’s groups.
Originally, Yan Tianlei’s group had intended to stay in An City for two days, but hearing that the shop would be closed tomorrow, they decided to head back with Yao Xuelan’s group.
Song Jin and his companions naturally left as well; they didn’t plan on coming back for another two days.
Finally, only Ling Zhanlou remained.
“Why the sudden closure tomorrow? Are you too tired?” he suddenly asked.
“Yeah, I need to catch up on some sleep. And also…” She winked mysteriously. “I’m going to do some renovations to the shop.”
“Renovations?”
Ling Zhanlou scanned the shop—the walls were white, the tables were clean, and the steamer baskets were polished. Aside from the space being a bit small, he really couldn’t see any necessity for renovations.
However, he didn’t ask why she was suddenly renovating. He knew she had many secrets—secrets that couldn’t be told.
“Do you need help?” he simply asked.
“No need,” Qian Chuanchuan waved her hand. “Just wait and come back the day after tomorrow.”
“By the way, how much longer do you plan to stay in An City?”
“I’ll be here for a few more days. I will leave before the disaster period arrives.” At this point, the man paused and looked at Qian Chuanchuan with dark, deep eyes. “It’s best to evacuate from the cities before the disaster period begins. Are you going to leave?”
This was truly touching upon a blind spot in Qian Chuanchuan’s knowledge, but fortunately, the system provided her with a timely answer.
[Host, during the three years of the apocalypse, various natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, extreme heat, and extreme cold occur approximately every three months. Most of these disasters are extremely destructive to cities; it is very difficult for people staying in cities to survive. However, Host, do not worry—our shop is absolutely safe! As long as you stay inside the shop, nothing will happen to you.]
After listening, Qian Chuanchuan could only think that surviving the apocalypse was truly difficult! Dealing with zombies was one thing, but they also had to deal with various natural disasters. No wonder food had become so scarce after only three years of the apocalypse.
“Then, approximately how long is it until the next disaster period?”
[There are still fifteen days.]
That was soon.
But experiencing a disaster every three months meant they came quite frequently. It really didn’t leave much of a path for humanity to survive.
“I won’t be leaving. I’ll just stay in the shop when the time comes; nothing will happen.” Qian Chuanchuan blinked, then asked with some confusion, “Aren’t you just passing through here? Why have you stayed so long?”
Hearing Qian Chuanchuan say she wouldn’t leave, the man’s expression darkened for a moment before he replied, “There are no bun shops elsewhere.”
Oh~ so he just can’t bear to part with this food.
But it made sense! Although her bun shop was a bit small, it was definitely one of a kind in the apocalypse! It was normal to be reluctant to leave.
After Ling Zhanlou left, Qian Chuanchuan immediately closed the shop doors. She couldn’t wait to upgrade the shop!
[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for successfully completing the bun sales task during the trial operation period!]
A string of golden fireworks exploded on the system’s light screen: [Shop upgrade initiated. Estimated time: 120 minutes. Please wait patiently, Host.]
The system fell silent after leaving this message. There wasn’t a single sound in the shop either. Qian Chuanchuan simply pulled down her folding bed and began to sleep.
By the time she woke up, she estimated the shop upgrade would be finished.