It was precisely those words that made the four people, who had already slowed down, subconsciously pick up their pace again.
The distance wasn’t great to begin with, and in an instant, they were less than a meter from the shop door.
The four slammed to a halt, but then, realizing something, they all turned their heads in unison.
They saw those snarling, roaring zombies suddenly act like puppets with their strings cut, wandering aimlessly in place. The nearest one was no more than three steps away from Xu Wang, but its rotting eyeballs seemed unable to see them. Eventually, it wobbled and drifted away.
The four looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Then, they all turned back again, looking at the girl still standing at the door with complex, guarded expressions.
In the morning light, her porcelain-white skin had a pearly luster, and her peach-blossom eyes were curved into crescents. Her flour-dusted apron, the steam from the baskets, and that excessively bright smile on her face—
In the middle of the deathly silent ruins, it was all so eerie it made their skin crawl.
Qian Chuanchuan completely ignored the complex and wary looks on their faces and asked once more: “Dear guests, would you like to buy some buns?”
“You… this wouldn’t happen to be made of human meat, would it?” On Xu Wang’s fierce, bearded face, a discordant look of fear appeared, and his voice was trembling.
Qian Chuanchuan: “…”
She rolled her eyes. “This is a respectable bun shop! Although I don’t have a business license…” She paused, then added righteously, “I absolutely cheat neither the young nor the old!”
No business license yet “cheats neither the young nor the old”?
Well, in the apocalypse, it would be even weirder if someone did have a business license.
Seeing the four still looking suspicious, Qian Chuanchuan shrugged helplessly. “If you’re really worried, you can buy the vegetable buns.”
With that, Qian Chuanchuan closed the door and opened the small service window instead.
She waited for them to make a decision.
She didn’t believe these people could resist buying fragrant, soft, giant buns and just walk away!
The aroma from the steamers drifted into the four people’s noses like a living thing. They could barely ignore it while running for their lives, but now that they were safe, the scent was simply lethal—
Gurgle.
No one knew whose stomach growled first.
They reflexively swallowed their saliva, eyes glued to the small window.
How long had it been… since the apocalypse began, they hadn’t tasted a steaming hot bun…
In the beginning, they could still rely on some instant foods to stave off hunger. Things like instant noodles, bread, canned goods, self-heating rice, and the like.
But now, it had turned into compressed biscuits or hunting non-toxic mutant animals and plants. Mutant flora and fauna didn’t taste good; they even had a lingering bitterness.
As for rice, white flour, and sealed canned goods—those were luxuries now only held by the high-ranking officials of the various bases. They had become priceless commodities.
“Boss…” Xu Wang’s Adam’s apple bobbed again, his voice weak. “How about… we buy a few to try?”
Yan Weiyu was also tempted, but she still said, “What if… it’s human meat?”
Although cannibalism wasn’t news in the apocalypse, she couldn’t bring herself to accept it.
Xiang Mingchen suddenly spoke up weakly: “We… although we don’t know what human meat tastes like… we know what braised pork and beef taste like. Besides… look, there are vegetable fillings listed up there.”
“Mingchen is right. Look, there are all-vegetable options. If you’re really worried, we can just buy those,” Song Jin added.
“And we need to replenish our strength.” This was the honest truth; they hadn’t eaten for a whole day and had been chased by zombies for so long that their stamina was almost entirely depleted.
“Also…” Xiang Mingchen continued, “look at the price of these buns. No matter what kind of meat it is, selling it at such a low price is illogical.”
In the apocalypse, the most “illogical” things were often the safest; sometimes, if something was too logical, it was more likely to be a trap.
He didn’t say this out loud, but the other three understood his meaning.
Song Jin pulled a crystal nucleus from his pocket, walked to the window, and said, “Boss, I’ll take ten zucchini and egg buns, two pork and corn buns, one braised meat, and one beef.”
Qian Chuanchuan took the crystal nucleus, which emitted a faint yellow glow, trying her best not to look like a country bumpkin who had never seen anything.
In her mind, System San San’s voice rang out: [Host, this is a Level 3 zombie crystal nucleus.]
Based on the number of buns the man ordered, Qian Chuanchuan had already judged it was a Level 3 nucleus.
She pocketed the nucleus, opened the steamers, and began packing the buns for them.
Qian Chuanchuan was very thoughtful; seeing there were four of them, she packed the buns into four portions. The pork and corn along with the other two meat buns were packed separately.
She wasn’t stupid. Although one of the four had an injured leg and they looked a bit disheveled from being chased by zombies, they clearly weren’t ordinary people. They couldn’t possibly be unable to afford meat buns.
The reason they only bought a couple of meat buns was likely because they didn’t trust her ingredients! They wanted to taste them first.
She could understand their caution; at least it showed they were people with a bottom line.
Though she was still a bit speechless.
What made her speechless was that they actually suspected a super-invincible beautiful girl like her of selling human meat buns!
Was her face not kind enough?!
After packing the buns, Qian Chuanchuan handed them out through the window.
Song Jin took them and asked politely, “May we eat here?”
“Whatever.”
As long as they weren’t in the way. Where they chose to eat was their business.
“Thank you,” Song Jin said politely, then distributed the buns to the others. As for the four remaining meat-filled buns, each person got one.
Xu Wang was the first to take a bite. Scorchingly hot meat juice burst out instantly, and the pure, fresh fragrance of pork exploded in his mouth. His eyes widened as three years of taste bud memories were completely awakened:
This was definitely braised from fresh pork!
The others were the same; with one bite, they made their judgment instantly.
Soon, the four of them finished the fourteen buns, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.
Thus, Song Jin took out two Level 1 crystal nuclei and bought four more braised meat buns and four pork and corn buns. Each person got two more.
This time, they didn’t finish them in two bites like before. Instead, they chewed slowly and savored the taste.
Song Jin didn’t eat immediately; he took out hemostatic medicine and bandages from his backpack and gave Xiang Mingchen’s leg a simple dressing.
“Boss, how should we address you?” Yan Weiyu asked casually while eating.
“My surname is Qian. You can just call me Boss Qian,” Qian Chuanchuan replied, also intending to chat with them. She pulled up a stool and sat by the window. The steam from the baskets blurred behind her, making her porcelain-white face look exceptionally vivid.
“Are you running this shop all by yourself?”
“Yeah. Do you see a second person here?” Qian Chuanchuan asked back.
Yan Weiyu: “…”
Okay, that wasn’t a great question.
She cleared her throat awkwardly and changed the subject: “Then… aren’t you afraid, being all alone?”
Qian Chuanchuan arched an eyebrow. “What? Are you planning to rob me?”
This girl certainly has a style when it comes to chatting!