“Ugh!”
The man suddenly opened his eyes.
They were eyes that would make anyone shudder.
The pure black pupils were like a starless, moonless night sky, refracting a cold, blade-like glint under the sunlight. The slight upward curve at the corners of his eyes should have appeared charming and amorous, but because of his sharp, venomously cold gaze, they looked completely murderous.
At this moment, these eyes were staring straight at Qian Chuanchuan, as if he would spring up and snap her neck in the next second.
The air instantly froze.
Qian Chuanchuan quickly retracted her foot, giving a dry laugh. “Um… welcome to the ‘Guaranteed Satisfaction’ Bun Shop.”
Ling Zhanlou: “…”
Ling Zhanlou looked at the girl in front of him with her face full of a fake smile, and the piercing, murderous intent in his gaze softened by a fraction.
But it only softened by a fraction.
His gaze remained sharp.
He examined the girl standing in front of him. She had a near-perfect oval face, and her slightly upturned peach-blossom eyes were filled with a fake smile, yet unable to conceal the guilty flicker deep within them.
Just looking at her face, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she had just come of age.
But her figure was unexpectedly tall and curvy.
Qian Chuanchuan was currently wearing a grey, thin off-the-shoulder shirt bought from the System Mall. The tight-fitting design outlined her proud curves, and paired with light-colored, slightly flared jeans, it displayed her figure’s advantages to the fullest.
Without an apron covering her, she looked exactly like a heroine who had just walked out of a manga—
Most importantly, the girl didn’t carry the slightest trace of the weathered harshness forged by the apocalypse, neither in her appearance nor in her eyes.
This sense of contrast made him involuntarily take another look.
But it was just a glance before he withdrew his gaze, finally fixing his eyes on the girl’s falsely smiling face.
“Who are you?” the man’s voice was extremely hoarse and dry.
“You’re lying right at the door of my shop; who do you think I am?” Qian Chuanchuan pointed to the plaque on the door, then pointed to herself, and replied.
Only then did Ling Zhanlou sluggishly recall what the girl had just said.
He furrowed his brows slightly, squeezing two words from his dry, cracked lips: “Bun shop?”
“Yeah!” Qian Chuanchuan nodded.
“How much do they cost?”
Qian Chuanchuan didn’t expect this man to be so quick on the uptake, but a second later, the smile she was about to raise froze.
The buns seemed to be all sold out.
“Ahem! Well, the buns are already sold out. There won’t be any until tomorrow…” Qian Chuanchuan paused, suddenly thinking of the chive pockets she had just pan-fried.
She had pan-fried over a dozen, which she couldn’t finish by herself anyway. Why not bring some out and sell a few to this handsome guy!
Thinking of this, she quickly asked System San San in her mind: [San San! If I sell a few chive pockets to this man, can the earned crystal cores be exchanged for points?]
[Yes, you can! Host!]
Receiving the system’s confirmation, Qian Chuanchuan rejoiced.
Looking at Ling Zhanlou leaning against the window sill, she said, “However, I do have some freshly pan-fried chive pockets. They are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, incredibly fragrant! Do you want to buy some?”
After saying this, Qian Chuanchuan even went back inside and brought out the plate holding the chive pockets, showing it off in front of the man a few times.
Sure enough, the man’s Adam’s apple bobbed subtly.
“How much?” Ling Zhanlou’s voice was still cold and hard, but his gaze uncontrollably landed on the chive pockets Qian Chuanchuan was holding.
“Five pieces for one level-one zombie crystal core. It’s a great deal, right?!” Qian Chuanchuan held up five fingers, her eyes curving into crescents. “If you buy now, it comes with a complimentary cup of warm water!”
Ling Zhanlou raised an eyebrow slightly; it was indeed cheap.
To think that such precious food could be bought at five pieces for just a single level-one crystal core.
He reached towards his waist with some effort, pulling out a pale blue crystal core from his tactical pouch.
“How many can this buy?”
[Host, this is a level-three zombie crystal core!]
System San San came online promptly to broadcast.
“Fifteen. But I only have twelve chive pockets here, and I need to save two for myself to eat, so I can only sell you ten.”
Earlier, Qian Chuanchuan had only eaten one chive pocket and wasn’t full at all.
Although she loved money, she still had to fill her own stomach first.
“Fine.” He tossed the crystal core to Qian Chuanchuan. “Ten it is then. Keep the change.”
“Can I eat here?”
Qian Chuanchuan nimbly caught the crystal core, the smile on her face exceptionally radiant.
“Of course, no problem!” she replied enthusiastically. “I’ll go get you some chopsticks.”
Soon, Qian Chuanchuan walked back out with a pair of disposable chopsticks and a cup of warm water, handing them to the man.
“Thank you.”
The man took the chopsticks and the water cup, thanking her in a low voice.
Quite polite, actually.
It was one thing for the guy to be handsome, but he was also this polite. Qian Chuanchuan couldn’t help but look at him a bit more pleasantly.
However, she didn’t linger outside for long, turning around to head back into the shop to continue enjoying her remaining two chive pockets.
As she ate, she sneaked peeks at the man outside through the window—
She had a premonition that this man must be a big client!
Should she go offer some warmth and win over this big client’s heart after she finished eating?
What she failed to notice, however, was that before eating, the man calmly raised the water cup and the chive pockets to his nose, sniffing them lightly.
Only after confirming there was nothing wrong did he slowly and methodically begin to eat.
When Ling Zhanlou took a bite, his dark eyes couldn’t help but light up.
This chive pocket was indeed perfectly pan-fried. Just as that strange girl had said, it was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and delicious.
As for why he found the girl strange, it was probably due to the sense of incongruity about her.
It wasn’t that she herself was discordant, but rather that he felt a heavy sense of incongruity between her and this world, as well as the people in it.
It was as if… she didn’t belong to this world at all.
Ling Zhanlou shook his head, tossing this somewhat ridiculous thought out of his mind.
Still, where did she get these ingredients from?
And what was her purpose in opening such a bun shop here?
Ling Zhanlou felt that none of this made sense.
While deep in thought, he had already devoured all ten chive pockets, and even drank every last drop of the warm water. His tongue subconsciously licked his slightly dry, cracked lips, actually feeling like he hadn’t had enough.
“Do you want more water?”
A crisp female voice interrupted his thoughts. Ling Zhanlou looked up to see Qian Chuanchuan leaning against the doorway, a hot water kettle in her hand.
In a situation where global power resources had collapsed, only the major bases still had electricity. Yet, this tiny bun shop actually had power.
“May I?” the man asked, raising his eyes to look at her.
For some unknown reason, Qian Chuanchuan actually managed to see a trace of obedience in the man!!
She felt there must be something wrong with her brain.
With the intense aura radiating from this man, he couldn’t possibly be associated with being obedient!
“Of course you can!” she hastily replied, her voice sounding a bit flustered as she took the kettle and started pouring water into the man’s cup.
Soon, it was full.
Before she could even straighten up, the freshly filled cup was already empty.
Qian Chuanchuan: “…”
Qian Chuanchuan: “Do you want more?”
“Yes!”
…