Three portions of each of the two types of fast food were placed on the middle tier of the vending machine. The bright, glistening white rice and the tenderly braised pork inside were quite literally the ultimate bait to make people commit crimes.
Chu Yi picked at his ear and said righteously, “What do you know? Wasting food is shameful, especially in the food-scarce wasteland. Besides, it’s just slightly spoiled, not growing mold. They already eat bug biscuits, what is there to be picky about?”
[…] The system choked for a long time before managing a single word. [6.]
Having left the little system utterly speechless, Chu Yi was finally satisfied.
He also placed that morning’s food into the machine.
[Freshly baked two-meat, one-vegetable fast food from today (cold): 20 points]
Then, he placed the lunch that had been distributed shortly before into the machine as well.
[Freshly baked two-meat, one-vegetable fast food from today (hot): 30 points]
Alright, perfect.
Chu Yi nodded.
Meanwhile, the system was suffering from a severe crisis of conscience and professional ethics.
After wracking its brain and pondering repeatedly, it still felt this was inappropriate.
During its training, no older system had ever told it that spoiled food could be sold to guests!
What if someone really got sick, resulting in bad reviews for the hotel, causing guests to stop coming, driving the revenue lower and lower, and ultimately leading to complete bankruptcy?!
Gritting its digital teeth, the system decided to go all out!
[Host, you really should take back the spoiled food. This completely lacks the basic morals of a merchant—it’s just a bit too black-hearted…]
By this time, Chu Yi had already returned to the front desk, leaning back in his chair and playing a mini-game on his tablet.
Hearing the system’s hesitation, he let out a long sigh and put the tablet down.
“So you’d be satisfied if I dumped all this food, threw it out into the wasteland to let those hateful mutant creatures trample all over it like trash, completely ignoring the hard work of the farmers, right?”
[?]
“In the wasteland, how many people are starving with empty stomachs and can’t find any food? If they knew that food with both vegetables and meat was casually dumped on the ground and trampled by mutants just because it was a little spoiled—do you know how people who starved to death would feel?”
[This…] The system was, as expected, dumbfounded.
“So, you see, you fundamentally don’t understand what they need most right now,” Chu Yi said with a compassionate expression. “I am bringing warmth to their lives.”
Just as these words were spoken, the sound of a door opening echoed from the hallway.
It was Zhu Bei.
Stepping out of his room and entering the lobby, he spotted a brand-new machine sitting in the corner.
The front of the machine was completely transparent, allowing him to see the items displayed inside.
The upper and lower tiers were filled with bottles upon bottles of colorful water.
As for the middle tier—
Zhu Bei stared as if looking at something completely unbelievable, his eyes locking onto it.
W-wasn’t that white rice, something even the esper lords in the inner city rarely got to eat a full meal of?!
As if possessed, he walked quickly up to the machine.
At the top were a few flashing characters: [Vending Machine].
The items inside were all marked with their required point costs; all one had to do was swipe a card and press the button corresponding to the desired item.
The 8-point meal caught Zhu Bei’s attention.
It was on special offer.
Two-meat, one-vegetable fast food from the day before yesterday.
Written on the outside of the plastic box packaging were the names of the dishes: white rice, braised pork, stir-fried vegetables, and shredded pork in garlic sauce.
Rice! It was actually rice!
That kind of thing was completely unaffordable for commoners in the outer city!
It was a top-tier, precious commodity!
And now, it had actually appeared inside the hotel’s vending machine!
As for the “slightly spoiled” note marked next to the special item, Zhu Bei completely ignored it.
Or rather, he understood what it meant, but didn’t care at all.
Those esper lords in the inner city always left unfinished meals, and the leftover food-water was poured into a large barrel, thrown outside the city walls, radiating the stench of swill.
Even so, the driver responsible for hauling the trash was still considered to have a lucrative gig.
Why? Because there were plenty of people in the outer city who wanted to buy the mixed leftovers from those giant barrels.
Zhu Bei swallowed hard.
It was only 8 points—not even the cost of a single Tier-1 crystal core. Trying it out wouldn’t result in a loss!
He immediately swiped his card and purchased it outright.
The boxed meal popped out from the bottom slot. With trembling hands, he opened the transparent lid, and instantly, a rich aroma mixed with a faint sourness rushed into his nose.
With temperatures hitting 35 degrees in June, meat was bound to go bad in this kind of weather.
It wasn’t strange for a sour smell to appear.
Yet Zhu Bei didn’t mind the smell at all—compared to this mild acidity, he had smelled the pungent stench of swill buckets hundreds of times; that was what you called full-bodied flavor.
Standing in front of the vending machine, he picked up the chopsticks and cautiously plucked a piece of meat.
It melted in his mouth, and the sweet flavor made his entire body feel like it was floating.
Not to mention the white rice, plump-grained, crystal-clear, quite chewy, and carrying a faint sweetness—it was simply a delicacy among delicacies!
In over twenty years of life, this was the first time Zhu Bei had ever eaten something this delicious!
Drip, drip.
Unbeknownst to him, tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, falling drop by drop onto the food.
As he ate, blending with the salty taste of his tears, a profound sense of gratitude filled the depths of his heart.
The manager was essentially doing charity work!
If food like this were put up in the outer city, it would probably fetch hundreds of Tier-1 crystal cores at an auction!
And such delicious, rare food only cost 8 points…
He devoured the meal in a whirlwind. After throwing the trash into the bin according to instructions, without a second thought, he bought up all the remaining meals.
The total cost came to 110 points.
He still had 7,311 points left on his card.
Clutching the remaining 7 boxed meals, he walked with extreme caution.
Zhu Bei headed straight for Room 101, where Xue Xiaobai and his mother were staying.
He knocked on the door.
Xue Xiaobai answered very quickly.
With only a few people staying at the inn, it was obvious that Brother Zhu Bei was looking for him.
Opening the door, he saw Zhu Bei holding seven boxed meals, an uncontrollable excitement flashing in his eyes.
“Brother Bei?” Xue Xiaobai asked, a bit puzzled.
Zhu Bei glanced inside and asked, “Xiaobai, do you and Auntie have a moment? I’ve come to bring you some token gifts.”
Xue Xiaobai was stunned, his gaze falling upon the boxed meals in Zhu Bei’s hands.
That snow-white, glistening white rice, along with the braised chicken next to it, gave off an intoxicating aroma that continuously stimulated his saliva glands.
“I mean, we’re free, but…”
“Let’s go inside and talk.” Zhu Bei motioned toward the room.
Once inside, he promptly placed the boxed meals on the small desk and recounted what had just happened.
“The hotel added a vending machine. As long as you swipe your card and select what you want, you can make a purchase. These boxed meals are what I just brought down,” he said, pushing the top two boxes toward Xue Xiaobai.
“These two are today’s freshly made meals—one is hot, and the other is cold. The taste is definitely amazing. You and Auntie should eat them right away. Consider it a thank-you gift for bringing me here.”
Xue Xiaobai was startled and quickly waved his hands. “No, no, this must be very expensive, right? I didn’t do much anyway. Brother Bei, you’ve always taken good care of us, so helping you was only right.”
“No! Take them!” Zhu Bei put on a stern face. “If you still treat us like friends, accept them.”
Xue Xiaobai felt his mother’s gaze upon him.
It was obvious that his mother wanted him to refuse.
But not knowing what to say, he changed the subject instead: “Then, Brother Bei, what about the other meals…”
“Oh, these are from the past couple of days. According to the product description, they’re a bit spoiled, so they’re on special sale. This one is from the day before yesterday, 8 points.” Zhu Bei pointed to the bottom two boxes.
“This one is from yesterday, 12 points.” He pointed to the three boxes above them.
Finally, he gestured to the ones pushed toward Xue Xiaobai: “These are from this morning—this one’s cold, 20 points. This one’s freshly made and hot, 30 points. None of them are pricey.”
Wiping his face, he added, “So don’t stand on ceremony with your big brother. If it were some astronomical price, your brother wouldn’t be willing to buy it either, right?”
Hearing this, Xue Xiaobai’s eyes widened even further, his voice nearly raising in volume: “Today’s freshly made hot meal only costs 30 points?! Three Tier-1 crystal cores?!”
Goodness!
In all his years, Xue Xiaobai had never eaten white rice.
The base did have fields for growing crops, but the rice grown there was brownish-yellow, and it had to be prioritized for the lords of the inner city.
Once, when he was lucky enough to go out of the city scavenging, he saw two espers carrying rice balls and had the fortune to witness what white rice looked like.
And now.
Xue Xiaobai stared at the 30-point meal before him.
This rice was actually pure white; at a single glance, you could tell it was extraordinary! He had once heard Teacher Zhang, who taught in the outer city, say that during the peaceful era long, long ago, rice back then looked like this.
Nowadays, radiation was everywhere, and it was impossible to cultivate this kind of rice anymore!
Not to mention the other meat…
The food outer-city residents ate was bug biscuits—stuff with a long shelf life and mass-producible, which was the only way to solve the hunger crisis for massive numbers of residents.
As for the meat in the boxed meal? This perfect texture, this glistening outer sheen… it was definitely not bug meat!
Ah, and the vegetables.
Xue Xiaobai had never seen such emerald-green vegetables. In this day and age, any wild greens dug up outside were blackish-purple.
Even the vegetables grown in the base’s greenhouses had blackish-grey spots on their leaves.
Food like this…
He couldn’t bring himself to eat it!
“Brother, you should take this hot one back,” Xue Xiaobai said, tearing his gaze away with difficulty, telling himself he couldn’t be greedy. “Isn’t there Sister Nan? Since the hotel has good air quality and can alleviate illnesses, maybe this food can help too?”
He pulled out the radiation detector.
Aimed it at the food, and pressed the button.
[Radiation level: 0%]
Still zero.
Everyone’s breathing paused.
Making up his mind, Xue Xiaobai pushed the meal back, picked up another box priced at 12 points instead, and said, “Is this one okay, Brother Bei?”
Seeing his firm expression, Zhu Bei knew there was no room for negotiation on this matter.
He nodded.
“Alright, you and Auntie eat slowly. I won’t disturb you any longer.” Saying this, he pulled out two more boxes and placed them aside. “Take these as well for dinner. Don’t be polite with your brother.”
“Later on, let’s go outside together to hunt mutants and try to keep living in this hotel.”
Chu Yi was completely unaware of what had transpired over here.
At this moment, sitting in his high-end office chair, he only received a single notification.
The quest was complete.