The Charm of Cooking

7 PM.

Jiang Yue was tallying the day's haul with Little loli, while Jing Yi was carefully calculating the situation in the trading market over the past few days.

Jiang Doctor was examining Li Jingyin to check on her recovery progress.

Jing Ru was engrossed in reading a comic book.

"I'm so hungry. Team Leader said he wanted to try out the practicality of that ration bed, to see if it's really as good as described. How much longer do we have to wait? I'm starving."

Jing Ru closed her comic book. As nice as it looked, it couldn't satisfy her hunger.

Yesterday, she didn't get anything, and was forced to eat a rice ball, leaving her mouth tasteless the whole day.

Hearing Jing Ru's complaint, everyone else realized they were getting hungry too.

They weren't like the others though.

Most people had a rice ball early each morning, so they rarely felt hungry throughout the day.

But they had proper meals, just like before the apocalypse, except their portions were much larger now.

"But Qian Ya is impressive. She and Team Leader have been testing that ration bed for so long, it must be pretty good."

Everyone's gaze instantly turned to Jing Ru, who immediately shut her mouth.

A woman's jealousy could be fierce. If she angered Jiang Yue, they might have to make do with just rice balls again today.

Finally.

The room door opened, and Xiao Jun walked out refreshed, followed by a wobbly Wan Qianya.

"Dinner's ready."

At his command, Jing Ru eagerly began setting the table, even thoughtfully placing a cushion for Wan Qianya.

"Yue sis, dinner's ready."

Once everything was set, Jing Ru batted her big eyes at Jiang Yue.

Although Xiao Jun signaled when to start, it was the chief steward Jiang Yue who decided tonight's meal.

"We have something good today, just wait."

Jiang Yue smiled mysteriously, then handed out a few canned drinks from her space.

Soon, the aroma of cooked food wafted up from downstairs, making those who hadn't eaten stir-fry in a while drool.

Even Xiao Jun was curious - where did they get fresh ingredients at this hour?

After about ten minutes, two girls came upstairs carrying basins.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to what the girls were holding.

Sour and spicy shredded potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fish-flavored eggplant, and hollow vegetable stir-fry.

Although just ordinary home-cooked dishes, this was the apocalypse after all.

Eggs were acceptable since Xiao Jun had stockpiled plenty, but the other ingredients were practically non-existent now.

"Where did you get these?"

Not waiting for anyone else, Xiao Jun asked directly.

"Future City sent them over today to thank you for the intel. They grew these recently."

Since Xiao Jun was asleep that afternoon, the ingredients went to Jiang Yue first, allowing her to surprise everyone.

Grown? Xiao Jun knew about that - the high-tech seeds could indeed grow these crops. But the cycle was supposed to take a month, right?

Xiao Jun had some of those seeds too, and planned to start farming once the quakes stopped.

Future City had no way of knowing about the impending quake, so it made sense for them to start planting early. But it had only been a short while - how could the crops already be harvested?

"Someone in Future City has awakened a special farming ability that can accelerate plant growth and shorten maturation periods."

"These crops are their first harvest, so they sent some over for us to try."

Jiang Yue was puzzled at first too, but since Future City wasn't keeping it a secret, the messenger openly shared the details with her.

"I hope they're not poisoned, using us as guinea pigs before eating them themselves."

Ever the skilled apocalypse survivor, Jing Ru had no qualms considering the worst intentions.

"Then you can keep eating rice balls today."

Jiang Yue glared at her - such a pretty girl, but with quite the mouth.

"No, no, I was wrong, Yue sis."

Jing Ru excelled at understanding situations. She immediately hugged Jiang Yue, nuzzling against her like a daughter seeking her mother's affection.

"Alright then, you eat first. If you don't die, we'll eat after."

Jing Ru's expression fluctuated before she seemed to make up her mind.

"Okay."

With that, Jing Ru picked up a pair of chopsticks and gingerly reached for the sour and spicy shredded potatoes.

Mmm! The taste... not bad.

Clearly made by a professional chef - much better than that little diner by her old school.

She took another bite.

In the blink of an eye, Jing Ru forgot about testing for poison, rapidly taking bites from each dish.

"Okay, we can eat now."

The others could no longer hold back, enticed by the piping hot stir-fries and greens. Who could resist such temptation?

"Jun bro, once we finish clearing out the zombies from the city, can we start farming too?"

Everyone looked at Xiao Jun expectantly. If they could have four dishes and a soup every day, life would be amazing.

Xiao Jun hesitated, then nodded.

Once the zombie siege ended, he'd take them out for a bit. After the quakes subsided, they could return and start farming.

"Yay! Jun bro, I love you!"

Ignoring everyone's stares, the excited Jing Ru hugged Xiao Jun's neck and planted a big kiss on him.

The others were used to it by now - it was bound to happen sooner or later, so no one felt bothered anymore.

"What was the progress on clearing zombies near the bridge today?"

Turning to official matters, everyone spoke more quietly as they ate.

"Although many zombies accumulated over the past few days without being cleared, we managed to reach the bridge area today. We just need to spend some time clearing it out daily from now on."

Xiao Jun nodded in agreement.

This was a crucial task - only by sealing off that route could he minimize casualties for his team.

"Oh, the Fat and Thin Group leaders came looking for you today, probably to ask about the zombie siege."

Jiang Yue seemed to recall something and added.

"Tell them to stay put in their territories and wait for our instructions."

"Got it."

Four dishes wasn't a lot among eight people. Although each basin was large, they were quickly cleaned out in the mad scramble.

Even the usually composed Jiang Doctor joined in the frenzy, her chopsticks never stopping as she rapidly consumed dish after dish.

Such was the allure of a home-cooked stir-fry.

As always, cleaning up after the meal fell to Jing Ru, while the others enjoyed a rare period of free rest time.

Chatting, reading comics, or even taking a nap.

[How do I even bring this up with Jun bro? What if he doesn't agree?]

Just as Xiao Jun was about to take Jiang Yue to experience the ration bed's delights, a voice suddenly popped into his mind.

"Cloud, you seem distracted. What's on your mind?"

As Jiang Yue's deputy, Little loli had contributed a lot to the team. If she had any requests, Xiao Jun would certainly oblige.

"Ah?"

Little loli wasn't expecting Xiao Jun to call her out, feeling flustered.

"Whatever has you so deep in thought, let me hear it too."

Little loli hesitated, then spoke up.

"I had a very close mentor whom I thought was long dead. But today, I discovered she's alive in Future City."

A close mentor?

Xiao Jun didn't say anything, letting her continue.

"My mentor was quite fortunate to survive, joining a small group. Because their leader desired her body, she didn't suffer too much hardship."

"After the news of the zombie attack on the city spread, that Little loli's Team Leader lost patience and planned to use force on her teacher. Fortunately, the teacher was clever and managed to escape."

"I happened to meet her today, so I brought her back."

Hearing this, Xiao Jun understood the situation. It seemed that the Little loli's teacher was quite attractive, causing the Team Leader to endure for so long in hopes of her willingly giving in.

The Little loli was now pleading, obviously wanting to prevent her teacher from participating in the battle. This was easy to accommodate.

"You can just assign her a logistics job, have her assist you, how about that?"

The Little loli stammered, but eventually spoke up.

"I want her to stay on the second floor."