Chapter 100

Chapter 100

On the first day back from the outing mission, the entire team took time to rest and recuperate. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the second day that Jiang Nian called everyone to the shop for a group meal.

This time, apart from inviting the Li family members, Zhou Li and Yang Kai were also called over, turning it into a big get-together of old friends.

Although Zhou Li and Yang Kai were technically Cheng Jing and the others’ superiors now, it was mostly just a title. Aside from necessary work handovers, they usually interacted as friends.

Whenever something came up, Zhou Li and Yang Kai liked hashing things out with Cheng Jing.

Beyond their official duties, in terms of personal capability, they both had total faith in Cheng Jing.

Their private time outside work was even more casual.

So when Cheng Jing invited them for the gathering, the two arrived early, dressed in casual clothes. After scanning their points at the shop’s payment terminal, they unabashedly went to town on the snack shelves and started digging in.

Jiang Nian didn’t say much—after all, their friends always overpaid anyway. Even if he told them not to, they wouldn’t listen.

Repeating the same thing too often among friends would just make it weird, as if they were being overly formal.

A busy shop meant good business, and today the shop was bustling, setting a new record in earnings:

By the time they closed for the meal, the revenue had topped 5,000 points, hitting exactly 5,200—a very pleasing number.

With so many people eating, Uncle Li took charge as the head chef while the others assisted, ensuring efficiency without exhausting anyone.

They whipped up 20 dishes, covering all flavors—sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty—with an even split between meat and vegetables, generous portions, and drinks flowing nonstop. Staples included rice, congee, and noodles.

Additionally, Jiang Nian brought out his "treasured" stash of ready-to-eat frozen crayfish tails, unpacking 20 pounds of vacuum-sealed portions. After seasoning and cooking, they were served in a large basin for everyone to enjoy.

These were even rarer than meat and quickly became the main attraction.

Apart from these crayfish tails, Jiang Nian’s ring space also held plenty of pre-seasoned, pre-cooked ones, as well as self-heating hotpot-style packs.

All were specially collected by Brother Jing during his "shopping without paying" runs, available in various flavors—Jiang Nian’s favorite being the spicy 13-spice blend.

At the table, the teammates enthusiastically discussed the mission’s details and gains, comparing notes.

This allowed those like Jiang Nian, who hadn’t gone out, to stay updated on changes outside the base and how the zombies were changing.

"......"

And so they ate and chatted, from dusk till late into the night, full and happy.

Blowing off steam with friends appropriately was essential for maintaining mental health—otherwise, constantly dwelling on the oppressive apocalypse and zombies would mess anyone up eventually.

It wasn’t until past 10 p.m. that the gathering finally called it a night. Everything had been eaten, down to every last bit of crayfish broth, which was used to cook noodles—each person getting a bowl as a late-night snack.

Though no one was hungry, everyone took that last bowl. It was just that good.

After slurping up the noodles, everyone jumped in to clean up, filling multiple huge trash bags.

Just then, Li Shuhui’s phone suddenly rang.

Noticing her father and brother looking over, Li Shuhui checked her phone and said,

"It’s Liang Xiaoyan."

With that, she slipped away to answer the call.

"Xiaoyan, what’s up so late?"

"..."

While she was on the phone, Li Kaiyun and Li Liang repeated the information about Liang Xiaoyan to the group, as he had only mentioned it to Li Cheng and Cheng Jing earlier.

After a while, Li Shuhui hung up and walked over to ask Jiang Nian:

"Jiang Nian, do we take in traditional Chinese herbs here?"

"Hmm?"

Jiang Nian countered:

"What kind of medicinal herbs?"

"The wellness kind, not the fancy traditional stuff..."

Li Shuhui then gave him a more detailed description:

"Here’s the deal—Xiaoyan’s crew went out to gather supplies and found a wellness tea shop with a lot of wellness herbs. They've already sorted and packed them, and she asked if I could help sell them."

Seeing him deep in thought, she added:

"I'm just asking if we need them. If not, no big deal."

"A wellness tea shop..."

Jiang Nian stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and decided:

"Alright, have them bring the stuff by first, and we'll take a look."

Nowadays, hardcore medicinal herbs aren’t a thing since most folks don’t know the first thing about prepping them.

But tea shop herbs are easy—mostly dried floral/fruit teas or common wellness ingredients for dietary therapy. There’s no fuss, just boil and drink.

Besides, if he remembered correctly, a typical wellness tea shop would surely have ingredients for sour plum soup. Nothing beats iced sour plum soup in this heat—it quenches your thirst and cools you down, a lifesaver in this sweltering weather!

Li Shuhui nodded:

"Okay, I’ll tell them to bring them over. When do you want them here?"

"Tomorrow at noon. We’ll come here for lunch."

Before Jiang Nian could reply, Cheng Jing butted in.

Since they knew those guys were shady, he wanted to size them up himself.

Jiang Nian smiled and nodded:

"Yeah, works for me."

Li Shuhui understood:

"Roger that. I’ll give them the heads-up for noon tomorrow."

With that, she walked off to call them.

Nobody was a fan of Liang Xiaoyan. Jiang Nian could tell his crew was worried, so he thought it over and said:

"We'll just do business with her without getting too close. Since she's with the superpower team, we might occasionally get some useful supplies from them. Besides, keeping someone with questionable motives within sight actually makes me feel more at ease."

"Yeah."

Zhou Li agreed:

"Exactly. More contact means more chances for them to mess up. Better than constantly looking over our shoulders."

Since contact was unavoidable, staying vigilant in every way was the best approach.

The others nodded as well. With all of us watching, getting to know them should ease our minds.

Cheng Jing noticed Li Kaiyun and Li Liang looked uneasy, so he walked over and said:

"Since we’re all in the same base now, running into familiar faces is inevitable. It’s better to figure out early whether they’re friend or foe. This won’t be the last time—don’t sweat it."

In a group as large as theirs, everyone had a few acquaintances they’d have to face eventually.

Li Liang pressed his lips together and nodded:

"Got it. Thanks, Cheng."

Truth was, Cheng Jing kinda scared him.

"Alright."

Li Kaiyun didn’t say much more. Cheng’s words made sense, and the rest was up to them to handle.

...

Around noon the next day, the teammates all tacitly gathered at the shop for lunch, killing time with small talk while they waited.

Around one o’clock, an olive-drab jeep pulled up outside the store.

The doors opened, and two men and a woman stepped out, all dressed in camo tees and pants. Liang Xiaoyan had her hair tied in a high ponytail, looking both spirited and with a mischievous charm.

A burly, bearded man with sleeve tattoos and a tall, lean man carried three hefty cardboard crates from the jeep into the shop.

The team barely gave them a second look, but Jiang Nian recognized the two immediately:

The tattooed man was the same burly guy who had been flirting with a woman outside Dorm 1121, and the tall, lean man was the one who had knocked on the door after they left.

Confirming he wasn’t mistaken, Jiang Nian couldn’t help but think to himself, *No shit!*

Perhaps sensing the gaze, the two men carrying the boxes made a show of wiping sweat and glanced over casually. Spotting Jiang Nian, their eyes widened for just a split second before they averted their gazes, pretending not to recognize him.

Jiang Nian also looked away. After a beat of awkward tension, the gears started turning:

Guys teaming up for some action was common enough—swapping out was standard practice too.

But getting cozy with that woman so soon after arriving at the base? That was way too quick. She wasn’t exactly running a neon sign.

More importantly, Alley 11 was prime real estate for OGs. By the time Liang Xiaoyan’s group came in, newcomers were being placed in areas numbered in the hundreds. Pulling strings that fast would’ve taken work.

Unless someone greased the wheels!

*Something’s fishy here.* Putting two and two together, Jiang Nian would bet his last bullet Xia Weiwei was mixed up in this!