"Hello, I’m Tong Zheyu, this is my younger brother Tong Zhezhe. I didn’t expect him to say they want to buy food. If you feel awkward refusing because he’s too young, we can pretend this never happened."

Currently, resources are scarce, and regular food is incredibly rare. Tong Zheyu couldn’t believe someone would actually be willing to sell their food.

"There are only two of us—we’ll take two servings of rice and one dish first. We don’t have a way to store food, so we wonder if we could eat here before heading back. We’ll give you the Crystal Core on the spot."

Tong Zheyu thought about the faces of those at the base and didn’t want anyone to know they’d gotten regular food.

Otherwise, taking it out would mean it could be divided among others, and they might not get much themselves.

Tong Zheyu knew his request was slightly excessive, but only what’s eaten becomes one’s own—no matter if others think he’s taking advantage, he still asked.

"It’s fine, we happen to be having dinner too, you can stay and eat with us.

See which dish you would like to choose?"

Jin Chuyu pointed at the food on the table and asked.

"Let’s have the shredded potatoes."

God knows how long they’ve gone without eating vegetables.

"Two Level 1 Crystal Cores for the shredded potatoes, one Level 1 Crystal Core for each serving of white rice, totaling 4 Level 1 Crystal Cores."

This price, in the eyes of the brothers, seemed like a bargain.

Tong Zheyu promptly took out 4 Level 1 Crystal Cores and handed them to Jin Chuyu.

Jin Chuyu accepted the Crystal Cores and served the brothers two bowls of rice, placing the vinegar-sautéed shredded potatoes in front of them.

Today, these two bowls of rice and one dish were the brothers’ dinner.

The little boy eagerly sat down, picked up the chopsticks beside him, and started gobbling down rice.

Tong Zheyu sat next to his brother, watching him start eating white rice.

Jin Chuyu opened his virtual screen and began notifying others to hurry back for dinner.

Tong Zheyu noticed Jin Chuyu’s actions, and although he couldn’t see the virtual screen, he had some guesses in his mind.

The Jianglin Hotel that frequently appeared in Jin Chuyu’s words was probably not that simple.

At this moment, Tong Zheyu decided he must go to Jianglin Hotel to see for himself.

If it really was as Jin Chuyu said, with accommodations, a restaurant, and a grocery store in the hotel, he decided to take his brother to live there.

The brothers quietly ate their meal, reducing awkwardness by eating quickly.

By the time Jin Chuyu’s invited others returned, the brothers had already finished eating.

Jin Churan just walked into the tent, saw the brothers leaving, and had some doubts in his eyes: Did they enter the wrong tent?

However, upon seeing Jin Chuyu and Huo Jun inside the tent, Jin Churan realized he hadn’t gone to the wrong place.

"You might have misunderstood something; we voluntarily exchanged food with him.

Perhaps we never mentioned it, but we came from the Jianglin Hotel in City B, which has a restaurant where items can be packaged.

The food we sold you was all packaged from the restaurant.

If you’re interested, you can enter the newly appeared passage near W City, walk straight to the end, and reach Jianglin Hotel.

It offers not only food but accommodations as well. The clothes we’re wearing are from the hotel’s grocery store."

Jin Chuyu happily recommended Jianglin Hotel to Chu Jiangyue due to positive impressions.

The brothers’ eyes lit up at Jin Chuyu’s words.

It sounded like a paradise—though whether it was true remained unknown.

"Sorry, I thought you were fooled by him. If you genuinely want to sell us food, let me first say thank you."

In such a scarcity of resources, their willingness to lend a hand was incredibly valuable.

"Of course, it’s true. How much would you like to buy? Come with me inside the tent; everything we brought is laid out inside, and you can take what you want."

Jin Chuyu led the brothers into the newly set-up tent.

Huo Jun, worried Jin Chuyu would be bullied, followed closely behind.

When food is taken outside, it would soon be frozen solid in temperatures dropping below minus tens of degrees, so they ate inside the tent or car to prevent affecting their meals.

The brothers hesitantly followed Jin Chuyu into the tent.

But quickly, their attention was drawn by the white rice and various dishes inside.

"These dishes..."

They were entirely fresh, unpolluted regular food.

Tong Zheyu looked incredulously at Jin Chuyu and Huo Jun: "How did you manage this?"

Considering the extreme heat and cold weather, the world’s green plants, except for mutated ones, were nearly extinct.

These dishes contained potatoes, tomatoes, tofu... An observant person could easily tell they were made from non-mutated plants.

"Packaged from Jianglin Hotel’s restaurant."

Why the hotel had such an abundance of regular food was not something they needed to know.

"Jianglin Hotel..."

Tong Zheyu softly murmured the name Jianglin Hotel.

Once the brothers walked away, Jin Churan looked at Jin Chuyu: "Sis, who are they?"

Jin Churan was certain he hadn’t seen them in their team.

There could only be one explanation: they were from the base.

Then came the question: how on earth did his sister and brother-in-law know people from the base?

"We met them at the trading market just now, they wanted to buy some food from us."

Jin Chuyu didn’t hide it; after all, the food they brought was quantified, selling some would affect their resource allocation later.

But overall, it wouldn’t affect their warmth and sustenance.

"Sis, when did you get so kind-hearted?"

With Jin Churan’s comment, he instantly faced dual attacks from both genders.

"What are you saying? Your sister is so kind, yet you speak like she has no kindness?"

Huo Jun adamantly defended Jin Chuyu’s kind image.

Jin Churan: In this day and age, even speaking truth earns a beating.

*

After a difficult struggle, Zheng Wen’an finally decided to go to W City to find his parents, taking Liu Yiyi and the insistent Jiang Zhenzhen along.

Zheng Wen’an and Liu Yiyi’s family companies had branches in W City before the apocalypse, which is why their parents went on a business trip together.

The three entered the safe passage to W City, and due to previous conflicts with Shen Zhigui’s group during an outing, they dared not get too close; they maintained a distance, staying far behind while keeping sight of Shen Zhigui and the others at the end of the group.

However, when Shen Zhigui’s group split into two directions, the trio chose neither, instead picking a path to move forward alone.

Because of their company’s presence in W City, Zheng Wen’an and Liu Yiyi frequently visited W City for leisure. Confident in their familiarity and sense of direction, they boldly proceeded by themselves.