Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Viral Influencer

In the video, Chen Xing was eating with such focus that she didn’t even have time to look at the camera.

The faint light of the fire and the moonlight-yellow of the raw egg yolk cast a pale, flickering glow on her face, making her look a little lonely and solitary. But contrasted with the delicious food in her hands, the scene was indescribably harmonious and beautiful.

You’d expect someone eating that much to look like a glutton, but she managed to look elegant even while taking large bites.

Hao Wenli immediately ran over and snatched the phone from Du Yina’s hand.

On the screen, Chen Xing kept her head slightly bowed as she ate, ignoring the camera so completely it looked as if she were being filmed secretly.

And yet, the camera angle was perfectly clear.

The comment section below was even more lively than the video itself.

”What a babe! I’m on my knees, I’d do anything...”

”I’ve never seen anyone eat so gracefully. Have to give this a like!”

”That one meal of hers would be enough to feed me for three days!”

”She’s eating so much. Could she be faking it?”

”She’s skinny! It’s fake eating. Verdict’s in!”

”Are you blind? Can’t you see this is a livestream?”

”Don’t judge everyone else by your bird-sized stomach!”

”Can’t she just be eating and purging?”

”You haters are ridiculous. If you want to watch, then watch. If not, hit the back button in the top-left and get the hell out!”

”Seriously! Look at the world we’re in now. Who has time for eating and purging? This girl is one step away from eating dirt.”

”Reporting everyone who says she’s faking it!”

”I’m about to f*cking starve to death here! It’s not like I’m on a diet or anything. I’ve only had one bite of bread all day. Life is pain!”

”I don’t even know who released this virus, but I curse their entire family line for eighteen generations!”

...

Watching the comments and likes flood in, Hao Wenli was instantly overcome with jealousy.

She streamed every day, acting like a clown and sometimes even deliberately wearing revealing outfits, but she never got people to like and comment so eagerly.

’How did this girl go viral with a single stream?’

She immediately posted a comment: ”Did she have plastic surgery? Her nose looks a little crooked, and it looks like she had her eyes widened. And that chin...”

”Whoever’s talking about plastic surgery, get the hell out...”

”To the person talking about plastic surgery: you’re in the wrong place. This is a mukbang stream, not a beauty pageant!”

”If you want to stare at faces, go to another channel!”

”Piss off, this is a proper mukbang stream!”

...

Hao Wenli had only posted one comment, and a whole chain of replies immediately attacked her.

Startled, she immediately closed the app. Only then did she remember it wasn’t her account, so she tossed the phone back to Du Yina.

Though her face remained calm, inside she was practically clawing at her own heart with unbearable jealousy.

’She was just a lab rat from the Research Institute. How did she escape and suddenly become a streaming sensation?’

’Just one video and she already has over a million views. Is she going to become a huge star next?’

Du Yina, unaware that Hao Wenli had used her account to post the comment, wanted to go back to the stream. But she was so frightened by the flood of angry private messages that she had to log out immediately.

Chen Xing’s meal took nearly thirty minutes, slowed down by the time it took to grill the food.

When she finished eating and was about to close the streaming app, she saw the view count and thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

’Over 1.7 million views? Isn’t that a little ridiculous!?’

’And this was her first video...’

After checking the number several times to make sure it was real, she calmly ended the stream.

Her silent departure only made the comment section explode with even more posts.

”Aloof,” ”unique,” ”rude”... A mix of good and bad comments flooded in, rocketing the stream onto the platform’s trending list.

Chen Xing, of course, had no idea. She needed to get to sleep early so she could go out and scavenge for supplies in the morning.

About two hours later, while Chen Xing was fast asleep, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Chen Xing stayed in bed and ignored it. ’The people downstairs can deal with it.’

No matter who it was, she had no intention of letting them in.

The doorbell rang a few more times, then fell silent.

A short while later, it started again. RING... silence... RING... silence... This repeated for so long that Chen Xing felt as if she hadn’t slept at all.

As dawn approached, she finally got up, dark circles under her eyes.

The zombies were quiet, and people were asleep.

This brief window was the safest and quietest time of day, and she didn’t want to miss it.

A few people were lying on the sofas in the first-floor lobby. Chen Xing paid them no mind and walked straight to the main door.

’Why would Mr. Hu, who had so aggressively tried to kick her out just yesterday, suddenly agree to let so many people in?’

’But as long as they didn’t get in her way, it didn’t matter to her if the entire building was full.’

Chen Xing moved quietly. Once outside, she started running toward the other side of the city.

She had searched online and found that a large mall had just opened a few days ago in the XX District on the outskirts of Hualai City. That was her target for the day.

She moved quickly, weaving through the sluggish zombies.

But even so, there was a limit to how fast she could run.

The wide boulevards were often completely blocked, so driving would be even slower.

She scanned her surroundings, looking for some form of transportation.

As luck would have it, an electric scooter with the key still in the ignition caught her eye.

Chen Xing quickly ran over, turned the ignition, and was relieved to find it still had a charge.

It wasn’t very fast, but it was much better than walking.

After about ten kilometers, just as she was nearing her destination, the electric scooter died.

At that same moment, the shuffling zombies instantly reverted to their predatory instincts and began to swarm toward Chen Xing.

Chen Xing took out her phone to check the GPS as she ran. She was still two kilometers from the mall.

’No choice but to run for it!’

Chen Xing broke into a sprint, running at a speed the zombies couldn’t match.

She covered the two kilometers quickly, and a brand-new, five-story mall came into view.

From a distance, she estimated there were at least six entrances and exits, not counting the ones for the parking garage, and all of them were wide open.

’There were bound to be zombies inside, but first, she had to shake the ones following her.’

Chen Xing suddenly accelerated, widening the gap between her and the zombies. After rounding a corner, she spotted the entrance to the underground parking garage.

While the zombies were in her blind spot, she immediately ducked into the parking garage.

The pursuing zombies shambled past the garage entrance one by one.

Two of them, however, were drawn in by the garage. They were taken down before they even saw Chen Xing.

After dealing with the zombies, Chen Xing didn’t dare let her guard down. The underground garage was dark and silent; the slightest misstep could attract more of them.

She kept her footsteps light and her ears pricked, not daring to relax for a second.

After taking out a few more zombies along the way, Chen Xing successfully reached the escalators on the first basement level.

Looking up the motionless escalator, she could see a sign for the first floor.

Chen Xing knew her goal lay just above.

But she didn’t dare to go up recklessly.

The first floor’s multiple entrances were all wide open. She had no idea how many zombies were up there.

Even if there were only a few, one loud noise could bring the entire horde from outside down on her.

’The stairwell would be safer.’

Chen Xing immediately looked for a sign and finally found the stairwell in a corner.

As her hand reached for the doorknob, she suddenly sensed something was wrong. She slowly let go.