Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 253: Chapter 250: He’s Just Dead Weight

Cadar leaned far over the railing, her torso nearly horizontal.

Her attention was also on the nobles in the boxes above.

She was certain that whoever came to buy the emerald earrings must be someone who knew their purpose.

She wanted to get a good look and see who was so desperate to buy it.

At this point, on the floor below, more than half the people had left their seats and withdrawn from the bidding after hearing the first few offers.

The price was simply not something they could afford.

Through the curly hair tumbling over Cadar’s shoulders, Chen Xing saw an earring identical to the emerald one currently up for auction.

Moreover, its color was even purer than the auction item’s.

It was identical to the two pieces she had on her person.

Chen Xing didn’t know whether to call the girl stupid or just plain crazy.

As if she was afraid people wouldn’t know, she was even wearing the stolen bracelet on her wrist.

’Is she that certain no one can take them from her?’

Truth be told... Chen Xing could easily use the Jiezhi Space to get to Cadar’s side.

However, at that moment, she heard Ran Gaoyang and Ding Yiyu from the factory district making a bid.

’How could she just stand by and let the factory district get ripped off?’

Knowing the real prize was on Cadar herself, she was no longer in a rush.

So, she left the restroom area and walked back into the auction hall.

The crowd had thinned out considerably. Seeing the seat next to Ding Yiyu was empty, Chen Xing walked over and sat down.

By now, the price for the fake earring had been driven up to one hundred cows plus three hundred pigs.

It looked like the only bidders left were Ran Gaoyang from the factory district, some state leader from the boxes above, and Qin Ye, who had approached Chen Xing in the hotel lobby earlier.

Evidently, Qin Ye was somewhat distracted, and his bidding was half-hearted.

In contrast, the state leader and Ran Gaoyang from the factory district were much more serious; neither was willing to back down.

At this point, even the auction house manager was shooting curious glances in Ran Gaoyang’s direction.

His group had originally only registered a few items, but today they had suddenly raised the stakes. It turned out he was a hidden tycoon.

”One hundred cows, plus four hundred pigs!” the state leader called out, his tone making it clear he would fight to the end.

”One hundred cows and four hundred pigs, going once, going twice...” The auctioneer raised his gavel, about to let it fall.

After saying something to Ding Yiyu, Ran Gaoyang was about to raise his hand, but Chen Xing secretly flicked a small stone at the back of it, and the pain made him immediately retract it.

”Third time...” The auctioneer reluctantly banged his small wooden gavel.

He had already dragged it out for a long time; since they weren’t raising the bid, he couldn’t delay any longer.

Without having to look, Chen Xing knew that the so-called state leader above must look absolutely furious.

’He was most likely a shill! Who would have thought they’d just fold at the most critical moment?’

”Brother Gao Yang, what now?” Ding Yiyu hadn’t expected to make a mistake at such a critical moment.

Brother Xiao had told them that if it was a good item, they had to acquire it no matter what.

Ran Gaoyang clapped Ding Yiyu on the shoulder. ”It’s fine. It wasn’t destined to be ours.”

’Even if we had won it, we might not have been able to get it out of here,’ he thought.

He had been hesitating whether to bid again just a moment ago.

He was even a little grateful for the mishap.

Chen Xing saw that Ran Gaoyang was calmer than Ding Yiyu, which put her at ease. She then reminded them, as if talking to herself, ”Now we need to figure out how to get our valuables out of Green City!”

Ran Gaoyang and Ding Yiyu were left speechless.

That’s right!

’We just bid so high,’ they thought. ’Someone must already have their eyes on us, right?’

”Ma’am, are you saying we won’t be able to leave safely?” Ran Gaoyang asked, sensing her reminder was a kind gesture.

”We nearly all died in the hotel last night. Do you think the big shots from the North will let us take our things out of Green City?”

Ran Gaoyang shook his head.

It was true.

They wouldn’t go so far as to refuse to return their items in front of so many people.

But it was highly likely they would send people to rob them after the items were in their possession!

”Then does that mean we can’t get out of Green City?” someone nearby who had overheard them asked, leaning closer.

”Right now, that group of people who left earlier are heading out of the city with their items,” Chen Xing said. ”But... they’ve probably run into robbers by now!” She felt her guess was one hundred percent accurate.

”Ma’am... you seem so calm. Do you have a way to escape?” Ran Gaoyang’s thoughts were aligning with hers.

Chen Xing glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she whispered, ”By now, the south gate must be completely blocked! Even if no one tries to rob us, we’d have to wait for hours to get out of Green City! We’d be better off using the north gate. Fewer people came from that direction, so it naturally won’t be as congested! For a group like ours, it should be easy to force our way out!”

After finishing their discussion, they all went to retrieve their respective belongings.

Just as everyone had finished collecting their things, however, a situation suddenly arose.

The big shots from the North had, for some insane reason, decided to host all the honored guests for a dinner at the Green City Municipal Hall that evening.

And most of the other groups had already agreed to attend.

Those who were unwilling to stay were not stopped from leaving.

Chen Xing stopped Ran Gaoyang and Ding Yiyu from leaving.

’Only a small group is leaving,’ she thought. ’They can be easily taken care of at the gate.’

’It’s better to leave with the main group, or...’

Chen Xing, Ran Gaoyang, and a few others who had made significant trades were assigned to rooms on the ground floor of the hotel from before.

Fortunately, Ran Gaoyang’s room was separated from hers by only a single room.

Seeing there was still some time before the banquet, Chen Xing went to knock on Ran Gaoyang’s door.

She realized the two of them had absolutely no idea that the middle-aged woman was her.

”Something is definitely going to go wrong at the banquet. When it’s almost over, take your people and leave through the north gate. I’ll find a way to draw their attention, but... can you take my one hundred cows out with you?”

”Won’t you be in danger?” Ran Gaoyang asked, thinking it was a bad idea.

”Don’t worry about my safety! You can give the items back to me when we meet up in Buddha City!”

Ran Gaoyang was speechless. ’This woman has some serious nerve.’

’How can she trust people so easily?’

’Does she know the market value of one hundred cows?’

”Alright!” Despite his thoughts, Ran Gaoyang agreed readily.

To reassure everyone, the auction house staff had placed all the traded goods in a large, enclosed plaza right next to the auction house.

’They’re worried about being found out,’ Chen Xing reasoned. ’Until they’re ready to get rid of everyone, the auction house probably won’t move the goods elsewhere.’

Chen Xing and Ran Gaoyang’s group arrived at the banquet hall one after the other.

The entire time, they didn’t eat a single thing.

Not long after they arrived at the banquet hall, Chen Xing saw Cadar go into an office-like room with the state leader who had been bidding against Ran Gaoyang earlier.

There were even guards posted at the door.

Chen Xing moved a little closer and was able to hear their conversation.

Without a doubt, the state leader was getting an earful.

’So he really was a shill!’

’No wonder Cadar was so angry.’

’She must have thought she could make a killing off those fake emerald earrings.’

”Among those commoners, I think someone knows about the emeralds. Later, go and kill them all! Especially those few who were bidding against you. Make sure they’re dead, and bring them to me!” Cadar clearly suspected Ran Gaoyang and his group.

’The nobles from the various nations all gave up when the price got too high, so none of them could know the earrings’ true value.’

From a concealed position, Chen Xing’s figure flickered and vanished.

When she reappeared, she was inside the office, directly in front of Cadar.