Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 340: Chapter 338: You Used to Call Me Uncle Zhong

Chen Ming had said those women were no saints, either. They bullied anyone they perceived as weak.

They often used their frail appearances to deceive compassionate people.

Even though it had been a long time since the apocalypse began, many people still held on to a sliver of kindness.

This was especially true for the weak.

Chen Ming had been with Li Lei for less than twenty days since coming from the north. In that time, he had seen three different groups tricked by these six women into opening their doors, only to end up dying horribly.

He had begged and tried to stop them, but nothing changed.

If he weren’t a Healing Ability User, he probably would have been dead long ago.

’Since there isn’t a single good person in the entire group, I’ll just make them the weak ones. Let them have a taste of what it’s like to be bullied.’

Next to the large iron plate on the second floor, a few men were hammering at the wall.

With a single thought from Chen Xing, the men slowly collapsed.

Ever since her spaces were upgraded, when she absorbed someone’s superpower, the physical strength it enhanced was also drained away. That was why... after she took their powers, Superpower Users were left completely feeble.

Although they could get up and walk normally after a short while, killing even a single Advanced Zombie was basically impossible for them.

Chen Xing then went to Li Lei’s hotel and completely drained the remaining twenty or so people.

They didn’t notice anything unusual in their sleep. She figured they would all be in a massive panic when they woke up.

After dishing out this simple punishment, she returned to her own hotel and went back to sleep.

In the other room, Chen Ming naturally had no idea Chen Xing had gone out. When the sound of hammering on the wall stopped, he felt a bit relieved and fell back asleep.

That afternoon, a heavy snow began to fall, blanketing everything, and the temperature plummeted.

The bedding Chen Xing had given Chen Ming was thick, and she had also provided him with thermal underwear and a down jacket.

He wasn’t stupid; he removed the kitchen sink, brought it into his room, broke up some wood, and started a fire inside it.

He had offered to remove the sink for Chen Xing first, but she had refused.

She said she wasn’t afraid of the cold, conjuring a ball of fire in her hand as she spoke.

Chen Ming was speechless. ’...Alright, then.’

’So she’s not a Dual Ability User—she has three superpowers.’

In cold weather, aside from those with the Ice system, Fire Ability Users were the least afraid of the cold.

So he could only retreat to his room, huddling under his quilt to warm himself by the fire.

It was a rare chance for him to warm himself by a fire since the start of the apocalypse.

After less than two days of frigid weather, the temperature warmed up again.

Chen Xing knew that chaotic weather was coming.

The temperature would rise and fall at least once a day. When it got severe, it would fluctuate between hot and cold countless times within a single day.

People would be unable to adapt to such unpredictable weather, and the death toll would skyrocket.

That same afternoon, as the weather warmed, Song Yiguo’s men arrived in Tail City.

Because of the unpredictable weather, Chen Xing didn’t keep them any longer and had them take Chen Ming back with them.

She had already told Chen Ming that she was sending him to the National Capital Safety Zone.

He could hardly believe his ears.

The National Capital Safety Zone wasn’t a place just anyone could enter.

Little did he know that ever since three of the Four Great Families had been driven out of the Capital City, Song Yiguo had begun taking in ordinary refugees.

They had rebuilt the collapsed houses outside the Duole Safety Zone into a base, which already housed several thousand refugees.

It wasn’t until he arrived in the Capital City that he learned the government was truly working for the people again. Filled with a desire to serve his country and its people, he joined the Song Family Army.

Chen Xing, who remained in Tail City, enjoyed a few quiet, undisturbed days.

She knew such peace wouldn’t last.

Song Yiguo’s men coming over would undoubtedly attract a lot of tails.

Even though the warm weather was only expected to last for two days, Chen Xing cleaned the swimming pool anyway.

Before long, she was soaking in the water, eating tropical fruits and basking in the sun.

Gentle waves rippled on the distant horizon, painting a picture of peace and tranquility.

If you ignored the pairs of eyes hidden in the shadows, that is.

She had deliberately not hidden her location; having Song Yiguo send people over was part of her plan to deal with her troubles more quickly.

Her pursuers had lost her trail, so they were bound to start watching Song Yiguo instead.

’And just as expected, they’d been lying in wait, hadn’t they?’

That woman had somehow survived the explosion, which meant those emerald earrings were truly something miraculous.

Out of boredom, Chen Xing even made a bet with herself.

She bet on which country’s people would be the first to find her.

But to her surprise, fifteen days passed without anyone disturbing her.

Unexpectedly, the first person to come looking for her was a man in his sixties.

He showed no malicious intent as he got out of his car alone and walked to the hotel where she was staying.

Chen Xing was a little puzzled.

This was the same old man from her past life’s timeline. During the Green City auction, he had stayed in the hotel room next to hers and had been taken hostage by nightingale.

She had gone looking for him later, but he had already vanished.

’To think that in this timeline, he would come find me in person.’ He looked a little younger than he had back then.

The old man looked up at Chen Xing leaning against the balcony railing, and his eyes immediately reddened.

Chen Xing remembered that back in the other timeline, when he had been taken hostage by nightingale, his eyes had also turned red upon seeing her.

’It seems... he really knows me.’

In a flash, Chen Xing was downstairs. She opened the iron plate and ran straight into the first-floor lobby.

Her emotions were a complex mix.

She didn’t remember the old man, yet the overwhelming sense of familiarity made her a little anxious.

At the same time, she hoped he would remember her and know about her past.

The old man had already entered the lobby, but his legs were weak, and he moved quite slowly.

Seeing Chen Xing appear, he quickened his pace slightly.

His hands, she could see, were trembling slightly.

Chen Xing paused for a moment before stepping forward to support the old man.

’With legs like his, going upstairs is impossible.’

So, she helped him over to the lobby sofa.

She casually took out a few wet wipes to clean the sofa before helping the old man sit down.

”Shanshan...” The old man struggled with his emotions for a long moment before finally calling out her name.

Although she had suspected the old man knew her, hearing him call out her name still shocked Chen Xing. ”You know me?”

For ten years in her past life, she had simply assumed she had amnesia and had never bothered to investigate her background or ponder the mystery of her identity.

’Not even two years into this life, and a clue has suddenly appeared?’

”My name is Li Zhong. When you were little, you called me Uncle Zhong!” Li Zhong’s thoughts seemed to drift back many years, his gaze softening considerably.

Just as Chen Xing steeled herself to hear more, a sense of imminent danger washed over her.

Immediately after, an explosion ripped through the air outside the hotel.

Chen Xing’s Defense System activated instantly, enveloping Li Zhong along with herself.

”Xiao Li...” Li Zhong’s reverie was shattered, and he shot to his feet in a panic.

Looking out through the lobby’s glass windows, he saw that the cars he had arrived in had all been destroyed in the blast.

The old man’s eyes reddened, and he tried to go outside to see.

Just then, another bomb came flying toward them.

Chen Xing quickly placed a hand on Uncle Zhong’s shoulder.

She pulled him into the Black Cat Space and laid him on the grassy ground.

’Until I can confirm whether he’s telling the truth, I can’t let anything happen to him.’

Chen Xing had tested it twice before; any ordinary person brought into the Black Cat Space would fall unconscious automatically. There was no need for Little Poison Grass.