Chapter 116: Chapter 116: What Exactly Did They Get?
"..."
Everyone went silent. It wasn’t just Jason Sterling’s group; Sue Lawrence’s side fell quiet too.
The silence lasted only three seconds before Elliot Lawrence said wistfully, "This hot pot is so good."
Hot pot?!
Elliot’s voice was so full of satisfaction and so genuine that Jason Sterling’s mouth couldn’t help but water.
"Hot pot? You’re eating hot pot? Where are you?"
He was going crazy. Who wouldn’t want hot pot! The polar apocalypse had been going on for over half a year—hell, Jenny Norris had already had her baby! This meant that in all this time, they hadn’t just missed out on hot pot; they hadn’t tasted a single spicy thing!
It would have been fine if they’d never had it before. If they’d never tasted it, they wouldn’t be craving it now!
But everyone had. Was there anyone from their country who hadn’t eaten hot pot?
Especially a yuanyang pot—spicy and fragrant on one side, a rich bone broth on the other. It was the ultimate delicacy!
’Hot pot!’
Jason Sterling could only hear the sound of himself desperately swallowing. He subconsciously steadied his helmet, waiting cautiously for a response.
’Where on earth did Sue Lawrence and her group find hot pot?’
Sue Lawrence picked her teeth with a toothpick, feigning helplessness. "Hot pot? Where would we get hot pot? Come on, this is the apocalypse. Don’t listen to him talking nonsense. There’s no such thing."
Elliot covered his mouth, snickering to the side. He was dying of laughter. ’Hahaha, Jason Sterling’s face right now must be priceless! Hahahaha!’
As for certain people teasing Jason Sterling like this, the Lawrence family naturally had no objections. He wasn’t exactly a good person, anyway.
Jason Sterling’s expression was quite a sight.
If he hadn’t been thinking about it, he wouldn’t be like this. But now that it was brought up, he felt like he was dying from the craving.
"Are you sure?"
Jason Sterling clearly didn’t believe her.
Sue couldn’t be bothered to explain. "Believe it or not."
"Where are you?"
Jason Sterling pressed on.
"Out looking for supplies."
"Then when are you coming back to the base?"
"Aren’t missions always three days?"
Sue was being evasive, deliberately giving non-answers. Jason Sterling took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I found a supermarket over here. I’ll bring you back a packet of hot pot base."
Jason Sterling was quite composed, sparing no effort to show goodwill to Sue. In his mind, everyone’s palate had gone bland as hell in these times. Even though it was just a packet of hot pot base, it was something people would fight to the death for. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know that Sue couldn’t care less. And she had, in fact, just finished eating some.
"Oh, you should just take it back and turn it in to the state. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. We need to rest over here."
Sue cut the communication, then took out clean four-piece bedding sets, one for each person, and went to sleep.
Vincent Lawrence had already taken care of the soft furnishings in the mine. They were now covered in a layer of dust, but thankfully, there were robots to clean up. Still, the clean bedding sets were quite useful. They just swapped them out and rested.
’The blankets are a bit damp, though. A mine really can’t compare to being able to sun everything every day.’
The next day, Vincent Lawrence and Elliot Lawrence went to clear the snow from the entrance.
After they’d come inside, Sue had restored the outer layer of ice to its original state, but they still needed to create an exit that wouldn’t be discovered.
Sue wasn’t concerned with that. While the two of them worked on their area, she took her son back to the planting zone to see if any of the not-quite-ripe fruits had finally ripened.
And as it turned out, there were. The mother and son picked a whole bunch, harvested the wheat, and directed the robots to till the soil and plant new seeds.
Afterward, Sue went for a stroll to inspect the area, eventually finding several eggs in the chicken coop.
’Oho, perfect. They’re fresh. I’ll make some fried eggs later and save a few to take back for my sister-in-law and the others to help them recuperate.’
Sue gathered the eggs, completely satisfied.
So when Vincent and Elliot returned, they were treated to hot fried eggs. It was incredibly gratifying.
They spent three days like this. Sue went ahead and picked the fruits that were just shy of being fully ripe, leaving no more nearly-mature fruit in the orchard. She also piled up all the various feeds; the robots would take care of feeding the small animals anyway.
When they reached the entrance, Vincent led Sue through an ice cave he and Elliot had newly carved out, finally arriving at a fissure.
"We found this fissure. It conceals the main gate perfectly, which will make it easier for us to get in and out in the future."
"Excellent!"
Sue gave him a thumbs-up, and the four of them quickly left.
Upon returning to the base, they found that many people were already back. Everyone was crowded around the supply turn-in center, waiting to hand over their goods and receive their corresponding Points.
Because it was crowded, the supply turn-in center had opened several windows. The group of four chose a line that was relatively short and got in queue.
However, just as Sue’s family reached the end of the line, she spotted Jason Sterling’s group not far ahead.
Jason Sterling seemed to feel her gaze almost instantly. He glanced back subconsciously, his eyes landing on the inconspicuous black storage container in the Lawrence family’s hands. A strong sense of curiosity immediately rose within him.
His supply run this time had been fairly successful. He’d found a small supermarket buried under a layer of ice, and the goods he had were quite substantial for the current times. Because of this, he deliberately slowed his pace, nonchalantly keeping an eye on Sue’s group while waiting in line.
He wanted to know what supplies Sue and her group had found and how many Points they could exchange them for.
Perhaps even Jason Sterling himself hadn’t noticed that he was now constantly paying attention to Sue’s every move.
Soon, it was Jason Sterling’s turn.
He directed his companions to place their items on the counter one by one: canned yellow peaches, luncheon meat, hot pot base, toothbrushes, towels, and a few bags of small children’s toys. A dazzling array of items piled up. It had been a small supermarket, so the selection wasn’t complete, but it was well-stocked with daily necessities.
The staff member in charge of registration glanced up as the items were tossed onto a conveyor belt where a machine would inspect them and calculate their Point value.
Soon, the Point value for their items appeared: a total of 3,626 Points.
Jason Sterling’s spirits lifted, and many of his team members grew excited as well.
Although Jason, as the team leader, would get the largest share, after dividing the rest, everyone would still get at least one hundred Points!
"Excellent. We’ll celebrate with Meal Plan A tonight!"
Everyone cheered up.
Jason Sterling was also very pleased. After completing the exchange, he didn’t leave. Instead, he stood behind a pillar near the exchange counter, repeatedly looking back in Sue’s direction. He wanted to see what supplies she and her group had brought back.
It was soon Sue’s group’s turn. However, under Jason Sterling’s eager gaze, Sue didn’t open the black container. Instead, she pressed one hand on it, as if to prevent anyone from opening it, and smiled at the staff member inside. Her tone was firm. "I need to see Silas Hawthorne."
Everyone was stunned.
Including Jason Sterling.
