Chapter 49: The Internet
Qiao Jiajin didn't hesitate after hearing this. He handed over the cloth pouch at his waist, and Lin Qin followed suit shortly after.
Tiantian looked at the two of them, her expression somewhat unnatural. But since she was in a weak position, after thinking it over repeatedly, she still handed over her own cloth pouch.
Qi Xia took all the pouches and sat down to tinker with them. Before long, he threw aside an empty pouch, stood up, and said to the three of them, "This time we earned five portions, a total of ninety-five 'Tao.' That number can't be split evenly among four people, so we have to add the one we had left over from before to make ninety-six, which is twenty-four for each person."
He held out three pouches and said to them, "I've already packed them for you. Make sure to count them in front of me; I won't take responsibility afterward."
Tiantian quickly reached out to take the pouch, opened it, and counted. There were indeed twenty-four Tao, not a single one missing.
Lin Qin and Qiao Jiajin simply reattached their pouches to their waists.
"Aren't you going to count?" Qi Xia asked. "I'm a swindler, after all."
"It doesn't matter," Lin Qin shook her head. "If I find any missing later, I'll just take them from you."
"Yeah, cut the act," Qiao Jiajin waved his hand. "Where to next?"
Qi Xia glanced at the bear arm Qiao Jiajin was holding and thought for a moment before saying, "Let's go get something to eat..."
---
Their plan was simple: if they could cook that bear arm, as long as it filled their stomachs, they could swallow it no matter what it tasted like.
But in this ruined city, finding the necessities for cooking was extremely difficult.
Clean water, a stove, a pot, a lighter—none of these were available.
The group wandered through the abandoned buildings of the city for over an hour, still coming up empty-handed.
When they reached a derelict restaurant, Qiao Jiajin finally couldn't take it anymore.
"This isn't going to work," he said, tossing the bear arm to the ground and flexing his sore wrist. "We're lugging this dozens-of-jin hunk of meat around, and before we starve to death, we'll be exhausted."
"Sorry for the trouble," Lin Qin said with a smile. "Want me to carry it for a while?"
"That won't be necessary."
"I have a good feeling about this place," Tiantian said, looking around the restaurant. She noticed it wasn't too badly damaged.
Sure enough, after a quick search, they found an aluminum pot under one of the tables.
The pot looked fairly clean, just slightly deformed.
"As for firewood, this place is full of it," Qi Xia said, pointing to the broken furniture on the floor. "The only things we're missing are water and fire."
"I'll check the kitchen," Tiantian said, heading toward the back. "Maybe there's water in there."
Qi Xia nodded slightly and began looking for other useful items in the room. A few seconds later, he felt something was off and said to Qiao Jiajin, "Qiao Jiajin, go with Tiantian. Be careful of the 'natives.'"
"Good point." Qiao Jiajin nodded and headed toward the kitchen, but before he had taken three steps, he heard Tiantian's voice from a distance.
"Oh? Why are you here?"
"Hey! Sister, you're here too!"
The voice responding to Tiantian was a woman's.
Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin immediately ran to the kitchen. When they opened the door, they found the slightly plump girl standing there.
She reached out and affectionately linked arms with Tiantian, saying to everyone, "Why is everyone here? What a coincidence!"
Qi Xia stared coldly at the woman, his expression displeased.
"Are you following us?"
"Huh?" The girl looked utterly incredulous. "How could that be?! I got here first."
Qiao Jiajin had no idea what was going on either. Why would this girl be waiting for them here specifically?
"Are you looking for something?" the girl asked again.
"Yeah, we're looking for water and fire," Tiantian replied.
"Water and fire?" The girl broke into a grin. "Great! They're both here."
Under Qi Xia's wary gaze, the woman led Tiantian to a cupboard. She stood on tiptoe, opened the cupboard door, and sure enough, there were several plastic buckets inside, all filled with clean water.
Then she pulled a lighter from her pocket. "See?"
Qi Xia felt that all of this was far too coincidental, as if it had been prearranged.
Tiantian happily took the lighter from the girl and asked, "Little sister, are you really lending this to us?"
"Don't be so polite, sister," the girl said with a harmless smile. "We survivors should be helping each other."
Tiantian immediately took a liking to the girl and thanked her repeatedly.
"What do you want in return?" Qi Xia asked from the side.
The slightly plump girl turned to him with a bewildered look and replied, "Want in return? I don't want anything. I'm just helping you out."
"Best if that's the case." Qi Xia ignored her and turned to gather things to use as firewood.
"That big brother is really strange," the girl blinked her big eyes. "Why is he so suspicious of me?"
"That's just how he is. You'll get used to it," Tiantian said with a smile. "Little sister, what's your name?"
"Sister, just call me Xiaoxiao."
Lin Qin watched Xiaoxiao from the side and felt something was off.
The girl was a bit plump, with broad shoulders, and she wore a very oversized T-shirt. But her face was thin, out of proportion with her build.
"Xiaoxiao, why don't you stay and eat with us?" Tiantian said. "The four of us can't finish that bear arm."
"Mmm." Xiaoxiao nodded happily.
Seeing that this girl named Xiaoxiao was deliberately hiding something, Qi Xia didn't press further. He just hoped she wouldn't try to show off her skills in front of him and attempt to deceive him.
Qiao Jiajin found a few bricks and built a simple stove, tossing in some scrap wood and lighting it.
With Xiaoxiao's help, Tiantian scrubbed the pot clean and boiled a pot of water.
Qi Xia, meanwhile, handled the bear arm.
He often cooked at home, but he had never cooked a bear arm before, so he could only treat it like a chicken for now.
After blanching it with hot water, he plucked the fur, peeled off the skin, and rinsed away the blood with clean water. He insisted that Xiaoxiao not touch the ingredients, and no one objected.
Qiao Jiajin grabbed a rusty knife from the kitchen, gave it a quick sharpen, and chopped the prepared bear arm into two pieces, tossing them straight into the pot.
This was the best cooking method they could manage.
Meat stew.
As the water in the pot slowly came to a boil with a gurgling sound, they all sat around it, staring silently at the iron pot without a word.
After a while, Lin Qin asked, "Will bear meat taste good?"
"It'll be delicious," Qiao Jiajin immediately nodded. "Haven't you ever had bear paw before?"
"Have you?" Tiantian turned to ask.
"I was lucky enough to try it once," Qiao Jiajin said. "The taste is unforgettable. If I ever get out of here, I have to eat it again."
Tiantian shook her head helplessly upon hearing this. "You really are a reckless outlaw."
"Reckless outlaw?" Qiao Jiajin laughed. "You're crazy, Tiantian. It's not like I'm going to kill a bear myself—I'll just go to a restaurant."
"Eating bear paw is illegal," Tiantian added. "No matter how good it tastes, do you want to end up in jail for it?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Qiao Jiajin looked at Tiantian with a hint of disdain. "When did eating bear paw become illegal?"
Tiantian frowned. She felt that sometimes she and Qiao Jiajin clicked, and other times they were on completely different wavelengths.
"You really should use the internet more," Tiantian sighed. "Don't always show off your ignorance so smugly."
"Internet?" Qiao Jiajin scratched his head. "Are you talking about... that 'Internet' thing that popped up a few years ago?"