Chapter 7: Bring Everyone Over!
“Sister!”
The little girl dashed over, and Lilin, leaning against the large boulder, woke up as well.
Ling Jing looked past the young girl.
Indeed, she had brought new customers.
One, two, three… five people.
Only, every single one of them was rooted to the spot like a wooden chicken, staring blankly in her direction.
Just like the sisters when they had first caught sight of her.
Ling Jing understood completely.
Maintaining her polite, professional business smile, she introduced the menu to the stunned group: “Welcome. Currently, we offer roasted potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes. Roasted potatoes are four City Coins each, and roasted sweet potatoes are six City Coins each.”
Roasted potatoes…
Roasted sweet potatoes?
There really were some!
Long Qian was the leader of the group and the most experienced among them.
The entire way here, she hadn’t believed a single word out of Lina’s mouth, even bracing for the worst-case scenario—that some mind-bending mutated plant had induced hallucinations in the poor child.
Yet what was this before her eyes?
Such a vivid, tangible scene. Such an intoxicating aroma.
And Lilin, very much alive and chatting with Lina.
Was all of this real?
“Auntie… it looks like… it’s real.”
Beside her, Long Ya pinched herself hard, nearly tearing up from the sharp pain before confirming she wasn’t dreaming.
“Should we… go take a look?”
“…It smells so good.”
The others in the group chimed in as well.
Long Qian’s throat bobbed, and she managed a strained word: “…Alright.”
And so, hesitant and cautious, the group stepped into the zone shrouded in warm white light.
No attacks came, nor did any mutated plant suddenly rip off its human disguise to reveal its true, monstrous form.
Lina and Lilin were still leaning safely against the boulder, and that impeccably clean shopkeeper remained standing behind her tricycle.
…No.
In fact, an indescribable sense of ease washed over their entire bodies. What was going on?
“Auntie Qian, it’s not a hallucination. We already ate some. Both the potatoes and sweet potatoes can purge poison.”
Lilin had exchanged a few quiet words with her sister, and looking up, she saw the hesitation on Long Qian’s group’s faces.
It was just like looking at herself and her sister from earlier.
“Purge poison?”
“Purge poison???”
Several people gasped in disbelief.
An eager spark lit up Long Ya’s eyes as well. “Boss, these roasted potatoes you’re selling can really purge poison?”
Lilin and Lina both smiled.
This reaction was an exact mirror of their own just moments ago.
“That’s right.” Ling Jing nodded, patiently repeating the explanation she had given the sisters.
Running a food stall meant that new customers would inevitably ask the same questions, and she would have to answer them again and again.
It had been the exact same in her previous life.
Ling Jing was thoroughly accustomed to it.
“If you have doubts, you can buy one to try first.”
“Four City Coins, right?!”
Long Ya was the quickest to act, reaching into her inner pocket and fishing out a few blackened City Coins. She counted out four and slapped them onto the counter before Ling Jing.
“Certainly.”
Ling Jing took the coins and dropped them into the cash box.
Under the eager, unblinking gazes of the whole group, she picked up a pre-wrapped roasted potato and handed it over. “Thank you for your patronage.”
Holding the piping-hot roasted potato, Long Ya drew every eye in the squad straight toward her hands.
The sound of gulps broke out one after another.
It couldn’t be helped. Having chewed on bland black biscuits for years on end, they had long forgotten what real food tasted like.
Now, with a freshly roasted potato right before their eyes, the mouthwatering scent kept assaulting their nostrils.
It was no different from placing a succulent, sizzling roast chicken drumstick before someone who had starved for days on end.
Irresistibly, overwhelmingly enticing.
This roasted potato showed not a hint of emerald green; it looked exactly like a normal potato from before the mutant apocalypse.
Fresh from the roaster, its skin bore delicate char marks, cracked just enough to reveal the steamy yellow flesh inside.
It was baked all the way through.
Long Ya tore off a piece and blew on it gingerly. “I’m going to try it, alright?”
“…Go on.”
The roasted potato entered her mouth, so hot that Long Ya had to toss it across her tongue to cool it down.
Immediately after, taste buds that had laid dormant for years woke up in an explosion of flavor. The crisp skin, the toasted, smoky aroma, the fluffy, tender center…
Her eyes went wide. Still chewing frantically, she nodded vigorously to her companions.
“It’s real! Quick, try it!”
The others could hold back no longer. Right in front of Ling Jing, they descended upon the roasted potato and split it clean in seconds.
No one cared about the heat. Clutching their pieces, they tossed them across their tongues while chewing greedily.
This potato… was a real, honest-to-god potato!!!
“Delicious, isn’t it!” Lina declared proudly, beaming as if she had roasted the potato herself.
“Auntie Qian, hasn’t Brother Geli recovered yet?” Lilin asked.
“Right!” Long Qian, clutching the scrap of potato in her hand, spun around and rushed up to Ling Jing. She was about to ask how many roasted potatoes were left, but catching sight of the massive heaps of potatoes and sweet potatoes piled across the counter, she swallowed her question.
The boss had more than enough food; it was their own money that might not be enough.
Long Qian immediately patted down her pockets for City Coins.
Empty. She hadn’t brought the pouch!
Before leaving the city, she had thought they were heading out to recover Lilin’s body, so she had handed the money pouch to Long Shi!
Damn it! How could I—ugh!
“Qiu Jie! Go… no, forget it, we’re all going back together! Bring everyone else over here!”
Long Qian had initially planned to send Qiu Jie back to pass the word and fetch the money.
Then she recalled how Lina had run back to tell them earlier, only for no one to believe a single word.
…Better to save the breath.
They would make the trip back and drag everyone here directly.
Rather than trying to convince them with words, it was far better to let them see it with their own eyes and taste it with their own mouths.
Telling people there was a restaurant selling roasted potatoes right outside the west wall?
If they just said it out loud, not a soul would believe them.
Even their closest companions would assume they had lost their minds.
“Auntie? What’s going on?”
“Don’t ask questions. Grab all the money, and bring all the crystals too. Qiu Jie, put Geli on your back. Everyone, follow me.”
“Understood.”
“Huh?”
“Quit asking. You’ll understand in a minute,” Long Ya whispered when she saw Long Shi about to question them further.
“…Alright, fine.”
Seeing Long Ya’s dead-serious expression, Long Shi shut his mouth.
The group quickly rounded up their belongings. Some carried the sick, some were full of doubts, but in the end, they all followed Long Qian out the door.
“Hey, where is Long Qian’s crew heading?”
Down the street, someone spotted them from afar and asked.
“Who knows? The guy being carried is Geli, isn’t it?”
“Looks like him. He can’t even walk anymore?”
“You didn’t hear? Last month, he took someone else’s shift in the Black Fields because his buddy had a bad leg. Right before his rotation ended, he got bitten by a second-stage mutated Iron Rye. By the time they carried him back, he was already on his deathbed.” The speaker chuckled with malicious satisfaction.
“Serves him right for being such a bleeding heart. Who in their right mind volunteers to serve a Black Field rotation for someone else?”
“Hiss, Geli held out this many days?” a curious bystander clicked his tongue.
“He’s got a strong build. Hah, but so what if he’s strong? Once you’re bitten, you’re just waiting for the grave.”
“The man was being loyal to his comrades.”
“Loyal? A loyalty that gets you killed! That’s why I say he had it coming. What era do you think this is to still care about that crap? Long Qian’s whole squad is full of pig-headed fools. Just you wait and see.”
Others felt a pang of pity.
“That’s Long Qian’s group? Geli’s really done for, huh.”
“Why are they carrying him out of the city, then?” someone asked under their breath.
“Probably don’t want the patrol squad dragging his body away. Looks like they’re heading toward the west wall. Plant activity is low out there—maybe they want to set up a gravestone for him so they have something to remember him by.”
“What a shame. Geli was a good lad. Always had a smile on his face, even helped me haul water once.” An elderly woman sighed.
“Pity, what a pity…”
“What a godforsaken world we live in.”
“Sigh, yeah. Who knows how many days any of us have left.”
