Ch31 Rice, Brother Jie, Feed Me Quickly
"Holy crap!"
"What the hell is going on?"
Meng Ci stood in the living room, surveying his surroundings, still unable to process what had happened.
He... he'd been kicked out of the space?
Meng Ci couldn't believe it and prepared to try entering the space again.
"Damn it."
Meng Ci couldn't help but curse. He couldn't get back into the space.
What the hell was going on?
If he couldn't access it anymore, what would happen to all the supplies he'd stockpiled?
Meng Ci paced frantically in circles, but no solution presented Itself.
He recalled reading in some post-apocalyptic novels that certain spaces had time limits for entry. Could this one have one too?
Sitting on the sofa, he roughly estimated the time. He'd entered the space around ten in the morning, and now it was two in the afternoon-roughly five hours.
He'd never stayed in the space this long before. Could it really have a time limit?
He tried to reassure himself it was fine, but the fear that the space might vanish entirely-leaving him without food-gnawed at him.
Especially with the power outage scheduled for tomorrow, Meng Ci knew he had to act fast.
He scooped two bowls of flour, kneaded it, then ran it through the pasta machine to make fresh noodles. He portioned them into plastic bags.
He also steamed two full pots of rice in the rice cooker.
He used up all the vegetables stored in the kitchen at once.
Braised eggplant, vinegar-glazed cabbage, boiled fish slices...
He packed everything into disposable containers and neatly arranged them in the cupboard.
With the bitter cold today, there was no fear of food spoiling.
Besides, once the power went out tomorrow, the refrigerator would be useless anyway.
It made more sense to store everything here at once-it was more convenient.
Drawing on his experience installing gas in the space, Meng Ci retrieved the gas stove and tank from the spare room and quickly assembled them.
He then hunted down charging cables and plugged in every device in the house that could store power, charging them all at once.
Only then did Meng Ci sit down on the sofa, rubbing his waist and shoulders to rest.
All this time, he'd been trying to access the space, but he still couldn't get in.
Meng Ci was in a terrible mood!
So when he saw Liu Jie and Li Xiaoya flirting on the surveillance feed, it made him furious.
In the middle of an apocalypse, how dare they be here flirting and romancing while he was working himself to death!
No way.
If he couldn't have a good time, neither would they.
After thinking it over, Meng Ci scooped some rice into a lunchbox, grabbed a single piece of whatever dish was available with his chopsticks, and hung it onto the drone.
Those three had been eating instant noodles for days-they must be sick of it by now.
Seeing this steaming bowl of rice, who knows how they'd react?
If they started fighting, that'd be perfect.
Under cover of night, Meng Ci launched the drone.
Li Xiaoya and the others were sitting in the living room, so he made the drone tap lightly against the glass balcony door a few times.
Liu Jie heard the sound and his eyes lit up.
That same sound had signaled instant noodles last time-maybe something tasty was coming again.
He mentioned it to Li Xiaoya, who'd been snuggled up in Liu Jie's arms but immediately sat up straight.
Then, pulled along by Liu Jie, she followed him step by step, brimming with anticipation.
Zhang Lu didn't want to be left behind and hurried after them.
Liu Jie brought the drone inside, and everyone caught the scent of cooked food.
All three stared at the plastic bag with ravenous eyes.
Though Liu Jie was eager, he remembered the drone could deliver treats, so he gently placed it on the coffee table.
Meng Ci, wanting to prevent the drone from getting damaged, used the remote to fly it out the window.
Inside, the three were completely focused on the lunchbox, not noticing the drone's departure at all.
"Brother Jie, what's inside?" Li Xiaoya asked eagerly.
When Liu Jie opened the box and revealed its contents, all three were overcome with excitement.
"Rice! It's rice!"
Li Xiaoya grabbed Liu Jie's arm, nearly bursting into tears.
For days, they'd survived on instant noodles. The rice they'd received wasn't enough to make proper meals-even the porridge they cooked barely filled their stomachs.
Now, with a hot bowl of rice in front of them, how could they not be thrilled?
Liu Jie had been thoroughly pampered by Li Xiaoya these past two days. Since she wanted to eat the rice, he generously gave it to her.
"Thanks, Brother Jie!" Xiaoya clutched the lunchbox, overcome with excitement.
Zhang Lu was furious.
"Yaya, I'm your mother! Why didn't you give me some food?"
"Xiao Jie, don't you know to respect elders and care for the young? I'm Yaya's mother!"
But faced with food, Xiaoya wasn't about to let go.
"Mom, Brother Jie gave this to me." Li Xiaoya shielded the boxX firmly behind her back.
"You can't have it!"
"What do you mean 'Brother Jie gave it to you'?" Zhang Lu erupted, her face contorting into a fierce expression.
"This food was traded for your father's health. I'm his wife-if anyone should eat it, it's me."
Zhang Lu lunged forward, ready to wrestle the box from Li Xiaoya.
Li Xiaoya hid behind Liu Jie. "Why should I?"
"He's my dad. I'm his daughter. It's only right that he gives me the food he traded for."
"What do you mean 'only right!"
Zhang Lu was hysterical. She'd endured the pain of trading her husband for food, only to give it away to this one, and that one.
Now that there was extra food, they wouldn't give her any!
Why the hell not?!
Zhang Lu's eyes reddened as she lunged, disregarding her dignity, to snatch the lunchbox from Li Xiaoya's hands.
Liu Jie naturally sided with Li Xiaoya.
"Auntie, don't be impulsive. If it really doesn't work out, we can go find that fat guy and get some more food."
"No! I want this one!"
Completely unhinged, Zhang Lu paid no heed. Her manicured nails clawed furiously at Liu Jie, tearing several deep gashes into his hands and arms.
Painfully scratched, Liu Jie abandoned the two madwomen and stepped back to mediate.
"Yaya, why don't you give Auntie the rice? I'll go get another portion from that fat guy."
Seeing he couldn't reason with Zhang Lu, Liu Jie turned to persuade Li Xiaoya.
"No way."
True to their mother-daughter bond, both were stubborn as mules.
Zhang Lu's chest heaved with rage. Fine!
If she couldn't have it, then no one would.
This time, Zhang Lu feigned a move, pretending to raise her hand to slap Li Xiaoya.
But as Li Xiaoya dodged, her right
hand swept down, knocking the lunchbox from Li Xiaoya's grasp onto the floor. Thud!
"What are you doing?!" Li Xiaoya stared at the rice scattered on the ground, seething with rage.
"Ah!"
Shaking with fury, Li Xiaoya let out a wild scream before lunging forward, tangling with Zhang Lu in a fierce scuffle.
When women fight, it's either hair-pulling or scratching. Liu Jie rubbed his arm, hesitating to intervene.
The food on the floor was trampled and filthy beyond recognition.
"I'm your mother! I'm your mother! And you hit me over a little food!"
"I carried you for nine months and gave birth to this shameless creature."
"Do you even know what filial piety means?!"...
"You're my mother! You're my mother! Why did you steal my food? And you hit me!"
"This food is mine. No one can take it."...
The two brawled and bellowed, creating quite a racket.
Seeing he couldn't intervene, and feeling genuinely hungry, Liu Jie headed to the kitchen to boil water.
After all, they were mother and daughter. They'd probably make up after a while.
"CRASH!"
"Aaah!"
Liu Jie in the kitchen, unaware of what had happened outside, suddenly heard only Li Xiaoya's voice.
"Brother Jie! Brother Jie!"
Li Xiaoya's voice grew fainter and fainter. Liu Jie sensed something was terribly wrong. When he came out, the scene before him froze him in horror.