Chapter 40 Pre-dinner Performance

Jiang Nanxing tightened his grip, his expression remaining dull. "I've reminded them, nothing will happen."

Lin Chaofeng narrowed his eyes. "I just thought of something. If Lin Yue leaves, who is going to cook for us? Don't tell me we have to eat the dormitory supervisor auntie's iron-pot mixed stew again?"

"I'm worried about Tang Miao, and you're here thinking about food?" Zhang Xinrou kicked Lin Chaofeng in frustration. "Go dig the lake! I'll cook."

Lin Chaofeng nimbly dodged and smiled playfully, "Actually, I know how to cook too. I'll come help you."

The two of them returned to the farm noisily, with only Song Mingchen and Jiang Nanxing following closely behind in silence, keeping their guard up against each other.

A month after the apocalypse descended, the surrounding environment had changed drastically.

Wild weeds grew densely on both sides of the road, and the greenery in the middle of the road was overgrown and disorderly.

The road leading to the Chihuo Safe Zone had been cleared and was completely unobstructed.

In the distance, zombies watched the vehicles, but they did not approach.

Approaching the Chihuo Safe Zone, two checkpoints were set up along the road. Yang Sen and Li Yong had already given advance notice.

When the armed guards saw Yang Sen's car, they immediately let them pass, not forgetting to wave and shout, "Welcome, Boss Tang, to the Chihuo Safe Zone!"

Two high-end residential compounds, surrounded by a circle of deep green iron sheet barriers, constituted the Chihuo Safe Zone.

Armed guards stood at stations every short distance, and apart from that, there were no other defenses.

"Yang Sen, doesn't your safe zone need to build a wall or something to resist zombies?"

"Zombies won't approach our safe zone, so the defense in this regard is rather lax."

Tang Miao fell into deep thought. For such a situation to occur, it was highly likely related to the contaminated auxiliary tools.

The vehicle drove up to the entrance of the compound, and the few of them got out of the car.

The sentries still uttered words welcoming Tang Miao's arrival, but their tone was disdainful, and their gazes could hardly be considered friendly.

Tang Miao was well aware that right now, inside the Chihuo Safe Zone, she looked like a walking piece of fatty meat.

As it was nearing mealtime, a table of fine dishes had already been set up in the center of the open space in the safe zone: roasted chicken, roast duck, braised goose...

All of them were heavy dishes.

Ten meters away from the dining table, the residents of the safe zone had changed into their most presentable clothes, staring straight at Tang Miao.

Those gazes were complex: anticipation, entreaty, suspicion, jealousy...

The safe zone had clearly been cleared out by someone, but the deep brown stains on the floor tiles and the lingering smell of blood in the air remained.

Tang Miao felt somewhat heavy-hearted. Sitting by the table, she had no appetite and simply gripped the little one's tiny hand tightly.

"Ahem!" Li Yong cleared his throat and shouted loudly, "This is the renowned Boss Tang, Boss Tang Miao!"

"All the supplies in our safe zone during this period! They were all generously donated by her! Remember what I told you before!"

"Miaomiao Farm does not keep idle people. Prepare your best skills, and we will conduct interviews while eating!"

"Right! Boss Tang does business valuing harmony above all! No gunfire is allowed for the next two days! All of you remember that!"

Li Yong was right before her eyes, but the positioning on the map showed that the auxiliary tool was gradually moving away from Tang Miao's location.

Tang Miao's expression remained unchanged as she secretly used psychic detection. Based on the positioning, she eventually discovered a young boy who was being forcibly taken away.

She could roughly determine that the item was in his abdomen, but the specific situation could not be clearly probed.

What on earth was the third auxiliary tool, and why was it inside his stomach?

The little one in her arms turned her head and pinched the flesh of Tang Miao's palm with her tiny hand.

She heard someone talking to her, asking who she was and whether she was like him.

Surrounded and watched by a large crowd while trying to eat, Lin Yue felt uneasy on pins and needles, those naked gazes almost piercing right through her.

More importantly, if people were recruited in this state all the time, how could she find an opportunity to incite everyone to turn against Tang Miao?

Wouldn't her and Song Mingchen's plan fall through?

Li Yong tore off a chicken leg and tossed it casually into the crowd, causing a mad scramble among the people.

"Mine! Get out of the way!"

"Whoever grabs it gets it!"

"If I can't eat it, none of you will get to eat it either!"

The person pinned underneath threw the chicken leg to a large black dog nearby.

The large black dog bit down on the chicken leg, immediately let out a low growl, and tucked its tail as it carried the chicken leg to a corner of the wall.

Seeing that the chicken leg had been eaten by a dog, those people started punching and kicking the person on the ground, hurling continuous curses until someone fired a warning shot to make them stop.

Tang Miao frowned. "What is the meaning of this?"

Li Yong was unfazed. "Just one of the essential pre-meal programs. If Boss Tang doesn't like it, I'll cancel it tomorrow."

With that, he also invited Yang Sen and Yang Lin, who were standing nearby, to take a seat and eat together, but the two of them refused.

"Sigh, refusing to appreciate kindness."

Li Yong tore off another chicken leg, eating with relish, and casually brought up Lu Qingyun.

"Lu Qingyun has already returned, but she has made quite a few contributions in our safe zone. She is brave and resourceful, an able general of our safe zone. If she leaves, our safe zone's loss..."

Actually, Lu Qingyun had safely returned to the safe zone three days ago, sustaining only minor injuries that could be neglected.

Yet she was the person Tang Miao had specifically named and asked for, so she must be extremely important to Tang Miao.

Li Yong had kept her under house arrest until today just to extort a heavy price from Tang Miao.

The map showed that Lu Qingyun was in a building not far away, with stable vital signs.

Tang Miao couldn't be bothered to beat around the bush. "Cut to the chase. How many supplies do you want in exchange?"

"Thirty of each for chicken, duck, and goose, fifty catties of pork, twenty fish, two hundred catties of vegetables, and as for fruit—well, not enough to eat your fill, let's make it ten catties."

Lin Yue widened her eyes. How was this any different from outright robbery?

She looked at Tang Miao with a worried expression. They couldn't possibly give this much, right? Trading so many things just for one person wasn't necessary, was it?

Back then, she had been sent away for free!

Ignoring Lin Yue's gaze, Tang Miao calmly produced an A4 sheet of paper.

One side of the paper listed the precautions and rules for exchange, while the other side reserved 15 exchange slots, with the names and corresponding supply weights left blank.

She picked up her pen and wrote down Lu Qingyun's name and the corresponding quantity of supplies, speaking calmly, "Cut it in half. Sign if you agree."

Her tone was calm and without ripples, yet it carried an irresistible and unyielding strength.

The smile on Li Yong's face stiffened for a brief moment as his tongue pressed against his cheek in annoyance.

He knew very well that the only reason Tang Miao came to the safe zone to recruit people, relying on the Yang brothers' sake, was to rescue a few individuals.

Yet she had thought things were too simple; these people were insatiable and would not just watch others get rescued.

Once a commotion started, Tang Miao might just soften her heart and rescue a couple more.

Thinking of this, the displeasure in Li Yong's heart dissipated by more than half. "Fine, fine, fine. I'll sign."

After signing, Tang Miao demanded that Lu Qingyun be brought over immediately.

However, Li Yong refused, stating he had specially prepared a three-bedroom apartment to settle the people Tang Miao selected, and they would all be taken away together upon returning to the farm.

Tang Miao agreed and chose a small villa to rest in. There was a balcony on the second floor from which the open area of the safe zone could be observed.

She had Li Yong prepare meals for twenty people, agreeing that the farm would provide the ingredients.

As soon as the dishes were served, everyone swarmed forward to snatch them.

Tang Miao picked up a megaphone and shouted:

"The farm has two rules for recruitment: no individuals with a shady past, and no idle people. A total of 14 people will be recruited—we prefer quality over quantity!"