Chapter 44: Expanding the Team

Boss Lu is so clean and smells so nice, will she look down on them?

Fortunately, they were still in a better situation. Shen Bing was an ice-type ability user who could generate ice. When melted, it turned into water, guaranteeing their daily water supply.

Shen Bing led the two little ones into the RV. Except for the driver's cab in the front, the rest of the space appeared rather empty, with the only high stool sitting under Lu Li's bottom.

Consequently, the three of them stood in place like drill guards.

After lounging for a moment, Lu Li noticed no movement behind her. With some difficulty, she got up and looked back. Well, would you look at that—all three of them were staring right at her.

She quickly placed an order in the mall for an eight-person dining table. Waving her hand, she said, "Don't just stand there, please sit down."

Shen Bing grabbed Dadong and Xiao Di by the collar one by one, pushed them forward, and said expressionlessly, "Speak."

"Hello, Boss Lu. I'm Xiao Di, eight years old this year," Xiao Di said somewhat nervously.

"Hello, Boss Lu. I'm Dadong, seven and a half years old this year," Dadong chimed in, mimicking her.

Lu Li: ……Are they introducing themselves now? She stood up as well and said, "My name is Lu Li, and I'm twenty-three years old."

Shen Bing:? He took the seat first and pulled the other two down with him.

"I was exhausted this morning. I feel like I could eat a whole cow right now!" Lu Li wailed as she opened the mall interface to decide what to have for lunch.

The two children sat formally and stiffly, while Shen Bing reviewed how many points they had earned that morning.

"I've picked. Take a look at what you'd like to eat," Lu Li swiped the light screen over to Dadong and Xiao Di.

Still, she needed to treat Shen Bing a bit better. After all, he was responsible for the operations, had to fund the purchases out of his own pocket, and eighty percent of his earnings were skimmed off by her.

Thinking along these lines, Lu Li felt somewhat like a heartless capitalist...

Xiao Di waved her hands in refusal. "You pick, Boss Lu. Dadong and I aren't picky eaters." Before they met Brother Shen, they had eaten whatever they could get their hands on...

Dadong nodded vigorously as well. Ignoring Shen Bing, Lu Li retracted the light screen directly. Since there were four of them, let's go with five dishes and one soup.

She quickly placed the order, and the food soon appeared on the table. Lu Li told them not to stand on ceremony, treat it like their own home, and eat plenty.

With that, she scooped herself a generous bowl of rice, paired it with the dishes, and dug in with a look of pure satisfaction.

Leaving Dadong and Xiao Di utterly shocked and at a loss—wasn't Boss Lu being just a bit too nice to them...

Having never seen such fresh vegetable leaves or so much meat before, Xiao Di and Dadong swallowed hard, their eyes glued to the food.

Shen Bing scooped a bowl of rice for each of them and said, "Dig in, stop staring."

Only then did they snap out of it, obediently holding their bowls and beginning to eat. They only picked from the dishes right in front of them, chewing almost silently, looking exceptionally well-behaved.

Outside the car, several people had gathered at some point, all coming to the convenience store to buy instant noodles.

Yet, a rich aroma that hit them right between the eyes drifted over. Someone sniffed hard and stated with certainty, "It's meat!" Their voice even trembled slightly.

Following the scent all the way, they discovered an RV with all sides open, where several people were seated around a dining table.

"Is that braised pork? It smells so good! I haven't seen braised pork since the apocalypse started."

"And that's corn! Golden yellow, it looks amazing. This corn is driving me crazy..."

"It's Boss Lu and Boss Shen eating! Oh my god, it's such a lavish meal!"

"Yeah, I've seen the base leader's meals, and they're only slightly better than ours."

"By comparison, this is like heaven and earth! Just smelling and looking at Boss Lu's meal makes it feel extra delicious!"

Creeping up closely against the car body, a few people peeked their heads in, sniffing hard as if they could somehow taste the food just by doing so.

Shen Bing had noticed them long ago, but knowing they harbored no malicious intent—food was simply too scarce in this apocalyptic world...

Just like how he used to watch Boss Lu eat roasted meat without daring to dream of tasting it himself, feeling completely satisfied just catching a whiff of the aroma.

Lu Li took a sip of the corn and sparerib soup and clicked her tongue. "Fresh, so fresh. You guys should have a bowl later too."

Setting down her bowl, she caught sight of several heads popping up on the left side. Looking closer, well, would you look at that—it was a bunch of people! And they looked somewhat familiar.

"What are you guys doing?" Lu Li called out in a moderate voice.

Crouching on the ground with their backs against the car body, those people exchanged glances and whispered, "What do we do?"

"Should we get up?"

"This is so awkward!"

"Forget it! Confession brings leniency!"

As the person spoke, he sprang up abruptly, pulling a companion up along with him. Like pulling radishes out of the ground, one pulled another until all of them were standing.

With awkward expressions, they touched their noses, scratched the backs of their heads, and stared up at the sky, down at the ground, and at the tips of their shoes.

Lu Li understood immediately. Were they here just to smell the food again? Her quick mind suddenly sparked with a business opportunity.

Yet, she dismissed the thought almost instantly. They were all fellow countrymen; charging people just for smelling the food would be going a bit too far.

She waved her hand. "Never mind, nothing to see here." Hearing this, the group let out sighs of relief and squatted back down.

Dadong, Xiao Di, and Shen Bing were still eating, not letting a single speck of chili or meat scrap go to waste in their bowls.

Glancing at her own bowl, Lu Li noticed a few grains of rice left at the bottom. Suddenly feeling that wasting food was a sin, she immediately picked up her chopsticks and picked them up grain by grain.

When she put her bowl down again, the other three finished theirs shortly after. Lu Li glanced at the table.

The five dishes and one soup had been licked completely clean, down to the green onions and chili peppers; anything edible was gone.

Lu Li looked at the two little ones with gratification. The more she looked at Xiao Di, the prettier she found her—she had a resilient and generous appearance.

Only eight years old, yet already so mature. She heard that Xiao Di had even helped tend the convenience store that morning, catching two dishonest people trying to fake their top-ups.

She felt she really ought to recruit Xiao Di to help her watch the lottery shop, because the mornings were truly, truly, truly too busy!

Unwilling to give up, Lu Li even asked the system, "Don't we have any robotic clerks?"

The system replied firmly: [No, Host.]

Therefore, resting her chin in her hands, Lu Li stared at Xiao Di with sparkling eyes, which only made the girl even more stiff and restrained.

"Boss Lu, if you have something to say, just say it," Xiao Di said weakly, crossing her hands and placing them obediently on her lap.

Shen Bing and Dadong both looked over in unison, curious about what she was up to.

"Will you come help me this afternoon?" Lu Li got straight to the point.

"Huh? Sure, okay." Before her brain could catch up, Xiao Di's mouth answered on its own.

Watching their interaction, Shen Bing felt his brows and eyes soften unconsciously. Dadong leaned over and blinked his eyes. "Brother Shen, don't be sad, I'll help you!"

"..." Reaching out, Shen Bing pushed Dadong's face away and stood up. "Alright, time for a nap now. Wake up at three to work."

Dadong sprang up quickly, intending to clear the table and wash the dishes. But the moment his hand touched a plate, all the dishes vanished into thin air.

"Where did the bowls and plates go?" Dadong asked in shock, dumbfounded by the vanishing table service. He even bent down to look under the table, which was completely bare and flat.

Lu Li tapped him on the head lightly. "Stop looking, I put them away."

Rubbing his head, Dadong stared at her pleadingly before Shen Bing grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him down the RV.

"Xiao Di, come up and take a nap with me, otherwise you'll be so sleepy this afternoon." Being someone who always got drowsy after a heavy meal, Lu Li yawned as she walked toward the driver's seat.