Chapter 32: Hot Noodle Soup
Chu Yang took an exaggerated sniff of the air, a look of pure bliss washing over his face. “Wow, Mubai! Your cooking is incredible! Just smelling this broth makes me feel like I could polish off three huge bowls!”
He eagerly picked up his chopsticks, but as he glanced around the room, he noticed an empty seat. “Wait, where’s Lin Xiao? Is he still in bed? The sun’s already up!”
Before Su Mubai could reply, the door creaked open. A sudden blast of frosty air rushed inside, making everyone shudder.
Standing in the doorway was Lin Xiao himself.
Fine flakes of unmelted snow clung to his hair and shoulders. His nose was red from the cold, his cheeks flushed with frost, and he stood with his neck hunched, tucking his freezing hands tightly against his chest. He had clearly spent quite some time out in the morning chill.
“Well, look who finally showed up!” Chu Yang raised an eyebrow, teasing with a grin, “I say, Old Lin, it’s freezing out there this early. Why didn’t you sleep in? What were you doing out in this weather to get yourself frozen like a popsicle?”
Lin Xiao rubbed his stiff hands together, blowing out a plume of white steam. A mix of smug pride and lingering frustration showed on his face. “I was just thinking that we can’t keep freeloading off you guys forever! So I got up early and combed through the neighborhood to see if there were any working cars around. And you know what? Luck was actually on my side—I found one! A white SUV. Looks practically brand new, with barely a scratch on the body!”
He paused, his shoulders drooping as he let out a heavy sigh of disappointment. “The only catch is the tank is bone-dry. I messed with the ignition and wiring for ages, but it wouldn’t start. Total buzzkill!”
Hearing that, Chu Yang chuckled and gave the rim of his bowl a playful tap with his chopsticks. “Pfft! I thought it was a real problem! So what if it’s out of gas? Did you forget what your brother does for a living?”
He pointed proudly at his own chest. “I happen to have extra fuel stashed away! I can spare some for you. But—” Drawing out his words, he shot Lin Xiao a sly wink. “Even brothers keep clean accounts. This gas is a loan, so you’ll have to pay it back—with interest!”
Lin Xiao froze for a second before smacking his own forehead. “Right! How could I forget you’re a walking warehouse?!”
His eyes sparkled with relief. “Don’t worry, Third Brother! I’ll pay back every drop! The moment we hit another gas station or siphon from abandoned cars, the first batch is all yours! In fact, from now on, any fuel we find is yours to manage and store in your space!”
While the two were laughing with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, Lin Weiwei followed the scent of food and stepped through the door.
Catching sight of Lin Xiao, she instantly wore a practiced expression of soft concern and dependency. “Brother Xiao, you were out so early? Is it cold outside? Are you alright?”
Her gaze then drifted naturally to the steaming bowls of noodles on the table. Without missing a beat, she walked over and slid into the chair next to Su Mubai as though she had always belonged there, speaking in a gentle, delicate tone: “Oh, you’ve all started eating. Why didn’t anyone call for me? I thought you were waiting.”
Chu Yang gave Lin Xiao a gentle nudge with his elbow, leaning in close to whisper with a mischievous grin: “Hey, Old Lin… your ‘plus-one’ sure has a sharp nose for food. Showed up the second she caught the scent.”
Lin Xiao, who had just slurped a mouthful of noodles, nearly choked on the spot. He coughed violently, his face flushing bright red as he hissed back defensively, “Cough, cough… Quit talking nonsense! What ‘plus-one’?! Didn’t I tell you yesterday? I just happened to rescue her on the road—she’s an ordinary friend!”
Chu Yang blinked, putting on a confused expression as he scratched his chin. “Oh, really? When you introduced her yesterday, I was busy chatting with Mubai and didn’t pay much attention… Seeing how protective you were of her everywhere we went, I honestly thought you’d finally wised up and found yourself a girlfriend.”
He leaned in even closer, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper with a wicked smile: “Come clean—did you fall for her because she’s pretty? Otherwise, why put so much effort into playing the hero? You can barely feed yourself, yet you’re taking on a dependent for free?”
Lin Xiao’s ears burned red. He waved his hands frantically, desperate to clear his name. “It’s really not like that! Third Brother, stop making things up! I just think she’s a decent girl, and surviving in this world is tough on everyone. I’m only helping out where I can… I swear I don’t have any other motives!”
Seeing how frantically he denied it, Chu Yang pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, “Unbelievable. You used to lecture me for being a lovesick fool with water on the brain, giving away my own food to girls. Look at you now—you’re doing the exact same thing. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
Chu Yang poked at the noodles in his bowl, suddenly reminded of when he first crossed over into this apocalyptic world. The previous owner of his body had handed over his very last pack of biscuits and bottle of water to a pretty girl from his department, nearly starving himself to death in the process.
When Lin Xiao found out back then, he had been furious, scolding him bitterly: “Has your brain been eaten by zombies?! Food is more precious than your own life out here, and you gave it all away to some random girl! You’re completely out of your mind!”
Looking at Lin Xiao wolfing down his food now, Chu Yang secretly rolled his eyes. How the tables have turned. This guy is being even more reckless than the original owner ever was!
His gaze drifted to Lin Weiwei sitting beside Lin Xiao. He had to admit the girl was genuinely pretty—pale skin, large bright eyes, and a sweet, delicate voice.
Yet for some reason, Chu Yang couldn’t bring himself to like her. Her fragile, helpless act always felt a little too staged.
“Old Lin,” Chu Yang murmured, nudging him in the ribs again with a hushed voice, “I’m telling you the truth here. You chewed me out for being reckless back then, but your current situation is way more dangerous than mine ever was.”
Lin Xiao paused mid-chew, mumbling around his noodles, “What’s wrong with my situation?”
“What’s wrong?” Chu Yang rolled his eyes. “What are you actually getting out of keeping Lin Weiwei around? Besides calling you ‘Brother Xiao’ and ducking behind your back, what else can she do? Yesterday, when those zombies charged us, her knees buckled in terror and she almost tripped you! If Brother Jiang hadn’t stepped in with lightning reflexes, you would’ve been scratched on the spot!”
While he was passionately lecturing Lin Xiao, Jiang Jue—who had been eating quietly off to the side like an unbothered bystander—suddenly set his chopsticks down onto the table with a light, crisp click.
Without an ounce of expression on his face, Jiang Jue cast a calm, indifferent glance toward Chu Yang. His eyes were completely steady, yet they held an innate authority that demanded compliance. In a voice neither loud nor sharp, he spoke a single word:
“Eat.”
Chu Yang, who had been in the middle of his heated rant, snapped his mouth shut the instant Jiang Jue spoke.
Straightening his posture on pure reflex, he stammered hastily, “Right, right! Eating now, eating now!” He picked up his cooling bowl of noodles, slid closer to Jiang Jue’s side, and buried his face in the food, mumbling praises between bites: “Mmm… Mubai’s noodles really are the best… Nothing comes between me and my meal…”
Watching him switch from a noisy chatterbox to an obedient puppy in a split second, Jiang Jue quietly picked up his chopsticks again.
Once they finished eating and warmed up, the group packed their belongings and headed outside. Soon, they arrived in front of the white SUV Lin Xiao had located.
The vehicle was in solid shape, merely coated in a thick layer of dust. Chu Yang pulled a fuel drum from his space and efficiently refueled the SUV. The steady rush of liquid pouring into the tank made Lin Xiao’s jaw drop in admiration.
“Third Brother, you’re the real deal! Having a spatial ability is a whole other level!” Lin Xiao wiped the grime from the driver’s window and checked the ignition. Turning to Chu Yang and Jiang Jue, he asked, “By the way, you mentioned earlier that you’re heading toward the base in N City. Is that still the plan?”
Chu Yang leaned against the side of the car, stashing the empty drum back into his dimension with a nod. “Yeah, that’s the destination. From what we’ve heard, it’s a massive settlement with strong defenses. It should be relatively safe and stable.”
Lin Xiao’s eyes lit up with a clever gleam. “What a coincidence—we were planning on heading toward N City too. But…”
He lowered his voice slightly, as if sharing a valuable secret. “When I was traveling with that earlier group of refugees, an old guy mentioned that if you head about a hundred kilometers east toward the coast, there’s a massive, well-known cold storage warehouse! It used to supply frozen goods to several surrounding cities. The amount of provisions inside is insane—they say the meat alone is piled up like mountains!”
His excitement grew as he spoke, his eyes burning with eagerness as he locked onto Chu Yang. “Third Brother! Think about it! Before, we didn’t have your spatial ability. Even if we knew there was a treasure trove sitting there, going after it would’ve been pointless—we couldn’t carry more than a few pounds on our backs, so the risk wasn’t worth the reward. But everything’s different now! You have a pocket dimension! If we can break into that warehouse and fill your space with steaks, chicken, seafood, and frozen dumplings… won’t we be living like kings every single day?!”
Listening to the mouth-watering list, Chu Yang’s eyes shone brighter and brighter. He could practically see the mountain of gourmet meats waiting for him, and he almost began drooling on the spot.
Spinning around, he grabbed Jiang Jue’s arm and shook it eagerly. “Brother Jiang! Brother Jiang, did you hear that? A cold storage warehouse! There must be an insane amount of amazing food inside! Can we make a quick detour to check it out? We can head to the base right after we load up on goodies! With a full pantry, we’ll have real confidence no matter where we go!”
Jiang Jue looked down at Chu Yang, whose eyes were sparkling like a hungry kid eager to run off, before shifting his gaze to Lin Xiao’s hopeful face and Su Mubai’s quiet, expectant expression.
He stayed silent for a brief moment, quietly weighing the risks against the potential harvest. Finally, beneath Chu Yang’s intensely pleading gaze, he gave a faint, almost imperceptible nod and uttered two simple words:
“All right.”
“Yes! Awesome! Brother Jiang, you’re the best!” Chu Yang beamed, practically jumping with joy.
With a unified goal in mind, the group wasted no time organizing the convoy. Jiang Jue would continue driving the modified, heavy-duty RV to lead the way, while Lin Xiao followed behind in the white SUV with Su Mubai and Lin Weiwei.
As Lin Weiwei stepped into the passenger seat, she murmured softly, “Brother Xiao, drive carefully.”
Before the world collapsed, a hundred-kilometer drive along the highway would have taken barely an hour. Now, however, the open roads had long lost their smooth efficiency. Abandoned vehicles were scattered randomly across the lanes like discarded toys, sections of pavement were blocked by fallen debris, and scattered zombies shambled toward any sound that disturbed the quiet.
The two vehicles were forced to slow down frequently to navigate detours, stopping several times so they could clear away blockades and dispatch any infected that blocked their path.
What should have been a quick drive stretched into nearly four exhausting hours of cautious crawling. By the time the orange rays of the setting sun bathed the horizon, they finally reached the coastal county Lin Xiao had described without any major accidents.
They pulled over near an abandoned gas station on the outskirts of the town to take a breather. Chu Yang hopped out of the RV, stretching his stiff legs. Looking out over the small seaside town, which felt eerie and deathly quiet in the dimming twilight, he took a deep breath of the salty ocean air. Turning to Lin Xiao, who was inspecting the SUV’s tires, he asked, “Old Lin, where exactly is this cold storage facility? Do you remember any landmarks?”
Lin Xiao stood up, an awkward, uncertain look crossing his face. “Uh… to be honest, I only heard the guy mention it in passing. He said it was on the far side of town, somewhere near the old cargo pier… I don’t know the exact address. All I know is that it’s a huge industrial building, and I think it has a blue roof?”
Chu Yang rolled his eyes and let out a dry sigh. “Great. So after all that, we’re doing a blind sweep of the whole town! Well, since we’re already here, we can’t leave empty-handed. Let’s drive in slowly and keep our eyes peeled. Everyone watch the sides of the road for industrial signs or large warehouses.”
The two vehicles crept slowly through the crumbling, snow-dusted streets. The crunch of tires against the icy slush sounded jarring against the dead silence of the abandoned town. Inside the cabs, everyone stared intently through the glass, scanning for any sign of the cold storage depot. On either side of the road, rusted cars sat abandoned at awkward angles, scattered personal belongings lay buried beneath the snow, and the occasional frozen corpse peeked out from the drifts.
