RIACMET chapter 93

 

As the sun set, people began returning to their dorms. Jiang Nian headed back toward the central area.

With his teammates away from the base, he couldn’t wander too far.

Although the security in Nancheng Base was high, that didn’t mean you could do whatever you pleased. The main reason was that, nowadays, there were too many people with superpowers, and their abilities were strange indeed. It was always wiser to be cautious.

When he pulled into the underground parking lot and stepped out of the car, he ran into Li Liang, who was just coming upstairs after work. Jiang Nian took the initiative to greet him.

“Li Liang.”

“Brother Nian, hey!”

Li Liang grinned and pointed upward.

“I was just about to head upstairs to find you. Since Brother Cheng and the others aren’t around, you won’t have to cook dinner alone for the next few days. Come eat with us. My dad specifically told me to invite you.”

Li Liang and Jiang Nian were about the same age, and after getting to know each other, they found they had plenty to talk about, especially since Jiang Nian was always gentle and loyal to those close to him.

“Alright. Then I won’t be polite.”

Jiang Nian happily agreed. After all, eating by himself was always messy and dull—it would be much better to share a meal with them. The atmosphere would be livelier, and the food would be more enjoyable.

The two of them chatted as they headed upstairs.

“Li Liang, wait here a second…”

When they reached the third floor, Jiang Nian unlocked his door and went inside. He quickly pulled a frozen chicken, vegetables, and fruit out of his large fridge and handed them over.

“I’ve been running around outside all day, and I’m sweaty all over. I want to wash up a bit. Take this chicken and the vegetables upstairs first.”

They were friends and neighbors who lived on the same floor, so there was no need to keep their distance. Besides, Li Liang and his family never asked where he got his supplies. People like that were easy to get along with.

“…That’s a lot.”

Li Liang stared at the food in surprise. Any polite refusals died on his tongue when he saw Jiang Nian’s calm expression. He could only speak honestly.

“All right then. I’ll go up first. Thanks, Brother Nian.”

It was a fat, plump chicken that probably weighed five or six pounds. They’d originally just planned to have a simple dinner, but now it had turned into a family feast. Haha!

Jiang Nian waved his hand.

“Go on ahead. Uncle Li is a fantastic cook. I’ve been looking forward to it.”

He still had plenty of frozen chicken in his space ring. Whenever he ate at someone else’s place, he felt it was only right to bring a few dishes of his own.

If they hadn’t invited him to eat at the base, he never would’ve realized that Uncle Li, with his hard face, was actually a homebody whose cooking was amazing.

Li Liang carried the food upstairs. Jiang Nian ate two Longlong brand ice creams to cool off before showering.

If Brother Jing were home, he’d definitely nag him about eating too much cold food. Jing would even steal the ice cream out of his hands and solemnly list all the ways eating cold things in hot weather could hurt you.

Sometimes, Jiang Nian felt like he was still a rebellious young man while Jing-ge was like an old father who had to scold him about everything.

“…”

Jiang Nian relaxed in the bath, thinking about all sorts of things. Only when he felt thoroughly relaxed did he finally get up.

By the time he finished getting ready and went upstairs, dinner was almost on the table.

What was originally a meal for four had become a meal for five.

When Li Shuhui arrived home from work, she was accompanied by a girl with a baby face named Liang Xiaoyan. They were about the same age and had been classmates in college.

Liang Xiaoyan was also a superpowered person with the ability to distort space and damage objects.

Li Shuhui had run into her today while registering newcomers at the base entrance. Since they had always gotten along well in college, Li Shuhui agreed when Liang Xiaoyan asked to come over.

After a brief round of introductions, Jiang Nian exchanged a few polite words with Liang Xiaoyan and then went into the kitchen to help.

Li Liang was arranging the chairs and dishes with a flat expression, clearly unimpressed by the two girls chatting happily in the living room.

Li Kaiyun, busy at the stove, saw Jiang Nian walk in. He glanced toward the living room, quietly closed the kitchen door, and lowered his voice.

“Sorry about this, Xiaonian. I didn’t know Xiaohui was bringing someone back. That girl… she’s too naive.”

Since the apocalypse, everyone had become much more cautious about letting people into their homes.

Jiang Nian just smiled lightly.

“It’s all right, Uncle. It’s normal to be happy when you run into an old friend.”

He understood—or rather, he simply didn’t care—as long as Li Shuhui was careful and didn’t act recklessly.

“I’ll talk to her later.”

Li Kaiyun’s usually impassive face looked serious.

“All right.”

Jiang Nian nodded and smiled. Once you’d been living safely in the base for a while, it was easy to grow numb to the possibility of trouble. A reminder now and then was no bad thing.

After a moment’s thought, he casually asked,

“By the way, Uncle, did you call Brother Li Sheng? Tell him to join us for dinner after his shift.”

“No need. He’s on duty until midnight tonight.”

“Oh, I see.”

“… ”

Not long after, the kitchen door opened again, and a mouthwatering aroma filled the entire apartment.

Uncle Li sliced the boiled chicken while Jiang Nian carried out the other dishes.

Li Liang quickly came over to help.

The meal included boiled chicken, stewed eggplant, meatballs with vermicelli, stir-fried greens, “tiger skin” chili peppers[mfn]Tiger‑skin chili peppers (虎皮尖椒, hǔ pí jiān jiāo) are a beloved Sichuan-style dish featuring blistered green peppers with a smoky, slightly charred “tiger-skin” appearance—the name literally comes from that crackled skin effect[/mfn], and seaweed soup.

Altogether, there were six dishes. Once everything was set on the table, Uncle Li called everyone to sit down.

“All right, let’s eat.”

“Wow, you even have boiled chicken and stewed eggplant. My God, this looks too good to be real! The chicken smells amazing. Where’d you get it?”

Liang Xiaoyan sat down, her expression so exaggerated that it was almost funny. With her babyish face, even overacting looked adorable.

Li Shuhui, who was sitting beside her, reflexively glanced over at her father and brother.

“Um…”

Li Liang started to say it was from Jiang Nian, but Li Kaiyun spoke first.

“There are a lot of outsiders in the base these days. If you find the right seller, you can trade points for supplies at a good price. We just got lucky today.”

As he spoke, he lowered his head and picked up a large chicken leg with the communal chopsticks. He didn’t even glance at Liang Xiaoyan as he placed it in Jiang Nian’s bowl.

This piece was reserved especially for Jiang Nian—he only saved one.

“Thank you, Uncle.”

Jiang Nian beamed with contentment.

Ever since he helped them, Uncle Li always set aside the best piece of every dish for him whenever he came to eat. Even Li Liang and Li Shuhui didn’t receive that treatment.

“Yeah, the base has been busier than ever. More people coming in means more supplies flowing in…”

Li Liang quickly followed up with a smile that held a hidden meaning. Then, he shot Jiang Nian an apologetic look.

He’d nearly slipped up. Both his cousin and Cheng Jing had reminded him that this world was different now and that he needed to be careful not to reveal anything about Jiang Nian, especially since Jiang Nian didn’t have any superpowers.

Even though Liang Xiaoyan was his sister’s classmate, they were still just classmates. Whether she had been asking on purpose or not, there was no need to tell her that the chicken came from Jiang Nian.

“I see. I’m going to get spoiled here, hehe…”

Liang Xiaoyan nodded in understanding. She had done trades with friends for supplies, too.

Seeing Uncle Li’s calm attitude, she didn’t hesitate. She immediately reached for a big chicken wing. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten chicken like this.

Aside from the chicken, all the other dishes were rich and oily.

With so many strong seasonings, even if someone like Huang Qian used their superpowers to cultivate and flavor the vegetables, the difference wouldn’t be noticeable.

“It’s so good I could cry!”

Liang Xiaoyan praised the food between mouthfuls.

Being able to eat like this during the apocalypse showed that the Li family was doing very well. They were basically the wealthiest family in this doomsday base.

A table like this was enough to make others jealous.

Liang Xiaoyan was different. Before her powers awakened, she’d been forced to beg for food or trade her body for it.

Even now, as a superpowered person with a team, supplies were never enough.

Besides, people like her, who had no relatives or connections in the base, could only live in the outer zones. They were fortunate if they could move into the inner zones.

Unfortunately, even if Li Shuhui wanted to help her more, it was impossible. The best she could do was move Li Shuhui from the outer to the inner area. She would never be able to get her into the central zone, and from there, she could only rely on herself.

But at least she still had friends. As long as you saved up enough points, anyone could eventually enter the inner zones. It just took time. She didn’t want to owe anyone anything, not even the smallest favor.

After the apocalypse, she’d learned a lot, and her conclusion was simple.

This world was cruel.

People’s hearts were no longer the same.

There was no justice left anywhere.