C5 I Came to Borrow a Pot!

After pondering for a moment, Shen Chen grabbed his evening's provisions and set out to find Yang Hanshuang. With his current BUFF, zombies wouldn't target him, allowing him to move about freely.

"Hey, big guy on the wall, can you open the gate? I need to borrow a pot," Shen Chen called up to the guard perched on the five-meter-high wall.

"Scram! We're not taking in newcomers, especially not at night with people of questionable origins!" came the irritated reply from above.

"Yang Hanshuang is my friend," Shen Chen replied, left with little choice.

"Nice try! Listen, scavenger, I suggest you head back where you came from. We don't open the gates at night! There's no precedent for it, and we're certainly not starting now. Forget it!" The guard scoffed and walked away.

"What's the commotion? Who's that daredevil yelling down there in the dead of night? Get rid of him quick, before he lures the zombies over and we have a real mess on our hands," a man said as he approached briskly.

"Brother Amu, it's just some idiot scavenger down there; he'll leave soon enough. Everyone knows that nighttime is peak zombie activity—it's too dangerous outside. Whatever his reasons, he won't last long here," the guard explained quickly.

"No, we need to get rid of him now. The whole base must go on high alert!" Amu declared sternly.

A thousand kilos of rice was invaluable to the base, far exceeding its current worth.

Nothing could happen to that rice before Shen Chen distributed it tomorrow.

If Shen Chen ran out of rice, they could still trade what they had for two months' worth of provisions for the entire base.

"That guy looks familiar. Hand me the flashlight," Amu said, taking the rechargeable torch and shining it down. Instantly, he was taken aback. "Damn it, open the gate now, you bunch of fools!"

"What's wrong, Brother Amu?" the previous guard asked, taken aback.

"That's Shen Chen, the man who supplied us with rice today. Mr. Shen! With the danger outside, how could you leave him out there?" Amu exclaimed, visibly agitated.

"But Brother Amu, we didn't go get the rice today..." the guard protested weakly.

"Right, it's not on you. Open the gate, quick," urged Amu.

Without a second thought for safety, the guard promptly complied with Amu's request and swung the base's large gate open. Amu dashed down the perimeter wall, nearly taking a tumble in his haste.

"Mr. Shen, you've arrived," Amu greeted with deference.

"Mm-hmm, it's quite late, isn't it? I hope I'm not intruding, just came by for a meal," inquired Shen Chen.

"Not at all. It's barely past eight, still early. Plus, Mr. Shen, you're our savior. We'd open our gates for you anytime," Amu replied, bowing and scraping. "But, Mr. Shen, did you really trek five or six kilometers just for a meal? No trouble from the Zombies?"

"Nope, it was eerily quiet on the way over. No Zombie howls—I nearly lost my way and wandered into a gully."

Shen Chen's admission left everyone agape.

The nearby guards were flabbergasted. Who navigates by the sound of Zombies?

Their perspective differed from Shen Chen's; he wasn't scared of Zombies. Where Zombies congregated, human outposts were sure to be. And the further from the city, the sparser the Zombies.

Lacking a flashlight, Shen Chen had to rely on moonlight to navigate, and he had indeed almost lost his way.

"Shen Chen, what brings you here?" Yang Hanshuang approached briskly with a bespectacled man.

"I missed you and wanted to drop by," Shen Chen said with a grin.

"Hello, you must be Shen Chen, right? Brother, you really came through for us when it mattered!" The glasses-wearing man greeted him enthusiastically.

"And you are?" Shen Chen asked, taken aback.

"I'm Liu Yunshan, the leader of Cloud Mountain Base," the man clarified.

"Oh, hello. Hanshuang and I came here years ago, and she ended up staying while I left. I've heard you've been looking out for her since—thanks for taking care of my friend," Shen Chen said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.

"Ah? That happened? My apologies. I'm sorry for any oversight back then, and yet you still helped us when it counted. I can't thank you enough," Liu Yunshan quickly shifted to a more respectful tone, picking up on Shen Chen's veiled discontent. He knew he had to adjust his attitude fast—what if Shen Chen took offense?

"It's no big deal. I just came up with an excuse to stop by. Have your people swing by my place to pick up the rice tomorrow," Shen Chen said casually.

"Thank you so much," Liu Yunshan replied eagerly.

"Shen Chen, if you've got complaints, just let them out. No need to hold back—we're all friends here," Yang Hanshuang chimed in, knowing Shen Chen well.

"Do I strike you as someone who holds grudges over petty things?" Shen Chen huffed.

"That's your call," Yang Hanshuang responded coolly.

Her comment caught Shen Chen off guard.

Truth be told, the issue had been gnawing at him. But what could he do? With his limited abilities and subpar superpower, it made sense that Cloud Mountain Base had rejected him.

Yet, had the base accepted him back then, he wouldn't have had to endure years of wandering and hardship.

He had been itching to air his grievances, but Yang Hanshuang didn't offer him the opening.

"Let it go, let it go. Just here for the pot! I need to head back after grabbing a bite," Shen Chen said, showing off the rice in his hand. He was ready to drop the subject. After his meal, he still had a five or six-kilometer trek back, not to mention a big errand at the bank.

"I can cook that for you," Yang Hanshuang offered.

Shen Chen quickly dismissed the idea. "No, let's not. I don't want the whole Cloud Mountain Base gossiping about the ice queen Yang Hanshuang cooking for some nobody. It'd be a PR disaster for you!"

"Keep being sour," Yang Hanshuang retorted with an eye roll before walking away.

"Hey, you're actually leaving? What about my meal?" Shen Chen said, watching her go.

"You said you'd cook it yourself, so get to it!" Yang Hanshuang called back, not giving him a chance to respond.

"Mr. Shen, need me to find someone to help you with the cooking?" Liu Yunshan offered tentatively.

"No, I've got it. Self-reliance ensures a good life," Shen Chen replied.

The pots at the base were decent enough, and he wouldn't let this quality rice go to waste. Shen Chen borrowed some fire in their kitchen and cooked up a pot of aromatic rice. It was just rice, no side dishes, weighing in at about two kilos.

In the civilized world, plain white rice might not appeal to many, but in the post-apocalyptic world, it was a sought-after feast.

"Uh, could you not watch me while I'm eating? It's kind of awkward," Shen Chen said, giving the onlookers a speechless glance.

"Just eat; we're only looking," the aunties from the kitchen said, their eyes fixed intently on the rice in Shen Chen's bowl.

"Gulp."

The chorus of swallowing noises rose and fell around him, and Shen Chen realized he had lost his appetite.