Chapter 199: Flying Fairy Moutai

"Not working but still want a free meal? Everyone take a look, I finally caught one today!"

The woman stood on tiptoe and pointed at Liu Mu's nose, but her accusation did not draw the resonance from the surrounding people that she had hoped for.

Losing face, the woman turned her head and grabbed Xu Xiaoxia, "Xu Xiaoxia, aren't you usually very good at throwing your weight around? Are you going to manage this freeloader today or not? If you don't, I'm going to the Management Office to file a complaint and make sure you can't be a Maintenance Worker anymore!"

"I'll manage it," Xu Xiaoxia saw that Liu Mu didn't seem angry, so she asked on purpose, "Then why don't you tell me who is allowed to eat in our canteen?"

"Isn't that something you know best?" The woman snorted coldly, feeling increasingly irritated. She glanced at the man beside her, and this fire erupted with a sour jealousy, "Either they are people from our District Three, or their Contribution Value ranks in the top ten of the Barrier. Those big shots in the top ten are all familiar with me, so now can you punish this woman!"

Some people around couldn't hold it in and started laughing, and the others stopped holding back too.

"Fang Darong, you really know how to gild your own lily. You say the top ten are all familiar with you, why don't you just say they're all your friends."

"Sister Darong, you have some fame in our District Three, but our Barrier has real big shots."

Fang Darong had come to the Haicheng Barrier from another Base. Relying on the supplies she had on hand, she hired a few people and became a small force.

They didn't do anything evil, they just resold supplies inside the Barrier, and believe it or not, she really did earn some profit.

She did know one or two high-level officials in the Barrier, and to save face, she went around saying she had connections at the top. For the sake of face, she had to get to know the bigwigs on the Contribution Value leaderboard even more; she knew five out of ten, so rounding up, that meant she knew them all, and taking it a step further, everyone was familiar with each other.

"I'm telling you, don't doubt it, I often drink with them. Do you know what liquor is? Real liquor, not that swill you people get, Flying Fairy Moutai!"

"Mm, that's good stuff." Liu Mu nodded along. She had only drunk Moutai three times in her life; the first time was when she saved Xu Xiaoxia's life, and Director Xu invited her to a meal and they drank it once.

The next two times were when she had stockpiled a few cases herself and drank them at a gathering with her partners. The rest were still stored in the Headquarters basement.

"Hmph, you know it too, don't think that just because you said something nice I'll let you off. Today you must go to the Management Office with me!"

Fang Darong still wouldn't give up and reached out to grab Liu Mu, but her wrist was caught by Xu Xiaoxia.

"Didn't you say you were familiar with the top ten on the leaderboard? This is the one at the top of the list, and also our Barrier's Acting Chief, Comrade Liu Mu!"

Xu Xiaoxia's words undoubtedly dealt Fang Darong a head-on blow. She might not know others, but from the first day she entered the Barrier, she had heard of Liu Mu's great name.

Originally, she had wanted to find an opportunity to get to know Liu Mu; after all, they had both started out in business, and if she could build a relationship for mutual benefit in the future, her business would certainly advance further. It was just that after arriving, Liu Mu was either out on missions or coming and going in a hurry, so they couldn't even meet, let alone get to know each other.

To protect official personnel, apart from those who dealt with everyone internally year-round, most military and high-level officials would not deliberately show their faces. Plus, with electronic products now scarce, photos and videos were even more impossible to have.

Therefore, apart from knowing the name, Fang Darong had no idea what Liu Mu looked like.

The reason she left her original base to come to the Haicheng Barrier was that Fang Darong had her eye on the primitive state of this big cake; entering at this time would surely yield huge profits and social status in the future.

But now, she could hardly believe her ears, "You said she is who?"

How could this be? The big leader actually stood in line to get food just like an ordinary person? And she was only wearing a half-new, half-old military green shirt...

It was a military uniform!

Fang Darong wanted to question it, but she wasn't a fool. Combining it with the previous reactions of the people around her, the answer was right in front of her.

Just then, a commotion came from the side of the elevator leading to the surface, and someone shouted.

"Back? Did you freeze to death?"

"No, our Chief is still lenient, only letting those few people stay outside for an hour or so."

"Oh my, that's enough to give them a hard time. I was on duty upstairs for half an hour last night, and I haven't warmed up yet."

Someone else asked curiously, "Aren't they big officials? What mistake did they make?"

"Hmph, what else could it be, they wanted to kill our Chief Liu. Truly heartless dogs, Chief Liu is out there risking her life, and this bunch of officials is eating and drinking well in the Barrier, and they even dared to rebel!"

When people are concerned about a certain matter, in order to hear first-hand news, they will collectively quiet down.

And so, some said it, some passed it on, and as for whether it was the original fact, it no longer mattered.

Fang Darong's made-up face had already turned pale with fright. Her eyes were large, and before they could even roll, she turned around and slapped Zhou Chunwang across his pretty-boy face.

The sound was so loud that people's discussions stopped.

"You dog, you dare to lie to me, you just wait!"

This slap caused half of Zhou Chunwang's face to swell up immediately, and tears followed.

He wanted to open his mouth to argue, but before he could say a word, Fang Darong slapped him again, making that face swell symmetrically.

"Chief, it was my pig-fat-blinded heart that let this little brat deceive me. Please don't hold it against me, it's all my fault."

Turning her fierce face back, Fang Darong had already piled on a smile, seemingly not noticing the people around her gasping; this woman was fierce!

Liu Mu ignored Zhou Chunwang's hateful gaze and just smiled, "Everyone disperse, don't affect the order."

Fang Darong immediately lowered her posture, even slightly hunching her back, and followed up, "Ah, yes, yes, yes! Everyone, disperse, those who need to eat, eat, those who need to line up, line up. I'm talking to you, what are you still standing there for? Aren't you from that line over there?"

"Darong, didn't you say the Chief was a freeloader? You're chickening out already?"

Relying on the cover of the crowd, people who couldn't stand Fang Darong took the opportunity to stir things up.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Don't think I didn't see you, Er Laizi. The Chief is the hero who has contributed the most to the Barrier; she can eat in whichever canteen she wants." Fang Darong retorted loudly, as if those previous words hadn't been said by her, "Hurry up and line up, don't hinder the Chief from inspecting the canteen!"

Xu Xiaoxia rolled her eyes. Fang Darong was very famous in District Three, and they had dealt with each other before; it could be said that she had perfected the art of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, keeping a boy toy, and fawning over the powerful.

Of course, she didn't completely look down on her, and was even a little envious, but the capital to support these things wasn't in her own hands, and that face was just disgusting.

The small episode ended with Zhou Chunwang being beaten and Xu Xiaoxia driving Fang Darong away, and Liu Mu also reached the window and received a portion of breakfast.

The porridge was all the same, only some people's bowls were larger, some smaller. The steamed buns were also divided by size; adults received large ones, children received small ones.

After knowing Liu Mu's identity, the cook giving out the food gave her the largest portion directly and even asked if she wanted an extra steamed bun.

Liu Mu didn't want it, saying she could eat her fill. The cook added half a spoonful of pickled mustard greens.

That pickled mustard was kept under the counter, and the cook explained that it was only for people working on the surface and the military.

In a situation where even eating one's fill was not easy, fairness was naturally impossible to achieve.

Liu Mu had just found an empty seat and sat down when Xu Xiaoxia also came over with her tray and sat opposite, "Sister Mu, I'll eat with you."

Looking at her food, she also had pickled mustard, so she was probably doing quite well.

It was just that Xu Xiaoxia took out a clean handkerchief, tore off a large part of the big steamed bun, added the pickled mustard, wrapped it up, and tucked it into her pocket.

Seeing Liu Mu looking at her, she said somewhat embarrassedly, "I can't eat that much, I'll save the rest for when I'm hungry."

Liu Mu didn't press for details; before eating, she nodded to the people around who were looking over, and then began.

Regarding her silence, Xu Xiaoxia was very puzzled, "Sister Mu, is the situation outside not good right now?"

"Hmm?" Liu Mu looked up and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"You, here," Xu Xiaoxia pointed at Liu Mu and then tapped her own brow, "you haven't relaxed at all, you've been frowning the whole time. Have you run into some trouble? If you still consider me an acquaintance, it wouldn't hurt to talk about it."

Regarding the previous incident where she had been tricked by Jiang Hanzhong into setting a trap for Liu Mu, she cared about it even more than Liu Mu herself; no matter how one looked at it, they should have become good friends, but it was a pity she had been too eager for quick success at the time.

"Hmm," Liu Mu nodded slightly, eating her food at a fast pace, "the Extreme Cold is here, and I don't know how long it will last."

She paused, and under Xu Xiaoxia's horrified gaze, continued, "The Barrier will issue a notice soon; you should all make some preparations yourselves. Aside from the Plantation, the factories on the surface have all ceased operations."

"Is it that serious?" Xu Xiaoxia put down her iron spoon, thinking of the heavy rain that had fallen for over a year; if the Extreme Cold also lasted for a year, or even several years, what would happen in the future?

"Heaven really isn't giving us any chance to survive at all..."

"Heaven has given us one, but living depends only on ourselves," Liu Mu had walked over this morning, and her mood was also heavy.

The people in the Barrier were generally in a sub-health state, even children with both parents were no exception; she didn't know how many more people this Extreme Cold would take away.

Thinking of this, she felt a bit annoyed again; originally she only needed to plan for herself, relying on the supplies she had hoarded and her survival experience to live a comfortable life in the apocalypse, so why bother with these people?

She knew she shouldn't have meddled in the affairs of the Barrier and the officials, but now, the old man who had dragged her into this mess still didn't know when he would return.

At the Barrier meeting, she had said she wouldn't go to pick up Yang Shuo, but that didn't mean she wouldn't actually go; for every day Yang Shuo didn't return, she would have to manage this mess for one more day.

It was just, how was she supposed to go pick him up?

When Luo Sanlin came looking for her, Liu Mu had just finished eating; Xu Xiaoxia offered to help her wash the tray, and she did not refuse.

"Sister Mu," Xu Xiaoxia still called out to stop Liu Mu, who was about to leave, her face slightly red, "I'm sorry about what happened before. I'll be smarter in the future."

Liu Mu patted her on the shoulder, said nothing, and walked away in a hurry.

There were not many people left in the cafeteria; although it was the first time they had seen a leader come, they all had their own work to do, needing to earn Contribution Value to support their families or themselves.

Xu Xiaoxia sniffled; there were some cracks on the fingers holding the two trays, left over from when she worked at the Salt Drying Field, and they hadn't fully healed yet.

In the future, she really couldn't blindly trust those officials again; she was now someone who had to support a family, and she couldn't keep dreaming of reaching the top in one step. If she collapsed, her father and the few children she had adopted would all go hungry, as the Contribution Value they earned couldn't even support themselves.

Xu Xiaoxia washed the trays, wiped them dry with a cotton cloth hanging on the wall, and only then placed them back in an orderly fashion, even taking the time to straighten up the ones that hadn't been put away properly.

"Young lady, hey, Miss Xu," at this moment, a head poked out in the cafeteria; it was the head chef who cooked for District Three, a man in his forties who had previously worked at a large restaurant, "do you know the leader?"

Xu Xiaoxia had just wanted to say that they were friends to begin with, but the words reached her lips and she had a second thought, "I've met her a few times. Before the apocalypse, she was quite famous in our area."

"So you knew each other before," with a large head and thick neck, the head chef smiled like a blooming steamed bun, "Uncle has a favor to ask of you, is that alright? As long as it's done, Uncle guarantees your family will be able to eat their fill from now on!"