Chapter 167

"What is your name, brother?"

Zhang Su pulled out his own cigarette, handed one to the man, and asked.

"My surname is Zu, a rather rare one. My given name is Meng, and I'm forty-five this year. I'm quite a bit older than you, brother, so 'Old Zu' doesn't sound right. You can just call me Old Meng. This is my younger sister, Zu Tong. She's a cycle younger than me, thirty-three this year. May I ask your surname, brother?"

"My surname is Zhang, Zhang Su."

"Boss Zhang, let's not stand here talking. Come, come, let's go into the courtyard and sit for a while. I have good food and drink there. We can chat while we eat. You must tell me about the situation outside."

Zu Meng was very enthusiastic and insistently invited Zhang Su and his group into the homestay to talk.

"No rush..."

Zhang Su unobtrusively pushed away Zu Meng's hand and said, "I still have some friends down the mountain."

"You have more friends? Oh my, that's even better! Boss Zhang, hurry and call them all up. It's been a long time since it's been this lively here. Sister, go quickly and notify Xiao Chen and Master Liu. We'll be hosting guests in a moment, so prepare a sumptuous table. Oh, right, Boss Zhang, how many people are there in total?"

"Haha, Old Meng, a ten or twenty percent service fee isn't much, but why should I pay it to you? If we just occupy this place, wouldn't everything here be ours?"

"Hehehe..." Old Meng rubbed his hands and said, "Boss Zhang, this isn't just a treat. With twenty people, you must be carrying quite a lot of supplies. We'll charge an extra ten or twenty percent service fee based on the ingredients provided. Do you think that's reasonable?"

The four of them looked at each other. The thought process of this homestay owner was truly bizarre; even in the apocalypse, he didn't forget to do business. He was quite a character.

Zu Meng was as eager as he had been when receiving guests in the past.

As they were speaking, the walkie-talkie in his chest pocket transmitted Lu Yubo's voice.

Zu Meng seemed to have returned to the state of a normally operating homestay, warmly entertaining guests, asking for the headcount, and notifying the kitchen to prepare the meal.

Zu Meng gave a sheepish smile and said, "Brother Zhang is right, but I don't see you all as people who commit crimes or do evil. Besides, you have guns. If you really wanted to rob us, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me for so long. That would be a waste of effort, right?"

"Fine, I'll trust you once. Don't think about playing any tricks!"

Zhang Su patted the rifle on his chest.

Inside an antique-style courtyard, Zhang Su sat on a bamboo chair. On the tea table in front of him were exquisite tea sets, and the lingering fragrance of tea was refreshing.

"Brother Su, Brother Su, I heard gunfire. Did something go wrong?"

Zhang Su didn't see anything suspicious, but the more things seemed normal, the more he felt there was a problem. So he asked, "Old Meng, you should know that supplies are becoming increasingly scarce now. Food is getting less and less with every bite. Many people in the city are practically wishing they could eat human flesh. Are you really this generous to treat us to a meal?"

Zhang Su pulled out his walkie-talkie and said, "It's nothing. There are a few homestay owners here. Show them your weapons, and you can all come up."

Standing in the parking lot earlier, he hadn't heard the sounds from deep inside. After walking through a few courtyards, he heard the sounds of chickens and ducks playing—a scene of a paradise on earth. Thinking of the devastation in the city, it truly made one yearn for this place.

"Twenty people."

Zhang Su said with a faint smile, while carefully observing the other party's expression.

"Sister, go quickly, notify them to prepare a meal for twenty. Twenty people will require three tables, hahaha."

"Old Meng, you still raise chickens and ducks here?"

The sudden gunshot startled Zu Meng. His slightly fleshy face twitched, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no!"

Bang!

While speaking, Zhang Su disengaged the safety and pulled the trigger, firing a single shot that put a hole directly through the nearest sign.

"Oh my, it's strange to say, but those chickens and ducks all fell into a coma after the disaster broke out, and they didn't wake up until that heavy rain a few days ago."

Zu Meng skillfully fiddled with the tea set; it was clear he was someone who knew how to enjoy life.

"By the way, didn't that heavy rain a few days ago cause any impact here?"

Speaking of the animals waking up, Zhang Su suddenly remembered that heavy rain.

Zu Meng smiled confidently: "Boss, you might not know, but the owner of this scenic area relied on having connections behind him and was too arrogant at the time. As a result, he was targeted, and the inspections were extremely strict. All fire and flood prevention measures were completed beyond the requirements. It can be considered a benefit for us business owners, haha."

"Old Meng, you guys are amazing. You have water, electricity, and a modern life. You don't know how miserable it is in the city now... Wait, no, electricity comes from solar panels, but where does the water come from? I didn't see a well!"

Zhao Dezhu watched Zu Meng playing with the two tea sets and couldn't help but ask.

"There is a reservoir on the mountain, and the water for our homestay all comes from that reservoir. It saved us a significant expense. This was a big selling point when the scenic area was attracting investment back then, haha. Sigh... those are things of the past."

Speaking to the end, Zu Meng felt a bit sentimental. He arranged the teacups and poured a cup for each of them.

"Brother Su."

"Brother Su, Sister Xue and Xiao Pang are guarding the vehicles."

Just at this moment, the group that had driven up the mountain later walked into the courtyard under the guidance of Zu Tong, making the originally spacious courtyard suddenly crowded.

"Hahaha, so many guests. If this were in the past, I could have made a huge profit."

Zu Meng rubbed his hands in extreme excitement, constantly moving chairs to invite everyone to sit down.

"We won't let you do business at a loss now either. We haven't had a proper meal in a long time. As long as your cook satisfies us, we'll calculate the reward at twenty percent!"

Zhang Su picked up the teacup, smelled it, and took a piece of dried meat from a plate to throw to Haoyun. Seeing her munching on it happily, it was truly a delight.

"Hahaha, Boss Zhang, don't worry. I'll go supervise it personally. If the food isn't good, you can slap me across the face!"

After saying this, Zu Meng exchanged pleasantries with everyone and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Zhang Su called out to Zu Meng and said to the people beside him, "We don't have the habit of sitting and waiting for food. Zhuzi, Old Tan, Xiaoshuai, go help the master!"

"You got it!"

Upon hearing this, the three of them stood up immediately, nodding in understanding.

"It's truly impressive for you bosses to carry guns into the kitchen, hahaha. Come, come, I'll lead the way for you."

Zu Meng naturally knew why Zhang Su sent people to go with him, and he didn't dawdle.

"Well, I won't hinder you bosses from chatting here. Please make yourselves at home with all the food and drink here."

Zu Tong was busy running around, sweat on her forehead. Seeming to sense that the atmosphere was slightly awkward, she hurriedly excused herself.

"Go on, go on."

Zhang Su waved his hand. He happened to want to talk to his companions and didn't want outsiders around. Once he couldn't hear footsteps anymore, he asked, "What do you think of this place?"

"It couldn't be better!"

"There's water and fields. I saw there are greenhouses for growing vegetables. We can go to the village to get some seeds and plant them in the ground; we won't have to worry about food and drink."

"There is only one road up the mountain, so it shouldn't be difficult to defend. It's a rare and good place."

"I see there is another two-story homestay over there. If there are survivors worth absorbing in the future, there will be a place to settle them."

Everyone spoke up, all feeling that this area of Tianma Yu was simply impeccable.

Lu Yubo winked and said, "Everything else is quite good, but I always feel those homestay owners look a bit strange. Brother Su, do you have that feeling?"

"I saw Zu Meng drink this water earlier; it's fine." Zhang Su poured out the tea, poured a cup of hot water, drank half of it, and said, "Bozi, don't say that, I have the same feeling as you, but so far I haven't found any problems."

"Maybe it's because we've seen too many ghosts, and we're not used to seeing people..."

Zhang Ya murmured.

"There are only four of them, and they really can't manage such a large area. It's understandable that they hope survivors will come to develop it together. At the very least, they shouldn't have the guts to go against us, right?"

As Master Jia said this, he specifically patted the rifle behind his shoulder. The meaning was obvious: we have many people and are powerful, and we have guns. Normal people would choose to curry favor.

"The Zu siblings are like authentic business people. As I said before, I haven't seen any problems for the time being, but we shouldn't let our guard down. Paranoia is very useful in this world. We should take whatever precautions we need to take. Let's observe them for a period of time first!"

After Zhang Su finished speaking, he took out the walkie-talkie and told Zhao Xue and Pang Dakun to be extra careful.

After Zhang Su put down the walkie-talkie, Liu Tianji smiled and said, "Brother Su, are we planning to set up camp here?"

Zhang Su looked at the scattered homestay houses and said, "Let's wait until after tonight to see. I hope everything is peaceful!"

After more than twenty years of stable and harmonious social life, it only takes twenty-some days of turbulent life hovering on the lifeline to shatter a person's sense of security. Even if beauty is right in front of them, they still dare not let down their guard.

Everyone didn't wander around and just waited for the meal in the courtyard.

The cooking smoke rose, and the scent of human life filled the air...

Three quarters of an hour later, three eight-immortal tables were set up in the courtyard. Excluding the two people guarding the cars, Zhang Su invited the Zu siblings and the two chefs to dine together, totaling more than twenty people, which was very lively.

Zhang Su also saw Chen Minwen and Liu Dazhi, who had been busy in the back kitchen.

According to Zu Meng's introduction, Chen Minwen used to be a dim sum foreman at a hotel, responsible for making Chinese-style dim sum. Liu Dazhi was even more impressive; he had served as a head chef at a prestigious hotel in Qincheng.

"Boss Zhang, with such good food, would you like some wine? We don't have any top-tier wine, but we do have ordinary Luzi and Guzi. If you like something fragrant, we also have fifteen-year-old Qinghua, hehe."

Zu Meng was holding two bottles of wine, promoting them.

Zhang Su smiled and waved his hand: "No need for wine, bring some drinks!"

If there were no outsiders, everyone could have a drink or two as appropriate, but in the current situation, no one dared to relax. Even Zhao Dezhu and Jia Shiqin, who wanted a drink the most, could only watch the wine being taken away.

"You got it! Cola, Sprite, Wahaha, Assam, Under the Hawthorn Tree, we have everything."

Soon, Zheng Xinyu and Zhao Dezhu helped Zu Meng bring the drinks to the table.

Even though Zhao Dezhu and the others participated in the back kitchen, Zhang Su waited until Zu Meng and the others started eating before he felt at ease letting everyone enjoy the food on the table. He also sent a sumptuous meal to Zhao Xue and Pang Dakun, who were guarding the cars.

After the first bite of food was put into their mouths, there was a brief silence at the scene.

A long-lost sense of happiness filled everyone's hearts. It had been almost a month since the disaster broke out, and they hadn't eaten a meal full of the scent of human life. It was moving.

There were eight dishes on each table, a mix of meat and vegetables, cold and hot. When Tan Huajun was busy in the kitchen, she specifically got two large chicken legs for Haoyun, who was now lying at Zhang Su's feet, chewing until her mouth was covered in oil.

The atmosphere at the table was very quiet. Zu Meng tried to chat to liven up the atmosphere, but Zhang Su's group was all focused on eating. The rice in the two commercial rice cookers was basically wiped out, and the plates on the table were also clean; only some drinks were left.

"Oh my, if we saw this scene in the past, we would have to reflect on whether the portion was too small, haha."

Zu Meng looked at the stacks of clean empty plates and smiled from ear to ear. Those who didn't know would think he had really made a fortune.

Zhang Su had been secretly observing the four of them. The Zu siblings were very enthusiastic, while the two chefs were relatively quiet. These were all normal, and from beginning to end, he hadn't found any problems.

Seeing Zu Meng and the others starting to clear the table, he said, "Old Meng, for this meal today, fifty catties of rice plus twenty catties of vegetables, is that enough?"

"Fifty catties..."

Zu Meng rolled his eyes and calculated, then smiled sheepishly: "The rice and vegetables are definitely enough, but the meat..."

"Meat, what meat? Can't rice be used to feed chickens? Chickens lay eggs, eggs hatch into chickens, isn't that meat? How interesting!"

Zhao Dezhu knew the inventory on the car very well; there was plenty of rice, flour, and vegetables, but meat was the only thing lacking.

"Yes, yes, yes, Boss Zhao is right."

Zu Meng was startled by Zhao Dezhu and nodded repeatedly, not daring to say anything more.

(End of this chapter)