Chapter 49

Qiao Jiajin did not hesitate after hearing this, and handed over the cloth bag at his waist. Lin Qi also followed closely behind.

Tian Tian looked at the two of them, her expression somewhat unnatural, but since she was in a weaker position, after much deliberation, she still handed over her cloth bag.

Qi Xia took all the cloth bags, sat to one side, and started fiddling with something. After a short while, he threw away an empty cloth bag, stood up, and said to the three of them, "We made a profit of five shares this time, a total of ninety-five 'Dao'. This number cannot be evenly divided among four people, so we can only add the one we had left at the beginning, making it ninety-six, twenty-four for each person."

He pushed the three cloth bags forward and said to the three of them, "I've packed them for you. Remember to count them in front of me; I won't acknowledge any discrepancies afterward."

Tian Tian hurriedly reached out to take the cloth bag, opened it, and counted. Indeed, there were twenty-four 'Dao', not a single one missing.

Lin Qi and Qiao Jiajin then hung the cloth bags back at their waists.

"Do you not want to check?" Qi Xia said, "I am a liar, after all."

"It's fine," Lin Qi shook her head and said, "If I find any missing in the future, I'll take it from you."

"Right, don't do that," Qiao Jiajin also waved his hand, "Where do we go next?"

Qi Xia looked at the bear arm in Qiao Jiajin's arms, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's go eat something..."

...

The group's thoughts were simple: if they could cook this bear arm, as long as it could fill their stomachs, they would eat it no matter how it tasted.

However, in this dilapidated city, finding the necessary items for cooking was very difficult.

Clean water, a stove, a pot, a lighter—none of these things were available.

The group wandered through the abandoned buildings in the city for over an hour but found nothing.

When they reached an abandoned restaurant, Qiao Jiajin finally couldn't hold back.

"This isn't going to work," he threw the bear arm to the ground and stretched his sore wrist, "We're carrying dozens of pounds of meat around, and we'll either starve or exhaust ourselves to death."

"You've worked hard," Lin Qi smiled at Qiao Jiajin, "Do you want me to take it for a while?"

"That's not necessary."

...

"This place looks promising," Tian Tian looked around the restaurant, noticing that it wasn't severely damaged.

Sure enough, after a brief search, they found an aluminum pot under a table.

The pot looked relatively clean, just slightly deformed.

"Firewood is everywhere," Qi Xia looked at the damaged furniture on the ground, "What we lack is water and fire."

"I'll check the kitchen," Tian Tian walked directly to the back kitchen, "Maybe there's water there."

Qi Xia nodded slightly and started searching the room for other useful items. After a few seconds, he felt it wasn't quite right and said to Qiao Jiajin, "Qiao Jiajin, go with Tian Tian, be careful of the 'locals.'"

"Got it," Qiao Jiajin nodded and walked toward the kitchen, but before he had taken three steps, he heard Tian Tian's voice from a distance.

"Hey? What are you doing here?"

"Ah! Sister, you're here too!"

The voice responding to Tian Tian was a female voice.

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin immediately ran to the kitchen. When they opened the door, they saw the slightly plump girl standing there.

She reached out and affectionately held Tian Tian's arm, saying to everyone, "Why are you all here? What a coincidence!"

Qi Xia looked at the woman coldly, his expression displeased.

"Are you following us?"

"Ah?" The girl looked incredulous, "How could I? I was here first."

Qiao Jiajin didn't know what was going on. Why was this girl waiting for them here?

"Are you looking for something?" the girl asked again.

"Yes, we're looking for water and fire," Tian Tian replied.

"Water and fire?" The girl laughed, "That's great, we have both here."

Under Qi Xia's cautious gaze, the woman led Tian Tian to a wall cabinet. She tiptoed and opened the cabinet door, revealing several plastic buckets inside, filled with clear water.

Then she took out a lighter from her pocket, "See."

Qi Xia felt that everything was too coincidental, as if it had been arranged.

Tian Tian happily took the lighter from the woman and asked, "Little girl, are you really going to lend this to us?"

"Sister, don't be so formal," the woman smiled innocently, "We survivors should help each other."

Tian Tian felt a sudden liking for the woman and thanked her repeatedly.

"What do you want?" Qi Xia asked from the side.

The slightly plump girl turned her head, looking puzzled, and replied, "What do I want? I don't want anything, just helping you."

"Better be that way," Qi Xia ignored her and turned to collect things that could be used as firewood.

"That brother is strange," the girl blinked her big eyes, "Why is he so wary of me?"

"That's just his personality, you'll get used to it," Tian Tian smiled, "What's your name, little girl?"

"Sister, just call me Xiao Xiao."

Lin Qi looked at Xiao Xiao, feeling something was off.

The girl was slightly plump with broad shoulders, wearing a very loose T-shirt, but her cheeks were very thin, not matching her body shape.

"Xiao Xiao, stay and eat with us," Tian Tian said, "We can't finish the bear arm with just four of us."

"Sure," Xiao Xiao nodded happily.

Seeing that Xiao Xiao was trying to hide something, Qi Xia didn't press further. He only hoped she wouldn't try to deceive him.

Qiao Jiajin found a few bricks and built a simple stove, throwing some old wood inside and lighting it.

...

With Xiao Xiao's help, Tian Tian cleaned the pot and boiled a pot of water.

Qi Xia handled the bear arm on the side.

He often cooked at home but had never cooked a bear arm before, so he treated it like a chicken.

After a quick scalding with hot water, he plucked the fur, peeled the skin, and washed the blood off with clean water. He insisted that Xiao Xiao not touch the ingredients, and no one objected.

Qiao Jiajin took a rusty kitchen knife from the kitchen, sharpened it, and cut the bear arm into two pieces, throwing them directly into the pot.

This was the best cooking method they could manage.

Meat broth.

As the water in the pot slowly boiled, making a "gurgle" sound, everyone gathered around the iron pot, watching silently without a word.

After a while, Lin Qi asked, "Will the bear meat taste good?"

"Delicious," Qiao Jiajin nodded immediately, "Have you never had bear paws?"

"You have?" Tian Tian turned her head to ask.

"I was lucky to have them once," Qiao Jiajin said, "The taste is unforgettable. If we ever get out of here, I'll definitely have them again."

Tian Tian shook her head helplessly, "You're really a daredevil."

"Daredevil?" Qiao Jiajin laughed, "Tian Tian, are you silly? I'm not going to kill a bear myself; I'll just go to a restaurant."

"Eating bear paws is illegal," Tian Tian added, "No matter how good it tastes, do you want to go to jail for it?"

"Ridiculous," Qiao Jiajin looked at Tian Tian with a hint of disdain, "When has eating bear paws ever been illegal?"

Tian Tian frowned, feeling that sometimes she and Qiao Jiajin got along well, and sometimes they were on different wavelengths.

"You should go online more," Tian Tian sighed, "Don't always act so ignorant."

"The 'internet'?" Qiao Jiajin scratched his head, "You mean... the 'Internet' that became popular a few years ago?"