Chương 16: CHAPTER 16

Shao Haoran was persuaded by Shen Tian to join him at the dinner table. He thought to himself that he'll just eat a couple of bites and leave the rest to Shen Tian.

Much to his surprise though, the dinner spread was much richer than he had imagined.

In fact, pre-apocalypse, the spread in front of him may be considered lacking in hospitality when offered to guests. However, this is the end of times and having hot meat, rice, and even porridge on the table can be considered a luxury.

"Since you've just gotten better from your fever, I made you porridge.", Shen Tian explained as he placed a bowl of rice and chicken in front of Baobao. "Here's yours, Baobao."

The dog barked happily at Shen Tian. His tail was wagging so fast upon smelling the nice scent of freshly cooked chicken and rice.

"This...", Shao Haoran can only mutter this word in disbelief as he followed Shen Tian to sit on the dinner table.

Fresh rice and chicken are hard to come by in the apocalypse. He even thought that there are no more domesticated chickens available since this is already the third year into the end of the world and most of the animal species have already mutated. Even Baobao, his dog, got special powers that no ordinary dog could have had pre-apocalypse.

Shao Haoran scooped from his bowl and was amazed at the thickness of the porridge.

Just a year into the apocalypse, the human bases also attempted to feed the survivors who weren't able to hunt for food for themselves. They usually prepared porridge or bread. Over time, resources became scarce and the porridge served became thinner by the day. Eventually, bases weren't able to afford feeding the survivors for free.

"I only made that one bowl of porridge.", Shen Tian pulled him out of his daze. "If you are still not full and if you think you can handle regular meals, then go ahead and scoop more of the rice and chicken for yourself."

Hearing that, Shao Haoran gulped as he looked at the pan-fried chicken and freshly cooked rice in front of him.

Shen Tian, seeing that Shao Haoran wasn't eating yet, let out an inaudible sigh.

"Go ahead and eat.", Shen Tian urged. "This is a complementary service for you since you're my first tenant. For the next meal, you'll have to pay either with crystal cores or hard labor."

Those words seemed to lift a bit of pressure off Shao Haoran's shoulders. Since he knows how precious food is, he was a bit apprehensive eating for free. Deep down in his heart, he knows that Shen Tian only said those words to relieve his uneasiness.

Deciding that he'll pay back every grain of rice that he eats at this time, Shao Haoran no longer had any reservations and scooped spoonful after spoonful of porridge. It has indeed been a long time since he ate a warm homemade meal. His eyes stung, remembering the family that he lost at the start of the apocalypse. Back then, warm meals are things that humans have taken for granted. Now, it can be said to be a luxury to be able to eat one full meal a day.

Shen Tian pretended not to notice the man's reddening eyes. Sometimes, you just have to turn a blind eye to things as respect.

Baobao, as if feeling the melancholic air, whined softly and left its half-eaten bowl to rub its body against its master's leg.

Seeing that even his pet is worried about him, Shao Haoran chuckled and rubbed the dog's head.

"I'm okay, go back and eat your meal.", Shao Haoran nudged the dog back to its bowl. He then turned to Shen Tian, "Sorry about that. I just got a bit emotional."

"Well, I understand.", Shen Tian replied.

To lighten the mood, Shen Tian decided to ask a couple of questions.

"So, what were you doing in the forest? I never had the chance to ask you that earlier."

"Well, I was out on a mission.", Shao Haoran generously responded. "The base I was at usually gives out missions to superpowered humans. In my case, I took a mission where I'm supposed to scout out this forest and determine the volume of zombies here. It was a necessary mission since we don't want zombies to accumulate and group together into a horde. Sometimes, when zombies form a horde, they are powerful enough to trample a small base."

"Are you the only one who went out to scout here? Aren't you supposed to go with a partner, just in case something like what happened to you happens, then you can have someone help you out?"

"Well, that's technically the case in most bases." Shao Haoran shrugged at the mention of a partner. "However, the base I came from was a small base and what we lacked the most, well, aside from food, is manpower. What usually takes two people to finish will be assigned to just one person. Also, not all of the superpowered humans in the base wants to do this kinds of mission so some don't have a choice but to overwork themselves if we want to live safely."

"Oh, I understand.", Shen Tian nodded his head. "Even before the apocalypse, that's just how society is like. Some people prefers to enjoy the fruits of other people's labor, while others are forced to work more than their load just to keep the system running."

Both of them sighed at the same time.

"Are you not going back to your base, then?"

"Well, I do plan to go back to the base. I need to pick up my stuff and also send a report regarding the forest.", Shao Haoran explained and then chuckled. "Most importantly, I need to get my crystal cores that were deposited to the base's bank. I can use those to rent your guest room for a couple more days, that is if you still are open for long-term rental when I come back."

Shen Tian's eyes lit up upon hearing Shao Haoran's words. He definitely welcomes Shao Haoran's plans with open arms!