The SUV from Jianglin Hotel is not just for show; it contains many pieces of high technology waiting for them to discover.
"You’ve been starving for a long time; don’t eat too much all at once. Drink this for now to ease your hunger."
Seeing the man not responding for a long time, Lin Xuyuan said again.
"Is... is this really for me?"
The disbelief in the man’s eyes was evident. Clearly, he found it hard to believe that the bowl of porridge Lin Xuyuan offered was meant for him.
After the outbreak of the apocalypse, food became extremely precious, yet here it was, placed right in front of him.
"Of course, why else would I bring it up? Hurry up and eat. I’m going down to eat too. Just leave the bowl when you’re done; I’ll come back to collect it."
After speaking, Lin Xuyuan jumped out of the car, not caring about how the man would react.
Looking at the thick porridge in front of him, the man was almost moved to tears.
Although Lin Xuyuan had provided a spoon, the man, driven by hunger, picked up the bowl and poured it straight into his mouth.
Burning his mouth was far less important than getting food into his stomach.
In times like this, the only things that really matter are the ones you can get into your stomach.
Anything else could be taken away at any time by someone with ill intentions.
The man gulped down the porridge in one go, feeling warmth in his stomach for the first time in a long while. He couldn’t remember the last time he had such a satisfying meal.
Even though it was just plain porridge, not even a piece of pickled mustard, he found it delicious.
Even many years later, he would still remember the taste of this bowl of porridge.
After getting out of the car, Lin Xuyuan quickly slipped into the tent where they were eating to continue the meal he hadn’t finished earlier.
"How is he? Is that guy doing okay?"
Chu Jiangyue wanted to make sure that the person she worked hard to save wouldn’t succumb to a lack of timely treatment.
"He’s doing okay; he was just starving. I just brought him some porridge. Once he finishes it, he should feel a bit better."
"That’s good. Once he’s back on his feet, we can ask him for compensation."
Given the lifesaving favor extended to him, asking for a little reward doesn’t seem excessive.
In these apocalyptic times, rescuing people for free is something only Saint Mary might do.
Lin Xuyuan glanced at Chu Jiangyue, clearly not expecting such a reaction from her in the end.
"Well... it’s not impossible, but I don’t think he has anything valuable on him."
If he had been wearing a jade pendant around his neck, they could’ve used it to recharge, and maybe it would be worth a few silver coins.
Before, when Lin Xuyuan rubbed snow on the man to warm him up, he had already checked. The man didn’t even have a single Crystal Core, let alone a pendant.
"If he doesn’t have anything, he can owe it first. We’re bound to come across a few frozen zombies on this journey."
If he wasn’t even willing to dig out Crystal Cores from frozen zombies, then Chu Jiangyue thought he wasn’t worth saving.
Hearing Chu Jiangyue’s words, Lin Xuyuan knew what to do.
But now wasn’t the time to talk about these things. After eating, Jiang He packed all the dirty bowls and chopsticks into his space.
There was no time or means to clean these tablewares now, but solving it all at once when they returned to Jianglin Hotel would be okay.
With everything packed up, Chu Jiangyue returned to her tent.
In the car, the man still didn’t realize that for a period to come, he was on a path of "repaying his debt," from which there was no return.
An uneventful night passed.
At the break of dawn, Chu Jiangyue woke up, and Shen Zhigui and the others soon emerged from the tent as well.
After a quick wash and breakfast, the group got back into the vehicle.
Once inside, seeing the man they saved yesterday, Chu Jiangyue remembered they hadn’t asked his name.
"Hi, I forgot to ask yesterday. What’s your name, and where are you from?"
"My name is Rong Zhaowen. Thank you so much for yesterday!"
If it weren’t for them, Rong Zhaowen knew he probably wouldn’t have made it this far.
"No need to thank us; it was just a small gesture."
Chu Jiangyue waved a hand, not thinking such a small thing was worth mentioning.
"Where were you living before? We’re heading to H Province; we can drop you off on the way."
If she could find a survivor’s settlement through Rong Zhaowen, that rescue would truly be worth it.
"I..."
Rong Zhaowen hesitated, unsure if he should reveal where he’d been living.
If these people had ill intentions, they would have no means to resist.
Seeing Rong Zhaowen’s hesitation, Chu Jiangyue understood. "No worries, if you don’t want to say, you don’t have to. Let me officially introduce myself. I’m Chu Jiangyue, the owner of a hotel.
The hotel currently has plenty of vacant rooms, with water and electricity, a restaurant, and a grocery store inside.
If you and your companions would like to come, we can go pick you up now."
The main purpose of going to H Province was to expand their customer base.
If Rong Zhaowen had more potential guests, Chu Jiangyue definitely wouldn’t miss out.
After all, when it comes to guests, the more the better!
The more Rong Zhaowen listened, the more incredible it seemed.
"You... opened a hotel?"
Rong Zhaowen clearly couldn’t believe it. Who in their right mind would open a hotel these days? Isn’t that just inviting people to come and steal your resources!
"Here’s the hotel’s flyer. Tearing off the top left corner can shield against extreme cold weather for 7 days, and each person can only use one.
I’ll give you 100 of them, and you can distribute them to whoever you want.
If you believe me, tear off the top left corner of the flyer and follow its instructions.
When you arrive, you’ll recognize it; my hotel is very noticeable."
On an empty plain, Jianglin Hotel is the only building, of course it’s noticeable.
Not to mention, with the extreme cold and constant snow, the outside is all white, but Jianglin Hotel’s lawn remains verdant green.
"Is everything you’re saying true?"
Rong Zhaowen felt the development of events was somewhat surreal. One moment, he was worried Chu Jiangyue and her group might harm them, and the next, he was receiving gifts?
Even though the function of this thing sounded quite far-fetched.
"Do you think I’d use such a flimsy lie on you? Or do you want to try out the car yourself? Don’t you feel warm inside?
Once you become a guest of the hotel, you can have this too."
Of course, just in a rental form.
"I can have a car too?"
Ever since the apocalypse, Rong Zhaowen regretted not buying a car sooner as it made traveling inconvenient.
Just like this time, if not for bumping into Chu Jiangyue, he would’ve lost his life here.
"As long as you diligently kill zombies and keep money in your account, you can keep driving as long as you want."
Truthfully, Rong Zhaowen was really tempted.
What boy wouldn’t want a car they could drive themselves?
"If you don’t believe me, you can get off and tear open the flyer now to test it."