Chapter 67 Improved Fare

Twenty eggs went into the pan. As soon as the egg mixture began to set, he added diced ham and stir-fried briskly.

“Rice,” he called.

His elder sister, Jingru, hurried over with the cooled rice.

“Put it in,” he ordered.

She upended over a dozen boxes of rice into the pan. Fang Xia kept stirring until every grain was separated and fluffy.

Next came the shrimp, followed by more stirring. Because Fang Xia cooked in large quantities, it took a bit longer each time. Finally, he added salt, soy sauce, and other seasonings, sprinkling a touch of chili powder on top.

The fragrance drifted through the courtyard.

“Someone come dish out the rice—let the girls on break have a taste.”

The young women waiting nearby looked as if they could cry from longing. It had been so long since they’d eaten anything so aromatic. Before joining Fang Xia’s group, they’d barely eaten six meals in three days. Now, at least the rice balls were enough, but they hadn’t tasted anything truly flavorful in a long time.

“Yunyun, come here and organize people to serve rice,” he directed.

The little girl ran over, followed by several young women, each carrying a stack of bowls.

As for how to divide it so everyone could eat without chaos, that wasn’t Fang Xia’s concern. With Liu Rui in charge, everything would be fine.

After the first batch of shrimp fried rice was ready, even the girls fighting zombies seemed invigorated, their speed increasing noticeably.

For the second batch, Fang Xia decided on luncheon meat fried rice.

Today, he would serve as the head chef for logistics.

“Jingru, you’re sneaking food,” he accused.

His idle sister had managed to slip away with a bowl when Fang Xia wasn’t looking. Though she’d eaten hotpot with rice every day, this freshly stir-fried rice with all the seasonings was even more tempting. The chili powder on top made her mouth water.

“Jingru, go serve your little sister some,” he said.

Everyone else was busy; only she was causing trouble.

With a look of aggrieved innocence, Jingru scooped a heaping bowl. But instead of taking it to her younger sister, she went over to Liu Rui.

“Sister Rui, eat while it’s hot!”

Fang Xia couldn’t help but laugh. This girl was using his cooking to curry favor.

He let her be and turned back to his pan. With over four hundred young women to feed, each needing a bowl, he was in for a long day.

As the saying goes, the more you eat fried rice, the more energy you have.

After eating, the girls returned to the front, attacking zombies with renewed strength. Bai Xing lingered on the edge of the battlefield, vigilant against casualties.

Any sacrifice would cost them 110 first-tier evolution crystals—each one was money.

“Long live Brother Fang!” someone shouted.

By three in the morning, not a single zombie was left in sight.

No one knew who started it, but all the girls couldn’t help cheering together.

Not a single casualty in this battle.

“An hour to clear the field, then rest,” Fang Xia instructed.

“Liu Rui, hand out a bottle of cola to each person—if they don’t like it, they can choose another drink.”

Moved by their cheers, Fang Xia waved a hand, distributing nearly five hundred drinks.

With these people around, Fang Xia never worried about supplies.

The rest no longer required his attention. Leaving the little girl to oversee things, Fang Xia and the others returned to the second floor.

“Bath time!” someone exclaimed.

There were more bathtubs now, one in every room on the second floor. But tonight, the tub in Fang Xia’s room seemed less suitable—there was an extra person.

Ignoring the sidelong glances of the others, Fang Xia boldly pulled Liu Rui and Bai Xing into his room.

He’d barely taken out a pack of cigarettes to ponder when, in the brief time it took to grab some clothes, the bathroom door had been locked from within.

Hearing the sound of the two women splashing inside, Fang Xia took a deep drag…

At eight in the morning, Fang Xia opened his eyes.

To his left, Bai Xing lay sprawled across his arm, her long legs stretched wide in a most unladylike fashion.

To his right, Liu Rui slept much more demurely, clinging tightly to Fang Xia, her soft chest pressed against his arm—a most delightful sensation.

Hmm… on closer inspection, Liu Rui seemed even more voluptuous than Bai Xing.

In the end, neither woman had managed to escape last night, and both were still asleep.

Fang Xia gently extricated his numb arms, but the movement roused Liu Rui.

Her long lashes fluttered, and a few seconds later her eyes opened, still hazy with sleep. She looked at Fang Xia in surprise, her beautiful eyes blinking as if to ask what was happening.

Unable to resist, Fang Xia kissed her deeply.

A long moment passed before their lips parted.

At some point, Bai Xing had also awoken and was lying on her side, watching them.

Blushing, Liu Rui ducked under the covers.

“All right, time to get up,” Fang Xia announced.

By eight thirty, all the young women had assembled.

The city was already stirring—those civilians they sheltered were more eager than ever.

Fighting zombies was out of the question for them—never in their lives would they manage that. All they could do was scramble for airdrop crates.

But today, the city wasn’t Fang Xia’s main focus. Now that everyone was prepared, his group of several hundred people couldn’t compete in the scramble anyway.

“Brother Fang, this is Li Yi, my roommate. She’ll be in charge of things inside the city today,” Yunyun reported, bringing over a pure-looking young woman.

“Hello, Brother Fang,” Li Yi greeted him.

Fang Xia nodded.

“Lead the team in the city today, and be careful. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get the crates.”

After offending Lone Wolf so thoroughly yesterday, it was hard to say if he’d try to retaliate today.

But from what Fang Xia knew, unless he died, at most Lone Wolf would resort to petty tricks.

“Don’t worry, Brother Fang,” Li Yi replied earnestly.

Other than Liu Rui and Yunyun, everyone else was going with Fang Xia outside the city. Over the next few days, he needed to confirm the number of third-tier zombies nearby and find a suitable place for a temporary base.

Don’t be fooled by the lack of third-tier zombies in Dawn City now; Fang Xia was certain there were plenty outside the city walls.

Within their territory, zombies were usually wiped out each night. Any that slipped through would be dispatched by the scattered civilians. They didn’t dare confront zombie hordes, but ganging up on a lone zombie was within their abilities—otherwise, none of them would have survived this long.

There was still a stretch of road between their territory and the city outskirts, but it too was thick with zombies.

The young women were already well-practiced; they didn’t even need Fang Xia’s instructions anymore. Each team leader took charge, making things much easier.

“Brother Fang, that bridge is going to be trouble,” someone warned.

They had to cross a large bridge to leave the city, which Fang Xia had already scouted last time.

Though still some distance away, the dense horde of zombies on the bridge made everyone gasp.

With such little space, fighting would be difficult—one wrong move, and someone might fall.

Fang Xia pondered for a moment, then pulled several crates of alcohol from his storage space.

If only he had gasoline, but alcohol would have to do.

“Does anyone have a large container? The bigger, the better,” he called out.

A response came immediately, and one of the young women ran over.