Chapter 9: Mutant Beast Jerky

Early in the morning, after coming back from the market, Nan Tu had brought back several large green carp and a bag of fresh river shrimp.

Xin Huan helped her unload the goods. Looking at the large, still wriggling carp, she curiously poked the fish’s body. The powerful tail of the carp whipped up a splash of water, which splattered right onto Xin Huan’s face. She didn’t get angry at all and even found it amusing.

“It’s been years since I’ve seen live fish this big.”

Nan Tu was also curious about Xin Huan’s living environment. “What kind of meat do you usually eat in your place?”

“The cheapest and most commonly eaten is mutant beast meat,” Xin Huan explained in detail. “Mutant beast meat has to be obtained through mercenary hunting. In the city, it’s forbidden to raise mutant beasts, even the less aggressive kinds, to prevent beast tide outbreaks.”

“Mercenaries risk their lives entering the Anjin Desert. What they hope for most is to collect many crystal cores, which are high in value and easy to carry. But not every trip is fruitful. If they don’t find enough, they’ll bring back the carcasses of non-toxic mutant beasts instead, which still fetch a decent price. During the breeding season every year, mutant beast meat is the cheapest. A senior sister in the team once told me that it’s a good time to stock up. After all, dried meat can last a long time.”

As a cook, Nan Tu was, of course, very interested in unknown ingredients.

“What does mutant beast meat taste like?” Nan Tu pressed down on the wildly struggling fish head and knocked it out with the back of her knife.

Xin Huan watched from the side. She felt like fish-killing should be her job. Unfortunately, she hadn’t even seen a few live fish in her life, let alone killed one. Once she learned, Nan Tu wouldn’t have to bother with these chores anymore.

Upon hearing Nan Tu’s question, she looked troubled. “Different types of mutant beasts have different flavors, but all of them taste bad. Tough, sour, fishy, stinky, or completely tasteless like wood…”

Xin Huan held up two fingers. “Each kind of meat has at least two of those qualities.”

Nan Tu gave her a sympathetic look. “Forget about those dried meats. We’re having three-delicacy wontons for lunch.”

“Yay! I love them!” After cheering, Xin Huan weakly asked, “What are the three delicacies in three-delicacy wontons?”

“Then what were you cheering for?” Nan Tu said helplessly. “The three delicacies are pork, river shrimp, and fish.”

“I love them. Sister Nan Tu, I love everything you make!”

Although three-delicacy wontons taste great, they’re very complicated to make. Not only does the green carp need to be deboned to get clean meat, but the river shrimp must also be peeled one by one. River shrimp are tiny, and the peeled meat is only the size of a fingernail. If it weren’t for Xin Huan’s help, Nan Tu would spend the whole day just working on the wonton filling and wouldn’t be able to do anything else.

Once all the ingredients were ready, Nan Tu chopped the cleaned fresh pork leg and green carp meat into rice-sized bits, added the river shrimp and other seasonings, and mixed them thoroughly into a filling.

“Place the wrapper diagonally on your palm… scoop some filling in.” Nan Tu carefully taught Xin Huan how to wrap wontons.

Xin Huan stared intently at Nan Tu’s movements, only continuing to the next step after she was sure she saw clearly. She folded one corner of the wrapper over the filling, forming a triangular wonton in her hand. What was the next step?

Nan Tu’s wonton-wrapping movements flowed smoothly like drifting clouds and flowing water. Her fair fingers moved like butterflies among flowers. It wasn’t until she slowed down that Xin Huan saw clearly that it was just bringing the two ends of the folded corner together. After completing this step, the ingot-shaped wonton in her palm was done.

“I’m done wrapping it!” Xin Huan beamed with a big smile.

Nan Tu praised her. “It’s wrapped very well!”

Although the restaurant wasn’t open for business yet, this was the perfect time to wrap wontons. Wrapping all the filling was best. If they could sell them all, great. If not, they could be frozen in the freezer and used later as staff meals. When Nan Tu and Xin Huan were too busy to cook, they could just take out wontons, cook them as needed, and it would be very convenient.

But that plan didn’t come to pass.

Just as the raw wontons were neatly lined up on the prep counter, Nan Tu heard the crisp sound of a wind chime.

A repeat customer from the post-apocalyptic plane had arrived.

Ji Xiangming strode in holding a machine gun and thrust it forward. “Give us enough food and water, and this gun is yours!”

What would she need a machine gun for?! Nan Tu paused as she held a wrapper and said speechlessly, “Uncle, where’s your gold?”

Ji Xiangming’s face flushed slightly. Gold? Of course, it had been exchanged for a gun. Last time he lost his weapon in the Anjin Desert, and when he got back, he traded his gold bars for a new gun. After working as a mercenary for a while, Ji Xiangming had come to deeply understand the meaning of gain and loss. As long as he was alive, there was nothing he couldn’t part with.

“No gold? Crystal cores are also acceptable as payment.” Nan Tu wiped her hands and gently patted Xin Huan on the shoulder, who had rushed forward in a protective stance the moment Ji Xiangming appeared.

“Don’t worry, he’s a customer.”

Only then did Xin Huan cautiously watch Ji Xiangming and slowly step aside.

“I’ve got crystal cores!” another voice came from the doorway.

It looked like they had quite a few customers this time. Nan Tu’s mood quickly brightened, and she even forgot Ji Xiangming’s rash behavior.

“What would you all like to eat? Today’s special is three-delicacy wontons,” Nan Tu glanced at the system-recommended price, “only one second-tier crystal core per bowl.”

She took in everyone’s expressions, not even missing Xin Huan’s.

A second-tier crystal core was equivalent to one hundred yuan here. But what was its value in the post-apocalyptic plane? Would anyone think it was too expensive?

Xie Wei’s expression remained calm. She was even surprised by how low the price was. In their situation, what they were paying for wasn’t just food—it was their lives.

Wontons were great. They came with broth and filling, could fill the stomach, and replenished water too. She pulled out two third-tier crystal cores. “There are seven of us. We’ll take seven bowls of three-delicacy wontons first.”

“Sorry, this shop doesn’t give change.” Nan Tu said.

Finally, there was a somewhat pushy demand. Xie Wei actually felt relieved. If, upon entering this mysterious restaurant, they were met with meticulous hospitality, anyone would immediately become suspicious and think it was an elaborate trap. With the other party acting a bit rude, she actually felt more at ease.

“Then make it ten bowls.” Ji Xiangming was already familiar with the rule. They were all big-eating mercenaries. Seven people eating ten bowls of wontons would be a breeze.

Nan Tu turned around to cook the wontons.

Xin Huan was a little excited. This was her first time serving customers from the same plane as her. She really wanted everyone to know how amazing Nanlai Restaurant was and how incredible the boss’s cooking skills were.

“Aren’t the others coming in?” She looked toward the door. Clearly, it was a seven-person mercenary team, so why did only two come in?

They were obviously afraid of putting everyone at risk if danger appeared. Xie Wei’s expression didn’t change as she explained, “Someone in the team is injured and smells strongly of blood. We didn’t want to disturb the shop owner.”

Xin Huan felt that Xie Wei was very considerate of the restaurant, and couldn’t help but feel closer to her. She even said proactively, “You’re very thoughtful.”

She glanced at Ji Xiangming with slight reproach. “Uncle, it’s lucky there weren’t other customers around. If you barged in here with a gun like that, you might have scared someone!”

Xin Huan muttered to herself, “I need to remind Sister Nan Tu to set some rules…”

Xie Wei tested the waters. “Does this place serve other customers too?”

“Of course. As long as someone walks through the door, we serve them. There are guests like you from Tianling City and others from different places. As long as they can pay, they’re our customers.”

She quietly hinted, “Although the boss has a gentle personality, if someone affects the restaurant’s business, she’ll get angry too.”

Xie Wei and Ji Xiangming exchanged looks. From the way this staff member spoke, it sounded like this little restaurant in the desert had all sorts of customers. And some might even be scared of guns? Kids in Tianling City weren’t even scared of guns by the age of three.

Her gaze froze, and she suddenly realized something—if the boss had the ability to make a restaurant appear out of nowhere in the Anjin Desert, then making the restaurant appear somewhere else wasn’t that hard to understand either, right?

She and Ji Xiangming both stared intently at the front shutter door that hadn’t yet been pulled open. Their mercenary experience kept them constantly aware of their surroundings, and their hearing was particularly sharp. Outside the door came dragging footsteps, occasional murmurs and laughter, the low rumble of vehicles, and even faint cries of street vendors.

What lay behind this door?

It was definitely not the Anjin Desert!

Both of them stiffened, sitting on pins and needles. Their instincts told them that pretending to be deaf and dumb and not digging deeper was the best option.

What interrupted their thoughts was a faint, fresh aroma that gently stirred their appetite.

One by one, the plump and full wontons floated and tumbled in the pot. The rising steam was like a veil of mystery. The wontons were like small boats sailing through waves and mist. Their voyage soon ended as Nan Tu gently scooped them up and placed them into bowls.

The chicken broth in the other pot had already come to a boil. Nan Tu ladled a spoonful and poured it into the bowl. The soup gushed down, mixing with the egg shreds, seaweed, and chopped cilantro that had been placed in the bowl earlier. A more complex, rich fragrance immediately wafted up.

Unable to resist, Xie Wei stood up and walked straight to the serving window. “I’ll bring it out for everyone.”

Ji Xiangming quickly stood up to help.

Back in the Anjin Desert, the other team members were still huddled in the restaurant’s shadow, staring unblinkingly at the main door not far away.

Why hadn’t Old Ji and Xie Wei come out yet? Should they go in and check?

Under their anxious gaze, the door finally opened. Xie Wei and Ji Xiangming hurriedly rushed out, each holding a bowl, and shoved it into their teammates’ hands. “Hurry, take it!”

Pan Yang quickly took the bowl and said cautiously, “Which way should we run?”

Xie Wei was stunned. “Why would we run?”

Pan Yang didn’t get it. “You two came rushing out like that. Isn’t it because there’s danger…?”

“…” Xie Wei said, “I was rushing because the bowl is hot.”

She added, “You shouldn’t be standing around either. Come in and help bring out the wontons.”

Pan Yang dazedly walked in, dazedly helped distribute the wontons to his teammates, then dazedly sat down with Xie Wei and the others at a table in the Nanlai Restaurant.

“Can we really eat this?” He licked his dry lips.

The answer came in the form of the loud slurping sounds from Xie Wei and Ji Xiangming devouring the three-delicacy wontons.