Chapter 85: Fully Stocked Service Area

Zhang Kaiyang also jumped off and gave the inflatable boat a push deeper into the water—ready to return.

The four of them split into pairs and began their new journey.

Jiang Yuan, with Ye Mianmian in tow, started heading toward the front. She deliberately skipped over the toll station.

This place wasn’t their goal anyway, so there was no point wasting time there. It was more important to hit the service area’s mini-mart first.

There were no streetlights, making everything look creepy, especially with the constant downpour.

Even with a high-powered flashlight, the visibility was dim and grayish.

The rain, falling in odd strands, only added to the gloomy atmosphere.

“Mianmian, why is there not even a single light? It’s so scary.”

Jiang Yuan patted her hand and took hold of Ye Mianmian’s with her other hand as they continued walking.

There was no helping it—in these conditions, any conversation would naturally be loud.

If anyone was around, that would be dangerous. But being pulled along by Jiang Yuan calmed Ye Mianmian, and she followed steadily.

When they entered the service area, it was deserted and desolate. Even Jiang Yuan felt a tinge of fear—this was her first time going out under such circumstances.

The absence of light naturally triggered a primal fear in any normal person.

Jiang Yuan turned off the flashlight. After adjusting her vision for a moment, she could make out the path.

She had been carefully observing earlier. Ye Mianmian was clinging tightly to her hand, clearly nervous.

They crouched under a large tree. After about ten minutes, Jiang Yuan finally stood up.

“Let’s go. It should be safe now.”

Turns out, she had been scouting the area for safety. Ye Mianmian felt more reassured.

Jiang Yuan had her own way of doing things. Now that there were just the two of them, she had to trust her teammate.

She turned the flashlight back on, and the two of them cautiously advanced. Next to the tree was the parking lot of the service area.

They went straight toward the main building. The front entrance was locked—a huge padlock secured with a heavy chain.

It looked intimidating, but really didn’t require much skill to bypass.

“Mianmian, what do we do now?”

Jiang Yuan handed the flashlight to her and pulled a piece of wire from her jacket pocket.

Then came what she thought was a cool little performance. In under a minute—click—the lock popped open.

Ye Mianmian gave her a thumbs up—she hadn’t expected Jiang Yuan to have this kind of skill.

And that speed—easily rivaled Zhang Kaiyang’s. She really was a hidden gem.

The two of them tiptoed in. They had scouted for a while earlier, and it seemed like no one was around.

But that didn’t mean the inside was empty.

Jiang Yuan mimicked Song Yi’s hand signals, and the two of them slipped quickly inside.

They closed the glass door behind them. In a situation like this, confirming the environment’s safety came first.

Just past the glass doors was another sliding door, about two meters in.

It was open at the moment. Both Jiang Yuan and Ye Mianmian were tense, worried someone might be inside.

The darkness forced them to rely on flashlights—without them, nothing was visible.

Inside the main hall, on the left side, there were food stalls—around seven or eight. In the middle, a row of tables and chairs.

Behind that was the convenience store. Further back were the restrooms, and directly opposite was a specialty products counter.

It seemed every service area had this same layout—larger ones just had more stuff.

Jiang Yuan, sensing no immediate danger, pretended to rummage in her backpack while actually pulling out a high-powered floodlight from her storage space.

This was one of her ultimate tools. It could light up 20–30 square meters like it was daytime.

And if you didn’t mind a bit of dimness, it could cover over a hundred square meters easily.

“Holy crap, Yuan-jie, this thing is bright.”

“Hehe, it’s way more convenient this way.”

Convenient was an understatement—suddenly, everything nearby was clearly visible.

“Come on, let’s do a sweep!”

“Okay!”

Ye Mianmian followed, holding her baseball bat in a defensive stance.

They moved through the whole area, checking every corner. With no one in sight, it seemed safe for now.

“Whew, I was so nervous.”

“Don’t let your guard down. This light won’t last forever. We still need to check the gas station later—let’s move quickly.”

“Got it!”

Jiang Yuan placed the floodlight on the mini-mart’s checkout counter.

There were quite a few shelves filled with food and daily-use items.

Since the prices here were usually high, a lot of inventory remained untouched.

Ye Mianmian’s eyes sparkled—so much stuff, and mostly food too!

Plus, there was the specialty goods section across the way.

“Yuan-jie, we really hit the jackpot. When Brother Song and Zhang Kaiyang get here, they’re going to flip!”

“Exactly. Mianmian, do you still have enough bags?”

“Don’t worry, my whole backpack is full of them.”

She pulled her pack off and placed it on the counter, taking out a woven sack and diving into looting with full energy.

Jiang Yuan didn’t waste time either. She had chosen the checkout counter specifically, hoping for extra gains.

The cash drawer was big, secured with a small lock. If not for the noise risk, she’d have smashed it open.

But with a wire in hand, she owned the world.

She picked the lock easily. When she opened the drawer—damn, no wonder the box was so big—it was full of money!

There were at least several tens of thousands in cash, all neatly stacked. Even the coins were plentiful.

Jiang Yuan took the paper bills and stored them. The rest she tossed into a small snack bag nearby.

Bills, coins—she left nothing behind.

Under the counter were more goods: beer, bottled water, and more.

Even heavy lifting wasn’t a problem for her. She hauled everything onto the counter first.

Later, she’d move it all to the wide corridor in the center—more space there.

Ye Mianmian rushed over, having already filled one big sack.

“Yuan-jie, it’s so annoying—those puffed snacks are full of air.
If we let the air out, it might affect the taste later.
But if we don’t, they take up way too much space.”

Right? But what could they do?

“Then keep the puffed snacks in a separate pile.
If we run out of space later, we can poke holes in them.”

“Guess that’s the only way.”

Either way, they had to bring the goods back. Leaving them would be a waste.

If they ever ran out of food, forget taste—even if it had gone stale, they’d still have to eat it!

“There’s so much beer here. Who even sells beer at a highway rest stop? What if someone drinks and drives?”

Jiang Yuan was caught off guard by her odd but adorable comment.

“Who said it’s just for the drivers? What, the staff can’t drink? You’re killing me.”

Ye Mianmian blushed for a second, but seeing that Jiang Yuan hadn’t stopped moving, she grabbed two more large bags and went right back to work.