Chapter 99 – A Comforting Hot Pot Meal

“And you two need to be extra careful these days. Best to place something heavy against the door.
And when you sleep at night, keep your guard up.”

Ye Mianmian nodded and kept Jiang Yuan’s advice in mind.

“Yes, and we also need to strengthen our bodies. You never know when we might need to rely on ourselves.”

Right now, they were the ones holding the most supplies—not just in the building, but probably the wealthiest people in the entire neighborhood.
They had to understand the principle: “An innocent man gets into trouble for holding treasure.”

“Yuan-jie, don’t worry, we’ll stay alert for sure.”

“Good!”

Being willing to listen was a sign of a good kid—and meant there was still a chance they could all keep working together.

The four of them worked to move everything upstairs. Since it was just one floor, it went a lot faster.
In just over ten minutes, everything was done, and everyone returned to their own rooms.

After running around and working hard for so long, everyone was exhausted. It was time to rest.

As soon as Jiang Yuan walked in, her mom greeted her immediately. She’d wanted to go downstairs earlier but was too worried about Xiaonuan to leave.

“Sweetie, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom. See? All good.”

Jiang Xingzhi didn’t look too happy either. He sat at the table silently.

“You always act so reliable, yet you ran off alone and even made the others hide it from us! You’re going to be the death of me!”

Great, there was no escaping this family trial.

“Mom, my dearest mother, your daughter is tired and starving—can we postpone the scolding for just a bit?”

Her soft plea instantly melted Qin Yue’s anger, replacing it with concern. She hurried into the kitchen to make her some noodles.

Jiang Xingzhi sighed, not sure what to say.

“Dad, I know you were worried about me—just like I was worried about you and Mom. It’s one thing if nothing happens, but if something had happened, I’d be heartbroken.
We’re family. I’m an adult now. My feelings for you and Mom are just as deep as yours are for me and Xiaonuan.
If it had been you missing for a long time, would you expect me not to look for you?”

“Ah…”

Jiang Xingzhi let out a deep sigh. His daughter really had grown up.

“I can’t argue with that. But promise me, there must never be a next time.
Sweetie, I’m old now—I can’t protect you the way I used to. I’ve lived a long life. I’ve had my time.
But you—please, never risk yourself like this again for anything.”

His heartfelt words hit her hard.

Jiang Yuan shook her head, answering seriously, “Dad, don’t say that. You’re not old at all. We all depend on you. You’re the pillar of this family.
Even if the same thing happens again in the future, I’ll still go out and look for you. We’re family—we stick together, no matter what.”

Her eyes turned red as she spoke.

In her last life, she had let her parents down.
In this life, she was determined to make up for it.

“Ah, sweetie… I didn’t dote on you for nothing.”

The touching moment was interrupted by a steaming bowl of tomato and egg noodles.

Qin Yue even brought over a few small pickled side dishes. Jiang Yuan wolfed it down quickly. Her father told her mom to get some rest too.

Jiang Yuan also wanted to go to bed soon—she had a lot more to deal with later.

By now, it was already close to noon. She told her mom not to wake her for lunch unless it was something urgent, then went to her room.

As always, her mom prepared two hot water bottles—one for her feet and one to hug.
The familiar warmth and scent made her drowsy, and she fell asleep within minutes.

Jiang Xingzhi also went to rest, while Qin Yue, unable to stay idle, made food for Xiaonuan and told her to go nap with Jiang Yuan.

No choice—Grandpa snored, and it would mess up the little one’s nap.

When Qin Yue entered the room, Jiang Yuan instinctively pulled her daughter into her arms.

“Mommy, I love you…”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now sleep, baby…”

Content and cozy, Xiaonuan snuggled in her mother’s arms. She’d been well-behaved while her mom was gone.

The two slept until 7 p.m., curled up together, warm and peaceful.
When Jiang Yuan got up, she helped Xiaonuan to the bathroom and freshened up a bit before heading out.

The moment she opened the door, she was hit by a delicious aroma. Her stomach immediately rumbled.

“Mom, are you making hot pot?”

“Yes! Go wash your hands, it’s ready.”

Jiang Yuan was thrilled. Qin Yue had prepared everything.

There’s a saying: “A child with a mom is a treasure.” That’s exactly how she felt now.

“I saw the veggies were all still very fresh, and we can’t eat them all at once anyway.
It’s been ages since we had hot pot, so I thought we’d treat ourselves just this once.”

In truth, she wanted to reward both her daughter and husband for all their hard work.

“Awesome, Mom—it smells amazing!”

The hot pot was a yin-yang style, bubbling away.
The spicy side used a store-bought base, and the clear side was made from homemade bone broth.

Qin Yue had even prepared a whole bucket of bone soup, saying it would turn to jelly in the cold and could be reheated for noodles—delicious and nutritious.

There was a variety of fresh leafy greens: romaine, chrysanthemum greens, baby bok choy, lettuce, Shanghai greens, and their homegrown bean sprouts—plump and crisp.

Other ingredients included sliced potatoes, green bamboo shoots, rehydrated golden needles, tofu skin, wood ear mushrooms, and seaweed strips.
The variety was wide, though each item was modest in quantity—more than enough for the whole family.

She also brought out plenty of hot pot meatballs they had stockpiled.
There was a good amount of beef—not fatty slices, but thick, marinated chunks—and her personal favorite: beef tripe.

Tonight, they were definitely going to eat until they were stuffed.

“Sweetie, make your own dipping sauce. Here’s chopped scallion and cilantro.”

“Got it~!”

The whole family gathered happily around the table.
At the end, they even tossed in some hand-pulled noodles to finish.

Since the apocalypse began, their family had been eating relatively well—but this was the most heartwarming meal they’d had yet.

All the exhaustion vanished.

“Oh right, Dad—did you guys find another mini-mart later?”

“Yeah, that brat Song Yi must’ve mentioned it.”

“Mm, just briefly. He didn’t give many details.”

Jiang Yuan was honest. She was quite interested in that mini-mart.

“We went to get a liquefied gas tank and passed by a construction site. Turned out, there was a small market there.”

A market at a construction site?

“But that whole area’s flooded—how could anyone still be there?”

“Sweetie, you don’t understand. When big buildings go up, there are often makeshift shops set up inside construction sites.
They’re basic setups—easy to pack and leave.
Without connections, you can’t even get in.
The workers make good money doing hard labor, so they’re willing to spend.”

Since Jiang Yuan worked in building materials, she understood perfectly.

“Seems like the store had just moved in. We ran into it by pure chance.
There was quite a bit inside—lots of unopened goods. We really lucked out.
The only thing is… if the owners find out later, they might not be too happy.”