“Xiao Yu-jie, the people you caught were handed over to the law enforcement team, and you got two hundred contribution points for it. You can check your account at the workstation later with your life card,” said the chubby man.

The life card had been issued to Yu Xifeng when she bought her house. It was similar to the old campus cafeteria cards.

Yu Xifeng nodded.

This area, where Sister Yun lived, wasn’t very populated yet. Being underground, the temperature was quite a bit higher than on the surface.

But it was still around minus twenty degrees Celsius. The area was wide open and deserted, which made it feel even colder and more desolate.

The canned fruit Yu Xifeng brought was split into three bowls and placed on the dining table.

The chubby man rubbed his hands together. “I haven’t tasted this in ages.”

Yu Xifeng said, “It’ll be a bit cold to eat straight. Should we heat it on the stove?”

“It’s fine cold. Heating canned fruit ruins the flavor,” he replied.

Sister Yun chuckled. “Don’t mind him. That stomach of his could digest poison. During the rainy spell, I had some meat go bad but couldn’t bear to throw it away. I cooked it and shared it with him. I ended up running to the bathroom for two days—he was completely fine.”

She took the canned fruit in front of Yu Xifeng. “We’ll heat ours up. Don’t eat too cold or your stomach will complain.”

Just as the chubby man had said, heating the canned fruit did dull the flavor.

Sister Yun took a bite and sighed. “It’s been so long since I had anything fruity. The last time was at Zhao Yao’s place. The tomatoes were sour, but just thinking about them makes my mouth water.”

The chubby man only had a few bites before dumping the rest into Sister Yun’s bowl. “Too sweet for me. You eat it.”

Before the catastrophe, he had worked in a company cafeteria.

After the heavy rains, the place was flooded.

He was put on unpaid leave and started hustling as a middleman to make a living.

The goods Sister Yun got were through his connections.

One was a widower, the other a widow—they ended up together over time.

Not long ago, Sister Yun heard about the underground shelter and had him transfer his job there.

Now, he was working at the shelter kitchen—not as head chef, but helping out.

Looking around, he pulled a small bag of tripe from the drawer on his right and added it to the instant noodle soup.

“Some leftover scraps from the kitchen,” he winked.

No wonder people say that even in a three-year drought, a cook won’t starve. Yu Xifeng couldn’t help but smile.

Besides the instant noodles as a staple, he had also whipped up two side dishes—stir-fried shredded pork with mushrooms and a farmhouse-style “one-bowl delight.”

“I’ve got a way to get a bit of pork. Want some, Xiao Yu-jie?”

That nickname “Xiao Yu-jie” made Yu Xifeng feel a bit awkward.

He followed Sister Yun’s lead in calling her “Xiao Yu,” which was fine given their age difference, but the way he added “jie”—and said it with such exaggerated reverence—made her feel like digging herself into a hole.

She’d tried stopping him once, but he kept at it, so she gave up and just focused on eating.

To be fair, his cooking was quite good. Even though seasoning was limited, he brought out the best of the ingredients.

Especially that farmhouse-style one-bowl dish—the egg skin was crispy and golden, the green peppers weren’t bitter at all, and the meat slices, though thin, looked generous.

It was both flavorful and visually appealing.

“You’re really talented,” Yu Xifeng admitted. She couldn’t compare to that herself. Thankfully, she could still occasionally satisfy her cravings with pre-apocalypse delivery meals she had stockpiled.

The chubby man lowered his voice, speaking regretfully. “It’s from a livestock farm. They won’t take money—only gold.”

If it were money, he could trade other things for it.

“From a livestock farm?” That caught Yu Xifeng’s attention. “Do they have piglets?”

He jumped. “What do you want piglets for? Who can afford to raise pigs these days?”

If the farm hadn’t been at its breaking point, they wouldn’t be letting go of so much pork.

Yu Xifeng brushed it off. “Just asking for a friend.”

“I’ll check for you,” he said. “The farm’s run by a classmate of one of my childhood friends. They’re planning to clear out their stock and quit. If they’ve got piglets, I’ll keep an eye out.”

Yu Xifeng thought about it. Since he worked in the underground shelter, he definitely knew more people than she did.

“There’s something else.”

She asked him to help keep an eye out for an old man surnamed Cai who might’ve come to the shelter recently.

“They’re letting people into the shelter by district now. Do you know which district he’s from? That’d help narrow things down,” he said.

Yu Xifeng hesitated, then shook her head.

All she knew was that his surname was Cai. She didn’t even know his full name.

She described what he usually wore in her previous life and emphasized that he practiced martial arts—Tai Chi, every morning and evening, rain or shine.

The chubby man said, “Old folks doing Tai Chi? Not saying it’s ten out of ten, but at least three or four out of ten do. He’ll be hard to find.”

“This Cai old man really knew what he was doing.”

Yu Xifeng took out a box of calcium tablets and a bottle of vitamin D from her pocket, offering them as a token.

Nowadays, relying on fruit for vitamins was a luxury.

If she didn’t have that one growable flower bed, even her hoarded fruit would be dwindling quickly.

His eyes lit up. He rubbed his nose and glanced at Sister Yun, clearly tempted but a bit embarrassed.

“Alright, no problem. Finding an old man? Leave it to me,” he said, thumping his chest. “If you ever need anything else from Fatty here, just say the word.”

“Well, I’ll still need you to ask about the piglets,” Yu Xifeng said.

“Sure I’ll ask,” he said, shaking his head. “But it’s tough to raise anything these days. I heard from Sister Yun you used to have a cat? Couldn’t bring it with you, huh. I used to have a dog. That dog was so clever—could sit, shake hands, even understood human speech. Smarter than some people, I tell you. Before I went to the outskirts, I cooked him a big bowl of rice. I think he knew I was letting him go—he wouldn’t eat it, just barked at me.

“What could I do? I couldn’t afford to feed him anymore. During the floods, people kept begging me to give them dog meat. When I refused, they cursed me. Some even tried poisoning him by leaving rat bait outside my door.”

Yu Xifeng didn’t explain what had happened to Little Orange. She just listened quietly.

“My dog was a great mouser. I figure he wouldn’t starve out there. Just hope he avoids people from now on,” the chubby man sighed.

The meal lasted until two in the afternoon. The three of them ended up playing poker.

This time, instead of sunflower seeds as betting chips, they used paper slips.

They tore one piece of paper into dozens of strips—each time someone lost, they had to stick a slip to their face.

After more than ten rounds, Sister Yun’s face remained clean. Meanwhile, the chubby man and Yu Xifeng were locked in a fierce battle for second place.

Sister Yun looked at her hand, then at the table, fully aware of the cards in play between the two of them.