Chapter 15: Braised Pork with Sauce

In the past few days, the sales of Nanlai Restaurant have repeatedly reached new highs.

The neighborhood folks did come to show support because Nan Tu was the granddaughter of Nan Yuanhai, that was true, but it was not as if everyone had no mouths or no tongues. The food at Nanlai Restaurant was indeed delicious, and that was not fake, not to mention the old ties from the past.

So when they returned home, they either told their family and friends about the great flavors they had enjoyed, or when walking around the neighborhood, they praised Nanlai Restaurant to the neighbors. Of course, they also appeared often as customers themselves.

The business was booming, but Xin Huan noticed that sometimes Nan Tu would have a hint of worry on her face. Though it disappeared quickly, it wasn’t her imagination. This usually happened when she looked toward the back door and the wind chimes hanging there.

Xin Huan understood. It was because the back door hadn’t moved at all.

Nan Tu simply felt that she had just discussed terms with the system. The transaction fees were waived, and the price for the crystal cores had gone up. Yet so many days had passed, but no customers from the different worlds had shown up. That didn’t seem right.

But whether there were customers wasn’t up to Nan Tu.

She quickly thought about the group of people who had come to the restaurant not long ago. Among them, the young woman named Xie Wei had asked Nan Tu whether she could disclose Nanlai Restaurant’s location to others. Nan Tu had agreed, as she was hoping that more people from the apocalyptic world would learn about Nanlai Restaurant. Otherwise, relying solely on accidental visits, there wouldn’t be many customers all year.

It had been a while since their group had left. Had Xie Wei forgotten about this? Or was it that no one wanted to believe there was such a restaurant deep in the desert?

As if she knew what Nan Tu was thinking, Xin Huan suddenly stood up with a serious face. “Sister Nan Tu, are you worried that there are too few customers from the other side? I can go back to Tianling City and tell everyone about Nanlai Restaurant, so all the mercenaries can come here.”

Nan Tu naturally disagreed. Mercenaries usually traveled in groups to face the mutant beasts. How could Xin Huan travel alone through the dangerous Anjin Desert to get back to Tianling City? Even if she did, Xie Wei had already been there. If Xie Wei’s words hadn’t been trusted, would Xin Huan’s be believed?

So Nan Tu didn’t mention the difficulties. She didn’t want Xin Huan to act impulsively. Instead, she said, “But I can’t be without you for a day.”

After hearing this, Xin Huan couldn’t help but smile foolishly.

Well… that wasn’t wrong. She did help Sister Nan Tu a lot in the restaurant, hehe.

Nan Tu saw that she had no intention of leaving, so she pulled her down to sit and slowly explained the situation of Nanlai Restaurant.

“In your opinion, where does our restaurant stand in the entire Anjin Desert?”

Xin Huan thought for a moment: “It’s not very close to Tianling City, but it’s also not deep within the Anjin Desert. The desert is just so vast.”

Not too far, not too close, this was actually an advantage.

If it were too far from Tianling City, no one would come. If it were too close, it might not be a good thing either. After all, Nan Tu’s dishes weren’t cheap. People who had lived through long periods of disaster were financially tight. Why would they choose Nanlai Restaurant when they could eat affordable and filling dried beast meat?

Xin Huan understood what Nan Tu was worrying about. So, she racked her brain and spilled out all the information she thought could benefit the restaurant.

“The mercenaries who came to the restaurant before weren’t really here for the three-delicacy wontons. They were just running low on drinking water and saw Nanlai Restaurant as a place to resupply.”

They were too scared of Nan Tu’s identity and dared not bring up the water issue, but Xin Huan saw through their thoughts and told Nan Tu, which is why they got their water bags filled.

“Although the Anjin Desert is vast, the routes that mercenaries travel are mostly fixed. One of these routes is not far from our restaurant. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have walked here after my teammates left me behind,” Xin Huan said cautiously. “If mercenaries spend a certain number of crystal cores, we can give them the most valuable resource in the desert—drinking water. That way, everyone will be willing to come.”

“And it would prevent situations where teammates abandon each other due to lack of resources,” Xin Huan’s voice gradually lowered.

“Your suggestion is very useful.” Nan Tu patted her shoulder in reassurance.

At this moment, the system also spoke up: [The anchor point of the restaurant within a 50-meter radius is affected by spatial fluctuations and will not attract mutated beasts.]

This was also quite useful. Nan Tu fell into deep thought.

———

In the Anjin Desert, a group of people was heading towards Nanlai Restaurant.

This group of mercenaries appeared to be relatively young, all just over twenty years old. Their eyes were full of vitality and energy, far from the seasoned mercenaries who had been in the desert for seven or eight years.

The oldest among them was Bao Heng, who was only twenty-six years old. However, Bao Heng was naturally cautious and meticulous in his work, able to suppress the reckless energy of the younger mercenaries. They had been a team for several months without any major mishaps.

This time, they were verifying a piece of incredible news.

There was a restaurant in the Anjin Desert.

When Xie Wei told them this sentence, out of respect, everyone forcibly held back from showing strange expressions. But how was this any different from “Bao Heng’s family has a spaceship”? In fact, compared to that, everyone was even more willing to believe the thing about the spaceship.

“Go go go, it’s your family that has a spaceship!” Bao Heng glared at this group of mischievous troublemakers.

However, Bao Heng believed he understood Xie Wei. They had once been teammates in a mercenary group before, but they had split up for various reasons.

Bao Heng thought Xie Wei wasn’t the type to boast or deceive people. She wouldn’t intentionally lead them on a detour in the desert to find some restaurant.

Besides, a whole team of teammates could testify that they had received drinking water there, which helped them return safely.

Either everyone was hallucinating, or it was really true.

Both possibilities were quite terrifying.

That’s why Bao Heng decided to check for himself. While there were indeed mutated beasts that could induce hallucinations, usually only mercenaries who had been bitten were affected by neurotoxins. However, there had never been a mutated beast that could make the entire team hallucinate. If such a beast existed, it would be crucial for all mercenaries to stay alert and cautious.

As for whether there really was such a restaurant, what kind of person could pull off something like that? In other words, was the owner of the restaurant even human?

He repeatedly had second thoughts along the way, but he had teammates full of curiosity and courage. They encouraged him, saying, “Let’s go check out the place Xie Wei mentioned. Maybe we won’t even find the restaurant.”

“Even if we do find this strange restaurant, we’ll just take a look from a distance. Who says it will eat us?”

Although they spoke casually, when they finally spotted a building in the distance, the group immediately drove over, ignoring their previous promises to just “look from afar.”

Bao Heng sighed, knowing that these people were unreliable.

When they finally saw the sign “Nanlai Restaurant” clearly, they stopped and walked closer.

“It looks no different from an ordinary restaurant.”

“It has no windows, and we can’t see what’s inside.”

“Should we go in?”

Only Bao Heng circled around them, repeatedly reminding them, “Don’t forget to stay alert, mutated beasts can appear at any moment. Don’t open the door yet. Don’t touch the walls, don’t peel the bricks off the wall, and don’t put any brick crumbs in your mouth!”

Gao Youqing suddenly made a new discovery and called the group over, “Look, there’s a piece of paper by the door with writing on it.”

Everyone gathered around.

The paper read:

1. Anyone who enters the restaurant, buys food, and pays will be considered a guest of the restaurant.
2. If the door cannot be pushed open, it means the restaurant is closed.
3. Please be sure to exit through the door you entered.
4. Those carrying weapons such as guns, ammunition, long knives, and daggers must leave their weapons outside or keep them in an opaque backpack, ensuring that weapons will not be exposed, misfire, or explode before entering the restaurant.
5. Anyone with minor blood stains on their body must cover them before entering. Those with large amounts of blood or ongoing bleeding must have someone else enter to purchase food.
6. There will be other guests in the restaurant. Please do not act suspiciously or disturb other guests while eating.
7. Those who violate the rules will be responsible for the consequences.

What does this mean? Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Restaurants in Tianling City had no such rules. Especially the part about covering weapons. If they’re allowed to bring them, why the need to hide them?

However, they were indeed planning to sneak in and have a look, which was exactly what the person who wrote this note had predicted.

In the group, Liang Yue mysteriously spoke up, “I know.”

Facing the curious eyes of the others, she nodded knowingly, “This is a type of rule-based ghost story!”

“Oh!” Everyone thought she was about to make a major discovery.

Gao Youqing said, “Liang Yue, are you getting obsessed with novels? If you keep this up, I won’t go with you to the flea market next time.”

Seeing that no one believed her, Liang Yue quickly pulled out a yellowed piece of paper from her bag and argued, “How could this not be? Look at what the book says, places full of unscientific forces always have taboo rules. Once the rules are broken, what was once a cozy scene might suddenly change—scattered limbs everywhere, blood flooding the place, beauties turning into beasts, and so on.”

After saying that, she confidently added, “Exactly like this.”

Qi Yushu, who had mentioned that Bao Heng’s family had a spaceship, nodded seriously, “Thank goodness, thank goodness…”

“Thank goodness for what?” Liang Yue asked.

“Thank goodness this isn’t your old, yellowed ghost story rules,” Qi Yushu said, “Yours is much scarier.”

Liang Yue grew anxious, “So you don’t believe what I’m saying?”

Bao Heng tried to reassure her, “Who said we don’t believe? The rules are here, and they aren’t meant to be knowingly violated. We just have to not go inside.”

When encountering such a mysterious and unfamiliar place, having rules was better than having none. Of course, not going in was better than going in.

However, the others disagreed with just walking away. The restaurant was right in front of them; if they didn’t go in and take a look, it would be a wasted trip. Xie Wei and the others had successfully walked out, so what made them different?

A group of them began to talk in excitement and finally persuaded Bao Heng. After mutual checks to ensure they hadn’t broken any rules, Gao Youqing, who was the bravest, stepped forward and became the one to push open the restaurant’s door.

The door opened with the light tinkling of a wind chime, and as they opened their eyes, there were no scattered limbs or floods of blood. But there were indeed beauties.

“Welcome to Nanlai Restaurant, what would you like to order?”

In front of them was a mysterious woman, about their age, who seemed to be the owner of the restaurant. She had her long hair styled in a neat updo, with long, curled eyelashes casting soft shadows on her eyelids. A cryptic smile played on her face, and she looked delicate and harmless. But no one dared to make a rash move.

If Nan Tu knew what they were thinking, she would only say that overthinking causes harm.

A younger girl squeezed in, holding a menu, “Here’s the menu!”

“Hm? You—uh!” Qi Yushu suddenly let out a strange noise, which made everyone tense up and look at him.

Covering his mouth, Qi Yushu quickly shook his head, lowered his hand, and smiled apologetically at everyone.

What were they supposed to do? Oh, order food.

“Let’s sit down first,” Nan Tu said. A group of people standing in the doorway wasn’t appropriate.

Everyone took this as an order and didn’t dare defy it. They awkwardly found a table to sit down at.

There were a few other customers in the restaurant, and they certainly saw them. These people didn’t know where they came from, wearing slippers, pajamas, and big shorts—none of them were dressed for survival in the desert.

Bao Heng and his group understood immediately. These were “fake customers” meant to tempt them into breaking the rules. They wouldn’t fall for such a trap and didn’t bother looking at them much.

Xin Huan, holding the menu, stood by the table and nudged Qi Yushu’s arm, saying in surprise, “I didn’t expect it to be you.”

The reason Qi Yushu had acted strangely earlier was because he recognized Xin Huan; they were both from the same orphanage.

“How come you’re here?” Qi Yushu asked carefully. “…Are you still Xin Huan?”

Xin Huan raised an eyebrow, “Did you think you could still be a mercenary with such bad hearing? You probably didn’t even hear the mutant beast approaching from behind.”

Bao Heng didn’t relax just because Qi Yushu recognized the waitress. He just wanted to leave quickly.

“Once we’ve ordered, we can leave, right?”

Xin Huan said, “You mean to take it to go?”

Bao Heng quickly replied, “Exactly! We’ll take it to go.”

Xin Huan recommended, “Some dishes aren’t convenient to take out. In the desert, you don’t even have a table. How about you order the braised meat? It’s easy to eat. You can shred it and stuff it in flatbread. How does that sound?”

The group, who had been holding their breath, instantly started talking excitedly.

“Sounds good! I love that kind of meat!”

“Let’s get that one, how much is it?”

“Yeah, that’s the best choice!”

Xin Huan held back a laugh and told them the price.

After paying, the group continued to sit stiffly at the table, pretending not to look too obvious. Although they stayed still, their eyes were darting around like they’d just run a marathon.

They noticed that the fake customers in the restaurant were quite intelligent. Their expressions were lively, they could order food and pay, and when they ate, they showed exaggerated expressions of pleasure.

However, when leaving, these customers all exited through the front door.

“There’s another door. Where does it lead?” Gao Youqing asked softly.

Liang Yue coughed, “Don’t forget rule three.”

—Please leave through the same door you entered.

That was close, they almost broke the rule. Gao Youqing wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. The traps truly were everywhere.

The waiting time was always long, but after only a few minutes, Xin Huan came back and placed a stack of takeout boxes in front of them.

Qi Yushu secretly touched one of the boxes. It was warm, and a faint aroma of meat lingered in the air.

Bao Heng picked up a box and signaled for everyone to follow him with a look.

Qi Yushu, who was walking last, stood up. Just then, Xin Huan quietly tugged at him.

————

“Hu—” Gao Youqing exhaled deeply, “It’s nothing much, we made it out safely.”

“We even bought something to eat,” another young man eagerly stared at the take-out box in Bao Heng’s hand. Earlier, one of the take-out boxes wasn’t tightly sealed, and the aroma kept wafting into his nose. He couldn’t help but salivate.

“We can’t eat yet,” Bao Heng said.

“Why!” everyone exclaimed in unison.

“I mean, we can’t eat now,” Bao Heng explained cautiously. “Let’s leave this area first. If the meat is still meat, we’ll talk about it then.”