Chapter 3: Mixed Fried Rice

When his feet touched the solid ground, Ji Xiangming was truly stunned.

He could smell a long, strong fragrance in the air, and the breeze was cool. Was this the influence of the alien beast that could affect one’s mind, or was it just a hallucination before his death?

Nan Tu looked at the customer who entered through the back door of the restaurant with some surprise.

He appeared to be in his forties, tall and muscular, dressed in what looked like a combat uniform covered in dust from the wind and sand. His lips were cracked, and he was staring at her in a daze.

Although he looked disheveled, it was obvious that he wasn’t just for show. His muscles must have been developed through countless battles.

Could someone from the post-apocalyptic world really have walked across the desert to her restaurant?

“Good sir, may I offer you something?” Nan Tu broke the strange silence between them.

“Water…” Ji Xiangming muttered subconsciously.

There was a jug of lemon cold-brewed tea nearby, so Nan Tu poured him a cup.

Ji Xiangming took the cup and drank it in one go, unable to taste anything.

He seemed to want more, so Nan Tu poured him another cup. She continued to refill his cup until the entire jug of lemon cold-brewed tea was finished. Only then did Ji Xiangming start to recover. A faint lemony sourness lingered in his mouth, and the subtle aroma of the tea was faint but present. Once the cold-brewed tea had been swallowed, a mild aftertaste started to appear.

The parched, burning sensation in his throat disappeared, replaced by a refreshing minty coolness. The heat in his body was subdued by the cool tea, and Ji Xiangming let out a satisfied breath.

This sense of relief lasted only a moment before Ji Xiangming tensed up again. Was everything before him real? If it was a hallucination, how could he escape from it?

The young girl in front of him didn’t look like a mercenary at all. Her skin was fair, and it was obvious she hadn’t traveled through the desert. Her hands had thin calluses, but they weren’t from frequently handling weapons. The strangest thing was that she had given him a whole jug of precious water upon their first meeting.

How could someone like her appear in the Anjin Desert?

Seeing the older man staring at her seriously, Nan Tu tentatively asked, “If you have money, I can make something for you to eat.”

The man finally stopped standing like a wooden post. He took something from a hidden pocket in his clothes and placed it on the table, sliding it toward Nan Tu.

A heavy gold bar, about two fingers in size.

The mercenaries who entered the Anjin Desert didn’t dare to claim they would return alive. Some people carried only weapons and water, leaving things like a level-one crystal core at home to avoid having it buried under the yellow sand with their bodies.

Ji Xiangming was different. He had no family to inherit his wealth, so he had always exchanged his extra possessions for gold bars and kept them on him.

If he were to die and be buried in the Anjin Desert, considering that bodies could be preserved for a long time there, any mercenaries passing by might take his gold bars and possibly bring him back to Tianling City for a proper burial.

But those were matters for later. The key now was to figure out what was happening.

Ji Xiangming thought that if everything before him was an illusion, to keep him immersed in it, she would try to fulfill his requests, just like she had given him life-saving water.

He tested, “Give me a machine gun and a thousand rounds of ammo, and all this gold is yours.”

Nan Tu reluctantly moved her gaze away from the dazzling gold and shook her head. “You might have misunderstood. This is a restaurant, and we only provide food here.”

How could she possibly get a machine gun?

Ji Xiangming’s thick brows furrowed, his expression one of doubt.

It had been so difficult for a customer to come through the portal, and Nan Tu tried again. “Are you really not interested in anything to eat?”

Was Ji Xiangming hungry?

Yes.

Did he want to eat?

He was starving.

But…

A voice in his heart echoed: Since I’ve already drunk the water from this restaurant, what difference does it make if I eat something else?

With a resigned attitude, he strode over and sat down at a nearby table.

“Anything is fine, but it needs to be fast.”

Nan Tu went to the kitchen. There were some leftover ingredients, and she had some cooked rice. Since the customer had no specific requests, she decided to make a mixed fried rice.

She chopped onions, scrambled eggs, and diced carrots.

She heated oil in the wok, and after a few quick stirs, the egg mixture became fluffy, like golden osmanthus flowers. She added the chopped onions, diced carrots, pine nuts, and corn, making the wok colorful. After these ingredients had cooked for a while, she added the rice.

While stir-frying the rice on high heat, Nan Tu added a little broth each time. The high heat made the dish flavorful, but it could also dry out. Adding a bit of broth while stir-frying kept the moisture locked in the rice, making it crisp but not dry.

With fluid movements, she quickly finished cooking the fragrant mixed fried rice.

By the time the aroma wafted out, Ji Xiangming was already restless. When the large portion of fried rice was placed in front of him, it would have been too difficult to ask him to stay cautious and hesitate.

Ji Xiangming picked up his chopsticks and stirred the fried rice. The mixed fried rice in front of him was vibrant in color, and the grains were crisp. He lowered his head and ate a big mouthful without hesitation.

The faint fragrance of rice, the savory taste of eggs, the sweet corn, the refreshing onions, and the rich pine nuts came together, wrapping Ji Xiangming in a satisfying feeling that almost made him tear up.

Just a few minutes ago, he had been wandering hopelessly through the desert under the scorching sun, starving and thirsty, unsure of his way back. Now, the refreshing tea had soothed his throat, and the unbelievably delicious fried rice had filled his stomach.

Even if it was a beautiful dream before death, he still wanted to dream it through to the end.

Disliking the chopsticks, Ji Xiangming went to get a spoon for himself. He inserted it into the bowl, scooping up heaping spoonfuls and stuffing them into his mouth.

The guest didn’t say a word, eating in silence, wolfing down spoonful after spoonful of rice. Nan Tu had never seen anything like it before.

But the system wasn’t wrong. The people from the apocalypse world really did have good physical constitution, as Ji Xiangming had indeed crossed the desert to come here. When he first entered, he seemed weak, but after drinking a pot of water and eating, he had visibly recovered.

By the time he finished the large bowl of fried rice, Ji Xiangming pushed the bowl aside and set the spoon down, his face showing a look of relief. “If you want to take anything from me, feel free to do so.”

People from the apocalypse world didn’t use the currency of this place. Nan Tu glanced at the system’s recommended price and said, “The price for the meal is five first-level crystal cores or one second-level crystal core.”

According to the system’s prompt, a first-level crystal core from the apocalypse world was worth twenty of her local currency, and a second-level crystal core was worth one hundred, while a third-level crystal core was five hundred.

A strange quinary system

After Nan Tu received the crystal core, she wanted to exchange it for currency she could actually spend, but the system would charge a 5% handling fee. With this in mind, for a pot of cold-brewed tea and a plate of mixed fried rice, Nan Tu ended up with 95 yuan of local currency, which was quite a profitable deal.

As for not following the system’s recommended price, there was no punishment. Nan Tu could easily take Ji Xiangming’s gold and kick him out, but she didn’t want to do that.

The appearance of the system made Nan Tu realize that she could not only revive her restaurant, but also make it famous in other worlds.

Ji Xiangming didn’t expect Nan Tu to actually go ahead with the bill. He hurriedly checked his belongings and finally found the third-level crystal core from the star-point sand viper he had hunted not long ago. He awkwardly handed it to Nan Tu.

“…Can I leave now?” Ji Xiangming asked carefully, as Nan Tu’s attitude seemed to imply something.

“Not yet,” Nan Tu replied honestly. “I don’t have the change.”

Ji Xiangming immediately said, “I don’t need the rest.”

Nan Tu saw that he didn’t have any other crystal cores, so she took a jar of beef sauce she had just made from the fridge and handed it to him.

“Here’s a jar of beef sauce for you. The door is over there. You’re welcome to visit again,” Nan Tu reminded him, since customers from other worlds could only leave through the door they entered.

Ji Xiangming, holding the small jar of beef sauce, stumbled as he pushed the door open.

The heat of the yellow sand seeped through his shoes, and the familiar, dry air enveloped him. Ji Xiangming looked up at the setting sun, feeling as though he had crossed into another world.

———

As Ji Xiangming was trying to reunite with his teammates, luckily, they hadn’t given up on him.

On the second day after Ji Xiangming got separated from his team, his teammates found him.

They hurriedly helped him up, laid the car seat flat so he could rest, and handed him a water bottle and some jerky to replenish his strength.

“Old Ji, are you dehydrated? I remember before we got separated, your water bottle only had half a bottle left.”

“I’m fine.” Ji Xiangming drank a bit of water, looking surprisingly well. Because the words he was about to say sounded so unbelievable, he hesitated before speaking. “Actually, I resupplied along the way.”

His voice lowered. “I went into a restaurant.” Not only did he eat and drink tea, but at night, he even slept against the restaurant’s outer wall. Amazingly, he wasn’t attacked by any beasts. After this rest, he regained his energy, and his mind was clearer. The next day, he made the right decision and successfully reunited with his teammates.

Once he had poured out all his words, he turned to look at their expressions.

His teammates looked at him with pity.

It must have been tough these past few days. Old Ji must have gotten so hungry that he started hallucinating.

“Drink some more water? Or eat some salty jerky to replenish your salt? We’ll set up camp and cook now.”

No one commented on Ji Xiangming’s story. They all dispersed to get busy.

No, he was telling the truth!

Ji Xiangming opened his mouth to stop them, but helplessly closed it.

He stroked the jar of beef sauce in his pocket. If it weren’t for this, he too would have thought it was a dream.

“Uncle Ji, why are you getting up? What are you looking for? Let me find it,” said Xie Wei, who stayed behind to look after Ji Xiangming when she saw him struggling to get up.

“I need a map and a pen.”

As soon as he got the pen, Ji Xiangming immediately started sketching on the map. With the compass in hand, he had never completely lost his sense of direction. In the desert, there were no obstructions, and even a few kilometers’ error wouldn’t matter. Based on his direction, speed, and current position, he could deduce where the magical [Nanlai Restaurant] was.

If it would have been there at all.