Knock knock knock!

The sound of chopping ribs came from the kitchen.

Tong Lan thought about how Lin You had started working the moment she arrived and felt a bit embarrassed.

She couldn’t help but think to herself, maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned her injury. With zombies about to attack the city and life and death hanging in the balance, what did a minor injury really matter?

So, Tong Lan struggled to get up from the sofa, leaned against the wall, and hopped step by step toward the kitchen doorway.

Tong Lan felt it would be too boring for Lin You to cook alone so she decided to go keep her company.

When Tong Lan arrived Lin You was just pouring the washed pork ribs into the pot.

Seeing her come in, Lin You quickly washed her hands and pulled a chair over from beside the dining table placing it outside the kitchen door and advised her saying “If you want to come over then sit down or you might fall again.”

Tong Lan stretched out her injured leg and gently swung it saying “It’s nothing serious see I can still move.”

Lin You pressed her down onto the stool and said “If you couldn’t move that would be worse. Just sit and wait until I finish cooking and serve you.”

She turned back and cut the white scallions into sections and sliced the ginger into thin pieces.

Then she carefully peeled the yam. After peeling she tilted the knife and cut the yam into oblique chunks.

A few minutes later the soup pot began to emit steam.

Lin You noticed a layer of blood foam floating on the surface of the pork rib soup.

She quickly picked up the ladle and skimmed off the floating scum and discarded it.

Only after skimming all the foam did she take the pot off the stove and pour out the soup completely.

After that she used a skimmer to fish out the pork ribs and rinsed them again.

This was to remove the purine from the pork rib soup and the second boil would also reduce the greasy taste of the meat.

After the rinse Lin You filled the pot with water again and turned the heat back on to simmer the soup. This time adding cooking wine and ginger slices.

While doing this she comforted Tong Lan saying “You usually set such high standards for yourself. Resigning might be a good thing. Take this time to rest and relax a bit.”

Tong Lan sighed and said “When I submitted my resignation there hadn’t been any news about mutated organisms yet. So I had planned to use the savings I’ve accumulated over the years to travel and shop around before looking for a new job. I didn’t expect that by the time the resignation process was done and a month had passed and the organisms had already mutated…”

She paused and continued speaking

“Now I can’t even leave Ancheng. I don’t even know if I’ll live or die. Even if I stay home and rest I still feel uneasy.”

The soup pot boiled again and a little foam floated to the surface once more.

Lin You skimmed off the foam again then added red dates, scallion sections and goji berries and sprinkled in salt and peppercorns turning the heat to low to simmer slowly.

She covered the pot with the lid turned around and said to Tong Lan “If you like it I can come over and cook for you when I have time. I can make room in the afternoon.”

Tong Lan repeatedly refused saying “How can that be okay? You should just focus on your work. I can take care of myself.”

Because the room was cold Tong Lan wore a pair of warm loose-fitting long pants that just happened to cover her wound.

Thinking of verifying the effect of the ingredients Lin You asked “How is your injury? Can I take a look?”

Tong Lan slowly rolled up her pants and showed the wound that had already been treated with ointment and explained

“It was just a moment of carelessness. I fell down the stairs and hit my knee. The doctor said it’s nothing serious.”

Lin You took one look at the deep gash that exposed the flesh and couldn’t help but frown with concern saying “That’s not a light injury. Injuries to tendons and bones take a hundred days to heal. You need to rest properly.”

Tong Lan nodded and said “Don’t worry. It doesn’t affect my daily activities. Plus after that day’s panic buying I stocked up on a lot of instant food.”

Lin You frowned slightly and said “You need proper nutrition right now. How can you just eat instant food? Also, do you have enough vegetables? How long can your stock last?”

Tong Lan roughly calculated and replied “Since I’m alone I don’t use much. It should last me just under a month.”

“Looking at it pessimistically. If the zombies breach the city soon, it won’t even take a month before everyone’s turned into one, and all the food I’ve stocked up will be useless. But if we’re being optimistic—say, a month from now the number of zombies drops, transportation gets back to normal, and fresh fruits and vegetables can be delivered to Ancheng—then the food supply problem will pretty much solve itself.”

Lin You hesitated for a moment and still couldn’t help but remind her

“There’s also the worst-case scenario—if within a month the zombies haven’t broken through Ancheng and you’ve eaten up all your stored food what will you do then?”

Tong Lan laughed and said “Then I’ll leave it to fate. Compared to being bitten to death by a zombie I’d rather starve to death. At least my corpse will be intact and I’ll still look good.”

Lin You shrugged and said “If it were me I’d never starve to death. Even if I had to go I’d make sure I filled my stomach first.”

Originally she had wanted to tell Tong Lan about the strange events at the breakfast shop and the food test results but when the words reached her mouth she swallowed them back.

When she returned from her thoughts Lin You suddenly caught sight of the clock on the wall and realized the time had come.

So she quickly pulled herself back, turned around and threw the cut yam chunks into the pot.

About ten minutes later the yam was fully cooked.

Before this the pork ribs had already been stewing for a long time.

The yam pork rib soup had turned a milky white.

Finally Lin You tossed in a handful of chopped scallions and turned off the heat.

Steam rose from the pot and the smell of meat filled the entire kitchen.

Tong Lan couldn’t help but stand up and lean in to look “It’s been a long time since I had pork ribs. It really does smell good!”

Lin You took out two small bowls and ladled out two servings of yam pork rib soup.

In the small bowls the red dates and goji berries were bright red. The chopped scallions were vivid green paired with the pale yam and tender meat chunks that whetted the appetite.

Lin You carried the two bowls out and placed them on the table in the living room.

Then she helped Tong Lan over and said to her “Drink it while it’s hot.”

Tong Lan lowered her head and took a light sniff placing both hands on the edge of the bowl.

She felt a warmth flowing from her palms spreading through her whole body making her feel completely relaxed.

Lin You handed her a small spoon and Tong Lan took it and gently stirred the bowl, scooping up a piece of yam and putting it in her mouth.

The fragrance of the pork ribs had seeped into the yam making it sweet and tasty. It was crisp at the first bite and soft and glutinous after.

The hot pork rib soup made Tong Lan break out in a light sweat all over.

She looked up at Lin You and couldn’t help but sigh “Your cooking is just getting better and better!”

At that moment Lin You was also blowing the steam at the edge of her bowl and took a sip of the pork rib soup.

Mm, rich but not greasy, mellow and full-bodied, it seemed even more delicious than usual.

She thought for a moment and replied, “Maybe it has something to do with the ingredients I brought.”

To verify, she put a piece of yam in her mouth, savored it carefully, and then picked up a piece of pork rib.

By the time she set down her chopsticks, Lin You already understood.

To preserve the original fragrance of the ingredients, she had deliberately reduced the types of seasonings used.

Therefore, the preparation of this yam pork rib soup was very basic and simple.

However, the unexpectedly delicious taste should be credited to the quality of the two ingredients themselves.

These pork ribs lacked the faint greasy and murky flavor that usually appeared after boiling, while the fresh fragrance stood out even more.

Judging from both the color and taste before and after cooking, the pork ribs were incredibly tender. It was unclear what kind of preservation technology had been used, but somehow the freshness of the freshly cut meat remained intact during transport to the freezer.

The yam was the same. It had a distinct aftertaste of sweetness, adding a gentle sweetness to the soup that balanced out the richness of the meat broth.

Lin You’s gaze lingered in midair as she quietly wondered.

These ingredients could not only appear out of nowhere but were also all of top quality. What on earth was this strange phenomenon? And how had it fallen into her hands?