Chapter 9: Barbecue Turmoil

It wasn’t long before Hao Ren and the others returned, personally delivering two large chunks of meat to Zhuang Shi’s group.

“Everyone in each tent will get a large chunk. If you don’t have enough, just go to the person in charge at the front to ask for more. I’ve already told them,” Hao Ren said, eager to leave.

Seeing his hurried demeanor, Xiao Xi asked, “Mr. Hao, are you leaving the camp?”

If he wasn’t leaving, he wouldn’t be speaking with such finality.

“Yes, the meat of mutated animals is edible. I need to go back and tell the people at the airport; otherwise, so many of them will go hungry,” Hao Ren explained. “But don’t worry, even after I leave, there will still be other ability users staying behind to protect you. It’s not safe to travel at night. We’ll come back to pick you up after daybreak.”

“Okay, thank you for your hard work, Mr. Hao,” Zhuang Shi said with a fawning smile.

Hao Ren waved his hand and left.

“The four of us will take the bigger chunk of meat. Chu Xihen started the fire, so you’re not allowed to use it,” Zhou Quan quickly claimed the larger piece of meat, drawing a clear line between himself and Zhuang Shi and Xiao Xi.

In truth, he was very grateful to Xiao Xi, but Zhuang Shi was just so disgusting.

“Why should you get the bigger piece? If it weren’t for Xiao Xi, would you even be alive to eat barbecue here? We want the bigger piece, and you’ll grill it for us. Hurry up!” Zhuang Shi even spoke to Zhou Quan in a commanding tone.

In Zhuang Shi’s eyes, Gao Lin was the most formidable of the four, but he was already knocked down. The remaining three were weaklings he could easily manipulate.

Chu Xihen didn’t bother arguing with Zhuang Shi. He simply squatted down, pulled out a small knife from his backpack, cut the meat into small pieces, skewered them on the branches they had chopped earlier, and leisurely started grilling.

He was truly starving after not eating all day.

Seeing Chu Xihen grilling the meat, Zhuang Shi assumed he was intimidated and snorted triumphantly, pulling Xiao Xi down to sit beside him.

Zhou Quan snorted back even louder and sat down to Chu Xihen’s left, while Su Yan stayed inside the tent to take care of Gao Lin.

But Gao Lin didn’t really need Su Yan’s care. He yelled from inside the tent, “Zhou Quan, get in here! I have something to tell you!”

The tent could only accommodate two people, so if Zhou Quan went in, Su Yan would have to come out.

Su Yan was diligent. As soon as she came out, she immediately followed Chu Xihen’s example, skewering the beef and placing it over the fire to grill.

Seeing this, Xiao Xi was about to help, but Zhuang Shi stopped her. “Don’t bother, you’ll get your hands dirty. Just let them grill it.”

Su Yan glanced at Zhuang Shi speechlessly but quickly lowered her head when he glared at her, not daring to provoke him.

Chu Xihen grilled the meat meticulously, even taking out unspoiled seasonings from his backpack and sprinkling them on, one by one, but in the end, it was still burnt.

He stared helplessly at the piece of meat, once again admitting that he truly had no talent for food preparation.

“Is it ready? Give it to me!” Zhuang Shi reached out to grab the grilled meat from Chu Xihen’s hand, completely oblivious to the fact that it was burnt.

“Oh, you even have seasonings? It smells delicious!” Zhuang Shi said excitedly, his hand already grabbing the branch holding the grilled meat.

Su Yan chimed in, “That’s right, Brother Chu, you even brought seasonings. You’re so thoughtful!”

Chu Xihen smiled at Su Yan, then turned his head to look at Zhuang Shi, his eyes instantly turning cold. “Let go.”

Zhuang Shi was startled by the sudden shift in Chu Xihen’s demeanor, but thinking of how Chu Xihen had appeared weak and frail all day, instantly regained his arrogance. “You’re the one who should let go. Isn’t this the meat you’re grilling for us? There’s more over there; you can keep grilling while we eat… Ouch!”

Before he could finish speaking, Chu Xihen twisted the branch in his hand with incredible speed, so fast that Zhuang Shi couldn’t even see it clearly. He only felt a piercing pain in his wrist and naturally lost his grip on the branch.

“Ah, my hand, it hurts!” Zhuang Shi clutched his hand in pain, crying out.

Xiao Xi quickly checked Zhuang Shi and discovered that his wrist was dislocated.

She knew how strong Zhuang Shi was. She hadn’t expected Chu Xihen, who looked like he couldn’t even lift a chicken and would get tired after running a few steps, to be able to dislocate Zhuang Shi’s wrist so easily.

She didn’t know if it was a coincidence or if they had underestimated this pretty boy.

“Forget it; don’t snatch other people’s things. We’ll grill our own,” Xiao Xi said, deciding it was best to avoid trouble until she understood the situation better.

Zhuang Shi was somewhat subdued by Chu Xihen’s actions. After Xiao Xi helped him reset his wrist, he started grilling his own meat.

Chu Xihen took back his grilled meat, tore off a small piece, put it in his mouth, and immediately frowned.

As expected, it was inedible.

“Brother Chu, eat mine. This one will be ready soon. We can share it, and then I’ll grill more,” Su Yan said. Her grilling skills were good; the beef in her hand was grilled until it was fragrant and juicy, making people salivate just from the smell.

Since it was her first time eating mutated beef, Su Yan was cautious, grilling it until it was well done. After it was ready, she used Chu Xihen’s knife to divide it into five pieces, one for each of the four of them, and she also gave one piece to Xiao Xi.

“Sister Xiao Xi, thank you for driving back to pick us up,” Su Yan said. She disliked Zhuang Shi, but Xiao Xi was indeed their savior, and that had to be acknowledged.

“Thank you!” Xiao Xi was somewhat flattered. After receiving the meat, she immediately gave a piece to Zhuang Shi and asked Chu Xihen to borrow some seasonings while eating.

Like Su Yan, Chu Xihen didn’t dislike Xiao Xi, so he allowed her to use whatever she wanted.

Just as they resolved their little internal conflict and everyone was happily eating barbecue, Wan Ming came over again.

“Chu Xihen, give me the seasonings you brought,” Wan Ming said. As soon as he arrived, he saw the various seasonings on their barbecue and wished he could snatch them and eat them.

The apocalypse had just begun, and many people hadn’t yet experienced the hardships of life. Although they had been hungry for half a day, they still found it unappetizing to eat unseasoned grilled beef, even though the mutated beef was no different from regular beef.

Wan Ming remembered that Chu Xihen had brought a lot of seasonings when he picked him up, so he came over without hesitation.

He didn’t even bother wondering why Chu Xihen was thinking about grilling meat at that time. He despised Chu Xihen from the bottom of his heart and didn’t want to waste even a shred of thought on him.

“Brother Wan, don’t talk like that; you’ll scare them,” Bai Jinli, who had come with Wan Ming, said.

He was refined and gentle, and his voice was soft and pleasant.

“Brother Chu, I heard from Brother Wan that you brought seasonings. We just wanted to come over and borrow some. I wonder if you’d be willing?” Bai Jinli smiled at Chu Xihen, his gaze sincere.

But Wan Ming immediately interrupted, “Why be so polite with him? If it weren’t for us, where would they be eating barbecue here?”

“Aren’t you ashamed to say that? It was Lou Su, who’s unconscious, who helped us kill the mutated yellow bull, and it was Mr. Hao who moved us out of the bull’s mouth. What does it have to do with you? Are you just trying to put gold on your own face?” Zhou Quan, who had come out to get barbecue for Gao Lin, happened to hear Wan Ming’s words and couldn’t stand it.

“Are you looking for death?” Wan Ming raised his fist again, wanting to hit Zhou Quan.

Bai Jinli quickly stopped him. “Brother Wan, we’re asking for their help right now. Don’t be like this. Besides, this little brother isn’t wrong. It was indeed Mr. Lou and Mr. Hao who saved them. We didn’t contribute much.”

“I didn’t contribute, but you have the ability to foresee danger. That’s why we guessed there might be other survivors nearby who needed saving. Otherwise, how could we have saved them so quickly?” Wan Ming retracted his hand under Bai Jinli’s persuasion.

It was clear that Wan Ming listened to Bai Jinli’s advice.

“Since you also had a part in saving us, I’ll give you some,” Chu Xihen said, being easy-going. He took out a sealed bag from his backpack and divided a portion of each seasoning for Bai Jinli.

Seeing the amount, Wan Ming’s face turned dark. “Chu Xihen, do you really think I don’t dare to hit you?”