The stairwell was dim due to the lack of natural light, and the artificial lighting flickered intermittently after prolonged use.
Ye Xin passed a row of equipment rooms and arrived at the back kitchen to observe the situation. There were two doors, separated by dozens of meters.
The doors were made of thick alloy, providing excellent soundproofing. They each had a frame of tempered glass, but it was obscured by a mist.
Even if someone was inside, Ye Xin couldn't contact them.
Acting decisively, Ye Xin activated the skill, "Thin Sun Palm Fire!"
As the skill activated, a powerful energy surged from his right palm, instantly coalescing into a fire-red sword.
He swung the fire sword in his right hand, aiming it at the alloy door. Two fiery red dragons merged in mid-air, slamming into the door.
Bang! The alloy door didn't collapse, but a large dent was created, and several cracks appeared.
"This door is pretty sturdy. It's alloy, after all."
Using a skill costs fifty points of mental energy. He was starting to feel a little tired. At this rate, if he opened the door, he'd be mentally exhausted.
"Why are you hitting the door?"
A familiar female voice came from behind him. Ye Xin turned and looked at Su Duoduo, puzzled. "Hey, isn't this Princess Duoduo? Why aren't you concerned about that person? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was afraid you'd die downstairs, so I came to check on you~"
"Well, thank you very much. Since I'm fine, you can leave now~"
"Are you being sarcastic with this princess? Do you believe I won't just take you out right here?"
This little loli was ready to off him at the slightest provocation. Ye Xin didn't dare to joke around anymore, biding his time until he was stronger than them.
"A good man doesn't fight with a woman. I'll go in and get some ingredients, rustle up something to eat. If I don't have a key, I'll just force my way in."
"Oh, like that? I'll help you."
Su Duoduo walked to Ye Xin's side, and with a wave of her small hand in mid-air, a passageway to the kitchen appeared.
Through the spatial passage, Ye Xin could clearly see three men and four women inside, all wearing white coats and retreating to a corner. One middle-aged man was even holding a kitchen knife, pointing it at them.
"Who... who are you?" the middle-aged man shouted.
"Guess!" Ye Xin smiled slightly and, sword in hand, stepped inside.
"Ah~"
"Are you people, or ghosts!?"
Facing these people's inquiries, Ye Xin wasn't the type to explain things. He found a stool and sat down, simply replying, "I'm hungry. Can anyone make me something to eat?"
"Make food?" The middle-aged man, Qiu Lijie, exchanged a look with the colleagues behind him, a bit puzzled and scared.
Two young people had appeared out of nowhere, and the back door had inexplicably developed a dent. Anyone with a weaker constitution would probably have been scared to death.
"I want some too." Su Duoduo, mimicking Ye Xin, brought a stool over and sat beside him obediently.
Why did this girl suddenly become so well-behaved?
"If you want to eat, take whatever you want from here. Can you leave after you're done?"
Qiu Lijie and the others had seen the news and naturally knew what was happening outside, and had contacted their families.
As long as they stayed in the cafeteria, they could survive for a month on the food there. They'd go out after things calmed down.
"Forget it, I'll do it myself. You watch them, little silly girl, and tell me what you want to eat."
Seeing how shaky they were, they might not even be able to hold a knife steady. The main thing was that he didn't know them well. Ye Xin didn't trust them to cook, in case they put rat poison in the food.
"Can you do it with one hand? I just want hot rice and dishes. I'm not full after eating snacks."
After saying that, Su Duoduo realized something and pouted, continuing, "Also, if you call me 'little silly girl' again, this princess is really going to smack you, oh~"
It sounded like Su Duoduo was acting a little spoiled, but Ye Xin knew that beneath the cute appearance of the little loli, she might very well be someone who wouldn't blink an eye when killing.
Think about it, usually, kids in their teens would've cried after seeing heads or limbs, but she just acted like nothing happened.
However, the reality wasn't what Ye Xin thought. They were twin sisters who had a spiritual connection since childhood. Su Momo's dreams would also let Su Duoduo see them to some extent. After a few years, the two girls had already gotten used to it.
"Mmm... slip of the tongue. Princess Duoduo, you need to stay calm, too, or else we'll both be done for. You don't have any antidote left."
The cafeteria was quite large, as it needed to cater to the entire school's students and teachers. There were ten crates of eggs, vegetables, meat, and all sorts of ingredients.
While Ye Xin was picking out ingredients, the sound of him moving around startled Qiu Lijie and the others. With Su Duoduo present, Ye Xin wasn't worried about them pulling any tricks, and he picked ingredients to his heart's content.
If they didn't cook some hot dishes now, the power would likely go out soon. Then, the entire city would be shrouded in darkness, and people would have to rely on that red light to survive, eating canned food and snacks. Wouldn't they go crazy?
"Heh, there are only large woks. One of you come out and help me, or else..."
"Aunt Fang, go help him..."
If it were just two normal kids cooking, Qiu Lijie wouldn't have cared. But they weren't ordinary people, and people have a deep-seated fear of the unknown.
The person called Aunt Fang hesitated for a moment, but with the encouragement of the others, she had to help Ye Xin. She didn't expect that she would only have to chop vegetables.
The apocalypse had broken out at nine in the morning. They had already steamed the rice, and they had cooked two dishes, celery stir-fried with dried tofu and spicy kimchi, neither of which Ye Xin liked.
He remade four dishes, using two pots simultaneously. In his previous life, he was an orphan and had been a cook, so making some simple home-style dishes was a piece of cake. Soon, a rich aroma wafted from the pots.
"Reducing the sauce in the big pot is fast! Auntie, help me cut the tomatoes, and use that pot."
Despite having seen a lot of rotten meat, Ye Xin still wanted to taste the delicious fattiness of the Braised Pork.
"It smells so good~ Bad guy, what are you making?" Su Duoduo couldn't help but come closer and ask.
"Braised Pork, fatty but not greasy, tastes very good. Too bad, you can't eat it."
I can't eat it?
Su Duoduo wanted to cry when she heard that. It was fine if he didn't give it to her, but he used such a ridiculous reason. She sat back on the stool, resting her chin in her hands, and the more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. Her eyes reddened, and a few tears hung at the corners of her eyes.
She had always been spoiled like a princess. She didn't have to ask for anything; someone would come and offer it to her, and no one dared to refuse her requests.
Ye Xin was the first.
"Seriously? Already crying."
"Good heavens, you little princess."
The sauce was still boiling in the pot, and the meat was cooked through.
He used chopsticks to pick up a piece of fatty, delicious Braised Pork and squatted in front of Su Duoduo, saying, "Here, stop crying. There are so many corpses outside, I was afraid you'd feel sick eating pork. Eat it if you're not afraid of throwing up."
"Who... who's crying... This princess isn't... I won't eat it... It's too oily... It looks unappetizing."
Su Duoduo stubbornly turned her small face away, her body slightly trembling, not wanting to pay any attention to him.
If the antidote wasn't on him, why would she have to suffer this indignity.
"Alright, alright, I was wrong, okay? Don't be angry, beautiful Miss Duoduo…"
This little girl was sometimes a tough cookie, other times a child.
Right now, she was like a wronged child needing a lollipop as a reward.
After some coaxing, Su Duoduo looked reluctant, opened her little mouth, and took a bite of the meat. The deliciousness instantly swept over her taste buds.
Chewing, she said unwillingly, "So-so, not as good as Xiao Lin's cooking."
Even though she said that, she ate the rest of the meat, her face showing only the joy of enjoying the food.
"Mmm… It would be even better if it was cooked in a small pot next time."
Ye Xin also saw this girl's personality. Besides not being smart, she had everything else.
After a bit more work, Ye Xin said to Li Fang, "Auntie, could you help serve the rice and bring the dishes over?"
"Yes... alright..."
Li Fang hadn't expected this young man to be so polite. He didn't seem like a bad person, and she felt motivated to help.
The four dishes and one soup were placed on the kitchen table, where they usually cut vegetables.
"Mmph… not delicious… If this princess weren't so hungry, I wouldn't touch what you made… Hmph…"
Even while eating, she couldn't resist criticizing. Ye Xin wasn't bothered.
Because, she demonstrated the word "delicious" perfectly with her actions.
She ate almost all the Braised Pork on the plate, and with the seaweed and egg soup, she finished two bowls of rice.
"Silly girl, eat slowly. No one's going to steal it from you. You've got rice on your mouth."
Ye Xin used his finger to pinch the rice grain from Su Duoduo's mouth and ate it himself.
This action made Su Duoduo's face flush red. She pulled her bowl closer while eating, trying to hide her expression from others.
"Auntie, you've been helping me for so long. If you're hungry, come sit down and eat something!"
The group of people still leaned against the wall, wary of moving around. Ye Xin only called out to the cutting auntie, which reminded him of when he was an apprentice in the kitchen in his past life. There was also an auntie who took care of him.
"Me?" Li Fang pointed at herself.
Ye Xin nodded. He wouldn't force her if she didn't want to. However, Li Fang wasn't as timid as Ye Xin imagined; she actually moved a stool over and ate a little, spending most of the time chatting with them.
....
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Gods' Apocalypse: What Should I Do When the Loli is a Bit Fierce?"
"My Sister And I are in The Apocalypse"
(End Chapter)