Chapter 170 On the way
"We have prepared dinner for everyone in the dining car. You can go and try it."
The train heads east, flying across the vast ocean.
The team members had made up for their sleep last night and were not sleepy. They were all gathered around the window, looking at the scenery below the train through the glass.
Flying over the almost boundless sea, looking down from the train, the view is far away from the land, and the first thing that catches the eye is the deep blue sea that is more terrifying than the abyss.
The sea water is bottomless and although it is calm, it always makes people worry that a giant beast will suddenly emerge from it and swallow them up when they are not paying attention.
After getting away from the land, they of course saw many ships floating on the sea.
Shortly after we flew away from City S, there were many different types of ships in the sea area with dense islands, but most of them were small.
Later, as we got farther and farther away from the coastline, the number of ships floating on the sea decreased, and we often had to fly for a long time before we could see one.
However, these ships floating in the deep sea are not as small as the ones seen before. Most of them are large ships with several floors. Only some small boats can be seen around the large ships, as if seeking protection from the large ships.
Most of these large ships are huge cruise ships, and occasionally you can even see silver-shining warships with national flags on them.
On the blurred deck, scattered human figures could be seen, as if trying to see them through the clouds, but these inquiring eyes were quickly left behind by the speeding train.
You will get tired of looking at the same unchanging scenery if you keep looking at it. After looking for a while, the team members who were originally looking out the window withdrew their gaze and started exercising in the carriage.
Jiang Dong and Jiang Weimin drove the train to a section where it could be driven automatically and then returned to the new train. Huang Liping saw them return and took them to the kitchen to work as laborers.
In the newly exchanged dining car, Jiang Qian had already exchanged a lot of food ingredients in advance, waiting to provide them to the team members on the road!
Huang Liping also got the opportunity to show her talents for the first time since the end of the world.
"Before, I was only responsible for making noodles in the dining car. It has been a long time since I cooked in the kitchen. This time I want to show off my skills."
The chef working with him used to be a chef in a big hotel. Even Mr. Xia praised his cooking. It was obvious that Chef Wu’s cooking skills were also good as his noodle shop was able to survive in the fierce competition.
Although Huang Liping is good at cooking home-cooked meals, her control of the heat is still not as good as the other two people who make a living by their cooking skills, so she has never had the opportunity to cook. Usually, she just steams buns and makes sesame cakes in the dining car. She hasn't cooked seriously for a long time, so she can't help but be very excited at this time.
After hearing what she said, the other members of the Jiang family were also looking forward to tonight's dinner. After all, although the other chefs' cooking was delicious, they had been eating Huang Liping's cooking for a long time and were more accustomed to it and missed the taste of home more.
So, after Huang Liping gave the order, everyone else who was idle at home, except Jiang Qian who was driving, started to get busy.
When the journey was halfway through and the train was about to reach its limit due to fatigue driving, Jiang Qian found an uninhabited island in the middle of the ocean on the map and stopped the train there.
While waiting for the train to land, Huang Liping's dinner was ready. The doors between the carriages were opened and the aroma of food wafted between each carriage.
So, the team members who were chewing on the compressed biscuits they brought after exercise smelled a strong fragrance, and the compressed biscuits in their hands suddenly lost their fragrance.
A young team member sniffed, taking in the aroma wafting through the air. He glanced at the compressed rations in his hand, took a big bite, and said with a smile, "This compressed biscuit tastes like braised pork."
Another team member disagreed, "No, no, no, this is clearly the aroma of stewed chicken."
"You're talking nonsense! This is clearly the unique aroma of sea fish."
"You're talking nonsense! This flavor is so complex, it's clearly our hometown stew! At most, it's a seafood stew!"
"This is the smell of braised pork. I can smell the sweet aroma that is unique to braised pork..."
None of them could convince the others, so they could only seek the advice of others. "Sea dog, you have the most sensitive sense of smell, so you tell me! What does this smell like?"
The team member called Sea Dog had long been addicted to this fragrance. After hearing it and thinking about it, the answer he gave had nothing to do with anyone else's.
"I smell the scent of fresh cucumbers, fragrant and sweet..."
As soon as these words were spoken, those who were still arguing fell silent in an instant, and the next second, they all began to sniff the air everywhere.
"Where? Where does it smell like cucumber?"
It’s no wonder they did this. After all, most people haven’t had fresh vegetables since winter officially began last November.
The newly built greenhouses in various places are not enough to grow grain, let alone grow vegetables.
Even later, in order to ensure balanced nutrition for people and smooth bowel movements for everyone, each base had to set aside a greenhouse for growing vegetables, and also encouraged residents of the base to grow vegetables at home.
However, due to the low temperatures, most of the crops grown were cold-resistant vegetables like radishes and cabbages, and the harvest was poor. Winter vegetables were in short supply, and summer seasonal fruits and vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans were even more scarce.
In previous summers, these seasonal vegetables and fruits were in abundance. Some people not only couldn't finish eating the ones they grew, but they couldn't even give them away, just like bean pods.
Although vegetables in supermarkets have always been expensive, in the summer most of them can be bought for just over one dollar per pound, and these vegetables can make people tired of eating them.
But now, after such a long winter, people have not only been eating dry food for half a year, but have not seen any green in their lives. Their desire for fresh vegetables has long been uncontrollable.
Although the members of the rescue team eat better because they need to go on missions on a regular basis and their meals contain more vegetables, these small amounts of extra vegetables cannot make them eat to their heart's content. Instead, they make them more tempting.
Therefore, when everyone heard the smell of fresh vegetables, their attention was drawn to this sentence.
Those who can be sent out to carry out such important tasks are the elites among the elites selected from each team, and their bodies have been mutated and transformed.
Although the directions of their mutations were different, their five senses were sharper than others. After hearing what the sea dog said, they also noticed some differences in the complex and rich fragrance.
"It seems so. It does have a refreshing fragrance..."
The others tried hard to discern the slight difference in the taste, but rationally they couldn't believe it. "But there wouldn't be cucumbers at this time of year, would there?"
"If you're talking about the base, then there's certainly nothing there. But we're on the train, so it wouldn't be surprising if there was anything there, right?"
"That's true."
"But is there anywhere on this train where I can buy cucumbers and other vegetables? I still have some crystal cores here. If I knew where they were sold, I would definitely buy a couple to chew on."
"I've never seen it before. It must be a special supply from the dining car!"
"Then why are we still eating dry food here? Let's go to the dining car and eat!" They have been carrying out missions all the time, and the thing they have the most is crystal cores.
"What are you dreaming of? It's good enough to have a separate train car to take us there, but how could they possibly arrange a dining car and a chef for us? Didn't the higher-ups specifically allocate food for us before we came here?"
The person who answered pointed to the pressed biscuits and water in the package.
"But where does this fragrance come from?"
"Maybe the connected carriage is the workers' dormitory? Maybe it floated from the workers' dormitory?"
The person who suggested going to the dining car was instantly disappointed. "I said that even if there is no chef, we can still buy some food and cook it ourselves. I worked in the kitchen for a while before and my cooking skills are pretty good. What a pity."
"It's nothing to regret. The mission was urgent, so it took us a little longer to gather. We didn't have time to have a meal on the dining car. After we finish this mission and come back, we won't be so anxious on the way back. Let's book a private room on the car and have a good meal together!"
As the team leader, Shark saw that everyone was in a low mood and wanted to cheer them up.
"When the time comes, just order whatever you want, and I'll pay for it."
"Alright." The others cheered instantly, "Then I'm going to give you a good beating then."
"Captain, get your wallet ready! Don't let us bankrupt you!"
"Don't worry, my wallet is full!"
Shark patted the place where he usually hung his fanny pack on his waist, not worrying at all that he would be bankrupted by the food.
When the train first appeared, he followed the then captain Zhang Chongguang all the way from the Xishan Base in City A to the airport. Later, because he was one of the first people discovered to have mutated special abilities, he naturally became a member of the first special rescue team.
He'd been clearing out zombies for the past six months. Although he'd handed in most of the crystal cores he'd obtained, teams like his had food and water allocated from above. With his family away, he'd saved the crystal cores he'd received as part of his monthly salary. Over that long period, it had already amounted to a considerable sum.
But the shark's generosity was destined to fail.
As soon as he finished speaking, a man wearing an apron walked in from the next carriage.
"We have prepared dinner for everyone in the dining car. You can go and try it."
The team members who were originally sitting on the floor in the corridor outside the room looked at each other, all a little confused. Shark was also stunned when he heard this, and after reacting, he was the first to get up from the ground.
As someone who knew the relationship between Jiang Qian and the train, he was naturally informed before departure that Jiang Qian's family would go with them on the same train this time, but he thought it was just a matter of traveling on the same train. He didn't expect that they would even specially prepare a meal for them.
However, one team member who had seen Jiang Dong in the dining car before still remembered him and asked curiously, "Are the preparations so thorough? Did they actually have someone prepare food for us?"
As the captain, Shark naturally knew that this message was not included in the messages he had received before. Now that he was asked by his teammates, he had no way to answer. He could only pull Jiang Dong, who came to inform him, aside.
"I didn't tell you before that the train would take care of our meals. What's going on?"
Jiang Dong looked at the team members who kept looking around behind Shark, and then looked at the dark and serious face of the person in front of him who was pulling him aside. He knew that this person was the team leader that the eldest sister had mentioned before. He also knew that he knew the inside story and was not as easy to fool as other people. His previous idea of fooling around was no longer feasible, so he could only explain what Jiang Qian had specifically told him before coming.
"It's rare for everyone to go on such a trip together, so we prepared a lot of food so that everyone can have a full meal before going on the mission."
Jiang Dong explained, "Our family asked to come along, which caused a lot of trouble for everyone, so my mom said she wanted to take care of the logistics for everyone."
"No..." Although Shark knew that the family was going on the road together, he didn't feel that they had caused any trouble. In comparison, it was more likely that they were the ones who had caused trouble for others.
He was about to say that there was no need to prepare meals, but Jiang Dong's subsequent words blocked his throat.
"We've prepared enough food for thirty people. We can't even eat that much as a family. It would be a waste if you don't eat it. Although the temperature in the train is constant, the food gets cold quickly. Please go and tell the team members to go to the dining car to eat together!"
When Shark heard the word "waste," his refusal softened. Food was precious these days, and wasting it was a crime. As for favors, he could always repay them later.
Looking at the team members staring at him from behind, he thought for a moment and said, "I can't let you do it for nothing. So, you calculate the cost and I'll pay for the crystal cores."
Jiang Dong didn't want it at first; it was just a meal. Compared to the team members who were carrying out such a dangerous mission just to get back to normal life, what they did was insignificant, not to mention that they had to eat the food themselves. As for food, while it was precious to others, it was not difficult for them to obtain.
But seeing that the person in front of him looked like he wouldn't eat unless he nodded, Jiang Dong could only vaguely pass it over. "My words don't count. You can talk to the person in charge in the car when the time comes."
Shark thought about it and felt that he should invite Jiang Qian to have a chat.
At the same time, he secretly decided in his heart that if Jiang Qian did not agree, he would secretly leave the crystal core in the car when he got off. After estimating the probability of success of this behavior, he nodded, turned around and told the team members about going to the restaurant for dinner together.
Of course, he did not reveal the identity of the Jiang family to the team members. He just followed the team members' guesses and let them think that this was something that the superiors had discussed with the train.
【Author’s words】
Thank you for your support. The next chapter will be updated on Tuesday afternoon or evening [heart]
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