109: High temperatures officially arrive

The air in the corridor felt as if it had been scorched by fire, making it stiflingly hot and creating a stark contrast to the coolness inside the room.

Feeling a slight discomfort in her heart, Jiang Fei quickly returned to her room.

She didn’t close the door but instead opened all the windows, sat on the sofa, and gradually adjusted the air conditioner to adapt to the temperature difference.

About an hour later, Jiang Fei turned off the air conditioner.

The thermometer by the window showed 43℃; high temperatures had officially arrived, no wonder it was so hot.

“Huh? The door to 302 is open? Miss, when did you get back?”

Xiao Chuxia walked in, carrying a backpack and holding a letter.

Jiang Fei: “I just got home. Are you going out?”

“Yes, the weather is too hot now. Commuting back and forth makes it easy to get heatstroke. We’ve been notified to move into the dorms, so we won’t have to walk at night anymore.”

Even with the high temperature, Xiao Chuxia was still wearing long sleeves and long pants, only her face and neck exposed.

If she went out, she had to wear a mask and a hat.

There were fewer Patrol Teams at night, and some ill-intentioned people would target girls walking alone.

Xiao Chuxia didn’t even dare to expose her ankles, sweating profusely every day from the heat.

“Since you’re home, I don’t have to slip a letter under your door to tell you about this. Miss, I’m leaving.”

“Brother Lu and the others are also leaving tonight, and they can safely take me to the Hospital.”

“Eat supper before you go. There’s ready-made food in the refrigerator that cooks quickly. Go call Lu Yu and the others.” Jiang Fei got up and went into the kitchen.

She pretended to open the freezer but was actually taking out 5 servings of cold noodles, 5 bowls of fruit jam shaved ice, 2 large plates of previously made braised meat, and 18 Roujiamo from the Supermarket warehouse.

The braised meat was chopped, the Roujiamo were cut open with a knife, then filled with the braised meat, and the Roujiamo were made.

10 were plated, and 8 were divided into 4 portions and put into bags.

The shaved ice was put in the refrigerator first. Jiang Fei placed the cold noodles and Roujiamo on the table and reopened the air conditioner.

Xiao Chuxia also called Lu Yu and the other two over.

“Holy cow! Cold noodles!” Su Liuyuan excitedly sat down, his eyes gleaming:

“I’ve been dreaming of eating this these past few days! I craved it so much that I woke up every morning with drool all over my pillow!”

“Is there anything you can’t make, Captain?”

Su Liuyuan started showering her with exaggerated compliments.

Jiang Fei couldn’t listen anymore, so she picked up a Roujiamo and used it to block his mouth, then distributed the cold noodles to everyone.

“There are Roujiamo in the kitchen, one bag for each of you as breakfast, and the shaved ice is in the refrigerator, eat it on the way.”

“It’s inconvenient for you to get supplies, so I’ll deliver them once a week. Write down what you need in advance, and I’ll bring it next time.”

Knowing that Jiang Fei was worried they wouldn’t live well in the dorms, Lu Yu and the others felt immensely touched.

To have such a friend, how fortunate.

“Dahuang will trouble you to take care of him again.”

Lu Yu gave Jiang Fei his house key and stated his plan: “The bedroom in 301 and the living room in 302 share a wall. I want to open a small doorway so Dahuang can come over to eat, and you won’t have to run back and forth.”

Jiang Fei readily agreed.

She was a cat owner now too!

After dinner, Lu Yu brought tools, measured the dimensions, and opened a small doorway next to the living room sofa, just big enough for Dahuang to pass through, and installed a small wooden door.

The lock was on Jiang Fei’s side.

When locked, Dahuang wouldn’t be able to bother the neighbors.

Afterward, Lu Yu and Ling Zhaorui took their luggage and sent Xiao Chuxia to the Hospital dorms.

Su Liuyuan brought 9 suitcases from 305.

“Captain, these are the gold sales from recently.”

“The recruitment is almost done. When are you free to go to the store for the final interviews?”

Jiang Fei thought for a moment: “The day after tomorrow, I’ll go to the store with you.”

“Then I’ll notify them of the time tomorrow.”

After Su Liuyuan left, Jiang Fei put the suitcases into the Supermarket warehouse.

System: [Ding—Detected gold: 163,875 grams]

She was still a gold mountain away from her goal.

Jiang Fei laughed at her own poverty.

—

On the day of the interview, Jiang Fei woke up early to drive the pickup truck downstairs and load the freezer and popsicles.

Near 8 o’clock, Su Liuyuan came downstairs and got into the passenger seat.

Jiang Fei gave him a popsicle to taste.

The palm-shaped popsicle was crystal clear, with bright red watermelon pulp in the middle. It tasted sweet, with a faint hint of glutinous rice, and had a crisp, delicate texture.

“I bought the white sugar popsicles sold at the Safety Shelter, but they were very hard and difficult to bite. How did you make yours, Captain? They’re just like the ones sold in stores before.”

“I added glutinous rice flour, which increases a bit of stickiness, and the popsicles won’t be rock-hard. You set the price for this. There are 400 in the freezer.” Jiang Fei replied:

“We’ll continue selling shaved ice after a while.”

Popsicles are troublesome to make, requiring whittling wooden sticks and boiling glutinous rice syrup, unlike shaved ice, which is more convenient and sells for a higher price.

Su Liuyuan looked at the popsicle in his hand: “With a small amount of fruit, and it’s delicious, how about 88 grams of gold per stick? We’ll sell it for 50 grams on the first day to attract customers, then revert to the original price.”

“Alright.”

Just as Jiang Fei finished speaking, she suddenly heard a sharp laugh from outside the car.

On the roadside diagonally opposite, a man was hugging a bare tree, his eyes dull, his chapped lips mumbling, not knowing what he was muttering.

He was a victim of the Blood-red Poison Ants.

The Hospital couldn’t treat so many patients, leading to permanent neurological damage in some, turning them into fools.

Those with families were kept at home and cared for.

Those without families to care for them wandered the streets, immersed in their own worlds, sometimes even striking up conversations with passersby.

But no one understood what they were saying, so the Patrol Team had to be called to deal with them.

A single bullet ended their suffering.

Watching the man being shot dead by a member of the Patrol Team and his body dragged away, Jiang Fei calmly continued driving.

In the apocalypse, there was no shortage of dead people.

For them, death was a form of liberation.

—

At 9 o’clock, Jiang Fei arrived at Ping An Supermarket and, with Su Liuyuan, moved the popsicles and hung a whiteboard for sale at the main entrance.

The applicants arrived on time.

As luck would have it, all three were acquaintances of Jiang Fei.

Jiang Zhengkang had aged a lot, his skin tanned dark red, wearing an old man’s vest and short shorts.

His drooping hand was holding the little boy Jiang Fei had previously met at A Hong Inn.

Standing last was Zhou Wanqing, in a faded, big red tracksuit, her small face clean and tidy.

Her already striking features, under the sunlight, possessed a captivating charm that drew many Return rate.

Jiang Fei looked meaningfully at Su Liuyuan beside her: “Explain.”

Su Liuyuan cleared his throat: “The people who came to apply these past few days either had sticky fingers, stealing things or gold, or were lazy, finding ways to take advantage. Only these three passed the test, so I kept them.”

“I swear, it was truly an accident.”

Heaven knows, he didn’t show any favoritism!

Fate was just that strange.

Jiang Fei had a bit of a headache.

Acquaintances were indeed better than strangers; at least she knew their background.

But Jiang Zhengkang’s indecisive and overly soft-hearted nature had truly left a shadow on her.

The little boy was eight or nine years old, still a child; hiring him would be truly problematic.

As for Zhou Wanqing, besides being too beautiful, there wasn’t much of a problem.

Just as Jiang Fei was considering how to handle the situation, a woman approached furiously, holding a can of luncheon meat.

Her voice was as loud as if she were shouting through a megaphone.

“Everyone, come see! Ping An Supermarket sold me goods with bugs!”

“I bought this luncheon meat here yesterday, and when I opened it at home, not only did it smell bad, but there were maggots inside!”

The woman angrily threw the can on the ground.

Several long maggots crawled out of the meat chunks mixed with liquid.

The onlookers looked disgusted.

Yao Jin, not far away, also came to watch the commotion, holding a parasol and sneering:

“How long have the things in your store been spoiled to breed such big maggots?”

“Selling problematic goods at high prices, you’re not only poor but also utterly black-hearted.” Yao Jin made no secret of his triumph.

He didn’t believe anyone would come to Ping An Supermarket to buy things after today!

Yao Jin gestured to the woman to continue.

The woman immediately pointed at Jiang Fei and demanded: “You’re the owner of the store! How are you going to resolve this?!”

Suddenly, Zhou Wanqing opened the door of Ping An Supermarket.