"It smells so good!"
Zhou Haimai tugged at Xu An's sleeve and squeezed towards the front of the barbecue stall.
"You know, this meat really does smell good. It smells even better than the barbecue at the lighthouse. What kind of seasoning did they use?"
A flicker of doubt flashed in Xu An's eyes. She didn't need Zhou Haimai to say it; she herself had smelled the peculiar aroma.
But she couldn't quite place what it was.
Before the apocalypse, she had bought all sorts of common and uncommon seasonings on the market.
Xu An stared, dazed, at the barbecue sizzling and spitting oil in the chef's hands.
Golden oil dripped down the browned surface of the meat into a funnel below.
On top of the funnel sat a row of various staples.
There was rice, noodles, and even some dry rations like steamed buns, cornmeal buns, and flatbreads.
Xu An looked at the scene before her with confusion. From behind, someone unhappily bumped into her and Zhou Haimai with their shoulder.
Zhou Haimai turned around, ready to lash out, but saw that the people behind them all looked at them fiercely.
"What's wrong with you two young girls? So young, and so shameless. Wanting to buy barbecue and not lining up? Are the people cutting in line these days so shameless, cutting so openly!"
Someone behind them chimed in, "That's right, that's right. These young girls nowadays, truly the times are declining. They don't respect elders or love the young, and they're bullying the elderly and cutting in line."
"Exactly, exactly. Look at that little girl, so fierce, maybe she even wants to beat up us old men?"
Listening to the surrounding comments, Xu An finally realized that at some point, without them noticing, they had somehow ended up at the very front of the line.
It wasn't surprising that others mistook them for cutting in line.
Zhou Haimai looked deflated. She wanted to get angry, but their actions had indeed caused a misunderstanding.
But trying to explain was difficult, as a crowd of middle-aged and elderly people had surrounded them, pointing and gossiping.
Xu An almost felt like this wasn't the apocalypse, but rather a scene from before the apocalypse, with people fighting over discounted groceries in a supermarket.
In a moment of disorientation, they had lost ground.
Trying to explain now was clearly no longer an option.
Zhou Haimai: "......We......"
Xu An stopped Zhou Haimai from explaining and apologized to the people around them.
Not only that, but she also pulled Zhou Haimai to bow and apologize.
The entire sequence of actions was executed flawlessly.
It completely stunned the people around them who were still pointing and gossiping.
Who in the apocalypse had ever seen such a scene?
An old man, who appeared to be over a hundred and was leading the accusations against Xu An, also looked a bit embarrassed.
No one had expected Xu An to apologize to everyone.
Not only Xu An, but even Zhou Haimai was taken aback.
"We apologize to everyone. We sisters are here for the first time, and we were attracted by the smell of the barbecue. We really didn't mean to cut in line. We ask all uncles and aunties for forgiveness for the inconvenience we have caused."
"It's alright, it's alright. It's understandable if it's your first time here. After all, the barbecue from the Southern Base is famous far and wide, it's a specialty here."
An old woman with graying temples, seeing Xu An's sincere apology, stepped forward and took Xu An's hand.
"The young girl has apologized, so we old folks shouldn't trouble her anymore. I see this girl is so delicate; she looks like a well-behaved child."
Xu An suppressed the urge to pull her hand away as the old woman led her towards the back of the line.
"Auntie, I just saw there were things under the barbecue plates catching the dripping oil. What is that for?"
The old woman looked at Xu An with a proud expression.
"Oh, you young girls, you only think about yourselves, eating enough for yourselves without worrying about anyone else."
"The oil dripping from the barbecue is the essence! Catch it with coarse rice, mix it in, and it's incredibly fragrant."
"Do you remember eating lard mixed with rice when you were young? It's the same! It's so delicious, oh..."
"The world has harmed people..."
The old woman sighed and chatted casually with Xu An.
At this moment, Zhou Haimai interjected at the opportune moment.
"Is this oil free?"
The old woman looked at Zhou Haimai with a strange expression, as if she had said something odd.
"The owner is already kind enough to let those who can't afford barbecue use the leftover oil to mix with rice and satisfy their cravings. And you're still thinking about it being free?"
The old woman's earlier good impression of Xu An was completely ruined by Zhou Haimai.
But that didn't matter.
Xu An had already learned what she wanted to know.
She pulled Zhou Haimai, who still wanted to say something, towards the end of the line.
Zhou Haimai looked unconvinced. "An'an, why didn't you let me talk to her! That's clearly just garbage oil dripping from the barbecue. Even if they don't give it to others, they shouldn't be selling it!"
"It's their own stall, they can price it however they want. There's no price control bureau now, do you still want to manage them?"
Xu An was speechless, wondering why Zhou Haimai was so impulsive.
At the same time, she urged in her heart, "Zeyuan, Zeyuan, did you find out? Is there something wrong with this meat?"
Even though Xu An had prepared herself mentally, she hesitated for a moment when she heard the answer.
"The meat itself is fine; it's all from wild beasts. It's just the seasoning used to cook the barbecue that seems to have a problem."
After hearing Zeyuan's answer, Xu An didn't know what emotion to use to describe her feelings.
She was afraid of facing the naked truth.
If that meat were really human flesh, wouldn't the entire Southern Base have turned into man-eating monsters?
And even enjoying it?
If all this were true, how would Xu An face the entire city of people?
Now that she had Zeyuan's answer, knowing that the meat was fine and only the seasonings were problematic, the weight on Xu An's heart instantly lifted.
At least, she wouldn't have to fight tens of thousands of "monsters" alone.
"What's wrong with the seasoning? Explain it clearly!"
Who talks like that, only saying half the sentence?
Xu An frowned in dissatisfaction. Well, Zeyuan was a tree, not a person in the first place.
So, the non-human Zeyuan kept Xu An in suspense before slowly speaking.
"The string of red berries you're holding is the culprit!"
Xu An was surprised. "What are you talking about? These red berries are just some wild fruit. We drank the juice made from these berries earlier, and nothing happened."
"Zeyuan, are you mistaken?"