Xu An: ...
Although she knew it was Zhou Haimei's description, she couldn't help but mentally complain.
Have you eaten it?
But obviously, this couldn't be said now. Seeing Zhou Haimei's increasingly desperate expression.
Xu An had a bold guess.
"You didn't, this time you came down, you only brought that thing, did you?"
Silence...
A deathly silence.
Seeing Zhou Haimei nod with difficulty.
Xu An couldn't help but cover her stomach, lean on the steering wheel, and laugh heartily without any pretense.
"Mei-jie... Hahahaha... I can't help it, I don't want to laugh... Hahahaha... How can you be so cute!"
"Stop laughing! I brought you a portion too."
Zhou Haimei lowered her head in shame, speaking in a muffled voice, her tone soft and gentle, no longer the usual domineering demeanor. She looked a bit like a good kitten to pet.
Xu An finished laughing and then sat up straight, leaning on the steering wheel.
"It's okay, it's okay. Although I'm very curious, I'm a person who really listens to advice. Ahahaha, I won't try something that you dislike so much."
Zhou Haimei felt a little embarrassed and asked about what had been worrying her.
"An'an, is the food you brought enough for you to eat? We still have to stay down here for more than two months. If you run out of food..."
Zhou Haimei originally wanted to say, then I'll go with the nutrient solution, it's okay.
But she couldn't say this sentence at all.
"I'll earn food myself."
She knew that in these land-based bases, food was the hard currency. With her abilities.
Earning food for two months wouldn't be difficult.
Xu An, having finished laughing, looked at Zhou Haimei with tears in her eyes.
"No need, no need. The food I brought is enough for both of us."
"But your backpack is clearly empty?"
Zhou Haimei's backpack was filled with compressed nutrient solution. This was a new technology on Lighthouse.
Similar to the ring that could store corpses which she had given to Xu An earlier, Zhou Haimei also carried a similar pendant.
However, this kind of spatial compression technology was difficult to obtain even on Lighthouse.
Zhou Haimei's pendant was obtained by relying on her family's influence on Lighthouse.
But the space inside was only about one square meter, and it couldn't store food.
It could only be used to store things that did not require a shelf life, such as nutrient solution.
Xu An, as if performing magic, pulled open a zipper on the backpack behind her.
Inside was an uncountable amount of food. However, from the outside, the bag looked deflated and empty, not at all like it was filled with food.
Although Zhou Haimei had already witnessed the magic of Xu An's backpack, she still found it hard to believe.
But she didn't doubt Xu An's food. She was just surprised by the appearance of the backpack in Xu An's hand.
"Your backpack seems to have magic!"
"Let's go, hurry up and cook. What do you want to eat?"
Zhou Haimei's eyes sparkled, "What delicious things do you have?"
"Do you want something spicy? I have self-heating hot pot!"
Zhou Haimei sat up excitedly, her head almost hitting the car roof.
Afterward, they parked the car in a hidden spot, leaning against a large tree as thick as a person behind the jeep.
After parking the car, Xu An took out the tarpaulin from the trunk and the ground stakes she had prepared.
She hammered all four corners of the tarpaulin into the ground, and found two suitable long wooden poles to prop up the center of the tarpaulin.
A simple outdoor camping tent was thus erected.
Although dense fog still permeated the surroundings, when Xu An set up the firewood.
It seemed to have a bit of warmth.
Xu An took out the small portable iron pot she had used before, and poured water into it.
She took out the beef that Xu Yan had stewed earlier, broke it open, tore it into small pieces, and threw it into the boiling water.
Soon, the savory and tempting beef broth, with wisps of aroma, wafted into Xu An and Zhou Haimei's nostrils.
Seeing Zhou Haimei's eager expression, Xu An took out two small iron bowls she had found from somewhere.
Zhou Haimei had already gotten used to Xu An's occasional appearance of surprising little things.
She was no longer easily astonished.
After ladling out the soup, Xu An put some rice into the pot and slowly simmered it over the firewood.
She took out the self-heating hot pot that they hadn't eaten earlier, opened it, and took out the heating pack.
She poured in clean water, then dumped in all the vegetable packets. She then took out a handful of colorful noodles from her backpack.
Zhou Haimei looked at it with wonder.
"What is this?"
"Baby noodles. These noodles are short and cook easily. They've been stored for a long time, I wonder if they've expired."
Xu An said this intentionally, to rationalize the origin of the noodles.
Of course, they wouldn't expire.
Anything stored in the space, even if left for 20 years, would not expire.
But these were obviously things she couldn't tell Zhou Haimei.
"It's good enough that we have something to eat, An'an. Who cares if it's expired or not."
Zhou Haimei looked at Xu An with a happy expression. She never expected that in such a desolate place.
Not only could she drink delicious beef broth, but she could also eat hot pot. And Xu An was still cooking something over there.
This meal was no less than life on Lighthouse.
Xu An smiled and said nothing. After putting in the noodles, she covered the lid.
"It'll be ready in a moment."
Xu An's appetite had basically returned to normal, but the appetite of two adult women was still not to be underestimated.
However, Xu An hadn't prepared too much. She estimated their appetites and made enough for both of them.
After all, food was the most precious thing now. The food prepared today was not easy to preserve.
If they couldn't finish it, it would be a waste.
Ten minutes later.
The aroma of the hot pot mingled with the thick porridge simmering in the small iron pot, entwining and weaving.
It tempted Zhou Haimei's appetite.
"Is it ready? An'an, I'm starving."
"It's ready, it's ready."
Xu An found a relatively flat stone and placed the simmered beef porridge and hot pot on the stone.
Zhou Haimei also held the pre-cooked beef porridge and placed it on the stone.
The two of them sat on the ground.
Enjoying their first meal of the day.
Zhou Haimei eagerly picked up a slice of potato and put it in her mouth.
The next second, she let out a satisfied sound.
"It's so delicious!"
"It's so delicious I'm about to cry!"
"An'an, you know, I've been dreaming of eating hot pot for the past few days."
Xu An looked at Zhou Haimei, whose eyes were a little wet like a puppy's, and suddenly wanted to pat her head.
In fact, Xu An actually did so.
...
Zhou Haimei was immersed in the delicious food and didn't notice Xu An's action.
Xu An furtively glanced at Zhou Haimei, found that the other party hadn't noticed this small interlude.
Only then did she retract her hand, feeling secretly pleased.
She had actually touched Zhou Haimei's head.