◎ Happy 10th Day: Frozen Food ◎


Just as Jiang Muyun finished entering her payment password, she received a phone call from the industrial safety equipment factory.

She parked the car, confirmed the order, and then drove the small van into the warehouse.

Although there were many people around the perimeter of the warehouse, fortunately, the warehouse itself had no windows. Once the door was closed, it became pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen inside.

Jiang Muyun carefully collected and organized the industrial safety supplies into her space, and then deliberately waited inside for a while longer before finally leaving in her van.

Thinking about her upcoming schedule, Jiang Muyun bought several cans of automotive spray paint on her way back home.

After filling up the car with fuel, Jiang Muyun found an empty bridge tunnel and used her space to collect some water from the river. She then proceeded to clean the car thoroughly.

One hour later, the battle-damaged old van transformed into a silver-white color, resembling its original appearance.

Tomorrow, Jiang Muyun plans to purchase a large quantity of drinking water, food, and medications in bulk.

This will be Jiang Muyun's final trip to the factory for procurement.

Once this batch of goods arrives, Jiang Muyun plans to change the color of the van again. From South City, she will drive all the way east to the nearest port city, East City, to engage in some discreet activities.

If it weren't for the fear of attracting unnecessary attention, Jiang Muyun even considered bringing back a few □ □.

After changing the color of the vehicle, Jiang Muyun didn't drive the old van into her residential area. Instead, she found a secluded place, directly stored the car in her space, and then walked home, removing her mask and glasses along the way.

While her van is commonly seen on the streets, it rarely appears in residential areas. Jiang Muyun aims to minimize the chances of exposure as much as possible.

Jiang Muyun is extremely cautious in this regard. Sometimes, when it's difficult to find a suitable place to store the van in crowded urban areas, she simply parks it in a free parking lot or even leaves it in the suburbs and takes the subway home.

In any case, this van used for transporting goods must be kept away from her residential area!

On her way back home, Jiang Muyun noticed that the pharmacy at the entrance of her residential area was having a promotion.

She went inside and took a look around. She bought a home medical kit with pre-packaged medications and a few bottles of medicated oil.

At the checkout, the cashier informed Jiang Muyun that she had a considerable number of reward points on her membership card that would expire in a few days. The cashier asked if she would like to redeem some items with the points.

After giving it some thought, Jiang Muyun decided to redeem all of her reward points for multivitamin tablets.

She originally wanted to redeem for Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, but she realized that its strong scent would be difficult to conceal if she were to use it later.

Firstly, the apocalypse started with extreme cold, and secondly, she checked and found that it was already included in the medical kit she bought, so she didn't need to buy it separately.

Buy a few bottles of multivitamin tablets, so when there is a shortage of vegetables and fruits later on, she can openly give them to Qin Shiwen and the others.

As Jiang Muyun entered the elevator carrying her things, Zhao Jiahao and Li Anxuan happened to come back as well.

Zhao Jiahao, seeing that the elevator was about to close, made a rapid sprint and pressed the elevator button, almost slamming himself into the wall. He was so fast that Jiang Muyun didn't even have time to press the open door button.

"Thank you, thank you! Hurry, hurry!"

Zhao Jiahao managed to interrupt the closing elevator doors in time and entered the elevator. While thanking Jiang Muyun, he urged Li Anxuan to hurry up.

Jiang Muyun withdrew her hand that was hovering over the open button and gave Zhao Jiahao a thumbs up, saying, "Impressive skills, young hero."

Zhao Jiahao, feeling a sense of accomplishment for catching the elevator, proudly exclaimed, "Of course, I'm a professional elevator door opener!"

"Indeed, when it comes to opening elevator doors, no one is more professional than you guys," Qin Shiwu chimed in with a smile as he entered the elevator.

Upon seeing that the person who had entered was Qin Shiwu, Jiang Muyun was shocked and blurted out, "You actually came back at this hour!"

Qin Shiwu choked for a while before managing to squeeze out a retort, "I’m participating in residency training at the hospital. I'm not working as an illegal laborer on a landlord's estate. What's wrong with getting off work early?"

Zhao Jiahao and Jiang Muyun's laughter was so loud that Qin Shiwu felt the elevators shaking.

Even Li Anxuan, who had always looked calm, couldn't help but lower his head.

Qin Shiwu felt even more hurt.

He might as well just look up and smile.

Qin Shiwu: "Stop laughing. If the elevator shakes and stops later, I'll have to call 119. Do you both want to be considered absent from work or making unauthorized emergency calls?"

Li Anxuan, who was inexplicably affected: ?

Li Anxuan innocently said, "We're not absent workers either. We're just ordinary citizens who finish work on time."

Jiang Muyun spontaneously commented on Qin Shiwu, "Even when a person turns to ashes, their mouth keeps going."

Qin Shiwu raised his hand and was about to knock her head.

Jiang Muyun, who has survived for ten years in the apocalypse, has a keen sense of crisis. She timed it perfectly and spoke up just as the elevator arrived. Like a slippery fish, she slipped out and swiftly unlocked the door with her keys, moving at a speed no slower than Zhao Jiahao opening the elevator door.

"See you tomorrow, ge! I'll be back at this time too!" Jiang Muyun stood behind the large iron door, confidently teasing him.

Qin Shiwu shouted, "Roll!" with a thunderous voice.

Jiang Muyun said that she’d come back at the same time tomorrow, and she wasn't just making empty promises.

She only has four tasks scheduled for tomorrow. According to Jiang Muyun's plan, it's evenly split between morning and afternoon, which works out perfectly.

First, she will go to the frozen food processing plant to store an adequate amount of meat and semi-finished products. Second, she will visit a pharmaceutical factory to purchase a large quantity of commonly used over-the-counter drugs, topical medications, and disinfectants. After that, she will go to a water station to order drinking water, and finally, she will visit the warehouse to collect some deliveries.

After tomorrow's batch of deliveries is collected, the rest of the goods will mostly arrive in three to four days.

These three to four days of free time, it's just enough for Jiang Muyun to make a trip to the East City and collect some agricultural products, fruits, and vegetables along the way.

In the evening, Jiang Muyun checked the progress of various film and television downloads and stubbornly searched for the protagonist's name of "108 Treasures" on various novel sites, but couldn't find the book she was looking for. Finally, she fell asleep with a sense of regret.

After waking up in the morning, Jiang Muyun deliberately took out her limited collection of cosmetics and carefully applied makeup for half an hour.

With her skills, she successfully made herself look more than ten years older through her makeup.

She sighed, unsure whether to be happy or sad.

Jiang Muyun held an umbrella and arrived at the underground parking lot. Inside the car, she put on a complete set of sun protection gear, covered herself tightly, and then set off.

Summer also has its own advantages, just like the peculiar mask she's wearing, which covers below her eyes to her neck. It's a popular item that has sold over 100,000 units per month on a certain online marketplace.

On the road, she saw people riding bikes, driving cars, and various others who, for various reasons, were unable to hold an umbrella. Most of them were dressed in the same way.

With this unrecognizable disguise, Jiang Muyun carefully inspected the quality of the frozen meat at the food processing plant and placed an order for 1,000 catties of frozen beef and 2 tons of frozen pork.

The retail price of frozen beef in the market is less than half that of fresh beef. The price at the frozen food processing plant is even lower, approximately one-third of the price of fresh beef. Jiang Muyun decided to buy more and planned to make her own braised beef and beef rolls.

She has a typical Chinese palate and isn't particularly interested in steak. When it comes to eating beef, she usually enjoys it in the form of hot pot sliced beef, braised or stewed beef, or beef skewers. Occasionally, she might stir-fry some beef slices as well.

Similarly, lamb is mostly consumed during hot pot or barbecue sessions.

Therefore, her demand for beef and lamb is mainly focused on frozen meat and semi-finished products.

Jiang Muyun also bought fifty boxes of chicken wings.

Originally, she was planning to buy a hundred boxes, but after seeing the price of chicken wingtips next door, she decisively allocated fifty boxes to chicken wingtips.

She also ordered fifty boxes each of fried semi-finished products like Milan shrimp cakes, taro sweet potato balls, and cod fillets from the food factory.

These items, in addition to being consumed by Jiang Muyun herself, also serve as a luxury food reserve.

In her previous life, Jiang Muyun had heard of a son of heaven who, while searching for food, accidentally discovered a partially thawed frozen warehouse. Not only did he obtain several power generators, but also found a significant amount of frozen food.

He was incredibly fortunate because there happened to be an official organization nearby.

He quickly reported the address of the frozen warehouse to the authorities, and without any hesitation, he handed over all the generators as well.

Afterward, under the protection of the authorities, the food in the frozen warehouse was auctioned off. The proceeds from the auction were split evenly between the individual and the authorities, allowing them to transition from the impoverished class to the middle class in one leap.

Later on, the survivors developed a habit of digging wherever they went, which resulted in the collapse of many ruins and the deaths of numerous individuals.

The price of frozen meat was surprisingly cheap, so Jiang Muyun used the saved money to buy some "junk food".

Among the semi-prepared skewers, besides various types of bean products, Jiang Muyun only bought marinated beef and lamb skewers, as well as pork tenderloin skewers.

There were also various types of hot pot meatballs, scattered together, totaling over 500 catties.

Taking inspiration from the precedent of the clothing factory, Jiang Muyun had a clever idea and casually asked if there were any defective products for sale, regardless of the type.

Jiang Muyun's attitude was clear: "I've already bought everything I need, so if you have any defective products, I'll consider buying them as well. If not, then never mind."

The person in charge hesitated for a moment and said that there was indeed a batch available.

The products they produce are all frozen goods, and the longer they are stored, the less valuable they become.

If Jiang Muyun wants to return the regular goods and exchange them for defective products, the person in charge will definitely not tell her about this batch of goods.

But now it is an additional sale, which is equivalent to making an extra profit. The person in charge is still very willing to do it.

Jiang Muyun looked at them, and they were mostly various types of meat rolls and fried snacks that had been pressed at the corners.

Some of the meat rolls were crushed, but it didn't affect their edibility, just their appearance. Brands wouldn't accept them, and there would definitely be no one willing to buy them in supermarkets. Supermarkets wouldn't stock these types of products that could only be sold at a steep discount.

There are also some products in good condition inside, but the manufacturer is too lazy to mobilize manpower to sort them slowly, so they simply treat the entire batch as defective products.

Jiang Muyun directly purchased the entire batch of defective products.

Inside, there were not only a large quantity of beef and mutton rolls but also a considerable amount of quail and fish rolls.

Frozen meat is indeed much cheaper than fresh meat, and the meat rolls are also a pleasant surprise. To reward herself, Jiang Muyun decided to buy two fresh pigs on her way back.

Two tons of pork may seem like a lot, but when you calculate it, it's only equivalent to four adult pigs. Coupled with the four freshly slaughtered pigs she bought earlier in the West Market, Jiang Muyun's pork reserves amount to approximately six tons.

Compared to other meats, Jiang Muyun often eats pork.

What braised pork, steamed pork with rice flour, crispy roasted pork, big pork buns, soup-filled pork dumplings, pan-fried pork dumplings—every single one of them is Jiang Muyun's favorite.

As the main type of meat for her in the coming decades, Jiang Muyun naturally wants to stock up more if her wallet allows it.

Jiang Muyun has bought almost all the life-saving food supplies, so she needs to buy some that can save lives next.

Jiang Muyun drove her van directly to the small pharmaceutical factory she had set her sights on.

The pharmaceutical factory was some distance away from the food factory. On the way there, Jiang Muyun passed by a snack street and couldn't resist the enticing aroma that filled the air, even through the car windows.

Feeling that she had just made a big profit, Jiang Muyun indulgently ordered a plate of fried squid and rice cakes for lunch, which cost thirty yuan. She also accompanied it with a glass of sweet fermented rice wine.

Chewing on the flavorful and fragrant rice cake, Jiang Muyun couldn't help but feel that the peaceful and prosperous era is really good.

How nice would it be if those ten years of the apocalypse were just her own dream?

She finished the entire plate of fried squid and rice cakes, not leaving behind even a single piece of celery stem.

She carried the half-filled cup of sweet fermented rice wine and went to the shop to have it refilled with water, then she downed the entire glass in one gulp.

Jiang Muyun patted her stomach and drove her tattered car toward the pharmaceutical factory.

As a reincarnated person, she couldn't continue using cotton thread to stitch her wounds, right?

She, Jiang Muyun, must live a life where she can use medical dressings when injured, and change them three times a day!

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1. Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui (simplified Chinese: 藿香正气水; traditional Chinese: 藿香正氣水) is a liquid herbal formula used in Traditional Chinese medicine to "induce diaphoresis and clear away summer-heat, to resolve damp and regulate the function of the spleen and stomach". It tastes bitter and pungent.

 

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Author's note:

Actually, frozen meat is sold by specialized manufacturers, but specifically highlighting it feels a bit excessive (resting chin on hands).

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