Chapter 65: Fish Cake
When they returned to the mountain, the person in charge of boiling water brought them a few bowls.
One bowl of hot water went down, and only then did their cold bodies start feeling a bit warmer.
“Brother Zhao, what’s for dinner tonight?” Xu Jiaoqin tossed over a small pack of tea leaves. She was in luck today—the household she dived into to search seemed rather well-off, and even had tea leaves.
She didn’t plan to hand over the tea leaves and secretly kept them.
They were perfect for gift-giving.
Brother Zhao caught the tea leaves, brought them to his nose to smell, and chuckled, “Tonight we’re eating fish cakes and meat soup. Three fish head cakes per person, and the meat soup will be plentiful.”
Brother Zhao was in charge of the meals for the Superpower Users who went out to salvage materials; though he didn’t cook, he could decide what was on the menu three times a day.
This job was lucrative; if Brother Zhao didn’t have connections higher up, the role would never have been his.
He had been doing this for many days, and his wallet was bulging.
This job not only allowed him to pilfer some of the ingredients but also to receive gifts from Superpower Users.
Many team leaders of Superpower User squads would send him benefits on the quiet in hope of getting a larger share of food.
You see, even if it was supposed to be three cakes each, those cakes came in different sizes, and some were even broken in half.
And the soup—when spooned out, some people’s bowls were all soup, while others had more meat and less soup.
He’d give a subtle look to the person distributing the food, who then knew how much to give and what kind of soup to serve.
Among all the gifts he had received these days, the ones from Captain Xu were always to his liking.
Brother Zhao patted Xu Jiaoqin on the shoulder, “Looks like Captain Xu had a good haul today.”
“Not at all, just found a little something, and I’ve hurriedly brought it all to you,” Xu Jiaoqin buttered him up.
It was a clumsy attempt, but Brother Zhao liked what he heard.
“Hard work pays off, tell the guys to eat more meat tonight.”
Xu Jiaoqin smiled and nodded. It seemed like her Cheetah Team would own the meat in tonight’s soup.
Brother Zhao was examining the newly acquired tea leaves, pondering whether to give them to somebody higher up. He was quite fond of drinking tea himself, but what he liked was nothing compared to gaining favor with the top brass.
Meanwhile, Xu Jiaoqin hummed a tune on her way back and bumped into Hu Dashan, the leader of the Fierce Tiger Team. Judging by his route, he was probably off to give Brother Zhao a gift, just like her.
With that pack of tea leaves in hand, Brother Zhao probably wouldn’t care for other gifts, unless… Hu Dashan brought a bigger pack of tea leaves.
Speaking of which, this gift-giving tactic was something she had learned from Hu Dashan.
Hu Dashan wasn’t good at much else, but he excelled at buttering up and holding onto coattails. Because of this skill, even though everyone went out on missions together, his team always got the easy and less dangerous tasks, and they ended up with a larger share of the rewards at the end.
Other teams tackled the most dangerous tasks and received the lowest rewards.
Later, Xu Jiaoqin picked up a bit of that skill, astonishingly effective, and henceforth, walked a… no, somewhat easier path.
With the right gift, a leader could be like a father.
Xu Jiaoqin had no intention of dealing with him; previously, she had thought about teaching Hu Dashan a lesson but got too busy and forgot.
But no worries—they were all at the same base, and she’d find an opportunity for revenge.
Though Hu Dashan wasn’t one to miss a chance at making a snide remark; despite the wide path, he intentionally bumped into her.
Luckily, Xu Jiaoqin reacted quickly. The instant Hu Dashan bumped into her, she kicked out.
That kick had no mercy, solid and forceful, making Hu Dashan yelp in pain.
“Sorry about that, just wanted to practice my kicking. Didn’t expect someone to be so blind to bump into me,” Xu Jiaoqin spoke sarcastically. She remembered Hu Dashan had spoken in the same mocking tone when he stole a prey from the Cheetah Team.
“Who are you calling blind?!” Hu Dashan winced from the pain in his chest, this Xu Jiaoqin, as fiery in temper as she was in looks—a real firecracker. Hu Dashan initially wanted to curse her, but his gaze drifted towards her chest.
Hu Dashan had a crush on Lin Muxue, but his feelings for her were of the untouchable goddess-kind.
But as a man, his heart is like a durian, once the biggest spike has someone, there are still other spikes left.
Those he hadn’t conquered were his remaining spikes.
He didn’t actually like Xu Jiaoqin that much; she had too fiery a temper, and for a woman to even take up smoking like a man.
But Xu Jiaoqin’s figure was excessively good.
If he just looked at her body, it was still fine.
“What are you ogling at with those dog eyes?” Xu Jiaoqin, seeing his lecherous eyes, suddenly looked fierce.
Dog thing, born with a pair of dog eyes.
“Captain Xu is so domineering, even controlling where others look,” Hu Dashan’s gaze became even more unrestrained.
He wasn’t afraid of Xu Jiaoqin, they were both Level 8 Superpower Users, and besides, he was a man, stronger and more resilient than Xu Jiaoqin.
“Heh. I don’t care where other people’s eyeballs wander, but I have a hobby of feeding mutant dogs with people’s eyeballs,” Xu Jiaoqin said with a slight smile, staring straight at Hu Dashan’s eyeballs as if really contemplating feeding them to mutant dogs.
Hu Dashan suddenly felt a chill shoot through his feet.
His expression stiffened.
“Captain Hu has things to do, I won’t waste your time. I’ll go back and check on my lovely mutant dogs,” Xu Jiaoqin winked playfully at him.
After Xu Jiaoqin left, Hu Dashan rubbed his arms, damn, it was chilly.
Well, he’d better go give his gift first.
Hu Dashan, carrying the gift he was going to give, was full of confidence. Today, he had scored some good stuff and guaranteed that no one else’s gift would be better.
Tonight, all the meat in the soup would belong to the Fierce Tiger Team, and the leftover cakes would be theirs too.
After giving out the gift, Brother Zhao received it with relish, and though he said nothing, his expression showed he was very pleased.
Brother Zhao even winked, indicating the deal was done.
Hu Dashan whistled on his way back.
He decided he would stand next to Xu Jiaoqin’s team while eating meat tonight, just to make them envious.
Hu Dashan’s plan was good but…
Hu Dashan held a bowl of soup and a fish cake with a big bite taken out of it, his eyes blank.
Brother Zhao had actually taken the gift without doing the work?
“Captain Hu, eat up,” Xu Jiaoqin said, holding a big piece of meat and munching away happily.
The meat, being from a Mutant Mountain Pig, was quite fishy and tough. But looking at Hu Dashan’s expression, she found the meat in her hands quite delectable.
Xu Jiaoqin stood very close to Hu Dashan, not intentionally, mainly just eating next to him.
Members of the Cheetah Team did the same, not congregating as usual but instead standing next to members of the Fierce Tiger Team to gnaw on meat.
Not only did they gnaw on meat, but they also made it a point to make loud noises while doing so.
Some people from the Fierce Tiger Team couldn’t take it anymore and moved aside, hoping to get away from these Cheetah Team members. But wherever they went, the Cheetah Team followed.
They couldn’t even complain, as whenever they did, a member from the Cheetah Team would respond, “I just like to eat while I walk. What’s it to you? Is this cave yours or what?”