Chapter 192: Prepared Meals
Five large words were printed clearly on top: Fish-Fragrant Shredded Pork Rice!
’So it makes pre-packaged meals,’ Lily Hart suddenly realized.
Still, for the current state of the apocalypse, this was incredibly practical. You didn’t even have to unwrap it; you could just heat it up and eat.
She was quite curious about how these pre-packaged meals would taste.
Seth peeled back the packaging. It was still warm, steam wafting out. At a glance, it looked, smelled, and seemed delicious, with one half for the main dish and the other for rice.
There were shreds of pork, wood ear mushrooms, green peppers, and carrots all stir-fried together. It actually looked pretty good.
But Roman Rowe leaned in, glanced at the five words on the packaging, then at the food inside, and asked doubtfully, "Where’s the fish?"
Lily Hart couldn’t help but laugh. She shot him a look and pointed at the assembly line. "Over there."
Roman Rowe immediately turned to look. The second meal came off the line, and the five words on the box read: Braised Fish Fillet with Rice! Only then did he realize Boss Hart was teasing him, and he couldn’t help but snicker.
Seth ignored him and picked up the Braised Fish Fillet with Rice. He opened it to find neatly arranged fish fillets, garnished with a bit of green pepper, releasing a rich, savory aroma.
The assembly line didn’t stop. Meal boxes eagerly rolled out of the machine one by one. The group watched curiously as Braised Pork with Potatoes, Minced Pork with Eggplant, and Green Pepper, Potato, and Beef appeared.
Just from reading the names, everyone could imagine how delicious and fragrant the food must be. One by one, they all turned to look at Seth with pleading eyes.
Seth: ...
He hesitated for a moment. He knew these people were Boss Hart’s friends and, like him, had even won prizes and had their own shops.
With considerable reluctance, he said, "Take whichever one you like." He then turned his head away. Out of sight, out of mind. In truth, his heart ached at the thought.
Lily Hart waited for a moment, and when she saw a Green Pepper Shredded Pork with Rice, she grabbed it without hesitation. Peeling back the lid, she saw it was identical to the ones sold in the mall.
It was even more fragrant than Roman Rowe’s cooking and looked better, too. It just lacked that fresh-from-the-wok flavor, but hey, food was food. This was no time to be picky.
Everyone grabbed a box and, without a care for their appearances, squatted down next to the assembly line and started eating. Meanwhile, Seth went to turn off the machine.
He didn’t want it to keep producing endlessly. After all, when you’ve just gotten something new, you tend to be extremely protective of it.
And you know, it tasted surprisingly good. Alternating between bites of the main dish and the rice, everyone ate with great relish. The portions were generous, too—definitely enough to fill up an adult.
Lily Hart let out a quiet burp and pulled a small stool out of her spatial storage. She glanced at Seth, who was eating in a stunned daze, and then at Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe, who both had looks of pure satisfaction on their faces.
She shooed them away. "Alright, alright, finish up and get going. I have business to attend to."
Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe were sensible enough to know she wanted to discuss a factory partnership with the new guy, so they nudged each other along and left. Logan Holland, however, shamelessly stayed put.
"You too," Lily Hart said, shooting him a disdainful look.
Logan Holland very much wanted to stay, but under the threat of Lily Hart’s glare, he reluctantly went outside. Soon, only the two of them were left in the spacious factory.
Seth watched everyone leave, wondering if he should go too, but Lily Hart called out to him.
"Let’s talk." Lily Hart leaned against the assembly line, crossing one leg over the other. With her arms folded and a cool gaze, she looked rather nonchalant.
Seth obediently walked over, his clear eyes cautiously sizing up Lily Hart. He looked like a frightened animal, wary and vulnerable.
This unexpectedly stirred a sense of pity in Lily Hart. She unfolded her arms, braced them against the assembly line behind her, and softened her tone. "I just want to talk about the factory."
"I see these fast-food meals can be sold directly. I suggest selling them at the entrance here and also in the online supermarket. We can discuss pricing later. What do you think?"
Right now, the convenience store mostly carries instant foods, like instant noodles, self-heating hot pots, and self-heating rice meals.
Besides, there are only so many flavors, and people get tired of them. Everything else is just snacks, which you can’t live on.
Now, a food production assembly line has shown up. Even if it’s all pre-packaged fast food, it’s still amazing!
I’m sure everyone will love it!
Seth nodded obediently, giving her a ’whatever you say’ look. He was thin and lanky, about as tall as Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe, but so skinny he looked like a beanpole...
His oversized t-shirt hung loosely on his frame. When the wind blew into it, it billowed out like a dress.
’Why am I getting so soft?’ Lily Hart wondered, but she still said, "For the profits, we’ll do an 80-20 split. I get eighty, you get twenty. Any problem with that?"
Seth shook his head. He felt he’d used up a lifetime of luck just by winning the first-prize ticket. He had assumed he’d just get a monthly salary and, if the boss was nice, room and board.
He never imagined he’d actually get to eat the food the machine produced. He felt like he must have used up the luck for his next life and the life after that, too.
’So, did the profits really matter?’
Lily Hart nodded, pleased. She walked a circle around the machine and found some text on the back that looked like an instruction manual, engraved right onto the back panel.
She silently read it to herself. ’The machine only operates for four hours a day. It requires a daily feeding of fifty First-rank Crystal Cores. Daily output is approximately two hundred meals. Upgradable.’
That was the abridged version, of course.
When Seth saw that she didn’t come back around for a while, he also circled to the back of the machine and stood beside her. He had just bent down when Lily Hart straightened up.
"OW—" Lily Hart cried out, clutching the back of her head.
She spun around angrily, only to meet Seth’s pitiful, teary eyes. Looking down, she saw he was covering his mouth...
’Fine, fine, fine. Off to a head-banging start.’
Lily Hart consoled herself. After rubbing her head a couple of times, it didn’t hurt anymore. Seth, however, hadn’t made a sound. She couldn’t help but ask, "Did you bite your tongue?"
Seth nodded, his eyes misting over. The tip of his nose was red; he was clearly in a lot of pain.
Lily Hart spun around on the spot, completely at a loss. All she could say was, "It’s okay. It’ll stop hurting soon."
"..."
Trying to distract him, she asked, "Do you have any Crystal Cores on you?"
Of course Seth had some. To have been able to walk here all the way from Nutwood Base, he was obviously not weak.
He had also seen the instructions on the back panel. He poured out a pile of Crystal Cores, which landed with a CLATTER. As if sensing them, the machine immediately opened a small, round slot in front of them.
It was just big enough for a Crystal Core to fit inside. Seth finally moved his hand away from his mouth, and only then did Lily Hart get a clear look. His lips were rosy and full, neither too thick nor too thin.
There was just a bit of redness on his chin, probably from where Lily Hart’s head had hit him. As for his tongue... Lily Hart didn’t look. ’It would be weird to ask someone to stick out their tongue, right?’
’So weird.’
While Lily Hart was observing him, Seth started feeding Crystal Cores into the small slot. He counted out exactly fifty, not one more.
The machine immediately gave a slight shudder, seemingly pleased with its feeding.
Seth seemed to share its feelings, a small, satisfied smile gracing his lips.
Lily Hart caught a glimpse of his smile and suggested, "Why don’t we try selling them at the entrance today? Or, if you’d prefer, you could set up next to the lottery shop. There are more people over there."
Although there hadn’t been that many people around the last couple of days, it was still much better than this secluded area in the back.