Chapter 41: Eating Alone
"Bai Lei, class is over. Wanna go grab a bite?"
"I’m skipping today. I have plans."
Bai Lei politely declined his classmate’s invitation, put away his protective gear, and hurried out of the fitness center.
He hailed a cab and told the driver to go to Gold Street.
The driver, a middle-aged man of about forty, glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
"It’s the middle of the day. Not many shops are open on Gold Street right now."
Bai Lei just grunted in response without saying anything. The driver didn’t waste any more words, stepped on the gas, and after showing the relevant documents at the checkpoint, passed through smoothly.
Bai Lei gave the outside a single glance before looking away, utterly uninterested.
The Lower City District was just like it was on TV: dilapidated, chaotic, and exuding a sense of desolate decay.
The roads were terrible—bumpy and uneven, making his butt hurt from the jostling.
If his Spiritual Sea hadn’t felt so much better after eating the egg waffle Bai Wanwan had bought the day before yesterday, Bai Lei would never have come to the Lower City District.
Arriving at the entrance to Gold Street, Bai Lei paid and got out of the cab. Dressed in his neat, well-made clothes, he was completely out of place on the street.
He seemed to step on something sticky. Bai Lei squeezed his eyes shut in despair and used his superpower to remove whatever was stuck to the sole of his shoe.
Gold Street’s drainage system was decent, but the surrounding streets gave off a strong odor that inevitably seeped in.
Bai Lei put on the gas mask he had prepared in advance and walked quickly down the street.
He just wanted to find Shen Lu’s little stall as quickly as possible, buy what he came for, and get right back to the Upper City District.
’The Lower City District really is no place for a human being,’ he thought.
After just a few steps, Bai Lei spotted a brightly colored food cart. Under a large umbrella, a person with a ponytail and a simple mask was lost in thought, their head lowered. They looked both strange and familiar.
But the sign on the food cart read "Little Deer Cuisine," so Bai Lei knew he had found the right person.
"Shen Lu!"
Bai Wanwan and Shen Lu had been at each other’s throats since they were kids, so Bai Lei was familiar with Shen Lu too. Being only two years younger than her, he had always called her directly by her name.
Hearing her name, Shen Lu looked up in confusion and saw a tall, sturdy-looking young man standing in front of her stall.
Judging by his clothes, he had to be from the Upper City District.
But he was wearing a mask, so she couldn’t see his full face. Shen Lu couldn’t match him to anyone in her original host’s memories.
"You are?"
Bai Lei gave a couple of fake coughs, dodging her question. "I’m here to buy something."
"Oh, what can I get for you?" Shen Lu didn’t press the issue. The person obviously knew her but didn’t want to reveal his identity, so there was no need for her to pry.
’In any case, I have no intention of relying on anyone to get back to the Upper City District.’
’If I’m going back, I’m going to do it on my own merit.’
"We have new items today: egg fried rice and egg fried noodles, 60 Star Coins each. The first ten customers also get a free side dish."
Sixty Star Coins for fried rice or noodles wasn’t exactly cheap, but in this post-apocalyptic world, it was actually a bargain.
If Shen Lu were a bit more ruthless, pricing it at 100 Star Coins wouldn’t even be unreasonable.
Bai Lei’s style was just like Bai Wanwan’s: why choose when you can have it all?
"Can I buy everything?" Bai Lei asked earnestly. "I want to take it back for my family and friends to try."
Shen Lu gave her practiced refusal. "Sorry, there’s a purchase limit at this stall."
"Alright." Bai Lei didn’t argue. He ordered one of everything, then pulled a huge container from his waist pack.
No exaggeration, it was truly massive—at least half the size of a table.
"You can just put it all in here."
Bai Lei had already planned this out. He had no intention of eating in the Lower City District, so he simply brought his own container for takeout.
Unfortunately, his sister’s intelligence report had been incomplete; she hadn’t mentioned that Shen Lu also sold drinks.
But it wasn’t a big deal. He could just buy the cup along with it.
Shen Lu coolly packed up his order: one serving of egg fried rice, one of egg fried noodles, and one egg waffle. Because the malatang had many different ingredients and flavors, Shen Lu had set a new rule allowing a maximum purchase of 100 Star Coins’ worth. The meatballs were the most expensive at 20 Star Coins each.
Bai Lei loved meat, so he spent 60 Star Coins on fish balls alone. Paired with one portion each of radish, kelp, konjac, and tofu skin, it came out to exactly 100 Star Coins.
He didn’t order any vegetable balls today. It wasn’t that he didn’t want them, but that Shen Lu wouldn’t let him.
Finally, she added the complimentary pickled radish skin, and Bai Lei’s meal was ready.
"With the metal cup, that’ll be 300 Star Coins in total. Thank you for your business."
Bai Lei pulled out three Star Coin bills, put away the container, and, holding the mint water, rushed home as fast as he could.
Bai Lei normally didn’t eat at home on school days, so Bai Wanwan was a bit surprised to see him.
"Where have you been?" Bai Wanwan asked, her eyes landing inquisitively on the gas mask on his face and the metal cup in his hand. Her eyes lit up. "Don’t tell me you went to..."
Bai Lei made a hushing motion. "If Mom finds out, you and I are dead."
Mrs. Bai would never let her precious children eat street food from the Lower City District. If she found out, both siblings would be in for a serious scolding.
Bai Wanwan made an "OK" sign. The two of them snuck upstairs to the second floor and into Bai Lei’s room.
"Quick, quick! You definitely brought back takeout, right?" Bai Wanwan knew her brother’s picky habits all too well. Even though he was a boy, he was a bit of a clean freak and would never eat on Gold Street. "Give me the cup. You can take off your mask first."
Bai Lei dodged his sister’s hand as she tried to snatch the cup and took off his mask with one hand.
"It’s fine, I can take it off with one hand."
"Tch." Bai Wanwan rolled her eyes at him. ’Are we even real siblings? Why is he so guarded against me?’
Bai Lei grabbed a cup from the table and poured half of the mint water into it for Bai Wanwan. "This half is for you."
"What about the rest? I want half of that too."
"Sis, I haven’t even had lunch yet. I’m starving," Bai Lei said as he took a sip of the mint water. The moment the cool, refreshing liquid touched his lips, he froze.
A Superpower User’s Spiritual Sea is in a constant state of turmoil. A family like the Bai Family could afford to send Bai Lei to the hospital for regular treatments, but the cost was exorbitant, and the results weren’t ideal.
But without treatment, it was even more unbearable.
The last time Bai Lei ate half an egg waffle, his Spiritual Sea had felt incredibly soothed—even more so than after his hospital treatments.
If it weren’t for that reason, Bai Lei wouldn’t have eagerly rushed all the way to the Lower City District.
To his surprise, it wasn’t just the egg waffle that had this effect; the mint water could also calm his Spiritual Sea.
’Does that mean the other food has the same effect?’
Bai Lei eagerly pulled out the large container and lifted the lid.
"Huh? There are new items today?" Bai Wanwan’s sharp eyes spotted the egg fried rice and egg fried noodles. There were chopsticks and a spoon in the container. Bai Lei picked up the spoon, so Bai Wanwan had to take the chopsticks.
"Sis, wait a second." Bai Lei blocked her with a serious expression. "Don’t eat yet. I need to run an experiment."
"An experiment?" Bai Wanwan gave him a suspicious look.
"Let me eat a bite of everything first. This is very important to me."
Bai Wanwan’s face darkened. "You little punk, if you want to hog it all for yourself, just say so! Stop making up grand excuses, or I’ll beat you up!"