Doomsday B&B

And so, the five of them slowly drove to the fifth floor of the trade building, which was noticeably different from the four floors below.

Although this floor is large, there aren't many shops, and not all of them are occupied. While the number of shops is limited, each one has its own unique character, so those who come to this floor are either wealthy, powerful, or influential; ordinary people can't access it.

After browsing through the shops, Qi Yun collected a bunch of interesting little things. Before leaving, Qi Yun glanced at the empty shops and seemed lost in thought. He seemed absent-minded all the way back to the Thunder Squad's residence.

Even after entering the house, Xu Yang saw that Qi Yun was still in this state:

"Sister Qiyun, Sister Qiyun..."

"Ah, what's wrong?"

"Sister, we're all back now, do you still not know where you are? Aren't you afraid we'll sell you off?"

"Hehe." Qi Yun gave an awkward laugh.

"Hey kid, can I rent a few shops in the trade building?"

"Sister Qiyun, it seems that's not possible, since you only have temporary identification. However, I can help you rent a shop under the team's name. We still have a spot on the 5th floor, which you can use for free, since we're not opening a shop anyway. But what do you need the shop for?"

"I want to open a few shops to promote my guesthouse."

"Oh, no need for that. Besides the trade building, we also have a commercial street. We can just rent a small shop there. Unlike the trade building, which is divided into different classes, everyone goes to the commercial street, so the promotional effect will be much better."

"Sure, let's go take a look after lunch. I don't really find that trade building very interesting. I'll provide lunch; just let me know what you'd like to eat."

"Really, Sister Qiyun?"

"Of course it's true. Let's go. Take me there to eat. It's lunchtime now. By the way, ask Captain Han Yun if he's back for lunch."

"No need to ask, I'll come back to eat." A cool, deep voice came from behind the two of them.

"Ah, Captain, you're back. Sister Qiyun said she'd treat us to lunch. What would you like to eat?"

"Then, thank you for your help, Boss Qi Yun. I wonder if you could provide a hot pot meal? I can pay with crystal cores." Han Yun didn't answer Xu Yang's question, but asked Qi Yun directly.

Xu Yang shrugged, looking completely unconcerned; he was used to having such a captain.

"Sure, no need to give me crystal cores. I already said it's my treat, and I've already troubled you all a lot. Consider this meal a token of my appreciation." Although Qi Yun had been cultivating immortality, she still understood the ways of the world.

"Thank you very much, Boss Qiyun. Let's go this way." Han Yun led the way for Qiyun. When the other four heard that there was hot pot, even Han Ye, who looked like an iceberg, showed a hint of joy on his face.

"Let's eat with mini hot pots. That way we can have any soup base, and we can even have a half-and-half pot. Just tell us what kind of soup base you all want." Qi Yun said generously as she took out six copper half-and-half mini hot pots, the kind that are set with charcoal fire, and placed them on the table.

"Come on, hurry up, one for each of you. I have charcoal here. Do any of you have fire-type ability users? If not, you'll have to light it first. I won't ask you anymore. Anyway, I've brought out all these things. You can pour whatever broth you want into the pot yourselves. It's convenient. Just write down what you want to eat. It's hard for me to choose, there are so many things to eat." As she spoke, Qi Yun took out a box of small pieces of smokeless charcoal, along with small tongs for holding the charcoal, and several soup pots labeled with eight different types: clear broth, bone broth, tomato broth, spicy, mild, medium, extra spicy, and sour broth. After putting everything out, she handed each person a small notebook so they could write down the ingredients they wanted to eat.

After doing all that, Qi Yun took out a four-tiered shelf and started putting on the condiments: sesame paste, sesame seeds, peanuts, soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, salt, seafood sauce, mushroom sauce, beef cubes, chopped celery, chopped green onions, chopped cilantro, broad bean paste, minced garlic, sesame oil... a total of more than 20 kinds, leaving the five members of the Thunder Squad dumbfounded.

After taking the seasonings, Qi Yun looked up and smiled. "Alright, hurry up and write. I'll get my food first. You guys hurry up and write. Since I said I'm treating, I'll make sure you eat well."

"Thank you, Sister Qiyun. I'll start writing now. You should prepare your food first." After saying that, Xu Yang lowered her head and began to write furiously. Although the other four people did not say anything, they also started writing.

Qi Yun took several kinds of meat, including beef rolls, lamb rolls, black-boned chicken rolls, beef chuck, hand-cut lamb, bacon, and luncheon meat. Seeing that the meat in front of his table was almost full, Qi Yun took out a few more racks that were as tall as a person, one for each person, to put the ingredients.

After finishing these, they started taking out other ingredients, including various mushrooms, vegetables, beef spinal cord, duck intestines, duck blood, tripe, honeycomb tripe... filling a whole shelf.

"Sister Qiyun, I'm all better." At this moment, Xu Yang's slightly shy voice came from the side.

"Hey, you can be shy, haha." Although she said that, her hands didn't stop. She took the small notebook that Xu Yang handed her and went to the shelf behind Xu Yang to put the ingredients on it. It took her about 10 minutes to put the ingredients on for everyone.

"Do you have fire-type ability users? If I'm here, you don't need to bring out alcohol blocks." As she spoke, she poured herself a bowl of soup from the kettle and then placed charcoal blocks on the table.

"Yes, yes, yes, Han Ye, hurry up." Xu Yang, imitating Qi Yun, poured herself some soup, put in the charcoal, and urged Han Ye on.

Hearing Xu Yang's urging, Han Ye flicked his wrist, and a small flame ignited on the charcoal in the Qi Yun pot, followed by Xu Yang's. Han Ye was about to put his hand down to prepare his own hot pot when his captain's and older brother's voice rang out:

"Ono."

Han Ye looked up and saw that while he was lighting the fire for Qi Yun and Xu Yang, the three of them had already set up the charcoal fire and were just waiting for him to light it. Han Ye shook his head helplessly before pouring soup for himself, setting up the charcoal fire, and lighting the fire.

While waiting for the pot to boil, Qi Yun took out six sets of bowls and plates, giving one set to each person, and everyone began to mix their own seasonings according to their preferences. After mixing the seasonings, Qi Yun took out six large two-liter bottles of chilled soda and gave each person a large bottle.

Once the broth in the pot boiled, they started taking ingredients from their respective food racks and putting them into the pot. For a moment, the small restaurant became particularly lively because of the food racks and the hot pot.

If anyone saw this scene, they would be absolutely dumbfounded. Not to mention that they had never seen so many fresh ingredients since the apocalypse, they had never seen hot pot eaten like this before the apocalypse either. Not to mention the several large pots of soup base and the four-tiered condiment rack in the middle of the table.

Although the six people didn't speak, their enthusiastic atmosphere was enough to whet anyone's appetite.

After eating for a while, the novelty of hot pot wore off, and the six of them started chatting as they ate. Of course, most of the time Xu Yang was talking to the others, with the other five occasionally answering him. Xu Yang didn't seem embarrassed at all, just chattering away. What was amazing was that he could stuff his mouth full and still pronounce every word clearly; it was truly a marvel.

The meal lasted for two hours. During that time, Qi Yun not only added ingredients for everyone twice, but also added drinks three times and soup base twice. Everyone ate to their heart's content. It was truly the first time they had eaten so extravagantly since the apocalypse, especially with such fresh ingredients and unlimited food.

After eating and resting for a while, Han Yun spoke:

“I heard from Xu Yang that you want to open another shop in the base. We’ll go with you to the commercial street in a bit and see if the empty shops are suitable. If not, we can find a suitable location, tear it down and rebuild it.”

"Okay, thank you very much, Captain Han Yun."

"No need to thank us. We should be the ones who feel bad about eating so much of Mr. Qi Yun's food at noon."

"Sister Qiyun, how about I look after the shop for you then?"

"No good, if you watch the shop for me, your captain will come after me and settle accounts. Besides, do you want to stay at the base or at the guesthouse?"

"Sister Qiyun, you're right. I'll go to the guesthouse. But don't worry, Sister Qiyun, I'll definitely find you a good and reliable employee to take good care of your shop."

After chatting for a while, the group got up and went out. Qi Yun and the five members of the Thunder Squad arrived at the location of the base's commercial street.

Qi Yun stood at the entrance of the commercial street and carefully observed it. The street was neither too long nor too short, with about 50 shops lined up neatly on both sides of the street. They were all two-story buildings in the same style. The others could only be seen inside.

After observing from the street corner, they moved and began to stroll through the commercial street from the beginning. This street truly lived up to its name as the base's commercial street; almost every shop there had a different focus, and it possessed both the everyday life of ordinary people and the refined elegance of the upper class, creating a strange harmony.

At the end of the commercial street, there were still a few empty shops left. Qi Yun stopped and looked around. After a short while:

"Xu Yang, can I rent two adjacent shops and combine them together?"

"Sister, I'll say it again: it might not be possible for you to go, but it's possible if it's done in the name of our team. Our team is also willing to help you rent a shop. There's another shop here that belongs to our team and is free to use. We can let you use it for free, so you only need to rent one shop."

"Alright, thank you for your help. Let's head back now. We've finished looking around here. You can go about your business and don't worry about me. I can explore on my own."

"Sister Qiyun, it's alright. We're just back to pick up a mission. There's nothing wrong. I can stay with you."

"Alright, we've been shopping all day. Let's stop here and go home."

"okay."

Then everyone walked back to their lodgings together.