Chapter 94: Chapter 94: All for Nothing
Dinner was quite simple, a big pot of thin noodle soup without flavor, with no drinks, no canned food, and not even a small dish of vegetables in sight. Tang Xiaoquan really took his miserly "style" to the extreme.
At this, Wang Qiang furrowed his brow and pouted. To be honest, if he hadn’t eaten too much at noon and currently had no appetite, he would surely protest against such "stingy" behavior.
As usual, a big bowl was served to each person, with barely any noodles visible in the milky white broth.
"Everyone, eat slowly. If it’s not enough, help yourselves, there’s more in the pot!" Without feeling there’s anything wrong with his decision, Tang Xiaoquan graciously invited everyone to drink the soup while taking out a prepared sheet of paper from his pocket, handing it to Hu Xiaodong.
"Brother Hu, this is the inventory I made this afternoon. I’ve listed the data of various supplies on hand. Take a look!"
Hu Xiaodong nodded absentmindedly without reaching to take it; firstly, because he had a splitting headache at the moment and had no mind to check it.
Secondly, he felt that his straightforward personality was not suitable for managing such meticulous work.
You need to know, even back in his shopkeeping days, tasks like inventory management and bookkeeping were handled by specifically hired staff.
So...
In a low voice, Hu Xiaodong forced a smile and lightly said, "Little Tang, you should be completely in charge of these specific details. Just tell me, given the supplies we have now, how long can we hold out here?"
Tang Xiaoquan’s eyelid twitched involuntarily, feeling as if he had set himself up for more trouble.
After all, in his view, although he had always assumed the role of "decision-maker" for the team along the way, it was entirely out of necessity, like driving a duck onto a perch.
Now, with the inclusion of Hu Xiaodong, a person not only experienced, mature, and stable but also highly respected by everyone for his conduct.
So naturally, the idea of "stepping down in favor of a talented person" arose.
However, while good in thought, reality was...
As the two teams kept interacting and merging, Tang Xiaoquan increasingly realized that not only had he not freed himself from the constraints of his previous "decision-maker" role, but he had also added more and more complex tasks, even down to small matters like cooking falling onto his shoulders.
Regarding this, apart from a helpless bitter smile, Tang Xiaoquan truly didn’t know what to do!
"Hey, Little Tang! Little Tang~"
A low call in his ear brought Tang Xiaoquan’s dazed mind back to reality, and his vacant eyes gradually became clear.
"Ah~" Startled awkwardly, guilty as charged, Tang Xiaoquan was a little embarrassed to directly face Hu Xiaodong’s eyes. He chuckled, took a few quick sips of the thin soup, then shifted the topic back on track: "Well, based on the food stock we have on hand, I roughly estimate that it can sustain us for about 2 weeks."
"2 weeks? Isn’t that too long an estimate?" Hu Xiaodong tried to make his statement sound tactful, after all, he had been around longer even though he wasn’t clear about the exact resources gathered today.
However, he could clearly be certain of one thing: trying to feed six grown men in the room for 2 weeks with just six backpacks and a large sack containing canned food and instant noodles seemed quite unrealistic.
Unless, casting an eye on the half-full pot of thin soup left on the wooden table, Hu Xiaodong seemed to understand something.
Tang Xiaoquan licked his lips; naturally, he couldn’t know what was on Hu Xiaodong’s mind, but when it came to food supplies, he had always been cautious, as these items were undoubtedly key to deciding their future survival.
His expression became sharp. Generally, whenever he talked about important matters, Tang Xiaoquan would suddenly become different.
And it was hard to describe this difference with words, but you could distinctly feel that aura and dignity from him that was not typical for his age.
"It’s not too long!" He first strongly denied Hu Xiaodong’s doubt and then immediately provided his explanation: "It’s like this, Brother Hu, after lunch, Ah Cheng and I rummaged through the storage room and found several boxes of cigarettes, unopened bottles of liquor, snacks, most importantly, two bags of 20 kg rice, so adding our scavenged goods from the supermarket, fully reckoning, two weeks’ of food and drink should be more than enough for us!"
"Hey hey hey, wait! Wait! Did you say you found cigarettes and booze?" As soon as Tang Xiaoquan finished speaking, Wang Qiang’s eyes lit up with a flame of excitement, eagerly pursuing for details.
"Haha," knowing the desires of men well, Tang Xiaoquan replied with a meaningful smile: "Of course, there are about 50 bottles of alcohol, and as for cigarettes, two boxes, including..."
With an engagingly mysterious pause, Tang Xiaoquan took a sip of the noodle soup, waited a moment, and then continued cheerfully: "There’s a whole box of Soft Zhonghua!"
"Damn, you should’ve said earlier! So, did you bring some with you? Quick, let your brother have a stick!" Wang Qiang hurriedly stretched out his right hand, almost jumping at his brother for a full-body search.
As if he had anticipated this scene long ago, Tang Xiaoquan unhurriedly signaled to Acheng, who was engrossed and unaware, focused solely on his bowl of noodle soup, then spoke loudly: "Acheng, take them out!"
Reluctantly setting down the porcelain bowl in his hand, Du Jincheng grudgingly reached into his pocket.
This kid, whenever it came to eating, seemed like a victim of the three-year natural disaster; no matter what he was given to eat, he always showed immense enthusiasm.
For this, all survivors sincerely admired him, for if it were them, they could never exhibit such a "complete" state in front of the watery "delicacies."
The cigarette was handed to Wang Qiang, who deftly tore open the package and handed one to everyone.
One cigarette after a meal beats being a god alive.
The survivors clearly had no interest in continuing their meal, and apart from Hu Xiaodong, the rest were all newly minted rookies in society.
Soft Zhonghua, according to their income, was certainly considered top-tier.
One by one, they eagerly lit their cigarettes, Wang Qiang especially, fantasizing about being a big boss of some company, striking a particularly arrogant pose. But before the cigarette even touched his lips, he heard a faintly derisive snort from Hu Xiaodong, who then tossed the cigarette he held to the side:
"Everyone, stop smoking. These cigarettes are fake!"