"Here's the situation. You've all seen today's latest news. It's not just the crops in the fields; any food exposed to the air is now rotting at an incredibly fast rate.
The vegetables and meat stored in the cafeteria have all spoiled and are no longer edible. So, it's not that we don't want to cook for you, it's that there's simply nothing left to cook."
An Yang's tone was exceptionally calm.
"Then at least let us eat our fill! One steamed bun isn't nearly enough," a boy shouted from the crowd. As soon as he spoke, many other boys immediately chimed in to agree.
Boys around eighteen or nineteen are at the age where they have the biggest appetites. One steamed bun was indeed a bit of a stretch.
"If I give you two today, then tomorrow, someone else won't even get one. All the food is rationed. Do you think a request like yours is appropriate? Isn't that a little selfish?" An Yang's gaze locked onto the boy who had spoken first.
Tang Mo couldn't help but inwardly applaud An Yang for his words.
By taking the moral high ground, he had instantly turned the boy who made the request into a public target. How could a young boy withstand the stares of the entire school? His face flushed crimson, and he was so flustered he couldn't get another word out.
Without their ringleader, the others fell silent as well, obediently getting back in line to collect their portions of food.
The steamed buns were freshly made today, and the pickled vegetables had been prepared beforehand. Due to their preserved nature, the pickled vegetables hadn't spoiled immediately, though their texture wasn't as good as it used to be.
This was also why the school was in a hurry to distribute all the pickled vegetables. Tang Mo was sure that if they had been the sealed, packaged kind, the school would never have been willing to give everyone such a large piece.
Tang Mo sat at her desk, taking bite after bite of the snow-white steamed bun in her hand as if she were dining on the finest delicacies. The water on her desk was boiled water she had gotten from the water room and let cool.
Tang Mo remembered that the water wouldn't become completely contaminated for another three days. The water now was still drinkable. Even though she had already stored a lot of her own, she was still reluctant to drink her bottled mineral water.
"Momo, I wasn't wrong about you. You really are a pig! Even a steamed bun can look that delicious when you eat it." Seeing the gusto with which Tang Mo was eating, Li Lanlan was thoroughly impressed.
She had originally planned to pull a sausage from her little stash to go with it, but seeing Tang Mo and Song Qing both eating with such relish, she gave up on the idea. With the determination of a martyr, she began to battle her own steamed bun.
"Cherish it. Who knows, maybe in the future we won't even have steamed buns," Tang Mo said calmly.
"Ah... no way." Li Lanlan let out a tragic cry and gripped her steamed bun even tighter.
When night fell, Tang Mo went out to train as usual.
Day after day, for a whole week, Tang Mo trained her spiritual power during the day and her physical stamina at night. Horse stance, running—she didn't skip a thing. Tang Mo also took out the knife to practice. Just persisting with the simplest movements made her feel like she was benefiting immensely.
Although she couldn't perceive any growth in her Strength or Life attribute values, it was true that she was becoming more and more skilled with the knife. At first, she would lose her grip on the knife after just a few swings, but now it hardly ever fell.
'Although I'm not exactly agile with it yet, if I keep training like this, it won't be long before I can use it proficiently.'
However, this nightly training also made Tang Mo realize a problem.
The school's meal times were at 10 AM and 4 PM. This might be enough for those who just lay in bed all day, but for someone like Tang Mo with her intense evening workouts, it was starting to feel insufficient.
The sun was setting earlier and earlier, so Tang Mo started her training earlier each day. This allowed her to get back to the dorm around 10 PM, where she would quickly shut the door and make herself a bowl of instant noodles.
This habit of Tang Mo's, having an extra meal, was pure torture for her two other roommates. Not only did they have to go to bed hungry, but they also had to endure this torment. Who could stand it?
So, Tang Mo changed her strategy. She would have her extra meal in the small open space behind the warehouse every time, eating her fill before going back to her dorm to sleep.
Tang Mo herself felt a pang of heartache over having to eat an extra meal every day.
But seeing the constant improvement in her physical stamina and endurance, she couldn't help but feel happy.
She could only tell herself resignedly, 'My physical growth is all fueled by food. Just accept it.'
As for why she was out for so long every night, Tang Mo had explained to her roommates that her mother worried about her and insisted on video calling for a long time each evening. She said she went outside to take the calls so she wouldn't disturb their rest.