Chapter 67 Earthworm Cookies
After seeing Chu Bai off, all three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu An looked at Chu Bai's back and sighed, "I really feel like this Chu Bai is another version of me in the world."
"Feel the same!"
I second that!
Yu Miaomiao and Xu Nanwei also agreed. Since Lu An brought it up himself, there was nothing that couldn't be said.
Lu An looked away and shook his head, denying his own guess.
"But before I left the orphanage, I asked the director, and he said that my parents died in a car accident and my whole family died. I was sent to the orphanage because I had no relatives. Maybe it's just a coincidence that we look alike."
She had no memory of anything before the orphanage.
"An'an, you have me now, I am your family. If, I mean if he really has any relationship with you, whether you want to acknowledge him or not, I will stand by your side and unconditionally support your decision."
Xu Nanwei nodded, still somewhat bewildered. Her brother An'an was one of the best people in the world; everything he did was right.
Let nature take its course.
Yu Miaomiao thought this was for the best. Getting too hung up on things could just cause frustration, so it was better to let things take their natural course.
Inside the base's underground city command center.
Chu Bai and Chen Haohua stood at the door of the command post office and heard urgent voices coming from inside.
"How many days has it been? Is digging an exit this slow? I don't care about the difficulties, I just want the result. You can wait, but the lives of 300,000 people in the underground city of the base cannot wait. Without supplies, how many more days can we hold out? You know better than I do."
"You don't need to tell me all this... Alright, three days at most, I need to see you complete the mission."
"Hey, transfer me to Director Zhao of the Research Center... Old Zhao, could you show me the report on the earthworm biscuit project you mentioned last time?"
...
Once there was no more noise inside, Chu Bai and Chen Haohua reported their arrival and entered.
"Report."
"Enter."
The two men reported on Li Yi's situation, and the man sitting in the command post office frowned more and more deeply as he listened.
"I understand. Continue to follow up on this matter. If there's nothing else, you can go back."
The two left the office. Yang Silu, the head of the command center, looked solemn. In his fifties, his hair was already gray. He dared not slack off for a moment after the apocalypse, and he devoted himself to ensuring the lives and safety of 300,000 survivors.
"Commander, you should take a rest."
The chief's secretary stood to the side and reminded him.
"I can't rest yet. This is no small matter. If there's any injury inside the base, it will definitely cause panic. Go and gather those old guys and tell them to come here for a meeting in fifteen minutes."
"yes."
...
"That's the situation. We are currently facing a dual threat from food shortages and mutated species. You are all pillars of our nation. Do you have any good solutions?"
"I heard that the neighboring country of Japan has been destroyed and disappeared from the map of Earth. It is truly remarkable that we have come this far. I suggest that we mobilize all the survivors and ability users in the base to work together to excavate the base's exit."
"If we can't dig up the original exit, we'll just find another one!"
"Yeah, yeah," the others chimed in.
"Alright, starting tomorrow, I'd like you all to join me in digging the exit."
"Yes, mission accomplished."
No one retreated, no one raised any objections; regardless of age or branch of service, Chinese soldiers were always ready to charge and sacrifice themselves.
Two days later, the base canteen introduced new food. The original mushrooms were retained, but the portions of other staple foods were halved, and a food called energy biscuits was introduced in their place.
Furthermore, the ingredients and preparation methods used to make the food are clearly indicated.
The first wave of people who entered the cafeteria were shocked when they saw the menu.
"Are you crazy? Earthworms? How can a person eat that?"
Do you think we're fish?
"What energy cookies? More like earthworm cookies."
Of course, there are also those who dare to try.
Pay Ya Jing directly with the wristband, then swallowed the energy biscuit without batting an eye.
In fact, energy biscuits can hardly taste or feel the earthworms anymore, as they have all been processed.
The person who finished the energy biscuit without changing expression was Ye Jian from the research institute.
The energy cookies were also developed and made by them.
Sitting opposite Ye Jian, Hang Song watched him eat with great relish and couldn't resist ordering a serving himself.
After mentally preparing myself, I gritted my teeth and stuffed a piece into my mouth.
A muddy, fishy smell spread through my mouth. Although I couldn't taste the texture of earthworms, I still felt a grainy sensation when chewing them.
How do you manage to stay so calm?
"It's simple, just find a price that's more than half the price of the cafeteria's original menu."
"You're a wolf in sheep's clothing."
Hearing that it was cheap, the crowd of onlookers all went to try it out.
In fact, everyone knows in their hearts that this kind of food will become the norm in the future.
Inside villa 6606, Yu Miaomiao was humming a little tune as she studied a recipe.
Lu An has been working too hard lately, so Yu Miaomiao volunteered to take charge of the meals this week.
Although her cooking wasn't as good as Lu An's, it was still presentable.
Xu Nanwei followed behind her, busying herself with everything. Afraid that she wouldn't be able to reach the counter, Yu Miaomiao even prepared a small stool for her to stand on. During this time, she had been learning to cook from Lu Anxue and had become quite good at it. She could even crack eggs with one hand.
Working together, the two of them made the work easier, and an hour later, four dishes and a soup were served.
"Sister, have you heard? It seems the cafeteria has introduced a new dish, which they say is made from insects."
Since participating in the rescue, Xu Nanwei has come into contact with many children from other villas around the area and has become close friends with them. She often hears all sorts of news from them.
"An earthworm?"
Yu Miaomiao was very familiar with this. She had been eating earthworm cookies for two years, and they were still the original flavor. Later, they would release all sorts of strange flavors such as chocolate, durian, and mango. She felt that the base had gone to great lengths to get them used to this food.
"Ugh, so disgusting." Xu Nanwei wrinkled her face slightly when she heard the word "earthworm," and covered her mouth with her small hand, as if afraid that someone would shove an earthworm into her mouth at any moment.
"Weiwei, that's food. It may be disgusting, but it won't make you hungry. Besides, earthworms are very nutritious. They can help you grow taller and smarter, so you can't be disgusted by them." Yu Miaomiao brought out the last bowl of rice, took out three pairs of chopsticks from her space, wiped the water off her hands, and said to Xu Nanwei, "Okay, go call your sister An'an for dinner."
"It's Brother An'an~"
Xu Nan ran upstairs in a flash, yanked off Lu An's blanket, just like Lu An usually did to her, with a hint of revenge in her eyes. Then Lu An grabbed her, pinned her to the bed, and tickled her, making her giggle nonstop.