Qin Haonan froze for a second. He felt the other man had a point, so he just snorted coldly and didn’t respond.
"Have some breakfast first," Xin Wan said, handing him the food container.
Qin Haonan took the food container, opened it, and immediately started eating.
Smelling the fragrant food, Yu Ren couldn’t help but swallow.
"You can’t eat anything yet. We’ll see after Elder Hua comes to check on you," Lu Jiamei said, noticing his eager expression.
"I understand. It’s just... your food smells so good. I can’t remember the last time I smelled anything like it," Yu Ren said wistfully.
Lu Jiamei didn’t respond to him. Instead, she turned to Qin Haonan. "You keep an eye on things here. We need to go register the others."
"Right," Qin Haonan grunted, then went back to wolfing down his food.
Yu Ren was almost completely immobilized by metal. It was unlikely he could escape unless he could instantly break through the restraints of steel plates more than ten centimeters thick.
As Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan reached the last speedboat, Si Youqin arrived with breakfast.
"Perfect. We’ll register their information, and then we can hand out breakfast," Lu Jiamei said with a smile. The three of them then entered the boat’s cabin together.
The people confined within the cabin tensed up immediately upon seeing Lu Jiamei and the other two women.
"Come over one by one so we can register your information. Once you’re registered, you’ll get breakfast," Lu Jiamei announced to them.
At these words, their spirits lifted. After all the commotion since the previous night, they hadn’t eaten a thing and were ravenous.
The same survivor who had spoken with Ren Yuanyang earlier was the first to step forward.
"I’ll go first. My name is Tu Chong. I worked at a slaughterhouse for a time, but then I lost my job as the machinery got more advanced. Now I’m just a farmer."
Hearing this, Xin Wan’s eyes lit up. "So you know how to butcher a pig?"
Tu Chong was taken aback for a moment, then replied with a smile, "Of course. I can butcher all common types of poultry and livestock."
"No wonder you had the courage to speak up when our leader was asking questions," Lu Jiamei remarked.
Tu Chong shook his head and sighed. "What’s the use of courage? In this world, it takes more than just courage to survive."
"That courage of yours will help you live a better life at Peach Blossom Base," Lu Jiamei replied. "Go on and have your breakfast. The leader will probably want to talk to you later."
Si Youqin, who was standing nearby, handed him his breakfast. The food containers they used now were all metal, crafted by the Gold-Type Evolvers.
Tu Chong opened the food container, and the aroma of food immediately wafted out, causing all eyes to turn to him.
Inside the container was millet porridge with three small side dishes.
Looking at the millet porridge, which was so thick it was sticky, and the side dishes glistening with oil, everyone couldn’t stop swallowing hard.
"Don’t just stand there staring. Hurry up and get registered, there’s one for everyone!" Lu Jiamei urged.
"Yes, Minister Lu!" the people replied in unison.
"My name is Gao Dian. I was an electrician before the flood..."
"I’m Aiti. I used to work in IT... I doubt you have much need for that kind of talent anymore..."
Soon, all eight of them were registered and had received their breakfast.
"After you’re done, please wash your containers. They’re numbered, so remember yours. You’ll be using these for meals from now on," Lu Jiamei instructed, before leaving with Xin Wan and Si Youqin.
After finishing their breakfast, they all looked like they hadn’t had nearly enough.
"That was way too good! I wish I could have a few more bowls!"
"This was plenty. You don’t really think Peach Blossom Base has an unlimited food supply, do you?"
"They can even make stir-fried dishes. The supplies at Peach Blossom Base must be really plentiful!"
"Did you guys notice? The ones who came to register us and bring breakfast were all women."
"What? You just got here and you’re already checking out the women of Peach Blossom Base? I’d advise you to get rid of any funny ideas. Keep it in your pants."
"What are you talking about! At a time like this, who’s thinking about that stuff? What I mean is, those women all seemed to be in very good spirits. It shows that Peach Blossom Base must have a normal social order."
"That’s right. I’ve encountered other women out there, and almost all of them were so tormented they looked completely vacant."
"So, does this mean this was a blessing in disguise for us?"
"Yeah. We should thank Xi’an Base. If it weren’t for them, it probably wouldn’t have been this easy for us to join Peach Blossom Base!"
By this time, Lu Jiamei and Xin Wan had returned to the shipping container. With Hua Wen’s help, Hua Lingfang had successfully accessed the files on Ren Yuanyang’s computer and was now voraciously reading through them.
Xin Wan approached Ren Yuanyang, her voice filled with pleasant surprise. "Leader, there are actually some talented people among the newcomers!"
"Oh? Do tell." Ren Yuanyang’s curiosity was piqued.
"Weren’t you just saying we needed a butcher? Well, among those eight, there’s a guy named Tu Chong who used to work in a slaughterhouse!" Xin Wan placed a computer in front of Ren Yuanyang and pointed to a name on the screen. "And there are these two..."
Ren Yuanyang looked at the list of their pre-flood occupations, equally surprised and pleased. "It looks like Yu Ren really did bring us some talented people!"
Lu Jiamei suddenly interjected, "But that Yu Ren lied to us before, you know."
Ren Yuanyang paused, taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Lu Jiamei recounted the conversation she and Xin Wan had overheard between Qin Haonan and Yu Ren.
"Oh, so it was *him*!" Ren Yuanyang remembered. "No wonder he jumped straight into the water back then. That explains everything!"
"I feel like the fact that he confessed on his own means his character can’t be all that bad," Xin Wan offered. "But of course, we can’t let our guard down."

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