"Are all these barrels of food for us?"
James clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. "Everyone, calm down," he said. "We need to wait for the base’s announcement. This food really is all for us, so don’t worry. You’ll definitely get to eat your fill, so just try to control yourselves a little!"
After hearing James’s words, everyone grew even more excited. They swallowed their saliva, anxiously awaiting the announcement from above.
At six in the evening, Ren Yuanyang’s figure appeared on all the display screens aboard the supply ship.
"Hello, everyone, members of the Peach Blossom Base! Thanks to your full cooperation and hard work, we have overcome the plague and successfully produced the goods for our trade with the Aircraft Carrier Base. To commend your cooperation and diligence, we are holding a special barbecue party tonight. I hope you will all continue to support the base’s policies, work hard, and create a better life for yourselves!"
Xin Wan provided a real-time translation of the speech into a foreign language so the captives could also understand.
Thunderous applause erupted across the entire supply ship. Half of it was out of reverence for their leader, Ren Yuanyang, and the other half was for the delicious food!
"Now, please enjoy the feast!" Ren Yuanyang didn’t waste any more time. With a wave of his hand, he announced the start of the barbecue party, adding a reminder, "If you don’t know how to grill, learn from those who do. If you burn the food, you can’t eat it!"
"Yes, thank you, Leader!" The voices from the supply ship carried through the Banyan Forest to the yacht inside.
"Let’s begin. Be safe!" Ren Yuanyang added, concluding his speech.
The barbecue had also started on the yacht’s deck.
Qin Haonan looked at the charcoal in the grills and asked curiously, "How did you get all this charcoal?"
Hua Lingfang smiled and replied, "You just burn wood until it’s red hot, then douse it with water. That gives you charcoal, which you can use after it’s dried. The Leader specially enhanced this wood to be smokeless, easy to light, and long-lasting!"
Qin Haonan clicked his tongue in amazement. "Is there anything the Leader can’t come up with!"
Several rows of grills were set up on the supply ship’s deck, and now that they were all going at once, the air was filled with the aroma of roasting meat.
Even though it was hot outside, many people still hovered around the grills, hoping to get the first taste of barbecued meat.
The first batch of skewers was quickly grilled. Before they could even be carried into the cabins, they were snatched up by the people waiting nearby.
"Can’t you guys show a little more class!" James scolded with a laugh.
"Captain, this barbecue is just too fragrant! We couldn’t help ourselves!"
"Yeah, the grilling is too slow! It can’t keep up with how fast we’re eating!"
"If you think it’s too slow, then you do it yourself!"
"I want to, but I’m afraid I’ll burn it and you guys won’t eat it! That would be a waste of ingredients!"
"Then you’d better stay away! We finally get some meat. If you burn it all, it’d be a huge waste!"
James shook his head helplessly. "Those of you who ate from the first batch, all of you head back inside the cabins," he ordered. "When the next batch is ready, you’re not to eat it. Have some self-discipline!"
"Yes, sir!"
Though somewhat reluctant, the men returned to their cabins as James had instructed.
At this time, Ren Yuanyang and his group also began to eat. However, they had a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on hand as well.
Qin Haonan stripped all the meat off a skewer with one bite. He mumbled as he chewed, "Sister Wan’s marinated meat skewers are absolutely divine!"
The others all nodded in agreement. Only Jin Ziyu was completely focused on eating, showing no reaction at all.
Just as everyone was looking at her, Jin Ziyu suddenly raised her head and asked, "Leader, are you still holding class tonight?"
The abrupt question caught Ren Yuanyang off guard for a moment. "This should be over in about another hour. Why do you ask?"
"If there’s class, I’ll eat faster. If not, I’ll eat slowly," Jin Ziyu explained.
Ren Yuanyang was a bit speechless. "Then eat slowly. We’ll take a break tonight. We’ll resume at five tomorrow morning!"
"Great! Thank you, Leader!" Jin Ziyu immediately brightened up and continued to rapidly demolish the food.
Ren Yuanyang shook his head slightly and said to the others, "You all still need to put in more time cultivating on your own. After all, I only lead you for four hours a day, which isn’t much time at all!"
"Yes, Leader!" everyone replied in unison.
It had been a long time since he’d had barbecue, so Ren Yuanyang also ate nearly a pound of grilled meat, along with various vegetable dishes.
After eating and drinking his fill, Ren Yuanyang returned to his room and began his Cultivation.
Enjoy yourself when it’s time to enjoy, but work when it’s time to work.
Lu Jiamei and the others had never gone hungry after following Ren Yuanyang. For them, this barbecue was just a change of pace to satisfy a craving. After eating a little, they also returned to their rooms and began to cultivate.
But the people on the supply ship were different. They were like ravenous beasts, devouring meat and vegetables alike. Anything that came off the grill was swept clean in an instant.
This continued until nearly midnight. Despite the vast amount of ingredients prepared, not a single bit was left. Everyone had eaten until they were stuffed!
"It would be great if we could eat like this every day!" Des muttered, rubbing his swollen belly.
James glanced at him. "What are you thinking? If we ate like this every day, we’d eat the Peach Blossom Base into bankruptcy!"
Des chuckled. "I was just thinking out loud. How could we possibly eat like this every day! Our food consumption from this one meal is probably enough to feed a small base for a week!"
James nodded, then shook his head. "A small base couldn’t possibly provide this much meat!"
"Yeah, I feel like the Peach Blossom Base is spoiling my appetite!" Des said with a sense of helplessness.
"Doesn’t matter if you’re spoiled. I don’t plan on leaving the Peach Blossom Base anyway!" James shrugged nonchalantly.
"That’s true. Let’s get some rest! We’ll work hard tomorrow and try to earn another barbecue soon!" Des walked back to his bunk and lay down.
Meanwhile, on the yacht, Jin Ziyu held out until the very end, eating until the charcoal burned out. In truth, she still wasn’t completely satisfied, but thankfully, she managed to restrain herself.
「The night passed uneventfully.」 At five the next morning, Ren Yuanyang had just gotten out of bed when he received a message from Long Zhan: "Brother Yang, our fleet is about to arrive. The Wine Bamboo Seeds will also get here around noon."
"Alright, I’ll arrange for people to go over right away!" Ren Yuanyang replied, then headed to the Cultivation Room.
"Haonan, you’ll need to cultivate on your own while on the road!" Ren Yuanyang explained Long Zhan’s message to him.
Qin Haonan immediately nodded. "Okay, I’ll go find some people right now!"
"Mm, thanks for your hard work," Ren Yuanyang said.
"I’m just running an errand. It’s no trouble at all!" Qin Haonan chuckled.
Ren Yuanyang shook his head slightly, then reminded him, "Don’t forget to bring the barbecue ingredients we prepared yesterday to Captain Long!"
"Got it!" Qin Haonan nodded and turned to leave the Cultivation Room.
Ren Yuanyang proceeded as usual, first giving a lecture and then leading the others in their Cultivation.
Three hours later, Qin Haonan and his group arrived at the Dawn Base.
"How was the barbecue yesterday?" Long Zhan asked as soon as he saw him.
Qin Haonan was slightly taken aback, then replied with a smile, "It was awesome!"
"I’m really envious of your base," Long Zhan said with some emotion.
"No need to be envious. Our leader had me bring you some barbecue, so you can have some today!" Qin Haonan waved his hand, and the people behind him immediately brought out the prepared barbecue.
Long Zhan’s eyes lit up. "Thanks! In that case, I won’t be polite!"
He signaled to his deputy beside him to carry the barrel of ingredients back.
"Where are your ships?" Qin Haonan asked, getting down to business.
"Follow me." Long Zhan led him to another side of the area.
"These twenty are the fleet that just arrived!" Long Zhan said, pointing to twenty enormous ships.
Seeing the twenty massive vessels, Qin Haonan’s mouth twitched. "They’re that big?"
"Well, for transporting goods, bigger is always better. Otherwise, you make a trip, and the cargo you haul doesn’t even last two days. Wouldn’t that be a wasted trip?" Long Zhan replied with a smile.
Qin Haonan nodded slightly. "Mm, but with ships this big, it might take us quite a while to fill them up!"
"I understand. Your leader mentioned this to me before. We can wait," Long Zhan said, showing his understanding.
"Okay. Our pilots will need to get familiar with operating vessels this large. Please arrange for some of your people to be on hand to teach them," Qin Haonan continued.
Long Zhan was momentarily stunned, then replied, "Okay, I’ll arrange it right away!"
He hadn’t expected the pilots from Peach Blossom Base to have no experience operating massive ships.
’Does the Peach Blossom Base not have any super-large vessels at all?’ Long Zhan wondered to himself.

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