The Chef Rules the Last Days

22: Chapter 20: Upgrade Gift Pack 22: Chapter 20: Upgrade Gift Pack [The inventory and seasoning slots have expanded by 5, Recipe Market is now available, and a God Chef Upgrade Gift Package*2 has been added to your inventory]

A gift package?

Su Mo’s mind instantly filled with all sorts of items, and she eagerly clicked on the inventory to see what was inside.

“Do you want to open the God Chef Upgrade Gift Package?”

She mentally affirmed, and the gift package in front of her instantly enlarged, bursting open with a shower of fireworks.

“Congratulations on obtaining a set of the finest Red Ore Carved Dragon Pattern Tea Set.”.

…..??

What exploded out of the gift package was a mini set of exquisitely crafted tea service.

Su Mo was stunned; counting the cups and teapot, there were 16 pieces in total, and the ruby-red tray almost dazzled her eyes with its shimmering light.

First, a Flat Pot to cook instant noodles, and now teacups for making tea—are we starting a post-apocalyptic health regime?

Su Mo sighed internally.

Why couldn’t there be something with a bit more firepower?

Resigned, she clicked on the second gift package.

“Do you want to open the God Chef Upgrade Gift Package?”

She continued to mentally affirm, and once again, fireworks exploded in front of her, this time revealing a recipe.

[Name]: Jasmine Tea (To be unlocked)

[Used materials]: Jasmine, Water

[Skill Level]: ??

[Flavor score]: ?

(Out of 10 points; the higher the score, the more bonus points received)

[Status Bonus]: Up to 50% energy recovery

Seeing the energy recovery at the bottom, Su Mo’s eyes widened as she stood up abruptly, only to hit her head on the car roof: “Ouch!”

She sat down holding her head, while Zhao Xiweng turned around in alarm asking, “What happened to you?”

“It’s…

it’s nothing,” Su Mo grimaced in pain.

Jianxiong glanced at Su Mo through the rearview mirror and chuckled roughly: “Sister, don’t make a hole in the Admiral’s car roof.”

“Just drive your car,” Su Mo glared at him, shrinking into her seat while holding her head.

Lu Chen’s mouth curled up, an amused sparkle in his eyes.

The car quieted down, and when Zhao Xiweng saw that Su Mo wasn’t seriously hurt, she turned back to look out the window.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Su Mo nursed her pain while excitedly storing the recipe away; she suddenly found the tea set very appealing.

Switching the screen back to the main interface, there was now a dainty and exquisite tea set glowing with a soft pink light placed next to the formerly lone black Flat Pot.

She could take it out anytime she wished.

Her eyes moved to the bottom right corner where a new icon for the marketplace had appeared.

Curious, she clicked it and was instantly dazzled by the myriad of recipes available.

The varied status bonuses of each recipe were nothing short of bizarre, encompassing everything imaginable.

She could only see the names and benefits; the materials were hidden in darkness below, accompanied by various outrageous prices.

It seemed that besides personally comprehending recipes, she could also purchase them from the market.

However, the currency here was zombie heads, and the prices were exorbitant—way beyond her current means.

When she came across a recipe named Valentine’s Day Chocolate, priced at just 50 points, it piqued her interest as it was the most affordable.

Curious about what status it would enhance, when she read “Status Bonus: Max Libido increase by 5,” her face turned beet red, and she immediately closed the marketplace app.

Zhao Xiweng, who had just looked over, caught Su Mo staring blankly at the front seat with flushed cheeks.

She glanced at the oblivious Lu Chen and jumped to the conclusion that Su Mo was lost in fantasies.

She patted Su Mo on the shoulder and teased, “What’s wrong with you?

You keep staring at the front seat.”

“Ah,” Su Mo snapped out of her reverie and hastily faked a smile to cover her embarrassment: “It’s nothing, nothing, I was just lost in thought.”

“That’s good then,”

Lu Chen glanced at Su Mo through the rearview mirror, who had been daydreaming, and his brows arched, guessing she must have found something strange again.

She leaned back in her seat and sorted through the rewards from her latest upgrade: a recipe, a tea set, and an expanded backpack and seasoning slots, which, including the initial five, now totaled ten slots.

All things considered, not bad.

“How much longer until we get there?” Su Mo coughed, trying to sound casual as she looked out the window.

Jianxiong glared with his wide eyes as he took a sharp turn, laughed coarsely, “We’ll be there soon, don’t worry, sis.”

“Calling me ‘sis’ all the time, my name is Su Mo,” she said helplessly to the driver’s seat.

She scooted forward, stuck her head between the seats, and suggested, “You all should also stop calling Lu Chen ‘Admiral’ all the time, it’s so formal.

Jianxiong, when you called him ‘Boss Lu’ this morning, it sounded much better.”

Zhao Xiwen frowned and was the first to object, “That doesn’t seem appropriate.”

Jianxiong glanced at Lu Chen in the passenger seat out of the corner of his eye; seeing no reaction from him, he decided right away, “Boss Lu, hahaha, not bad, not bad.

Xiwen, from now on, you should call him ‘Boss’ too.”

“Uh…

okay then,” Zhao Xiwen clenched her hands on her lap into fists, forcing a small smile on her face.

“Always full of ideas,” Lu Chen said without showing much expression, simply turning and flicking Su Mo’s forehead again.

She winced with pain and shrank back into her seat, glaring angrily at the back of the front seat.

The supermarket they were heading to was in a small town not far from the military district.

It was located near the edge of the city center, and because of the small volume of people, they had chosen this as their destination.

It was getting close to the afternoon; the sun was still hanging high as the car slowly entered the main road of the small town.

The trees on either side provided shade from much of the sunlight; if one could ignore the dried bloodstains on the ground or the thin layer of dust on the cars along the road, the scenery here was actually quite pleasant.

“Have you guys noticed that there are no zombies here?” Su Mo looked around the roadside and found that, aside from a few corpses on the ground, there were no zombies in sight.

“Someone’s cleared them out,” Lu Chen said solemnly.

Where there are people, there are conflicts, especially when it comes to supplies.

The four people in the car simultaneously tensed and got serious.

At that moment, Su Mo thought that if Ye Lei weren’t always courting disaster, having a humanoid detector would be really handy.

Jianxiong stepped on the accelerator and drove forward: “The supermarket in this place isn’t big, just has two entrances.”

A three-story building came into view not far away, with a large billboard that read, “Welcome to Jiahe Supermarket.”

Jianxiong hid the car in a pile of broken vehicles by the side of the road.

As usual, it was Zhao Xiwen with an injury who stayed to watch the car, but this time, Jianxiong pulled out the keys and pocketed them.

The three of them got out of the car and headed toward the supermarket.

The small town’s roads were flanked by scattered shops selling all kinds of goods, and any that were related to grocery stores were glanced over by Su Mo; their doors had been broken open and were emptied out.

The three of them hugged the wall as they walked.

A flag with the word “Tea Shop” caught Su Mo’s attention across the street, hanging on the wall.

She tugged at Lu Chen’s sleeve; he turned around, and she pointed at the shop, whispering, “I need tea leaves.”

“Why do you want that stuff?

You can’t even eat it,” Jianxiong’s blunt face was full of confusion and incomprehension.

“It’s very useful,” Su Mo said with wide eyes, batting her lashes at Lu Chen.

Although he was puzzled, considering the previous matter with the Flat Pot, he still agreed.

“Let’s take a detour there.”

“Really, Boss Lu?” Jianxiong scratched his head, saw the two moving towards the other side, and then looked at the supermarket and then the tea shop, ultimately deciding to follow along.