Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: I Want to Report, Too

Chen Xing knew what Yan Caini was up to.

’She must have heard that being a formal employee is a good gig and decided to gamble that it was, in fact, me she saw.’

’Smart of her to bet, and she bet right.’

But... she wasn’t worried at all.

’Even if Yan Caini was sure it was me—which she wasn’t—there are so many people standing here. It would take a long time to find me.’

Seeing how friendly Gundam was, Yan Caini formed a very good impression of him. "Last night, there was a woman in a blue outfit in the room where I was staying. She used to be at our sanatorium, and I have no idea how she ended up here. She’s a very malicious person. I think she’s most likely the one who worked with Captain Lu from the Military Department, coordinating from the inside to steal your things. I called out to her several times yesterday, but she just pretended to be asleep and ignored me. If she didn’t have a guilty conscience, why would she pretend not to know me?"

"Oh?" Gundam’s voice was clearly intrigued. "You’re saying there’s someone from your sanatorium here in our factory compound? And it’s a woman?"

That was strange!

’Boss Qi and his men only brought back this one woman. Where did another one come from?’

’Could someone have snuck in?’

He immediately turned to a subordinate beside him. "Go and pull up all the surveillance footage from the factory compound!"

After giving the order, he turned back to the crowd. "There’s still time to come out and confess. Otherwise, when the surveillance footage gets here, the consequence might be death!"

His gaze turned specifically toward the area where most of the women were gathered.

To avoid attracting attention, Chen Xing had taken off her hat. After all, wearing one was too conspicuous.

She hid her face behind the woman in front of her and stood slightly askew. Even when Gundam, who had seen her before, deliberately looked over, he failed to spot her.

Yan Caini followed Gundam’s gaze and happened to see Chen Xing’s smooth, silky hair, which stood out in the crowd of women who looked like they hadn’t washed their hair in days.

Although she wasn’t entirely sure, she still pointed at her and shouted, "Chen—"

But she only got one word out before she felt a sharp pain in her throat.

Before anyone could react, her head tilted to one side and she collapsed.

Gundam caught the direction Yan Caini had pointed in just before she fell.

But the factory yard instantly erupted into chaos.

No one even knew which direction the object that had killed Yan Caini had come from.

Boss Qi cowered behind the table and roared, "Find out where that came from!"

Now that he had everything he could possibly want, he was especially afraid of dying.

Gundam remained relatively calm and immediately began to restore order. "Everyone, stop panicking! Get the fuck back in line, or I’ll start shooting!" As he spoke, he fired two warning shots into the air.

The crowd finally calmed down, and everyone found their places and stood still again.

He stared for a long time in the direction Yan Caini had pointed but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "All of you, stand still and look at the people next to you. Report anyone you don’t recognize!" ’I refuse to believe that woman in blue could have escaped with so many people watching.’

Evidently, this tactic didn’t work.

Most people hadn’t been there for many days—some had just joined yesterday—and many didn’t know the person next to them. So... the scene descended into chaos once more as people began accusing those beside them of being strangers.

At that moment, Wan Fang was in a state of lingering terror.

Because no matter how she thought about it, the person Yan Caini had described had to be the one who went to the warehouse with her.

’Thinking back now, even the headache I had last night doesn’t seem like an accident. I was clearly knocked unconscious.’

What worried her most now was Qi Dongyuan.

If he insisted that she had brought the woman, she would never be able to clear her name.

She couldn’t just sit back and wait for the worst to happen.

Even though the crowd was still noisy, Wan Fang pushed through it and ran toward the platform. "High Manager... I want to make a report, too!"

Gundam, of course, wouldn’t refuse. He had someone pull her onto the platform. "Who are you reporting?"

"The person I’m reporting was also wearing blue clothes... You saw her last night when Brother Qi and I were passing by... Later, after we went into the warehouse, she knocked me out... But since she was someone Brother Qi had taken an interest in, I didn’t dare suspect her. Afterward, Brother Qi got blackout drunk, and we all went back to our rooms to sleep."

Only then did Gundam recall that when he had called out to Qi Dongyuan last night, there had indeed been a woman in blue with him.

At the time, he had been focused on warning Qi Dongyuan and hadn’t paid attention to anyone else.

"Nonsense! I didn’t come out at all last night!" Even though he remembered, Gundam flatly denied it.

’If someone appeared right under my nose and I didn’t notice, Boss Qi’s suspicious nature would mean he’d never trust me again.’

"It was right over there last night... You even told Brother Qi to take it easy..." Wan Fang refused to give up, wanting Gundam to remember so she could clear her name. "Or you can have Brother Qi testify! I don’t know that woman in blue at all."

The reason she was in such a hurry to say all this was to create a preconceived notion in people’s minds, to make them believe her story first.

Qi Dongyuan had been very drunk last night and probably couldn’t remember anything clearly. As long as she insisted that he was the one who brought the woman in blue to find her, she could absolve herself of suspicion.

Otherwise, if Qi Dongyuan told the truth and revealed he had seen her with the suspect, she would be hopelessly implicated.

"Nonsense!" Gundam glared. "Last night, when the Boss went inside, I followed him in to rest. I never came out at all, so how could I have seen you?" He wasn’t worried about Qi Dongyuan testifying.

’That guy got so drunk last night, nothing he says would be considered reliable anyway.’

Meanwhile, Chen Xing watched the events on the platform with a calm expression.

’Gundam is trying to distance himself from this,’ she thought. ’After all, if he saw me and didn’t recognize me, it would be easy for him to be implicated.’

Wan Fang, anxious, afraid, and feeling deeply wronged, shrieked, "Gundam, you can’t just frame people like this!"

Gundam, who had just been so friendly, harshly berated Wan Fang. "You’re the one trying to frame me, and now you’re playing the victim! Boss... I’ll tell you the truth. I heard that last night, she was the one who got Dongyuan drunk! I was worried you’d blame Dongyuan, so I tried to cover for him. That was my mistake!"

"I didn’t!" Wan Fang panicked. "You’re framing me..."

Just then, two more people stood up and pointed at her. "Boss, it’s true! She’s the one who got Brother Qi drunk. I saw it with my own eyes!"

Boss Qi hated it when Qi Dongyuan drank more than anything. Hearing that Wan Fang had been the one to get him drunk, he was naturally furious. He waved his hand dismissively. "Take her away for now..." He would deal with her later.

"Boss, I’ve been wronged..." Wan Fang cried, proclaiming her innocence.

’If I’d known this would happen, I never should have stepped forward.’

However, before Wan Fang could be led away, someone ran up. "Boss, this is bad..." He then whispered a report in his ear.

Boss Qi’s expression grew colder and colder as he listened, and his final gaze landed on Wan Fang’s seemingly innocent face.

Wan Fang trembled. ’Could it be? Did Qi Dongyuan tell them the truth?’

Then, she saw several people carrying Qi Dongyuan over.

Qi Dongyuan’s face was deathly pale. He appeared to be breathing, but it was very shallow. He was unconscious, and anyone could see he was in critical condition.

If Boss Qi hadn’t specifically sent someone to get Qi Dongyuan, no one would have even realized how bad of a state he was in.

Wan Fang: "..." ’This is bad!’

Even with a terrified look on her face, she realized the gravity of the situation.

She had originally thought that if Gundam spoke up for her, she could clear her name, since the Boss trusted him the most. But not only had Gundam refused to corroborate her story, he had also lied and pinned the crime of getting Qi Dongyuan drunk on her. Now, she looked like she had approached Qi Dongyuan with an ulterior motive. If Qi Dongyuan died like this, she would never be able to clear her name.

She was filled with regret. ’I should have just kept my mouth shut.’