Chapter 44: Having a Steaming Hotpot

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Having a Steaming Hotpot

In the vast expanse of white snow, however, there was no sign of life, let alone another human being.

Chen Momo took out her iPad, opened her map app, and zoomed in. She pointed to a destination on the screen and said, "This is where we’re going. It’s a villa district about five kilometers from here."

Xu Xiaoka’s eyes widened in surprise. "About five kilometers?"

Five kilometers sounded close, but it would take a significant amount of time to walk in these conditions. In fact, it might even take them several days to get there!

Chen Momo nodded. "The nearby areas are all standard residential buildings that can’t withstand the severe cold. Only the houses in the villa district five kilometers away are equipped to keep the freezing temperatures out."

It would take about another month for the shelter base to be completed. Chen Momo had originally planned to hunker down in her old apartment for that month while waiting, but today’s sudden turn of events forced her to change her plans on the fly.

"Sister Momo, I support you," Xu Xiaoka said.

Taking a set of car keys from her pocket, Chen Momo suddenly thought of the underground parking garage across the street. She decided to go check it out.

The family of three trudged over to the opposite office building. Everything below the ninth floor had already been sealed in ice, meaning they entered directly onto the tenth floor. Chen Momo led the way, while Xu Xiaoka followed closely behind, tightly holding Chen Xiaobao’s hand. The three of them found the stairwell entrance on the tenth floor and headed down until they reached the underground garage.

To Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka’s pleasant surprise, aside from the entrance being blocked by snow and ice, the interior of the garage was perfectly intact! Moreover, the temperature was surprisingly comfortable. After walking for just a short while, the three of them actually began to sweat.

Chen Momo simply took off her coat and carried it in her hand. Seeing this, Xu Xiaoka removed hers as well, mirroring Chen Momo’s actions.

Xu Xiaoka then turned and asked, "Xiao Bao, are you hot?"

Xiao Bao nodded. "Yes, I’m hot too."

Xu Xiaoka helped Chen Xiaobao out of his coat, carrying his along with her own.

Most of the vehicles in the underground garage belonged to ordinary office workers, so there weren’t many luxury cars. Taking the set of keys from her pocket, Chen Momo pressed the unlock button on a whim. To her astonishment, the keys belonged to a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, and a luxury RV—all of which were parked right there in the garage!

She figured they must belong to a boss’s family who all worked in the same building. This was perfect. She could just store the cars directly into her spatial dimension later!

Chen Momo checked her watch; it was already past seven in the morning. Based on their usual routine at home, it was time for breakfast.

"Are you two hungry?" Chen Momo turned to ask Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao. Both of them nodded in unison.

"Xiao Ka, take Xiao Bao and wait for me by the stairwell entrance," Chen Momo instructed. "We’ll have something to eat in a bit."

Xu Xiaoka was always obedient to Chen Momo, so she immediately took Chen Xiaobao over to wait. The entrance to the stairs was just around a corner, leaving the main garage completely out of sight.

With her mind at ease, Chen Momo stored the three vehicles—the Mercedes, the BMW, and the luxury RV—into her space. She then took a stroll around the rest of the garage and discovered three more luxury cars: a Bentley, another BMW, and a Porsche. Although she didn’t have the keys for them, she tucked them away in her space anyway. She would worry about the keys later!

Once she was done, Chen Momo met back up with Chen Xiaobao and Xu Xiaoka at the stairwell. They made their way up to the second floor, where Chen Momo led them to a locked office. Pulling a hammer from her luggage, she smashed the glass door open.

"Let’s go inside and see if we can find any food," Chen Momo said.

The trio entered the company suite. This main office space contained several smaller, private rooms—the general manager’s office, the deputy general manager’s office, and so on.

Chen Momo suggested, "Let’s split up. Xiao Ka, you and Xiao Bao search the east side, and I’ll take the west."

Xu Xiaoka obediently took Chen Xiaobao to the east side of the company to hunt for food. Meanwhile, Chen Momo headed west alone. The west wing just so happened to house the general manager’s office. She walked in, closed the door behind her, and began pulling supplies out of her dimension. She arranged an induction cooker, a pot, meatballs, vegetables, instant noodles, shrimp dumplings, hot pot base, dipping sauce, sliced lamb, sliced beef, beef tripe, three pairs of chopsticks, and three spoons, laying everything out on the general manager’s spacious desk.

Once everything was set up, Chen Momo went back to find Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao. "Did you two find anything to eat?"

"Sister Momo, I found a box of bread," Xu Xiaoka reported.

Chen Xiaobao chimed in happily, "Mommy, Xiao Bao found sausages!" He waved a bag of sausages in front of Chen Momo to show off his prize.

"Come with me," Chen Momo smiled. "I found something good."

Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao exchanged surprised glances before following her into the general manager’s office. To their amazement, an induction cooker, a pot, and a massive feast of food were sitting right there on the desk!

Xu Xiaoka’s face was full of shock. "This..."

Knowing perfectly well that his mommy had pulled all this out of her space, Chen Xiaobao immediately acted precociously clever to cover for her. "The general manager must have been secretly eating hot pot at work! But before he could eat it, the big snowstorm hit!"

Listening to her son’s explanation, Chen Momo held back a smile and nodded with absolute seriousness. "That is a distinct possibility."

Xu Xiaoka was thrilled. She wasn’t the type of girl to overthink things anyway, and seeing food in front of her, eating was the only thing on her mind. "It’s so great to have hot pot on such a freezing day!" she cheered.

The trio brought out a solar panel and a power strip. After hooking them up, they turned on the power and connected it to the induction cooker on the desk. They placed the metal pot on the stove, chipped some ice out of the water jug atop the office water dispenser, and tossed it into the pot to melt.

Next, they dropped in the pre-prepared hot pot base. Once it had dissolved into the boiling water, they added the various ingredients to cook. They had a long journey ahead of them today, so they needed a hearty, hot meal!

Steam billowed from the bubbling hot pot on the induction cooker. Everyone was giddy with excitement as they waited. A rich, mouth-watering aroma filled the entire office, causing Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao to swallow hard.

By the time the hot pot was fully cooked, Xu Xiaoka had already portioned out the dipping sauces. The three of them gathered around the steaming pot and dug in!

They had to eat quickly. After all, the people coming to scavenge for supplies would arrive around ten o’clock. Finishing early and leaving as soon as possible was their top priority.

"It’s a long journey, so eat up," Chen Momo urged. "Once we’re full, we can head out."

She had originally been about to say "hit the road," but felt that the phrase carried too ominous an undertone of a final departure from this life. Finding it terribly inauspicious, she had quickly changed it to "head out."