Chapter 85 - 84: Searching for Ingredients

Chapter 85: Chapter 84: Searching for Ingredients

Xiao Bao said in a sweet, childish voice, "Thank you, Aunt Zhang and Aunt Wang. Goodbye, Aunties."

Zhang Ailing and Wang Qiuju were delighted to hear this.

"Goodbye, Xiao Bao," Zhang Ailing and Wang Qiuju smiled and bid Chen Xiaobao goodbye.

Arriving home and returning to her room, Chen Momo didn’t have time to attend to Xiu Xiu. She immediately picked up her iPad, opened Amap, and started searching for nearby five-star hotels.

Xu Xiaoka knocked on the door, then entered the room and sat cross-legged on the floor next to her.

"Sister Momo, what should we do next? That Zhang Wanwan is a powerful woman. Will we lose to her?" Xu Xiaoka asked, her face full of worry.

Chen Momo put down the iPad and looked at Xu Xiaoka helplessly. "Xiao Ka, you’ve asked ’what should we do’ no less than twenty times. I’ll say it again: we absolutely cannot give up until the very last moment."

Xu Xiaoka hurriedly replied, "I’m sorry, Sister Momo. My words might be putting pressure on you. I didn’t mean it."

Chen Momo picked up the iPad to show the map to Xu Xiaoka. "These locations are five-star hotels. I’m thinking we might be able to find a recipe for sauerkraut fish inside one of them, so I plan to try my luck. If we can find the information on sauerkraut fish, I intend to use the methods of those five-star chefs as a reference."

Xu Xiaoka said, "This might be the best option right now."

Chen Momo picked up her coat. "Let’s set off now."

Xu Xiaoka’s eyes widened. "Right now?"

Chen Momo nodded. "We don’t have much time left. We’re racing against the clock, so the faster we move, the better."

Xu Xiaoka stood up. "Okay, Sister Momo. I’ll go get Xiao Bao right now."

And so, Chen Momo, Xu Xiaoka, and Chen Xiaobao drove together to the nearest five-star hotel. Chen Momo was still driving, while Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao sat in the back.

Chen Xiaobao suggested, "Sister, let’s make some juice, okay?"

Xu Xiaoka agreed, "Sure! Sister just happens to be craving some juice too."

Thus, the two of them ran to the kitchen area, took out a large carton of milk and some bananas from the refrigerator, and used the blender to make a large jug of banana milk.

Once the banana milk was ready, a rich aroma wafted through the air.

Xu Xiaoka took a sniff. "Wow, it smells so good! Xiao Bao, come take a smell too."

Saying that, she placed the banana milk in front of Xiao Bao for him to smell.

Xiao Bao put on an intoxicated expression. "The banana milk juith Sister Xiao Ka made thmells tho good!"

Xu Xiaoka couldn’t help but laugh, thinking to herself that with such a sweet mouth, there was no way this child wouldn’t be loved by everyone. She playfully booped his nose and said gently, "Sister Xiao Ka didn’t make this banana milk juice all by herself. It’s the banana milk juice Sister Xiao Ka and Xiao Bao made together."

Chen Xiaobao nodded vigorously. "Yeah, it’s the banana milk juith that Sister and Xiao Bao made together."

Xu Xiaoka divided the banana milk juice into three cups: one for herself, one for Xiao Bao, and the remaining one for Chen Momo.

After Chen Momo finished her banana milk juice, she immediately felt a wave of refreshment wash over her, and her anxiety lessened. In truth, ever since the competition started, she had been feeling very anxious, but she couldn’t tell Xiao Bao and Xu Xiaoka. She could only digest and bear it alone.

The family of three drove their vehicle and arrived at the five-star hotel.

Fortunately, behind the hotel was a high-rise building dedicated to guest accommodations. Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka once again entered the high floor through a window. Then, using their flashlights, they found the stairwell and followed it down to look for the back kitchen.

The hotel was massive, divided into several different halls, each serving a distinct function. It took a long time for Chen Momo, Xu Xiaoka, and Chen Xiaobao to finally locate the back kitchen.

Chen Momo walked into the back kitchen with her flashlight. After searching for quite a while, she couldn’t find any recipes, only some frozen ingredients. The frozen ingredients of a five-star hotel were indeed on another level: hairy crabs, steaks, oysters, toast...

There was also a wide variety of seasonings.

Without time to inspect them closely, Chen Momo stored them all into her spatial dimension.

Next, the three of them wandered to other parts of the kitchen. When Xu Xiaoka shone her flashlight around, she seemed to have discovered a secret.

"Sister Momo, there seems to be a hidden mechanism here!" Xu Xiaoka called out to Chen Momo as she walked over with her flashlight.

Chen Momo frowned and followed Xu Xiaoka over.

The white object in front of them looked like a standard white wall, blending perfectly with the rest of the kitchen’s walls. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but upon closer inspection, a difference could be spotted—this white wall was slightly misaligned with its surroundings, leaving a tiny gap in the middle.

Xu Xiaoka slipped her fingers into the gap and pulled hard to the side, but even after using all her strength, the wall wouldn’t budge.

It seemed the wall was quite heavy.

Chen Momo handed her flashlight to Xiao Bao. "Xiao Bao, hold the flashlight for me and Sister Xiao Ka."

Receiving the order, Xiao Bao immediately and obediently held the flashlight up for Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka.

Chen Momo gripped the upper part of the gap with both hands, while Xu Xiaoka gripped the lower part. Chen Momo instructed, "I’ll count to three, and we pull together. Three, two, one—"

The two exerted their strength together, and sure enough, they pulled open the covering that looked like a wall!

It turned out it wasn’t a wall at all, but a storage room disguised as one! This kitchen storage room was a full three meters wide, two meters high, and five meters deep, holding everyday items used by the five-star hotel—tablecloths, uniform hats prepared for the staff, brand-new unopened tableware, and so on.

In addition to these daily necessities, there were also hundreds of boxed employee gift packages stacked neatly.

Chen Momo took out a box and shone the flashlight on it. Several large characters were printed on it: "Secret Recipe Spicy Pig Trotters."

The manufacturer was a joint production between the five-star hotel and a food company. Besides these pig trotters, there were also jointly produced mooncakes. It seemed these were Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for the employees, which hadn’t been distributed before the apocalypse hit.

Xu Xiaoka said, "I wonder how this five-star hotel’s pig trotters taste."

Chen Momo replied, "We’ll know once we taste them."

Xu Xiaoka suddenly realized Chen Momo was right and knocked her own forehead. "Oh, Sister Momo, you’re right. Look at my brain—we’ll know once we taste them!"

If the pig trotters tasted good, then this trip wouldn’t have been in vain.

So Chen Momo took out the fruit knife she carried with her and swiftly opened the box.