novelraw Chapter 24 Dinner
Chapter 24 Dinner
After accepting the mission, Gao Yuan immediately took action.
Lu Chen had initially thought that the other party would find a time to gather everyone together for a long and eloquent speech. After all, he had worked in the neighborhood office and should be quite adept at public mobilization.
But Gao Yuan did not do that.
He called people over one by one and spoke to them privately.
Instead of just finding a corner to chat for a few minutes, they take the person to a room alone, close the door, and sit down for a serious talk.
The conversations varied in length; some people came out after three to five minutes, while others stayed inside for nearly fifteen minutes.
The people who came out had different expressions; some had slightly red eyes, some looked solemn, and some had their heads down, lost in thought.
Moreover, the location of this private conversation is also important.
Gao Yuan did not choose any other room, but specifically chose room 501 where Lu Chen was staying.
The room assignments on the fifth floor were arranged by Shen Qingci and Gao Yuan this afternoon.
Of the six apartments on the fifth floor, except for 501 and 506, the other four were all converted into dormitories for multiple people.
Room 501 is Lu Chen's room, and room 506 is Shen Qingci's room. Since these are the rooms of two superhumans, it's impossible to squeeze anyone else in.
The survivors had no objection to this, and even took it for granted.
Therefore, Gao Yuan's decision to bring people to Lu Chen's room for a private conversation sends a very clear signal.
Everyone who was called in knew in their hearts: this wasn't Gao Yuan talking to me; it was the captain's order.
This kind of suggestion is more effective than any verbal explanation. Just the act of walking into the room is enough to make the person being talked to elevate the significance of this conversation several levels in their mind.
More than half an hour later, Gao Yuan finished talking with the last person, walked out of room 501, and reported to Lu Chen.
But when Lu Chen came out of Shen Qingci's room, he found that the survivors' gazes towards him had changed.
When these survivors looked at him before, their eyes mainly showed two emotions—gratitude and awe.
They were grateful because he had saved their lives with the zombies, and in awe because he commanded a fully armed zombie squad.
But now, in addition to gratitude and awe, there is another layer: a sense of identity and belonging.
When these people saw him, they no longer saw him simply as a superhuman with power, but as someone they were willing to follow.
Lu Chen observed these changes and was secretly surprised.
Gao Yuan's conversational skills are truly exceptional; in just over half an hour, he managed to get a group of complete strangers to reach a consensus.
This kind of skill isn't something just anyone possesses; someone who's been doing grassroots work for several years certainly has a knack for it.
It was time to eat.
The dining area was set up in the living room of room 503, which was the largest living room among all the rooms on the fifth floor. Three dining tables were moved from other rooms, so it was a bit cramped, but it could still accommodate everyone.
The table was already laden with dishes—real dishes, not self-heating rice with pickled vegetables, or instant noodles with ham.
There was braised pork, stir-fried greens, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a big bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup.
The dishes weren't particularly exquisite, but they were steaming hot, with a smoky aroma of soy sauce and hot oil filling the entire living room, making everyone who entered take a deep breath.
Among these survivors are many who know how to cook. One of them, Sun Xiulan, is in her forties and worked as a chef in a high-end restaurant before the apocalypse. She has been busy in the kitchen since she was rescued this afternoon.
The stove was a gas stove taken from a family's house on the second floor, and the gas cylinders were also carried up from the second floor. There were two cylinders in total, enough to last for a while.
Lu Chen walked to the head seat at the innermost table, and Shen Qingci sat down next to him.
Gao Yuan stood up, his gaze slowly sweeping over each face at the three tables, his expression serious.
"Everyone!"
His voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the quiet living room could hear him clearly.
"In this precarious environment, with zombies roaming the streets, less than one in ten people in the entire city have survived. Every one of us sitting here today is lucky."
"But luck alone isn't enough. Without Captain Shen and Vice Captain Shen, we'd all still be trapped in our rooms, huddled behind doors, listening to the groans of zombies in the hallway, not knowing what's going to happen next."
He paused for a moment, then his gaze swept over everyone again.
"This morning, we were hiding in a corner waiting to die. But tonight, we can sit here peacefully, eating a hot meal, drinking hot soup, with people talking to us, with people watching over us—how far is that?"
No one answered, but all eyes were on Lu Chen.
Gao Yuan picked up the teacup in front of him and held it to his chest.
"Thank you, Captain, for providing us with a safe environment! Thank you, Captain, for this meal! Thank you, Captain, for giving us hope to continue living!"
His voice wasn't loud, but every word struck the quiet air like something scalding hot falling into everyone's chest.
"This is tonight's dinner. It's also the first peaceful dinner for all of us in this apocalypse."
After he finished speaking, he held his teacup and bowed slightly in Lu Chen's direction.
The living room was silent for about a second, and then everyone stood up.
"Thank you, Captain!"
The voices were not in unison, some came first, some lasted, some were high, some were low, but they were all exceptionally genuine; they were truly expressing their gratitude.
At that moment, Lu Chen felt the meteorite mark on his left wrist begin to heat up.
It wasn't the gentle warmth of before, but rather a surge of intense heat that flowed in from the meteorite-shaped mark on the inside of my wrist, spreading upwards along the blood vessels, like a stream of molten iron slowly flowing beneath my skin.
Lu Chen suppressed the urge to turn his wrist over and look, calmly feeling the surge of heat flowing in.
He can tell the difference!
Previously, when collecting thank-you notes, each person thanked him individually, so the difference wasn't too obvious.
Now that all twenty people were speaking at once, he discovered for the first time that he was able to accurately distinguish the intensity of each person's gratitude.
At this moment, the person who felt the strongest sense of gratitude was actually Gao Yuan.
Then, his gaze swept over the survivors without making a sound.
Sun Xiulan's heart was also quite strong. She was probably because she had been starving for three days when she was rescued this afternoon, and her gratitude for a peaceful meal was deeper than anything else.
Xu Wan's enthusiasm remained high, just as fervent as when she first expressed her gratitude this morning.
The woman in that couple had a much stronger flow of heat than her boyfriend.
Among the few young and strong male survivors, some had an unexpectedly weak flow of heat, almost a faint warmth.
Lu Chen silently kept all of this in his heart.
Although he is still unclear about what will happen after the meteorite imprint is completely filled.
But this one additional feature alone allows him to accurately discern how strong each person's gratitude is, which is an invisible measuring stick for the management team.
He can tell right away who is truly loyal to him.
These individuals will undoubtedly receive more resources and trust, and will be given priority when important tasks arise later.
Similarly, those who have little gratitude or feel no warmth at all may be ingrates.
They stay here simply because it's safer here; when danger comes, they might be the first to run.
Lu Chen would exclude such people from his inner circle. If necessary, he might even eliminate them.