Cave Refuge

In fact, no one really cared if the play went off well or not. As long as it was passable on the surface, it was fine. After all, everyone shared the same goal: they all wanted to gain access to the Strategic Reserve Storage.

Only after a group of people set up a cordon line on the flowerbed, were Thomas and Mr. Thompson called in from outside where they had been watching.

When Mr. Thompson heard the call, he wanted to go in, but Thomas by his side held him back, so he stayed put.

Seeing them not entering, the man showed a helpless smile on his face as he walked towards them and said, "Look at you, Thomas, you've become unsociable now."

Hearing his moaning, Thomas didn't respond but took out the cigarettes Mr. Thompson gave him last time from his pocket. Whether on purpose or not, there were exactly two cigarettes left in the cigarette box at this moment.

Thomas gave one to Mr. Thompson. Before the man could come up to them, he carefully folded the cigarette box and put it in his pocket.

At this time, even an empty cigarette box was too valuable to be discarded as trash.

Seeing this action of Thomas, the man was also quite helpless and showed a bitter smile again, "Alright, Thomas, stop pretending, I know you. I guess you must be quite pleased now."

Seeing that the man ignored his words, he had no choice but to use his trump card. He said: "There is a bottle of wine left from the last meal when Mr. Thompson came to my house. I invite you and Mr. Thompson to dinner tomorrow. Let's finish it off then."

Hearing this, Thomas's face changed instantly and he responded immediately with a big smile, "Deal! But one bottle of wine is not enough." After saying this, he turned his gaze to Mr. Thompson.

Seeing Thomas directing the topic towards him, Mr. Thompson knew that Thomas was not trying to take advantage of him, but to make the man owe him a favor. So he said very freely, "No problem, I will bring not only wine but also two packs of vacuum-packed five-spice peanuts. If you don't worry about them being close to their expiration date, I will take them too."

(Note: The average shelf life of the cooked five spice peanuts is 2-3 years.)

Upon hearing this from Mr. Thompson, both men were surprised.

"Mr. Thompson, I never thought you would have such good stuff. Who cares about the expiration date? As long as it doesn't taste bad, it's still good. I've eaten dust in the year '59. I'm not afraid and if Thomas doesn't want it, it's just the two of us who will."

Just as Thomas was about to refute the man's words, he suddenly heard another voice saying, "I always knew Smith loved gobbling his food and here you are, not knowing how to share. He wants to keep the good stuff for himself."

Seeing that all the people who played ball with them had arrived, Smith's face changed dramatically. Before he could speak, Thomas preemptively said: "Smith is going to treat us to a meal tomorrow. Mr. Thompson will bring wine and peanuts. If you all want in, just bring a dish."

"If there's wine, I'll bring pickled fish."

"I have a big flower crab, we can cook it."

"I got two bulbs of garlic, will bring them tomorrow to make garlic stir-fried fish."

"Why do all of you bring fish? Watch me, I'll bring you something delicious tomorrow."

Hearing Taylor's words, the others became curious. They all knew that Mr. Taylor's youngest son doesn't work at the Command Headquarters, and he just figured things out on his own after the calamity. Depending on the Taylor family's relationship and occasional generosity, the son was able to get some nice things.

Mr. Taylor didn't really set rules for his son, but whether or not his youngest son would bring him some rare stuff, Mr. Taylor was absolutely not stingy. Except for what he kept for home, he would take everything else out to share with his buddies.

Before Mr. Thompson joined their small group, Mr. Taylor was always the most assertive one in the group.

There were only around seven or eight people in their small group. Although they all had retired, except for Mr. Thompson, everyone else had their sons and daughters working in government positions. Even though they were not all in high positions, they all were key units and had the power to have a say at times.

Speaking of Mr. Thompson's connection to them, it came about somewhat unexpectedly. Initially, he became acquainted with Old Li during a card game. After getting along for a while and finding Mr. Thompson to be a decent person, Old Li introduced Mr. Thompson to the others.

In the beginning, Old Li didn't know how wealthy Mr. Thompson was, and Mr. Thompson didn't show his hand either. In the beginning, their friendship was quite pure.

After getting along for a long time, although everyone became more familiar, Mr. Thompson knew that he couldn't truly fit into their circle without putting something on the table first.

So, he took an opportunity to treat them to dinner and show them what he was capable of.

The dinner for eight comprised of only ten dishes, Mr. Thompson didn't order any fancy banquet dishes, only a few generous helping of homemade dishes.

Sliced tomatoes, peanuts and edamame, century egg with tofu, smashed cucumber, iceberg lettuce in oyster sauce, hot and sour shredded potato, cumin wheat gluten, five-spice pork head meat, potato stewed beef, and hot pot ingredient plate.

A standard order for a guest meal, four cold dishes, four hot dishes, and two soups.

These dishes that seemed very ordinary before the catastrophe, can be seen in any restaurant's menu, but keep in mind, it had been over two years since the calamity.

No matter how these dishes were made, the mere fact that they could conjure up such a meal proved that Mr. Thompson was quite powerful.

Fresh vegetables were very hard to come by. At that time, almost all the vegetables that appeared in the black market were grown by the survivors in their own pots at home.

It's easy to explain the hot pot ingredient plate, claiming it to be preserved food left to this day, but after tasting the beef, everyone knew with certainty that it was fresh beef, not preserved beef made beforehand.

When they saw the four unopened bottles of liquor that Mr. Thompson placed on the table, they finally acknowledged Mr. Thompson.

After that meal, relying on the supplies that Dong Tianyu had stored in their small warehouse in advance, Mr. Thompson gradually showcased his strength in his circle. This was also why the supplies in the small warehouse were consumed so quickly.

Of course, even though Mr. Thompson may have contributed the most among their group, at critical times, other members dealt with matters behind the scenes and helped Mr. Thompson. Otherwise, the Thompson family wouldn't have been able to live so peacefully on the thirtieth floor.

However, everyone else was understandable, except Mr. Taylor was not exactly content with Mr. Thompson. Although his eldest son held an important position in the West City District Command Post, before Mr. Thompson joined their circle, the occasional gifts from his younger son allowed him to save face among his old friends.

But after joining them, although Mr. Thompson didn't flaunt his supplies, he was the one who distributed cigarettes the most during their gettogethers. Although they weren't luxurious cigarettes, in this era, it wasn't the time to be picky.

Although his younger son occasionally gave Mr. Taylor cigarettes, they were barely enough for him to smoke himself.

Seeing Mr. Thompson distributing cigarettes from time to time, Mr. Taylor often felt his status had been lowered much after his arrival.