CHAPTER 41: 41: NO FREE MEAL IN THIS WORLD

Aria opened a takeout box of steaming hot rice, its gentle aroma wafting through the air as the male lead’s stomach let out another growl.

Hearing it for a second time, Aria paused for a moment before opening the others and placing them on the car’s surface in front.

She did not want to embarrass the already shy male lead, so she acted like she hadn’t heard anything.

Her hands moved faster as she explained each dish briefly while opening the other takeout boxes. Of what the pork ribs were, what the tomato sauce was.

She did it quickly, not wanting to take too much time, and under the lamp post’s light, she finally presented all of the food to the male lead.

It was like a grand feast, but for one person only.

Each scent wafted through the air, making everyone’s hungry stomachs protest.

"Here, try this. You must be hungry by now." Aria pushed a disposable spoon and fork toward the male lead with her slender fingers.

Caelan looked at the hand offering him the plastic cutlery and paused for a moment before taking it from her, while holding the takeout box in his other hand.

He leaned on his car and began eating, and Aria stood there smiling, feeling very happy that this person was finally enjoying the food to his heart’s content.

Not just standing by, she also helped by picking out some dishes for him, like a piece of crab meat from her favorite crab curry.

Caelan accepted it without hesitation and picked something to give to Aria, which made her pause mid-motion, and they stared at each other.

However, seeing the male lead eating with satisfaction, she became a little hungry and actually moved to bit some of the small meat slices of pork from his waiting cutlery.

By the time Aria realized what she had done, the action was already over, and her face immediately heated up.

Plus, the discomfort of using someone else’s fork wasn’t there, there’s no sense of disgust, which left her very confused.

Aria was not the type to share cutlery or plates that others had touched, and yet, she had actually done it with the male lead.

Aria absentmindedly handed the male lead his ice-cold cup of cola, her mind racing with thoughts.

How could she do that? She had been so careless, not thinking about her actions at all.

Could she be changing, affected by this world without even realizing it?

Aria and Caelan existed in their own little world on this side, with everyone else seeming to disappear around them.

Lolo and Samantha just looked at each other, seeing their master so attentive to this man, and they stood quietly like wallflowers in the background.

The group of men on the other side, who had been hungry all these days and had never been so full, were displeased at the sight of a man and woman eating together like a lovely scene torn from the pages of a magazine.

Their eyes were sharp with jealousy, dislike, and barely concealed hostility.

Michael saw that his men were ready to snatch the food they were eyeing.

One cold look from him froze the other men in their tracks, silencing their hatred and glaring protests, and he advanced toward them himself.

Having witnessed firsthand the extraordinary presence and abilities of the golden-haired woman and those around her, the leader of Base E decided he could not make any drastic moves toward them.

Michael stepped a bit closer. Already, he could smell the fragrant food and forcefully gulped down his own saliva. He was incredibly hungry. He had been eating only raw vegetables and hard bread these past few days, and the sight of meat on the takeout boxes was enough to drive a man like him, who had no little self-control, utterly mad.

"Golden Princess, I see you have a lot of delicious food. Why not share it with us?" He said, forcing a polite smile, choosing his words carefully.

Aria heard the others’ words, irritated at being called that nickname again. She stopped helping the male lead pick the dishes and turned around, crossing her arms with a slight scowl on her face.

Yet, with the aura of her Miss Stationmaster disguise, she looked far less threatening than she felt, more like an orange, elegant cat, poised and hissing softly, all attitude but no claws.

Shooting the others a look of annoyance had no effect, as the leader of Base E only seemed to feel better for being noticed instead.

"Why are you still here? Leave already." Aria said again and glanced toward the back, where the men’s heated eyes were fixed on their side.

To be precise, the takeout boxes were spread across the car’s surface.

After a moment, she finally understood they must be hungry as well.

She let out a soft sigh, turned around, and was about to offer them a little when the male lead stopped her hand.

She stared back, silently asking with her eyes what he meant.

Caelan spoke after setting the empty takeout box on the car’s surface, licking his lower lip for the last sauce.

"If they want the food, get it in exchange, and you can get something valuable."

"If they want the food, get it in exchange. You can get something valuable."

Exchange... right.

The male lead was correct. She couldn’t just give this away for free.

When Aria faced Michael again, her voice carried a hint of authority as she spoke without leaving any room for negotiation.

"There’s no free meal in this world. Tell me, what can you exchange for one of these takeout boxes? I’ll give you the same market price, so you don’t have to worry about being cheated. Hmm? How about that?"

"Golden Princess, what I can give you is surely valuable enough. How about you give us first?"

"No goods, no exchange." Caelan stepped in front of her, shielding Aria, which annoyed the leader of Base E with his sudden intervention.

Since the beginning of the ongoing apocalypse, society had fallen.

The currency of paper money was gone, and only the ancient way of bartering goods for goods remained.

To survive, everyone knew this, and every Base followed the same rule.

Caelan was simply acting according to his own way and the rules others followed.

Deep down, he also had his own selfish reason for not wanting Aria to give anything to this group of men for free.

"Fine, bastard." Hissing at the end of his word, Michael turned his attention back to Aria and spoke a bit more sweetly this time.

"Golden Princess, tell me what you want. In exchange, I want enough food for the rest of my men, how about that?"

"I want..." Aria had no idea what to ask for other than telling them to leave, and she was about to open her lips to say just that when Samantha walked up beside her and whispered something in her ear.

Aria’s eyes widened a little, then she nodded quietly, agreeing with what her people said.

"I want Mikey and Richi." Aria blurted out, pointing toward the two teenage boys.

Standing close together, the two heard their names, looked up in her direction, and froze in surprise.

"What? No! You can’t take them!" Michael barked, his tone sharp and defiant.

Why would this Golden Princess want those bastards? They were part of his lackeys, used to serve everyone’s satisfaction. There was no way he would let them go!

"Then no food for you or your men. Leave my place at once." Aria’s piercing gaze held steady as she made that declaration.

If they did not want to agree, then she would not give them food for free either. Aria could be difficult as well.

"Caelan, will you stay here tonight? I need to go back inside. I have two brothers who need looking after."

"Mnn." Caelan hummed softly, showing he understood, and began cleaning up the takeout boxes, preparing to place the rest inside his car.

Watching from the other side as the food was being taken away, Michael gritted his teeth and tried to negotiate. "You can have the Mikey boy. He’s useless anyway."

"How about Richi? I want Richi as well." Aria looked back at the leader of Base E, her arms crossed.

"Not him. You cannot have him."

"And why is that, ah?" Aria pressed, wanting to know this older man’s reason for refusing to give up the boy.

Samantha had mentioned that the two teenage boys seemed to be often bullied by these men, and if she was not mistaken, one of them had even been violated earlier.

When Aria heard that, her heart sank completely, and her view of this group of men dropped to a negative degree.

The thought of a young boy being put through something like that made Aria’s stomach turn upside down in disgust.

How could anyone do such a thing?

That’s an immature boy, for heaven’s sake.

Then she remembered this was the apocalypse.

There were no laws left in this world to protect children anymore.