Ning He took a stroll around the stalls in the Fourth Ring area, carefully inspecting everyone’s menus.
Then, her heart settled back into place.
These few stalls were in a similar situation to Connie’s noodle shop, where only the signature dishes contained meat, while the rest were primarily vegetable-based.
For instance, one stall sold sausage salad and sausage hot dogs. The sausages were made of starch-based chicken meat with a 20% meat content, and the hot dogs came without sauce, served only with a few green pepper and raw Chinese chive shreds.
Another sold meat pies and meat buns, with a thin layer of chive and pork filling spread across the pie crust, and the buns featured thick dough and little filling.
A third sold chicken soup-based claypot dishes. Ning He could clearly see that what was tumbling around in that large soup pot were chicken carcasses with barely any meat left on them. The chicken soup aroma was not strong either, lacking at least any mouth-watering fragrance.
There was also a barbecue skewer stall. The meat options included chicken skewers and pork belly skewers, which actually made Ning He’s mouth water a little bit. However, at twenty credits for a tiny skewer that disappeared in two bites, it was quite discouraging.
Finally, there was a small braised pig liver stall nearby. The stall owner was an elderly man with white hair, reclining in an old deck chair with his eyelids drooping as if he were fast asleep. To Ning He’s surprise, the old man’s braised pig liver was priced at fifty credits per portion, making it the most expensive item in the entire venue.
Tsk, could the residents of the Fourth Ring afford that?
In the eyes of Ning He, a food blogger with a million followers, not a single one of these dishes was impressive, nor did their prices have a distinct advantage. They probably wouldn’t pose much of a threat to Connie’s secret-recipe meat sauce.
Thinking of this, she walked back with peace of mind.
“Oh no!”
As soon as she returned to the noodle stall, she heard an exclamation from Connie. Ning He hurried forward to ask about the situation.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Ignoring her, Connie opened all the jars on the stall cart and took a look, her expression turning even uglier.
“Can’t find the sauce?” Ah Hu paused his meat-chopping motion and asked.
Biting her lip, Connie nodded. “I was in too much of a rush when we left and grabbed the wrong jar.”
“Do you need help?” Ning He approached again and asked.
On the prep table, a basin of meat had already been minced into bits, ready for the stove to stir-fry the meat sauce.
The noodle shop had several toppings, and the meat sauce stir-fried with the secret recipe sauce was Connie’s signature. The key task in prep work was precisely this step.
Hearing this, Connie glared fiercely at her.
“I knew nothing good would happen when you got involved. If you hadn’t been so clumsy while moving things, how could I have left such an important item behind?”
Taking the blame for no reason, Ning He rolled her eyes inwardly and decided not to bicker with Connie while her temper was hot.
She still needed Connie to make money, so she had to swallow her pride for now.
“Fine, fine, it’s all my fault. So what do we do now? The meat has already been minced, so we need to process it as soon as possible.”
Connie was in a terrible mood right now, biting her lip and saying nothing. Ah Hu, however, rarely spoke up.
“Just stir-fry it as usual. It’ll just taste a bit worse, so we can sell it cheaper.”
Connie’s expression shifted before she finally nodded in resignation.
“That’s all we can do.”
“If we don’t have the sauce, we can change to a different cooking method. Why not let me try?” Remembering something, Ning He hurriedly chimed in.
Connie shot her a scathing look and said impatiently, “Who do you think you are, an all-around culinary star? You can cook anything? Stop making trouble. Can you afford to compensate if you ruin all this meat? Go stand somewhere out of the way. Ah Hu, just do as you said. We’ll lower the price a bit as long as we can sell it.”
Ning He opened her mouth, ultimately swallowing the words on the tip of her tongue, and decided to wait and see how things played out.
Although she had methods to process this meat, she wasn’t entirely sure how well things sold inside the shelter. In the event of unsellable stock, she genuinely couldn’t afford to take the loss.
At that moment, the alarm sirens rang out again, and an announcement quickly came through the nearby loudspeakers.
“The shelter will close all gates in five minutes. Residents still lingering near the gates are requested to enter the interior of the shelter as soon as possible. Residents who have already arrived inside please wait in place and do not wander around casually.”
“Repeating the announcement…”
Ning He checked the time: 5:47 PM.
Everyone at each stall accelerated their movements. Dinner time would follow quickly after the gates closed, so they had to prepare to welcome guests.
Busy figures, all sorts of frying and sizzling, the sound of pots and pans colliding—the fragrance of food filled the air.
For a moment, Ning He even had the illusion that this wasn’t the apocalypse.
But soon, a heavy grinding sound echoed in her ears.
Following the sound, she saw the final heavy door of the gateway slowly closing.
Each gateway had five security doors, each fully three meters thick, forming a solid defense line that isolated everything outside.
Whether it was her imagination or not, the moment the door closed, Ning He felt a wave of heat wash over her face.
Had the extreme temperature already arrived?
As the doors closed completely, all the lights inside the shelter turned on, and the loudspeaker broadcasted another notice.
“All gates are closed. This evacuation period is expected to last for five days. All residents are requested to strictly abide by the relevant regulations within the shelter and move only within designated areas to avoid causing unnecessary trouble. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“You, come here.”
Connie’s voice rang out, and Ning He, still somewhat dazed, instantly snapped to attention and trotted over with quick, small steps.
“You’ll stand right here later. Ah Hu and I will handle the customers.”
Connie pointed at the stove and said.
Ning He raised an eyebrow, glanced around, and sure enough, saw the administrator’s figure appearing not far away.
“Understood, don’t worry, I won’t give anything away,” Ning He patted her chest to reassure her.
Connie curled her lip, said nothing more, and went off to knead dough.
Ning He glanced at the stir-fried minced meat in the pot. The savory meat aroma unique to pork made her swallow involuntarily, but a frown followed immediately.
The minced meat stir-fried without sauce looked entirely pale. Compared to the dark, sauce-colored meat sauce beside it, it looked much less appetizing.
The only seasonings Connie had brought were salt and sugar, so this minced meat would definitely taste terribly bland. Could it even be sold?
She looked at the other toppings.
Fried eggs, green peppers and tofu, stir-fried shredded zucchini, carrots stir-fried with Chinese cabbage, and fresh green garlic leaves used to enhance the fragrance.
Aside from the golden-looking fried eggs which looked decent, everything else was simply too plain. Would people actually buy it?
Just as Ning He’s mood grew heavy, a clamor of voices drifted over from a distance.
“Let’s eat, let’s eat! Even if the sky falls, we have to fill our stomachs first, haha!”
“What are you planning to eat today?”
“I originally booked a spot at Golden Rice Restaurant today, so of course I’m still going there!”
“Yeah, their pork chop set meal is pretty good.”
“I’m going to Coconut Restaurant to eat; they have fishball soup, which is delicious.”
“Let’s go together! Usually, they give discounts at times like this. Why not take advantage of a bargain when you see one, haha!”
A small group of people walked over from the direction of the Third Ring District. Ning He’s spirits lifted, and she rolled up her sleeves, preparing to dive into battle.
“Don’t waste your energy. They won’t come over here to eat.”
Connie’s cold voice arrived.
Ning He was startled, and sure enough, she then saw that group of people heading straight toward the Third Ring food truck area, not even casting a glance in their direction.
“Then when do our guests arrive?”
Kneading the dough, Connie didn’t even raise her head.
“What’s the rush? When they’re supposed to come, they’ll naturally show up.”
With no other choice, Ning He could only wait in place.
It wasn’t until half an hour later that scattered figures began to appear on the path leading back to the Fourth Ring on the left.
The first batch of guests had arrived.