Ning He thought for a moment; she still needed to consider the overall evaluation score.
A stall’s monthly evaluation score mainly depended on two aspects: the sales ratio and the approval rating.
The approval rating naturally referred to the students’ satisfaction with her stall’s food, while the sales ratio referred to the proportion of the stall’s monthly sales relative to its expected target.
Between a vendor selling fifty pounds of noodles a month and one selling five hundred pounds, it was obvious which one a supplier would prefer to upgrade. In every cycle, the food company assigned a sales target to each stall—the higher the target completion ratio, the higher the score.
In other words, if she wanted to compete for first place, her food had to be both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
Ning He pondered over it for a long time, developing a bit of a headache.
The breakfast items she knew how to make could fill an entire A4 sheet of paper, but with no vegetables or meat available and seasonings scarce, her options were few and far between.
By the time Ning He reached her front door, she still had not made up her mind. Deciding to put it aside for the moment, she opted to deal with the bare, empty window frame in her home first.
Several neighboring households had already replaced their windows, using a type of thick plastic with decent light permeability.
The residents of Beiluo City used a lot of plastic in their daily lives, and there were plenty of shops. Ning He took a trip to a nearby market and quickly bought a piece for fifty Yuan Dollars.
Both the window frame and the plastic were standard parts; installing it directly was easy as long as it was secure.
After fixing the window, Ning He returned to the attic, had the system release the black soil, and spread it out again, intending to buy more seeds tomorrow.
She had made a small fortune this time entirely thanks to the batch of vegetables she had brought along. The immense popularity of the tomato meat sauce and the roasted pepper sauce had given her inspiration—in the future, she needed to grow more seasoning-type vegetables and spices. Tomorrow, she would scour the market thoroughly.
For dinner, she drank a pouch of mango-flavored paste. Ning He leaned back against her chair and turned on the television to listen to the news for a while.
“Active emergency repair efforts across the city are proceeding in an orderly manner and are expected to return to normal in three days.”
“The extreme temperature disaster caused severe damage to several grain enterprises. To stabilize market grain prices, the Municipal Center will allocate financial subsidies to support…”
Just as Ning He was drifting off to sleep listening to the broadcast, a few soft knocks suddenly sounded on the door.
“…Is anyone home?”
It was a young woman’s voice.
Her sleepiness disturbed, Ning He scratched her head in annoyance.
Who would come looking for her out of nowhere?
As far as she remembered, the original body’s owner did not have any close friends or besties.
Puzzled, she got up to open the door.
“What is it?”
Seeing the door open, the other party flinched and even took a step back.
Ning He was somewhat speechless.
Was she really that terrifying?
“So… sorry to bother you. I… I want to borrow your stove for a bit. The power to the communal kitchen hasn’t been restored yet, and the child at home is crying for noodles. I really had no… choice…” The young woman turned her head slightly, explaining in a low voice with a panicked expression.
She had never interacted with this girl across from her before, but she knew she was not someone to be messd with. According to her husband, the girl used to live in the Third Ring, and after moving here, she looked down on the neighbors. Aside from the Qiu family next door, she never spoke to anyone else. Moreover, she had a fierce temper; when some children accidentally touched the quilt she was drying at her doorway while playing around, she chased and scolded them the whole way down the street.
If her three-year-old son had not gone several meals without eating properly at the shelter due to the heat, worrying her sick, she would never have actively sought help at her door.
“Is that so? But do you know how to use a gas stove?”
When the other party’s skeptical voice sounded, the young woman’s body stiffened.
As expected… she would not lend things so easily.
“…I… I can pay you…” she whispered.
When the girl’s expression turned odd, the woman became nervous again.
“Forget it.”
As the girl spoke again, the young woman’s heart sank.
“I’ll come with you. The communal kitchen uses electronic stoves, so you probably haven’t used a gas stove much. Using it improperly carries some danger.”
As Ning He spoke, she hoisted the stove inside her house onto a cart and shouted to the young woman who was still staring blankly.
“Let’s go. Quick in, quick out—I’m still waiting to get some sleep.”
Snapping out of her daze, the young woman nodded repeatedly. “Okay, th… thank you so much!”
The destination was not far, separated from Ning He’s place by only two rows of houses.
When they arrived, the sound of the child crying inside had not stopped.
Seeing the anxious look on the woman’s face, Ning He did not waste time with small talk and asked her to fetch the noodles and water.
“Go coax your child. I’ll call you when it’s cooked.”
The woman nodded gratefully, went inside to fetch the noodles and water, and Ning He lit the fire at the doorway to boil the water. Once it reached a boil, she put the noodles in.
These noodles were more refined than the plain ones Ning He had bought before, interspersed with brown specks, looking somewhat like they had pig liver powder added.
It was likely nutritional noodles specifically bought for the child, which would not be too cheap.
Recalling some past events, Ning He sighed, poured some oil, salt, and sugar into the bowl the woman had brought, scooped the cooked noodles into it, and added a ladle of noodle broth. A bowl of plain boiled noodles was ready.
“It’s ready to eat,” she called out.
The woman emerged quickly, repeatedly offering her thanks.
Ning He waved her hand. “Go on in.”
The woman nodded and carried the bowl into the house. Upon seeing the noodles, the child stopped crying immediately.
Handing the bowl to her husband, the woman counted a few coins out of a small box, but as soon as she stepped out the door, she found that the person was already gone.
Somewhat surprised, she stood in place for a moment, only snapping out of it and heading back inside when her husband’s call came.
“Look, it seems oil was added to these noodles.”
The husband pointed at the layer of oil floating on the noodle broth, unable to quite believe it.
“Yeah, and she didn’t even take my money…”
Ning He pushed the cart back home, washed up briefly, and went to sleep. Even in her dreams, she did not notice that her reputation score had quietly turned into “1”.
The next day, Ning He woke up early and went out quickly to the market to buy a bit of every seasoning vegetable seed she could find. Among them, chili peppers and tomatoes were the most numerous, though other leafy greens and potatoes were not left behind either. She planted the bed of black soil completely full, making full use of two plastic crates as well.
Given the speed of the black soil, she would definitely harvest quite a bit before the next natural disaster arrived. As long as she found a buyer, even if sold a bit cheaper, it would yield a considerable income.
At this thought, Ning He remembered the noodle shop again.
With the camaraderie formed over the past few days at the shelter, Connie would probably agree to collaborate with her, right?
The more Ning He thought about it, the more confident she felt. Feeling a bit hungry, she pocketed her money and headed out toward the noodle shop.
The market had regained its bustle. Although traces of damage from the extreme temperatures remained, it did not affect the residents from traveling, working, buying, or selling in the slightest.
On the contrary, after eating paste for several days at the shelter, everyone was eager for a change of taste. Right now, the street food stalls were all doing booming business, making Ning He a little tempted as well, contemplating whether she should set up a stall later too.
The aromas of various foods drifted into her nose. Although lacking the kick of extra spices, making them somewhat plain and bland, they still made Ning He’s stomach rumble.
Mmh, today she definitely had to try the meat sauce minced noodles at the shop!
Just as the thought arose, Ning He saw a large crowd gathered ahead in the direction of the noodle shop. Inside were several people wearing uniforms, and Connie was in the crowd as well, her face looking terrible.
What happened?
Ning He squeezed in to take a look, and instantly drew in a cold breath:
The noodle shop had been sealed off!