Ning He went to the supermarket first to replenish her stock.
A bag of flour, a jug of oil, and one hundred and sixty Yuan vanished in the blink of an eye.
Ning He felt a sharp pang of distress in her heart.
She then went to buy some radish seeds to stuff into her pocket. Her system experience points were running low, so she might as well spend her own money on seeds.
Next, she made another trip to the second-hand market. Unfortunately, freezer refrigerators cost four to five hundred Yuan at minimum even when used, which was well beyond her budget.
It seemed she needed to find another way.
If it really came down to it, she would just eat all of it herself; in any case, nothing could go to waste.
Ning He carried her purchases back home. Just as she turned the corner into the alley entrance, she saw a woman in her early thirties under a nearby roof eave handing a dark plastic bag to an older auntie across from her.
“Freshly grown—this bundle weighs a full five hundred grams!”
The auntie reached her hand into the bag to ruffle through it. Sharp-eyed as Ning He was, she instantly noticed it contained a bundle of chives.
The auntie leaned closer to smell it and smiled, “Smells wonderful! You really grow the best vegetables. The ones I plant myself just refuse to grow big!”
As the auntie spoke, she counted out a few silver coins from her pouch and handed them over.
Ning He saw clearly: six Yuan.
The woman took the money with a smile, and after exchanging a few words, the two went their separate ways. Ning He’s gaze followed the auntie, deep in thought.
If the original owner’s memory served her right, this auntie ran a dumpling shop at the market, and chive-and-egg dumplings were the store’s star product.
So there was actually a wholesale supply channel like this.
Didn’t this just broaden her horizons?
Ning He involuntarily bared a flash of white teeth in a grin.
“What… what are you peeking at over there?”
A woman’s wary voice reached her ears. Ning He followed the sound and saw the woman who had just sold the chives standing at her doorway, looking at her with a face full of guard.
At first confused, Ning He then realized what was going on.
Beiluo City prohibited the private buying and selling of fresh produce, punishable by fines and confiscations upon discovery. Her position happened to be somewhat awkward—right behind a telephone pole, hiding most of her body—which looked to others like she was deliberately eavesdropping.
“Nothing! Just passing through on my way home with groceries. Don’t worry, I didn’t see a thing!”
Ning He shook the large bag in her hand, grinned at the woman, and swaggered away.
Watching her receding back, the guard in the woman’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by a hint of confusion.
Since when had she become so easy to talk to?
Returning home, Ning He put her things away and began plotting her vegetable-selling scheme.
With the miraculous speed of the system’s black soil, she could harvest four to five jin of vegetables daily. If she could spread out the excess soil, the yield would be even greater.
If she could find a distribution channel, making tens of Yuan a day with ease would definitely be no problem.
The problem was how she was going to explain the source of these vegetables.
After all, private trade in fresh produce merely incurred fines and asset confiscation. But possessing plantable soil without authorization would land her straight in prison!
This matter required careful deliberation.
Ning He went upstairs to harvest the fully matured vegetables first. They filled a massive basket—red and green, looking exceedingly tempting.
The mint and cumin scattered a couple of days ago were also ready for harvest, though the lemons, ginger, and other items still needed a bit more time.
Lacking a refrigerator, Ning He had no choice but to place the basket in the corner of the room for now. Then she returned to the attic, sowed the radish seeds, pulled up two large radishes, and prepared the shredded radish and chives needed for the afternoon stall. After mixing the batter, she brought along the oil jug and frying pot, pushing her cart out the door.
Setting up her preparations at the usual spot, as soon as off-work time arrived, waves of shift-changing workers poured out from the factory area, immediately crowding around the various food stalls. Ning He’s stall welcomed customers right away.
“This is the Dengzhan cake I was telling you about—I guarantee Anaya will love it!”
A young man dragged his friend over, arriving first at Ning He’s stall and introducing it with high enthusiasm.
“You know how picky my grandpa’s palate is. Yesterday I brought a piece back for him to taste, and even he said it was delicious. It definitely won’t go wrong.”
Grasping the context, Ning He offered a sample plate at the right moment. Beside him, the dark-skinned young man offered a shy word of thanks, picked up a piece, and tried a bite.
Chewing just a few times, his entire face lit up with profound surprise, his eyes seemingly ignited with light.
“How about it? I didn’t lie to you, right?” The young man raised his chin proudly.
As the dizzying aroma and flavor in his mouth gradually faded, the dark-skinned youth snapped back to reality and said impatiently, “Give me two… no, three of the radish ones.”
“Alright! Coming right up!”
Ning He moved briskly, ladling batter, adding filling, sealing it with a thin layer of batter, and dropping it into the oil pot to fry slowly until it floated up.
Packing them into a paper box and handing them to the youth, before Ning He could even catch her breath, several more people gathered around—all customers who had eaten Dengzhan cakes yesterday and brought their friends along today.
Ning He greeted them while secretly feeling delighted.
Talk about foresight—she had intentionally prepared extra stock today.
She would definitely sell more than yesterday!
Ning He’s prediction was spot on; following yesterday’s initial wave of sales, the Dengzhan cakes attracted even more customers.
However, she quickly noticed a problem.
Although the customers who had bought Dengzhan cakes yesterday actively brought new customers along, almost none of them bought any for themselves today.
Even though Ning He was certain they still desperately wanted to eat them, no matter how much they swallowed their saliva, the vast majority held themselves back.
As a result, even though Ning He’s stall was extremely lively—packed three layers deep at peak moments—sales volume wasn’t as high as it appeared.
When packing up the stall, although everything was sold out, Ning He knew it was only because she had secretly added extra filling to the last few; otherwise, there would have been batter left over.
Back home, Ning He calculated her numbers: ninety-one sold today, which was indeed more than yesterday, but it hadn’t reached the booming level Ning He had anticipated.
It appeared the income of Fourth Ring workers still couldn’t support buying eating-out food every single day. Moreover, the cheaper chive-filled cakes clearly sold much better, leaving today’s net profit at less than two hundred.
This situation was likely to persist.
Even if Dengzhan cakes were hugely popular, constrained by the workers’ purchasing power, those truly willing to part with their cash every day wouldn’t make up the majority.
Over the next three days, sales performance validated Ning He’s suspicion.
Although the reputation of Dengzhan cakes gradually spread throughout the factory zone, and the number of people visiting the stall daily was by no means small, the total number sold remained firmly between eighty and ninety.
Yet even with sales capped, Ning He’s stall still caught the attention of her peers, as several nearby stalls with similar price points saw their business affected.
In particular, the fried skewer stall diagonally across from her had seen its business slashed nearly in half ever since Ning He appeared.
Originally priced at one Yuan per skewer—offering both vegetable skewers and fried mantou skewers—it had always been fairly popular. But once people tasted Ning He’s Dengzhan cakes packed with radish and chive fillings as if ingredients cost nothing, looking back at those small skewers that weren’t enough for a single mouthfull made them feel it wasn’t worth the money.
That stall owner stared at her side with copper-bell eyes every day, forcing Ning He to toughen her skin and pretend not to notice. In any case, the stall market had an administrator, so no one dared to cause trouble. Still, the moment everything sold out, she would pack up her gear and slip away immediately, never giving anyone a chance to look for trouble.
It wasn’t that Ning He was afraid of confrontation, but rather that she couldn’t afford to waste time right now.
If she missed the deadline to pay the deposit at the academy cafeteria, her plan to trigger system tasks would be delayed indefinitely.
Even if she had to keep her head down, she would lay low until the day she gathered enough money!
However, things didn’t go as wished. On the sixth day, someone came looking for trouble on their own initiative anyway.