Chapter 148: Such a Friendship is Precious
Granny Jin lay back down on the bed. Cai Su and Shen Lu took out the food they had brought and fed it to her piece by piece.
Granny Jin didn’t have much of an appetite. She reluctantly drank half a bowl of soup and ate a small portion of rice and vegetables before refusing to open her mouth again.
Cai Su took out the medicine and poured half a cup of water from the thermos. She would give it to Granny Jin in half an hour.
"Why are you all wasting your money?" Granny Jin sighed. "No amount of medicine can cure my illness."
"You’ll get better!" Xiao Lang said, blinking his eyes. "As long as you eat Sister Shen’s food, you’ll get well. That’s how I got better!"
Xiao Lang’s words reminded Shen Lu. ’That’s right, my food is very nutritious,’ she thought. ’Even though I don’t know the specifics of Granny Jin’s illness, eating nutritious food is always good for the body.’
’Anyway, the shop isn’t far from the Seventeenth District. It wouldn’t be hard to have Wang Daguo run errands and deliver three meals a day.’
Half an hour later, Cai Su gave Granny Jin her medicine. The medicine took effect quickly; Granny Jin stopped coughing and fell into a peaceful sleep.
The three of them left quietly.
It was already dark outside. The Seventeenth District was shrouded in an unsettling blackness, with only a little light spilling in from Gold Street at some of the intersections.
"Let’s go quickly." A group of two women and a child was, by any measure, a prime target for opportunistic robbers. Shen Lu gripped her stun baton tightly, on guard against any potential incidents.
Fortunately, their luck was good today. They made it out of the Seventeenth District without any trouble.
Gold Street was brightly lit and bustling with noise. The air was filled with the intoxicating scent of narcotics and perfume.
This scene of hedonism and luxury could make one feel momentarily lost.
Someone blocked their path. The strong smell of alcohol assaulted their noses, and Shen Lu wrinkled her nose in disgust, covering it with her hand.
"Little sister, c-come have a drink with big brother." The man was so drunk he could barely stand, yet he still tried to grab Shen Lu’s arm.
Although Cai Su was afraid, she still stepped forward to shield Shen Lu and Xiao Lang behind her.
In her eyes, it was true that Shen Lu was her boss, but she was also just a seventeen-year-old girl. As an adult, she felt she had to step up in a situation like this.
"Go away!" Cai Su tried to act fierce, but the effect was less than impressive. The drunken man was much stronger than her; the frail Cai Su was no match for him at all. He could have pushed her aside with a simple shove.
Shen Lu first looked at Cai Su in surprise. She hadn’t expected her to be so brave, protecting her as well. ’She must see me as a child,’ she thought.
Moved, a warm feeling filled her chest.
Shen Lu truly cherished this kind of mutual support and care. In a world where human connections were often shallow, such a bond was precious.
The young woman sighed softly and jabbed the man’s palm with her stun baton.
Compared to the warm and gentle Cai Su, the fat, large-eared man before them was especially repulsive.
Shen Lu had originally set the power to the lowest setting, just enough to subdue him. But now she’d changed her mind. She cranked it up a notch and zapped him, knocking him unconscious to the ground.
On the bustling street, many people looked over, but no one came to ask what was happening, much less to intervene for the sake of justice.
The people who came to Gold Street at this hour were either seeking pleasure or providing it. Few of them would bother meddling in other people’s business.
Shen Lu kicked the man a few times to make sure he was completely unconscious, then called to the stunned Cai Su and her son to hurry back to the shop.
"Don’t be afraid. The man is just unconscious; he’ll wake up." Shen Lu reassured Cai Su and her son, then thanked Cai Su. "Sister Cai, thank you for what you did today. You two should go rest now."
"It’s nothing, Boss. I’ll help you make the braised dishes."
More and more people were ordering the hidden special now, and one pot of braised dishes wasn’t enough to sell. Shen Lu had to increase it to two pots, which meant the prep work also increased.
Doing some work was a good way to calm one’s nerves. Cai Su helped process the ingredients like pork trotters and ribs. With her focus shifted, the minor incident on the way home was soon forgotten.
The two of them finished the last of the work, cleaned up the kitchen, checked the water, electricity, and gas, and then went back to their respective rooms.
After her shower, Shen Lu sat on the sofa scrolling through DouDou. She wasn’t in a hurry to use today’s Lottery Ticket, so she decided to save it.
The variety of videos on DouDou wasn’t great. After scrolling through just a few, Shen Lu started seeing all sorts of old, repetitive videos. She was getting a bit tired of it.
Shen Lu checked her account’s backend and was surprised to find that the Little Deer Cuisine account had actually surpassed fifty thousand followers.
’That’s quite a surprise.’
’But on second thought, it makes sense. I’m a daily vlogger, and I was even on the news the day the shop opened. Although a lot of people leave hate comments on every video, the engagement is pretty good.’
Speaking of which, there was something Shen Lu couldn’t quite figure out: why were there so many people flaming her in the comments section?
She wasn’t posting highly controversial videos about whether zongzi should be sweet or savory, or if doufunao should be savory or sweet. So why were so many people relentlessly flaming her every day?
「Upper City District, Shen Mansion on Huaihua Street.」
Shen Lan suddenly sneezed. Gritting her teeth, she transferred 1000 Star Coins to the other party.
Shen Lan: Remember my requirements. Don’t post the same content over and over. Don’t act like a paid troll, make it look more real.
Shen Lan: I’ll be checking the comments section. If I find any that don’t meet the requirements, I’m docking your pay.
Brother Hei: Got it, got it. You’re such a pain in the ass.
Shen Lan: You!
Brother Hei: Keep bitching and I’m dropping your order.
Shen Lan could only swallow her anger. After all, Brother Hei was the most cost-effective paid troll she could find. She might not get this price if she went to someone else.
That’s right. The majority of the nasty comments under the Little Deer Cuisine videos were posted by paid trolls hired by Shen Lan.
Of course, the initial ones weren’t her doing. Shen Lan only started these tricks after her birthday banquet.
Shen Lu had ruined her birthday banquet and nearly destroyed her dream of becoming the Crown Prince Consort. This was an insult she could never swallow.
But she couldn’t think of any other way to get revenge, so she could only secretly hire paid trolls to write nasty comments.
Yes, this method was barely an inconvenience to Shen Lu. For Shen Lan, it was just a way to vent her anger furtively.
It was just that the 1000 Star Coins for three days’ worth of troll fees was a bit painful to part with.
Originally, she had a rather generous allowance. But after the fiasco at the birthday banquet, Mr. Shen had become displeased with both her and Mrs. Shen. With a wave of his hand, he had cut the mother and daughter’s allowances.
The two of them were furious but didn’t dare to voice it. Instead, they had to carefully try to please Mr. Shen at home.
It wasn’t just at home; Shen Lan was also less popular at school than before.
Even though her public meltdown could be explained away as a sudden mental breakdown, it had still left a bad impression on everyone.
Thinking of these frustrating matters, Shen Lan paced her room anxiously. She couldn’t resist contacting Li Zexing again.
Last time, Li Zexing had clearly promised to help her arrange a meeting with Princess Ruoxin, but several days had passed with no news.
’Was he just stringing me along?’
’No, I have to meet Princess Ruoxin to restore my image.’
’As long as I become the Crown Prince Consort, I can rise above everyone else and live a better life than I do now. Then, it will be others who have to bow and scrape to please me.’