The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

Apologize?

Explain?

Xue Can swallowed his last bite of food, feeling that this was an exceptionally tricky situation.

Shen Lu was not some little girl who was easy to fool. She had her own opinions and judgment and wouldn’t be easily tricked by a few lies.

The excuse he’d come up with yesterday clearly hadn’t worked. Didn’t he see how Shen Lu was completely ignoring him today?

Before leaving, Xue Can gave Shen Lu a deep look, but in the end, he left without saying a word.

Today, Bai Lei was the only one who came to buy things. He wasn’t wearing a mask and showed his face openly.

As he brushed past Xue Can, his gaze flickered toward him.

Although Bai Lei was a Superpower User, he had no intention of joining the military. After graduation, he would take over his family’s business, and the top-ranking Mercenary Corps in the Imperial City were unavoidable partners for every major family.

The Gale Mercenary Corps was one of the top five mercenary corps in the Imperial City, and Bai Lei had seen Xue Can’s file, which was why he recognized him.

Bai Lei had sent people to investigate Shen Lu’s movements over the past few days. He discovered that she and Xue Can had a very close relationship. ’Could it really be like what others were saying—that Xue Can was pursuing Shen Lu, providing money and supplies for her to run the stall?’

Bai Lei didn’t really believe it.

Shen Lu was always taking care of Fu Cheng, bringing him along whenever she set up her stall. It was impossible for Xue Can not to know about her relationship with Fu Cheng. ’What man could tolerate the woman he likes being inseparable from another man?’

’If such a man existed, he had to be out of his mind.’

Therefore, Bai Lei felt their relationship was more likely a partnership.

That would make everything make sense.

’Maybe Shen Lu had been secretly practicing her cooking skills, intentionally hiding them, and planning to catch his sister off guard at some point.’

’But no one expected the sudden fiasco about the real and fake young lady. Shen Lu was kicked out of the Shen Family and, by some coincidence, connected with Xue Can. One was responsible for running the stall, the other for providing the ingredients.’

Bai Lei snorted smugly. ’Leave it to me to figure it out.’

He had finally unraveled the mystery surrounding Shen Lu.

When it was his turn, the young man handed over a huge lunch box and a water bottle, ordering "the works" as usual.

"Shen Lu, take this."

As he was leaving, Bai Lei put down a box.

Shen Lu looked up. "What’s this?"

"A Light Brain. I’ve already put my contact information in it."

"Thanks, but I don’t need it."

A Light Brain wasn’t prohibitively expensive, and Shen Lu could afford one now. She just didn’t have a need for communication at the moment and didn’t want to waste the money.

Bai Lei turned around. "Didn’t my sister break one of your Light Brains a few years ago? Just consider this her way of paying you back. Bye."

The young man walked off so quickly that he vanished in the blink of an eye. Shen Lu had no chance of catching him.

Shen Lu was speechless, but it was true that Bai Wanwan had broken the original owner’s Light Brain.

’It’s fine to accept it,’ she thought. ’Worst case, I just won’t charge the Bai Family Siblings the next time they come to buy food.’

[DING! Detected sales: Mint Water 55/55, Egg Waffles 45/45, Malatang 45/45, Fried Rice 25/25, Fried Noodles 25/25, Braised Snacks 15/15. Mission complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]

Just as Shen Lu was busy and covered in sweat, she suddenly heard the system notification.

The mission was complete, but she still had some ingredients left over. Seeing that there weren’t many customers left, Shen Lu fried up the remaining rice and noodles and sat down to catch her breath.

It really was better with two people working. Before Cai Su arrived, she had to do everything herself and rarely had time to take a breather.

Just as she was resting, an explosion went off somewhere with a BOOM. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw thick black smoke billowing in the distance, followed by the clear sound of sharp, angry shouts.

"Which goddamn bastard dared to set off a bomb in my back kitchen!"

"Don’t let me find out who you are! See if I don’t chop off your hands!"

"Shit! Where the hell is Ma Laosan? Get over here and put out the fire!"

"Husband, Husband, the fire is getting bigger! I’m so scared..."

A customer piped up, "Huh? Sounds like Cao’s Noodle House just got blown up."

"I went to check. It’s them."

"Who would be so scummy as to set off a bomb in someone’s kitchen?"

"I don’t know, but is there anyone who’s ever eaten at their noodle house and not left feeling ripped off?"

"They probably scammed someone recently, and that person couldn’t take it anymore."

Amid the discussion, Zhou Fang ran over with a soot-covered face, looking so furious she seemed ready to eat someone alive.

"Was this your doing!" Zhou Fang rushed up to Shen Lu and reached out to grab her hair.

Shen Lu dodged nimbly. "If you’re crazy, go see a doctor. Don’t come act like a lunatic in front of me."

"It must have been you!" Zhou Fang was truly livid. When she couldn’t hit Shen Lu, she turned her head, saw the food cart, and decided to flip over the damn stall that was stealing her business!

Before she could even touch the cart, several pairs of hands stopped her. They all belonged to customers who had come to buy snacks.

"Have you lost your mind? Boss Shen has been here the whole time. It’s not like she can be in two places at once. How could she have bombed your back kitchen?"

"Exactly. A classic case of someone who can’t stand seeing others succeed. You have bad luck, so you take it out on someone else."

"So shameless!"

Seeing what everyone was doing and saying, Shen Lu was stunned.

These people were so helpful they didn’t seem like they belonged in this wasteland world.

She had been here for twenty days and had come to a deep realization that most people here were apathetic. It was already considered friendly if they didn’t kick you when you were down.

She never imagined that these customers, with whom she only had a transactional relationship, would speak out for her time and time again.

"She could have gotten someone else to do it! She must resent that my husband’s cousins came to cause trouble, and now she wants revenge!" Zhou Fang couldn’t break free, so she started spitting at people. This disgusting tactic made the customers holding her back let go in revulsion.

"So vicious at such a young age! Cao Yong and Cao Yi didn’t even do anything to your little stall, but you went and had my back kitchen blown up! You little bastard, I’ll kill you!"

Zhou Fang lunged, looking like she was ready to take Shen Lu down with her.

Shen Lu didn’t hold back. She pulled out a stun gun and zapped her. Zhou Fang, who had been acting like a rabid dog, immediately collapsed. The belatedly arriving Boss Cao let out a roar, pointing at Shen Lu’s nose and yelling for her to stop.

Shen Lu hadn’t intended to cause serious injury; the setting on the stun gun wasn’t high, just enough to subdue her.

Boss Cao swept up his wife in his arms and glared. "Shen Lu, it wasn’t enough for you to bomb my back kitchen, you had to attack my wife too! I won’t let you get away with this!"

Shen Lu was almost impressed. ’No wonder these two are married,’ she thought. ’Their brains are wired just as strangely.’

"You need evidence to back up your words. Do you have any proof that I ordered someone to bomb your back kitchen? Besides, your wife attacked me first. What, is she allowed to go crazy, but I’m not allowed to fight back?"

Shen Lu let loose a torrent of sarcasm. "Who do you think you are, royalty? Your double standards are so natural, and your shamelessness is astounding. Why didn’t the Imperial City call you for help the last time they reinforced the walls? With skin as thick as yours, not even a mutant beast could break through, right?"

The people around them started to snicker. Boss Cao, having been rebuked until his face was red, retorted stubbornly, "If it wasn’t you, then who else could it be?!"