Chapter 60: Rumor
Useless as it might be, Shen Lu couldn’t bring herself to do something as wasteful as throwing it away.
She had the System Warehouse anyway. ’Stow it away,’ she thought. ’Maybe it’ll be useful later.’
Before getting into bed, she glanced at her panel.
[Name: Shen Lu
Popularity Value: 5012
Task: None]
Huh?
Her popularity value was already over 5000?
She remembered it was just over 4000 before she went out today. It went up by 1000 in a single day?
Even though she had prepared a few more ingredients than usual today, it shouldn’t have caused such a huge jump.
’Did the system bug out?’
’If so, I hope this bug happens a few more times!’
[No, it’s because the Host successfully resolved a crisis today and also gave away free snacks. That’s why you gained more popularity value than usual.]
Shen Lu: "So you’re saying, giving stuff away can increase my popularity value, right?"
[Host, please pay attention to the sequence of events. You first had to successfully resolve the crisis to achieve this result.]
Shen Lu sighed. She’d gotten her hopes up for nothing. She thought she had found a loophole in the rules and could rack up a ton of popularity value in the last few days.
The system saw through her little scheme and gave a stern reminder.
[Host, the system has a strict judgment protocol. Please do not attempt to exploit loopholes. If you are discovered, there will be very severe penalties.]
Shen Lu didn’t give up. "How severe? Will it kill me?"
[Depending on the severity of the infraction, different penalties will be applied. A severe case can be fatal. The lightest penalty is a deduction of at least 10,000 popularity value.]
Shen Lu: ...
She decided it was best not to tempt fate.
Shen Lu: "Right, about opening a store, do you have any good suggestions? Where would be a good place to open it?"
[You can open it anywhere, but it’s best if the place is a bit bigger.]
Shen Lu: "A bigger place? The rent for that would be very expensive."
She had asked around about the prices for storefronts on Gold Street. A small, ten-square-meter space cost several thousand Star Coins a month. The price was exorbitant.
After all, Gold Street was the most prosperous place in the entire Lower City District, so the rent was naturally incomparable to other areas.
If she didn’t look for a place on Gold Street, the price would be much lower, but the storefronts elsewhere were very rundown. Moreover, in terms of customer quality, their spending power would be significantly lower.
The snacks Shen Lu sold now weren’t expensive, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t make pricier dishes in the future.
The more expensive the dish, the higher the profit. No one would complain about earning too much.
’Ugh, choosing a store location is such a headache.’
Shen Lu lay down next to Fu Cheng and mumbled softly, "It’d be great if I could find a storefront in a good location that was also free."
She knew it was impossible. Where in the world could you find such a good deal?
Fu Cheng immediately sensed someone lying next to him.
’It couldn’t be anyone other than Shen Lu.’
’Has she finished her bath?’
Fu Cheng carefully extended his consciousness. Only after confirming that it was a fully clothed Shen Lu did he release his mental shield.
He heard Shen Lu’s words, and his thoughts grew heavy.
’She’s been running a stall for so many days. She must have earned a good amount of money and is planning to open a store.’
’Opening a store is a good idea. Running a stall means being exposed to the elements, and she has to move so much stuff back and forth every day. It’s troublesome and exhausting.’
He actually had some properties to his name. They were gifts from his parents after he was born, not belonging to the Fu Family, but his own private assets. Unless he died, they would be repossessed by the government.
Among them were several shops, and in prime locations in the Upper City District, no less.
’Unfortunately, he was currently unable to speak, and his hands could only make simple movements. There was no way to take Shen Lu there.’
’When on earth will I finally be able to escape this bedridden state?’
Fu Cheng took a long, deep breath, warning himself not to be too hasty. Extreme emotional fluctuations would affect his Spiritual Sea.
As usual, he opened his palm. After Shen Lu’s little hand fell into it, he held the soft, warm hand and finally drifted off to sleep, feeling at ease.
「The next day.」
When Shen Lu woke up, she was already used to Fu Cheng holding her hand.
She didn’t think Fu Cheng had any ill intentions. It was probably just an involuntary physical reaction.
’Besides, in his current state, he couldn’t do anything to her even if he wanted to.’
She got up, washed her face, had breakfast, and fed Fu Cheng.
The whole routine took less than half an hour.
Cai Su arrived early as usual. The two exchanged a simple greeting and walked toward the No. 3 Landfill together.
As they passed Granny Jin’s house, the door suddenly opened.
"Going to the landfill? Would you mind taking an old woman like me with you?"
"Of course," Shen Lu said with a smiling nod. "The more, the merrier."
Granny Jin was old and didn’t walk fast, so Shen Lu and Cai Su slowed their pace to make sure she could keep up.
"Let’s not go too deep inside today. I got a tip that the pharmaceutical company is coming to dump trash today. If we wait near the entrance, we might be able to grab some extra nutrient liquid when their truck arrives."
Granny Jin whispered to them.
"They’re dumping trash again?" Cai Su was surprised. "This is the third time this month."
Shen Lu asked curiously, "Is that more frequent than before?"
"Yeah. Before, it was twice a month at most."
Granny Jin said, "Maybe the nutrient liquid isn’t selling well? Or maybe they made too much, supply outstripped demand, and it expired?"
"In any case, it’s a good thing. There are plenty of people in the Lower City District who wish the pharmaceutical company would dump trash every day," Cai Su remarked. "Even though it’s expired nutrient liquid, it tastes much better than the government’s relief supplies."
Shen Lu couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose. "It tastes good?"
She remembered the strawberry-flavored nutrient liquid Wang Daguo had given her smelled very strange.
Granny Jin laughed. "Of course you don’t think it tastes good. Your food is so delicious. If you had to eat Insect Cakes every day, you’d think nutrient liquid was pretty good, too."
Shen Lu couldn’t argue with that.
The three of them found a spot on the periphery to scavenge. Perhaps because news of the pharmaceutical company’s truck had spread, the landfill was much more crowded than usual, with four or five times the normal number of people.
Everyone had a tacit understanding and gathered around the spot where the truck would dump its load. The truck hadn’t even arrived yet, but several rounds of open and veiled conflicts had already broken out.
Granny Jin sighed. "Looks like we won’t be able to grab anything."
She had thought only a few people knew about the pharmaceutical company’s truck, but it turned out to be public knowledge.
Shen Lu remained silent, focusing on scavenging in her own area.
’She had originally thought that if there weren’t many people, she could help Granny Jin and Cai Su grab a few extra tubes. But with the way things were now, it was better not to get her hopes up.’
The pharmaceutical company’s truck did indeed arrive. The number of people at the landfill was estimated to be in the thousands.
A situation like this could easily lead to a frantic scramble and trampling. The person driving the truck had to fire two shots into the air to intimidate the crazed crowd before they could safely drive away.
The scene was too chaotic and terrifying. Shen Lu was in no mood to watch the spectacle and called to Granny Jin and Cai Su to take a detour back home.
Shen Lu and Cai Su began preparing the ingredients for that day’s stall. Without needing to be told, Cai Su already knew what she had to do.
After finishing her own tasks, Cai Su proactively asked to try her hand at chopping vegetables.