The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

Bai Lei clutched his head and whined, "Sis, you have to believe me! We’ve been siblings for years. How could I play tricks on you over a little food?"

Bai Wanwan thought about it and figured he had a point. Clutching her chopsticks, she lifted her chin. "Here. Go on and eat."

Bai Lei nodded and ate a spoonful from each dish.

Seeing him close his eyes, seemingly savoring the taste, Bai Wanwan, who had been tortured by the aroma for a while, couldn’t stand it any longer.

"Are you done yet?"

"Sis." Bai Lei turned to look at her. "Did you know? The food Shen Lu sells can soothe one’s spiritual power."

"For real?" Bai Wanwan wasn’t a Superpower User, but she knew a thing or two about the discomfort they experienced after awakening their powers.

Every year, the Bai Family paid a huge sum to the hospital specifically for treatments to soothe Bai Lei’s Spiritual Sea.

"It’s true." If he hadn’t experienced it himself, Bai Lei wouldn’t have believed it either. After all, a single treatment session at the hospital cost him up to a million Star Coins, while the most expensive item Shen Lu sold was only 60 Star Coins.

The price difference was worlds apart, but in terms of effectiveness, Bai Lei felt Shen Lu’s food was even better.

"Well, isn’t that perfect?" Bai Wanwan slapped her brother on the shoulder, her smile radiant. "You should just go buy her food every day. Not only will you save a million Star Coins a month, but your Spiritual Sea will feel great all the time. It’s killing two birds with one stone."

"But don’t you find it strange?" Bai Lei, on the other hand, showed no sign of joy. "Shen Lu was the child who was swapped at birth. Her biological family is supposedly just an ordinary couple from the slums in the Lower City District. Where did she get the connections and channels to make this kind of food?"

Bai Wanwan was getting a headache from his questions. "What are you suspicious of? If you’re so worried, just don’t eat it."

"I’m a little suspicious that she might be involved with some underground labs. Maybe they’ve developed some illegal substances and are having her sell them at her food stall to test them on people."

"Bai Lei, how come I never realized you had such a wild imagination?" Bai Wanwan felt he was getting more and more absurd. "If there was a problem, I should be lying in a hospital right now. And all the other people who bought her food would definitely be having problems too."

"I just can’t figure it out..."

"Then let’s get you checked out later." Bai Wanwan picked up a fish ball with her chopsticks. "Just to be safe, don’t touch the rest. I’ll take care of it."

"Sis, that’s not fair! I went through a lot of trouble to buy this... Ah, whatever! I’m eating!"

The two siblings started fighting over the food with their chopsticks and spoon, and in no time, the container was wiped clean.

The room had the latest air purification system. All the two of them had to do was wipe their mouths to erase any trace of having eaten street food.

He still went for a check-up, and the results came back before dinner. Everything was normal; there were no issues with any of his levels.

Bai Wanwan snorted at her brother. "See? See? There’s nothing wrong with the food Shen Lu sells!"

"You seem pretty happy about it. Sis, I didn’t realize you had such a soft spot for Shen Lu."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Bai Wanwan glared at him. "This is called not wanting her to go down the wrong path!"

’Getting mixed up with those underground lab folks is just courting death.’

’She couldn’t stand Shen Lu, but she didn’t want her to die, either.’

...

After packing the takeout for Bai Lei, Shen Lu waited idly for another half hour.

There were still pitifully few customers.

This made Shen Lu, who was used to being busy, a little anxious.

’With so many tasks to complete, she really didn’t want to be stuck here until midnight.’

’Alright, it looked like she had to bring Fu Cheng out after all.’

Luckily, the food cart had an anti-theft function, so Shen Lu could leave it for a little while.

Shen Lu hurried back to her rental unit, took a deep breath, and moved Fu Cheng onto the cart.

’Oh, right, the mask.’

She went back inside, grabbed Fu Cheng’s mask, and put it on him.

"Sorry, but you’ll have to come out to the stall with me again."

’It wasn’t great to be moving an injured person around, but Shen Lu didn’t want to be stuck at her stall all night.’

Fu Cheng, however, didn’t seem displeased at all. On the contrary, he was more than willing to go to the stall with Shen Lu.

Even if he could only lie on the cart, just being able to hear Shen Lu’s voice and "see" her busy figure was very reassuring.

Once Fu Cheng was settled, Shen Lu had just gotten back behind her food cart when a customer arrived.

"Xiao Shen, you got an upgrade?" Boss Zhou stuck out his belly. "Not bad, not bad. It’s starting to look like a proper setup."

Shen Lu naturally recognized the man as the electronics shop owner she had met just yesterday. After a warm greeting, she promoted her new main dish.

"Egg fried rice! Get me an order of egg fried rice!"

In addition to the egg fried rice, Boss Zhou also ordered 50 Star Coins’ worth of spicy hot pot.

"It’s a bit awkward to eat standing up, Xiao Shen. You should get a couple of tables and stools for this spot."

Shen Lu let out a belated "Ah!" She had actually forgotten about that.

"Definitely tomorrow, definitely tomorrow!"

In the end, Boss Zhou ate standing next to the food cart.

Gradually, the customers who had registered their names the day before yesterday started to arrive. Shen Lu kept her word and gave each of them a small portion of pickled radish skin for free.

"The boss is so generous!"

Several people gave Shen Lu a thumbs-up, thinking she was a person of her word and very sincere.

Other businesses would just give out coupons or some cheap candy as gifts. This was the first time they had ever received such a substantial freebie.

Shen Lu noticed her popularity value suddenly surge, breaking the 1,000 mark and shooting straight up to 1,100.

However, this didn’t last long. After hitting 1,100, the pace of increase returned to its previous slow crawl.

As she was nearing the end of her sales for the day, Ma Laosan and his men sauntered over.

"Boss Shen, you bought a food cart?!" Ma Laosan flattered her obsequiously. "Looks like it won’t be long before you can rent a storefront on Gold Street. When you’re looking for a place, come find me. I can give you a discount!"

Shen Lu neither agreed nor disagreed. ’She definitely wanted to open a shop, but whether it should be on Gold Street was something worth considering.’

"What can I get for you today, Brother Ma?"

She didn’t commit, but Ma Laosan didn’t mind. He had been drawn over by the aroma anyway, wanting to satisfy his cravings.

After ordering some food, Ma Laosan and his men squatted by the roadside to eat.

’Shen Lu had to admire them. If it were her, she wouldn’t be able to eat in a place that stank to high heaven.’

Most of the people who came to buy food today brought their own containers, just like that boy from the Upper City District, packing it to eat back home. Only a very small number of people bought food to eat on the spot.

"Brother Ma, how many days will it take for this stench to go away?" Shen Lu asked.

"It’ll be gone by tomorrow. The higher-ups are sending drones to spray deodorant tonight. After 12 AM, if you don’t have anything important to do, Boss Shen, you should stay indoors. The deodorant really stings if it gets on your skin."

"Oh, I see. If they have deodorant, why didn’t they spray it last night?"

Ma Laosan gave her a knowing look. "Well, of course, the Upper City District gets priority."

Shen Lu: ...

’Damn this ’Upper City District gets priority’ crap. Can’t they just do both districts at the same time?’