The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

Having enjoyed Boss Cao’s impotent rage, Shen Lu picked up her water glass with both hands.

"Boss Cao, I sincerely hope we can bury the hatchet and not have any more misunderstandings."

Shen Lu’s tone was sincere, and she adopted a humble attitude. "If you agree, drink this mint water, and we’ll let bygones be bygones. How about it?"

’Like hell I will!’

He would never reconcile with Shen Lu!

But his hand seemed to have a mind of its own, trembling as it accepted the glass from Shen Lu.

Boss Cao: (￣ェ￣;)

’Damn it, this isn’t what I want to do!’

’That hateful bitch Shen Lu is controlling me! Can’t all of you see it? Is no one going to expose this sham?!’

"Boss Cao is truly a reasonable and magnanimous person," Shen Lu said, her flattery utterly insincere. She glanced at the satisfaction rating, which had climbed back up to 4 stars, and her anxious heart finally settled.

’Now that he’s served his purpose, it’s time to get rid of this eyesore.’

Shen Lu quickly found an excuse to see Boss Cao out of the shop. Once they reached a deserted corner and Lin Zhou’s superpower wore off, the first thing the newly freed Boss Cao did was swing a huge slap at her.

Shen Lu just sneered, waiting for the slap to land.

SLAP! Boss Cao was launched into the air, spun a full 360 degrees by an unknown force, and slammed hard against the wall.

Dizzy, his vision swimming and his cheek swollen and painful, Boss Cao lay on the ground, stunned for a long while.

’Damn it! I lose all sense when I get angry. I forgot Shen Lu has a superpower!’

’A miscalculation, a huge miscalculation!’

"Have you had enough?" Shen Lu crossed her arms. Her gentle, friendly demeanor from the shop was gone, replaced by a taut expression and a cold, imposing aura. "Boss Cao, aren’t you embarrassed? You fail at everything you do, and then you blame me for your failures. What am I, your mother? Am I supposed to unconditionally put up with your unreasonable tantrums?"

"Shen... Shen Lu!" Boss Cao propped himself up against the wall, staring at her with a mixture of hatred and fear. "Don’t get cocky!"

’The tables can turn at any moment. She might be on top now, but that doesn’t mean her luck will last forever!’

"Me, cocky?" Shen Lu felt utterly wronged. ’I’ve never been arrogant or reckless. I’ve always been cautious and down-to-earth.’ "Forget it. With a personality and brain like yours, I don’t even need to do anything."

"Don’t come looking for trouble with me again. This is your final warning, Boss Cao. If you really piss me off, you will regret it!"

’Still, you have to make the threat. Some people are just like that; if you don’t spell it out for them, they’ll always think they can get away with it.’

But for a narrow-minded and vindictive person like Boss Cao, a stern warning would only be taken as a provocation.

Shen Lu was still thinking about the side quest. After dealing with Boss Cao, she hurried back to the shop.

She had to keep an eye on things, lest another incident like Boss Cao’s disrupt her progress on the side quest.

By the time she returned, the restaurant was already abuzz with discussion about what had just happened.

Mostly, it was those in the know explaining the situation to the uninformed.

"It’s not that Boss Shen was stealing his business. Boss Cao just never prepares enough food each day. We just want a hot meal, so we came up with the idea of sharing."

"And Boss Shen is so kind. She doesn’t mind two people sharing one meal."

"Boss Cao’s cooking isn’t even that good. When he first opened, it was worse than it is now, and his prices were more expensive—three times what they are today!"

"We all earn our money through hard work. Of course we want to get our money’s worth, down to the last penny."

"Boss Cao brought this all on himself. If Boss Shen really wanted to steal his customers, all she’d have to do is start selling her fried rice and fried noodles again. I guarantee not a single person would eat at his place!"

"It’s true, Boss Shen is just too kind. If it were anyone else, and a rival boss came to cause a scene like that, they’d definitely teach him a lesson."

"Boss Shen’s been kind for a long time. Back when she had her stall, she brought her fiancé with her every day. You don’t see many loyal and devoted young women like her anymore."

"What fiancé?"

Some customers, who had only started coming after Shen Lu opened the shop, didn’t know the backstory and asked curiously.

The customer who had just spoken patiently gave a brief summary of Shen Lu’s story, and the conversation spiraled from there.

Shen Lu facepalmed. ’Is it really okay to be gossiping about me in my own shop?’

But Shen Lu had no intention of interrupting them. Right now, her biggest concern was the status of her quest.

It had to be completed one hundred percent. All objectives met.

Greeting and seeing off customers, Shen Lu was especially energetic today, striving to provide service to every single person who walked through the door.

Finally, just after two o’clock, she heard a pleasant notification sound.

[Ding! Detected sales of Braised Pork Set 270/270, Kung Pao Chicken Set 170/170. Total revenue has reached 60,000. Customer satisfaction is at three stars or higher. Quest complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]

[Ding! Detected that the host has completed the side quest within the time limit. Awarding bonus reward: Kitchen Equipment Upgrade Permission.]

’What? What was that?’

’Kitchen Equipment Upgrade Permission?’

The quest was complete, the rewards were in hand, and the lunch rush was winding down. Shen Lu brazenly decided to slack off, giving Wang Daguo a casual excuse before heading upstairs.

She first washed her hands and face, then returned to the living room and opened the description for her newly acquired Kitchen Equipment Upgrade Permission.

[Kitchen Equipment Upgrade Permission: After use, collect the required materials to upgrade any related kitchen equipment for better performance.]

’Does this mean... the malatang machine I’ve been wanting can be upgraded?!’

Shen Lu eagerly used the Kitchen Equipment Upgrade Permission, and a brand-new interface appeared before her eyes.

Rows of kitchen equipment were neatly arranged, all at Level 1. Clicking on one would display the materials needed to upgrade it.

Shen Lu clicked on the malatang machine, and the requirements to upgrade it to the Second Level immediately appeared: refined steel x40, copper block x15, tungsten wire x20, liquid crystal material x10. In addition, it also required 5,000 Star Coins.

Shen Lu: [・_・?]

Shen Lu: "I can understand needing materials, but why does it also require Star Coins?"

[How about popularity value instead?]

Shen Lu: ...

Shen Lu: "No need. This is fine, this is great."

These materials were all quite common, and Shen Lu had the money. She could upgrade the malatang machine today.

Shen Lu was about to happily skip out the door to buy the materials, but then she paused.

Upgrading the malatang machine to the Second Level cost 5,000 Star Coins. Future upgrades would definitely get more and more expensive.

There were a lot of things in the kitchen that needed upgrading. The equipment interface hadn’t just shown the few tools she’d won in the lottery; the stove, wok, kitchen knives, cutting boards... even the tableware was included.

Each was its own separate item. Shen Lu didn’t even dare to calculate how many materials and Star Coins it would take to upgrade everything to the next level.

’How did I suddenly start feeling poor again?’

’Maybe... I should go scrounge around the junkyard?’