The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

The blueprints were extensive. The day she went over, Shen Lu had only looked at the first floor and hadn’t gone up to see the rest.

However, the layout of each floor was more or less the same. After seeing the first floor, she knew what the upper floors would look like.

Old Xu said, "Boss Shen, if you have any ideas, we can discuss them."

"Here’s the situation." Shen Lu put down the blueprints. "As you know, renovating this building will cost a lot of money. My funds are limited right now, so I can only afford to renovate a portion of it for now."

"Understandable."

"I want to start by building a few rooms on the second floor to live in. The first floor doesn’t matter for now; I can just continue running my stall there. Once I have enough money, I’ll slowly renovate the storefront."

"No problem, but residential renovations are a bit more expensive." Old Xu was a little disappointed, but Shen Lu was dangling the carrot of future renovations, so he remained quite eager. "How about 150 Star Coins per square meter?"

The second floor was also 800 square meters. At 150 per square meter, that came out to around 120,000 Star Coins, which was still a big deal.

"No, Boss Xu, you misunderstood me. I just need a few rooms, enough for my daily life." Shen Lu drew on the blueprint. "It’s just my fiancé and me, so a two-bedroom, one-living-room, one-bathroom apartment with a balcony will be enough."

She didn’t even need a kitchen; she could just use the one in the downstairs shop.

"That won’t be enough space. You’ll have kids in the future, right? And what about your families? A bigger place would be more comfortable," Old Xu argued forcefully.

’Doesn’t everyone live with their whole family, young and old?’

"We can worry about all that later. For now, I’m only considering the two of us."

Shen Lu suddenly remembered that in all the time since she’d transmigrated, she had yet to meet the original owner’s parents.

’It feels like they don’t care about her. Otherwise, they would have come looking for her by now.’

The two went back and forth. Old Xu wanted Shen Lu to renovate a larger area, while Shen Lu was adamant about only doing 80 square meters, not a single bit more.

In the end, Shen Lu had to stand up and pretend to walk away from the deal before Old Xu finally agreed.

"You’re a sharp one, Boss Shen. I concede."

’A huge sucker was right in front of him, yet he could only take a tiny bit of advantage. This feeling of having something within reach but being unable to grab it was truly suffocating.’

"How many days will it take?"

"Three days will be enough."

Shen Lu knew the renovation speed would be fast, but she never expected it would only take a mere three days.

’The magic of technology, I guess.’

Old Xu used his Light Brain to generate a few mock-ups. Shen Lu pointed out a few areas that needed changes, paid the deposit, and the matter was settled.

The structural renovation was sorted out, but the furnishings were still up in the air.

Leaving the management office, Shen Lu glanced at the time. It was already past three-thirty.

Old Xu was such a talker; she had lost track of time and wasted so much of it.

Shen Lu went to check on her stall. It was empty. Wang Daguo and Cai Su must have packed everything up.

When she got back to her rental unit, Cai Su was sitting by the door holding Xiao Lang, guarding their things. Seeing Shen Lu return, she quickly stood up.

"Boss Shen, I’ve already paid Wang Daguo." Cai Su took a stack of Star Coins from her pocket. "Here’s the money we earned."

Shen Lu took the money and, without counting it, put it directly into the System Warehouse.

"Sorry, I lost track of time and came back late."

"It’s fine, it’s fine."

Shen Lu used her key to open the door. Cai Su placed the child on the sofa and helped her move Fu Cheng onto the bed first.

After finishing her tasks for the day, Shen Lu had gone to discuss the renovations, so there was still a lot of rice left over.

She could put the rice in the warehouse and sell it tomorrow, but Shen Lu was in a good mood and asked Cai Su to stay for dinner.

"Boss Shen, I couldn’t possibly."

Shen Lu sold one portion of egg fried rice for 60 Star Coins. Cai Su had already taken an advance on her salary for Xiao Lang’s sake; how could she have the nerve to eat Shen Lu’s egg fried rice for free?

"Think of it as a celebration for you becoming an official employee. Why don’t we invite Granny Jin over, too? I have something to tell you all."

Her new home would be ready in three days. Shen Lu would naturally be moving, so she should give Granny Jin a heads-up in advance.

Having made her decision, Shen Lu went to Granny Jin’s place to invite her, then hurried to the bathhouse to take a shower.

When she returned, she first made the fried rice outside, put away the food cart, and after cleaning the malatang machine, refilled its four compartments with water. She prepared two clear broth pots, one spicy pot, and one tomato pot.

Since she was treating, the ingredients were naturally much more lavish. Shen Lu put out four or five types of green vegetables alone, along with beef, lamb, luncheon meat, duck intestines... a vast spread that covered the entire table.

Neither Granny Jin nor Cai Su had ever seen such a scene. The ingredients were so luxurious that there were some they didn’t even recognize.

"Xiao Shen, this is too extravagant." Granny Jin shook her head. "There are only a few of us. We can’t possibly eat all this."

Shen Lu was cooking dough drops in the clear broth for Fu Cheng and Xiao Lang. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "I didn’t take out that much. It’ll shrink to just a little bit once it’s cooked."

At first, Cai Su and Granny Jin were a little reserved, but Shen Lu kept making witty remarks to liven up the atmosphere, and they eventually relaxed.

Shen Lu set the two bowls of dough drop soup aside to cool and picked up her chopsticks to eat the food in her own bowl.

She barely had to get any food for herself. Granny Jin and Cai Su would proactively place a helping in her bowl as soon as something was cooked. In no time, a small mountain of food had piled up in it.

The meal was a joyous one for both host and guests. Once she was sure everyone had eaten their fill, Shen Lu turned off the malatang machine and told them about her purchase of the abandoned building.

"You bought that abandoned building at the end of Gold Street?" Granny Jin shot to her feet, extremely anxious. "That building is old and dilapidated! It’s been empty for decades with no takers, which proves it’s not suitable for business. How could you be so foolish? Quick, I have a bit of a connection with the director of the management office. I’ll go talk to them and see if you can return it."

Shen Lu took her hand. "Granny Jin, since I’ve bought it, it means I have my own plans. Don’t worry, I’ve thought this through."

"You thought it through and still bought it? You’re really..." For a moment, Granny Jin didn’t know what to say to her.

Cai Su also knew about that abandoned building. Personally, she thought Shen Lu had been impulsive, but she saw Shen Lu through rose-colored glasses and trusted her almost unconditionally.

"I’m sure Boss Shen has her own considerations. Grandma Jin, we should trust her."

Granny Jin sighed. "You young people are just reckless!"

The abandoned building was at the very end of Gold Street, a terrible location right up against the city wall. If a mutant beast were to attack, it would be the first to suffer.

But in the end, she was just the landlady. If Shen Lu wouldn’t listen to her advice, there was nothing more she could do.

"I’ve hired a renovation company to build a suite on the second floor. It’ll be finished in a few days." Shen Lu looked at Granny Jin. "When it is, Cai Su and I will move over there."

Cai Su was surprised. "I’m moving over there too?"

Shen Lu nodded. "You’re my employee, of course you’re coming with me. Don’t worry, there’s an employee dorm."

Speaking of which, Shen Lu really wanted to complain.

’The free shop renovation includes an employee dorm, but not the boss’s residence. What kind of logic is that?’