Chapter 21 - 20: Back to the Ground

Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Back to the Ground

By three in the afternoon, Ning He could clearly feel the surrounding temperature had dropped quite a bit. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a new announcement came over the broadcast.

"...Latest news: The extreme temperature disaster is now in its final phase. The surface temperature is dropping rapidly. The gates are expected to open at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. All residents, please be prepared."

Five days and four nights—just as predicted.

’The people of this world seem quite experienced in dealing with natural disasters,’ she thought. ’The whole process was orderly, and their predictions were spot on.’

But this didn’t put Ning He at ease. Instead, it made her even more desperate to go home.

’With how often these disasters happen, who knows what will come next? My life could be snuffed out at any moment.’

’I’d better figure out how to complete the system’s tasks quickly, go back to being a food blogger, and return to the good old days where my only worry was what to eat.’

As the temperature dropped, business at the restaurants in the Third Ring improved slightly.

Still, they’d be lucky just to break even. It was impossible to think of making a huge profit by buying ingredients on the cheap from the Fourth Ring restaurants like before.

Ning He observed this for a moment before pushing it to the back of her mind. ’It’s not like I’ll have a chance to see them again anyway, so why worry about it?’

At nine o’clock on the morning of the fifth day, another announcement came over the broadcast, telling everyone to pack their things and wait for the gates to open.

Ning He finished packing her suitcase and, pushing her small food cart, was the first to arrive at the gate.

At ten o’clock, the gate opened on schedule. A rush of fresh air hit her, and Ning He took a deep breath before pushing her cart out through the opening.

Although she hadn’t faced any real danger in the shelter, Ning He still felt a sense of rebirth.

Huge crowds of people poured out from every exit. By the time Ning He reached the surface, it was already quite crowded outside.

Everyone had a look of relief on their faces as they walked home with friends and family.

Ning He pushed her cart and moved along with the flow of people.

Suddenly, the screech of a vehicle braking sharply pierced the air, followed by the shrill cry of a child. Ning He instinctively looked over.

In the middle of the road, a seven- or eight-year-old girl sat on the ground, crying her eyes out. A military pickup truck was stopped about fifty centimeters away from her. A soldier armed with a rifle quickly got out of the truck. He walked over to the girl, crouched down to ask her a few questions, and then went to the back seat of the truck to report to the person inside.

The window rolled down, revealing a woman in the back seat with short brown hair, dressed in a green uniform. Her expression was cold and stern, and she had the sharp air of a superior. After hearing the soldier’s report, she said a few words. The soldier immediately turned back, picked up the little girl, and placed her on the other side of the back seat.

In the instant the window rolled up, Ning He saw the woman raise a hand to stroke the little girl’s hair and say something softly. The crying from inside the truck quickly stopped.

’Tsk. Looks like she ran into a good person.’

Ning He looked away and continued on her way.

No other incidents occurred after that, but the effects of the extreme temperature were visible everywhere.

Walls were scorched black.

The asphalt roads were pitted and uneven. In some places, the corpses of birds and stray animals were scattered about—a shocking sight.

The lampposts by the road were bent and twisted, their paint almost completely peeled off. Many power lines had snapped and hadn’t been dealt with yet, with warning signs standing beside them.

Numerous windows and doors were warped and had fallen out of their frames, with glass shattered all over the ground.

A chill ran through Ning He’s heart at the sight, and she quickened her pace.

’What if the door and windows at my place are broken too? Wouldn’t my black mud be at risk of being exposed?’

Ning He sprinted the rest of the way home. The first thing she saw was that her own window was shattered, the glass lying in pieces on the ground. Fortunately, most of her neighbors hadn’t returned yet, so the situation wasn’t too bad.

Ning He breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed the cart to her doorway, unlocked the door, and carried her suitcase inside before quickly checking on the vegetables she had been growing.

Just as Ning He had expected, for the ones she was growing hydroponically in plastic containers, forget the seedlings—even the plastic itself had warped and melted. As for the once-lush vegetables in the black mud, not a trace of them remained. According to the system, they had rotted and been directly absorbed by the mud.

’This is within my expectations.’ Ning He quickly calculated her losses. ’I can handle it.’

The most urgent matter now was to finalize things with the academy cafeteria.

’Delays breed complications!’

Ning He glanced at the wide-open window. ’If I’m going out, I’d better play it safe.’ So, she simply had the system temporarily store away all the black mud.

’I’m not growing anything right now anyway, so it won’t cause any delays.’

Without the black mud, Ning He’s home was just a standard, bare room.

The kind of standard room that even a thief would be too lazy to bother with.

She closed the door, pocketed her money and her chef’s certificate, and set off for the academy.

Because the power grid hadn’t been fully restored, Ning He had to transfer buses several times and walk a long way, but she finally reached the cafeteria just before Old Wood got off work.

After she paid the deposit, Old Wood handed her two small booklets and a card.

"You already know how to use these. Even though it’s a Level 0 breakfast stall, if you do a good job, you can make something of it. Go back and think about what exactly you want to make. Give me your list of ingredients before Friday. I’ll submit it, and you’ll officially open for business next Monday."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Wood. I’ll think it over carefully."

Sitting on the bus home, Ning He took out the three items to have a look.

The first was the cafeteria’s rules and regulations handbook, which explained in detail how the academy’s cafeteria operated. Ning He carefully read through the section on stall upgrades and found that it was slightly different from what she remembered.

Upgrading a stall did indeed require achieving the number one comprehensive rating for three months, but they didn’t have to be consecutive. As long as you achieved it three times within a six-month period and never had a monthly comprehensive rating fall below the passing mark, it was enough.

This boosted the success rate significantly, which was good news.

The second was a food list from the academy’s partnered suppliers.

From staples, vegetables, and soy products to meats, cooking oils, and seasonings, it covered basically every category available on the market. It was very comprehensive.

Ning He glanced at the staple foods category.

The three major grains—rice, wheat, and corn—still held their unshakable positions. Below them were subcategories like regular rice, glutinous rice, flour, whole wheat flour, and cornmeal, with slightly different prices.

In addition, the staples also included buckwheat and oats, which were priced a bit higher than the three major grains.

What surprised Ning He was that beans were also listed in the staples section. The varieties included chickpeas, kidney beans, adzuki beans, and black beans, but their price was three times that of rice and flour, approaching thirty original coins per jin.

The price made Ning He a little dizzy, but after thinking it over, she faintly understood.

The logic behind this world’s ranking system for chefs and restaurants was likely related to the nutritional content of various ingredients. Foods high in starch were generally more affordable. Next came vegetables, which provide vitamins and trace elements. The prices of other foods were directly linked to their protein and fat content.

Under such a food value system, it was only natural that beans, with a protein content comparable to meat, would be worth much more.

From a nutritional standpoint, combining beans with rice and flour—mixing coarse and fine grains—could form a complete protein similar to meat, while also supplementing dietary fiber for a balanced diet.

’No wonder they’re placed in the staples section.’

It all clicked for Ning He.

She was also a little impressed.

’They’ve even considered details like this. They really do care about the students’ health.’

Ning He flipped through a few more pages. The ingredient selection was quite rich, but unfortunately, none of it was within her range of options for now. Her most urgent task was still to decide on the breakfast menu as soon as possible.

’But what on earth should I sell?’