Chapter 22 - 21: First Reputation Point

Chapter 22: Chapter 21: First Reputation Point

Ning He thought it over. She had to consider the comprehensive score.

A stall’s monthly comprehensive score was based on two main factors: sales ratio and positive reviews.

Positive reviews, naturally, referred to the students’ satisfaction with her food, while the sales ratio was the proportion of the stall’s monthly sales to its expected target.

It was obvious which stall a supplier would be more willing to upgrade: one that sold five hundred pounds of noodles a month, or one that sold fifty. Each cycle, the food company gave every stall a sales target. The higher the percentage of that target they met, the higher their score.

In other words, if she wanted to compete for first place, her food had to be both critically acclaimed and a commercial success.

Ning He thought about it for a long time until her head started to ache.

The list of breakfast dishes she knew how to make could fill an A4-sized piece of paper, but with no vegetables or meat, and a scarcity of seasonings, her options were few and far between.

Ning He still hadn’t made up her mind by the time she got to her front door, so she decided to put the thought aside for now and deal with the empty window frame at home first.

Several of the neighboring households had already replaced their windows, using a type of thick, translucent plastic.

The residents of Beiluo City used a lot of plastic in their daily lives, and there were many shops that sold it. Ning He made a trip to a nearby market and quickly bought a piece for fifty original coins.

The window frame and the plastic sheet were standard sizes, so all she had to do was install it and make sure it was secure.

Once the window was installed, Ning He returned to the attic and had the system release the black mud. She spread it out again, getting ready to buy more seeds the next day.

She had made a small fortune this time, all thanks to the vegetables she had brought with her. The popularity of her tomato-meat sauce and roasted pepper sauce also gave her an idea—she should grow more flavoring vegetables and spices in the future. She would go to the market tomorrow for a good hunt.

For dinner, she had a packet of mango-flavored paste. Afterward, Ning He leaned back in her chair, turned on the TV, and listened to the news for a bit.

"Active repair efforts throughout the city are proceeding in an orderly fashion. A return to normal operations is expected within three days."

"The recent extreme-temperature disaster has caused severe damage to several grain companies. To stabilize market grain prices, the Municipal Center will allocate financial aid as compensation and support..."

Just as Ning He was drifting off to sleep listening to the report, a few knocks suddenly sounded at her door.

"...Is anyone home?"

It was the voice of a young woman.

Her drowsiness interrupted, Ning He impatiently scratched her head.

’Who would be looking for me at this hour?’

’The original owner didn’t have any friends, did she?’

Puzzled, she got up and went to open the door.

"What is it?"

When the woman saw the door open, she jumped in fright and even took a step back.

Ning He was speechless.

’Am I really that scary?’

"S-Sorry to bother you. I... I wanted to ask if I could borrow your stove for a bit. The power in the public kitchen is still out, and my child is fussing, wanting noodles. I really have... no other choice..." the young woman explained in a small voice, her head tilted, her expression terrified.

She had never interacted with this girl before, but she knew she wasn’t to be trifled with. Her husband had told her that the girl used to live in the Third Ring. After moving here, she looked down on her new neighbors and never spoke to anyone except for the Qiu Family next door. She was also notoriously fierce—when some children had accidentally brushed against a quilt she was airing by her door, she had chased them down the street, scolding them the entire way.

If her three-year-old son hadn’t already missed several meals from being overheated in the shelter, she wouldn’t have dreamed of coming here for help.

"I see. But do you know how to use a gas stove?"

Hearing the skepticism in her voice, the young woman stiffened.

’As I thought... She isn’t going to just lend it to me.’

"...I... I can pay..." she whispered.

The girl’s expression turned strange, and the woman grew tense again.

"Never mind."

Hearing her speak again, the young woman’s heart sank.

"I’ll go with you. The public kitchen has electric stoves, so you probably haven’t used a gas one much. They can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing."

As she spoke, Ning He lifted the stove onto a pushcart and called out to the young woman, who was still standing there in a daze.

"Let’s go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back. I want to go to sleep."

The young woman snapped out of her stupor and nodded hurriedly. "Okay, th-thank you!"

The destination wasn’t far, just two rows of houses away from where Ning He lived.

When they arrived, a child’s crying could still be heard from inside the house.

The woman looked anxious, so Ning He wasted no time, telling her to bring out the noodles and water.

"Go comfort your child. I’ll call you when it’s ready."

The woman nodded gratefully and went inside to fetch the noodles and a pot of water. Ning He set up the stove right there at the entrance, lit the flame, and set the water to boil before adding the noodles.

These noodles were more high-end than the plain ones Ning He had bought for herself. They were flecked with brown particles, looking a bit like they had pork liver powder mixed in.

’They must be nutritional noodles bought especially for the child,’ Ning He thought. ’They couldn’t have been cheap.’

Ning He thought of some things from her past and sighed. She poured a little oil, salt, and sugar into the bowl the woman had brought out, then ladled the cooked noodles into it, followed by a scoop of the noodle water. A simple bowl of boiled noodles was ready.

"It’s ready," she called out.

The woman came out quickly, thanking her profusely.

Ning He waved a hand dismissively. "Go on."

The woman nodded, carried the bowl inside, and the moment the child saw the noodles, he stopped crying.

After handing the bowl to her husband, the woman counted a few coins out from a small box. But when she stepped outside again, she found that the girl was already gone.

She stood there in surprise for a moment, only snapping out of it and heading back inside when she heard her husband call her name.

"Look, I think she put oil in the noodles."

Her husband pointed to the sheen of oil floating on the broth, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes, and she didn’t even take my money..."

Ning He pushed her cart home, quickly washed up, and went to sleep. Unbeknownst to her, as she slept, her reputation value quietly ticked up to "1".

***

The next day, Ning He got up bright and early. She hurried to the market and bought a small amount of every type of flavoring vegetable seed she could find, getting the largest quantities of chili pepper and tomato seeds. She didn’t neglect leafy greens and potatoes, either. Soon, her entire bed of black mud was planted full, and she had even filled two plastic crates.

At the rate the black mud worked, she was sure to have a good harvest before the next disaster hit. As long as she could find a buyer, she could make a considerable income, even if she had to sell them cheaply.

This thought brought the noodle shop back to her mind.

’After the rapport we built in the shelter these past few days, Connie should be willing to work with me, right?’

The more Ning He thought about it, the more confident she felt. She was also feeling a bit hungry, so she pocketed some money and headed for the noodle shop.

The market had already returned to its usual lively state. Though traces of damage from the extreme temperatures remained, it didn’t stop the residents from going about their business.

In fact, after days of eating nutrient paste in the shelter, everyone was desperate for a change of pace. The street food stalls were all doing a roaring trade, which tempted Ning He to consider setting up her own stall later in the evening.

The aromas of various foods wafted into her nose. Even though they lacked the punch of proper seasonings and smelled a little plain, they were still enough to make Ning He’s stomach rumble.

’Mhm, I have to try the meat sauce noodles today!’

The thought had barely crossed her mind when she saw a crowd gathered in front of the noodle shop. There were several people in uniform among them, and Connie was there too, looking grim.

’What’s going on?’

Ning He squeezed through the crowd to get a look, and she instantly gasped.

The noodle shop had been sealed off!