Chapter 23 - 22: So It Was You

Chapter 23: Chapter 22: So It Was You

"Operating without a license. You are ordered to rectify the situation. You have three months to pay the fine, obtain a proper qualification certificate, and then resubmit your business application."

After the inspectors shut down the noodle shop, they handed a penalty notice to Connie.

Connie’s face was ashen. Her lips quivered as if to speak, but she ultimately pressed them shut. She clutched the notice tightly, her very posture radiating despair.

Standing outside the crowd, Ning He took a step back, feeling a twinge of guilt.

’This... it shouldn’t have anything to do with me, right?’

’Connie returned my chef’s certificate, so she must have made other arrangements.’

The inspectors left, and the crowd of onlookers dispersed. After a moment’s thought, Ning He decided to go over and check on her.

’We’re old acquaintances, after all.’

"Connie, um... I saw what just happened. Is there anything I can do?"

Connie looked up. Seeing it was her, she forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

"The shop’s been shut down. What is there to do?"

The rims of Connie’s eyes were red. Ning He scratched her head, not knowing how to comfort her.

The meat sauce noodles had many loyal customers, and Connie and Ah Huai were never stingy, always giving generous portions of sauce and noodles. For a place like this to be shut down so suddenly was a loss for the customers, too.

But rules were rules. Once caught, you had to face the penalty.

"So... how much is the fine? I can help you scrape some of it together," Ning He said, steeling herself and thumping her chest.

Connie looked surprised for a moment, but then her face fell again.

"10,000 original coins. Do you have that?"

"That much!" Ning He exclaimed, shocked.

Connie gave a bitter smile. "What can you do? We’re a third-level restaurant, so the fine is doubled."

Ning He started to worry too. "That’s so harsh. What about setting up a street stall?"

’I earned a lot in the shelter before. Three months at a stall should be enough to make up most of it, right?’

Connie’s lips twitched. "It’s too late. We’ve already spent the money we had. In fact, we’d already negotiated renting a chef’s certificate. We were supposed to pick it up tomorrow. We never expected a surprise inspection today..."

’That... is just rotten luck. To get caught red-handed just one day before they could fix everything.’

Ning He sighed to herself. ’My plan to sell them vegetables is probably ruined now.’

"Connie."

Just then, Ah Huai walked over, his brow furrowed and his expression grim.

"How did it go?" Connie asked, looking at him with a sliver of hope.

Ah Huai slowly shook his head.

Connie couldn’t accept it. "How? No one got sick from our food, and we weren’t selling anything illegal. Why can’t they show any leniency?"

Ah Huai said, "Uncle Bari told me they suddenly received a notice this morning, specifically ordering a surprise inspection of the shops on our street. I’m afraid we were targeted."

"Targeted? We’re stuck in this market all day, who could we possibly have offended? Who has nothing better to do than to come after us?" Connie’s temper flared, and her voice grew louder.

Seeing Connie’s fury, Ning He felt a little scared and took another step back.

Just then, a little boy holding a lollipop ran over from out of nowhere and stopped in front of Ning He.

"Miss, someone just asked me to give you a message,"

Ning He looked down, bewildered.

"He said that now that the noodle shop is closed, you can go work at the Golden Pomelo Restaurant in the Third Ring anytime. He’ll pay you a really high salary!"

BOOM—

Ning He’s mind went blank.

SWISH—

Connie’s gaze sliced toward her like a dagger.

"No... it’s a misunderstanding... I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me!"

Ning He waved her hands frantically, but Connie wasn’t listening, her expression turning vicious as she stalked toward her.

"Aha! I knew it was too much of a coincidence! The moment I gave your certificate back, the inspectors showed up. It was you!"

"I actually thought you’d turned over a new leaf, but you’re still the same disgusting person. Why didn’t you drown when you jumped off that bridge!"

Backed against the wall by the furious Connie, Ning He felt a bitterness in her heart that was hard to swallow. She felt more wronged than Dou E.

"Listen to me, it’s really not what you think! It must be the Golden Pomelo Restaurant. They’re mad we stole their customers, so they’re deliberately trying to drive a wedge between us! They want us to split up so they can poach me!"

"Hmph! I think you’re the one who looks down on the Fourth Ring for being rundown and poor. You want to move back to the Third Ring, so you ganged up with them to screw us over!" Connie was still fuming.

"You’ve got it all wrong! I really didn’t! I’ve already rented a stall at the academy cafeteria. I start on Monday! If you don’t believe me, go and ask them at the academy. I can’t lie about something like that, can I?"

Her words made Connie regain some of her composure. She paused in the middle of rolling up her sleeves.

"Are you serious?"

"It’s the honest-to-god truth. They approached me the day you guys left, even offering to buy my secret recipe, and I turned them down flat. If I wanted to work there, why go through all this trouble? Why stage this whole elaborate act?"

Ning He’s explanation seemed plausible. Ah Huai stepped forward and murmured a few words to Connie.

"I don’t think she’s lying. They’re probably trying to intimidate her, and getting revenge on us for stealing their business was a bonus."

"She’s still involved! If it wasn’t for her, why would they have targeted our shop for an inspection?"

Connie’s anger hadn’t fully subsided, and she still glared at Ning He with resentment.

Ning He opened her mouth, thought for a long moment, and decided she had to own up to it.

’I was the one who made the food.’

’I was the one who helped steal their business.’

’I was the one who added fuel to the fire and pissed them off.’

’And I even landed the final blow with that taunt.’

’Yeah, she had to admit... she did bear a teeny... tiny bit of responsibility for this.’

"Um... how about I give you a thousand coins as compensation? That’s really all I can do. The rest of my money went to the cafeteria deposit, so I don’t have much else."

Ning He decided to bite the bullet and offer up some money. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get home in one piece.

After kneading so much dough every day, Connie had arms of steel. A punch from her would be no laughing matter.

"A thousand coins? What good is that?! I want you to give me back my noodle shop!" Connie’s anger flared up again.

"Let’s talk this out! We can talk about this!"

Ning He threw her hands up to cover her head, shooting a pleading look at the ever-calm Ah Huai.

"It’s not just the fine," Ah Huai said, frowning. "Ding Xiang’s post-surgery care and recovery costs are a more pressing issue. The situation... is a bit dire."

’Huh? Someone in their family is sick?’

Ning He felt a wave of despair.

"The noodle shop’s gone. How are we supposed to make money now?" Connie said bitterly.

The atmosphere grew incredibly heavy.

"Um... what if... you guys came with me to the academy cafeteria?" Ning He finally suggested meekly.

Connie’s eyebrow twitched. "What kind of stall did you rent?"

Ning He gave an awkward smile. "A... a Zero-level stall."

"Tch—"

Connie made no effort to hide her scorn.

"A Zero-level stall? You’ll be lucky to feed yourself, and you want us to tag along? To do what, starve?"

Ning He quickly added, "But it can be upgraded! Besides, the students get meal subsidies from the academy, so they aren’t afraid to spend. As long as the food’s delicious, it’s guaranteed to be a hit. You know my cooking; business won’t be slow. We can split the profits evenly."

Ning He looked at Connie and Ah Huai, her expression earnest.

The idea of inviting them to join her had just popped into her head, but the more she considered it, the more sense it made.

’For one thing, she only had two hands. Her output was limited, and she couldn’t do it all alone. For another, the cafeteria was full of the original Ning He’s old acquaintances. If she suddenly started making a bunch of new dishes, it would be suspicious. If Connie and Ah Huai joined her, she’d have a cover story.’

Connie and Ah Huai exchanged a glance, and each could see the other was wavering.

"Zero-level stalls can’t sell meat sauce noodles or salads. What else can you make? Talk is cheap; we’re not just going to take your word for it," Connie said.

"To be honest, I’ve been struggling with that myself. I can make a lot of things, but I’m not sure which would be best. How about this: I’ll cook a batch of everything, and you two can help me decide?"

Connie opened her mouth, on the verge of making a sarcastic remark.

’Can make a lot of things?’

’What shameless bragging.’

But then she thought of the meat sauce noodles and those two salad dressings, and she swallowed her words.

"Fine. If you can really back it up, we’ll go with you."