Chapter 4 - 3: The Irresistible Lampshade Cake

Chapter 4: Chapter 3: The Irresistible Lampshade Cake

The next morning, Ning He first checked the status of her mobile food stall application. It was still under review.

She quickly downed a bowl of mush and headed out to the nearest supermarket to buy supplies.

In this disaster era, the world had become a wasteland due to frequent natural disasters, geological catastrophes, nuclear leaks, and cosmic pollution. Arable land was as scarce as gold, and the limited yield made food a rare, expensive, and rationed resource. Over decades of adjustments, the distribution system had evolved into a setup Ning He had never seen before.

For instance, just inside the supermarket entrance were person-high stacks of boxed food powder from various brands.

These coarsely processed grain powder packets were fortified with small amounts of vitamins, dietary fiber, protein, and fat. Mix it with water, drink a bowl, and that was a meal. The nutrition barely met a person’s daily needs, while artificial flavorings catered to different tastes. It was cheap enough for ordinary people to afford, serving as the staple food.

For many days now, this was all Ning He had been eating.

"Today’s special: Yuan Kang Extra Protein Food Powder! One-month shelf life, thirty original coins per box! Limit two boxes per customer! Limited quantity, first come, first served!"

The voice of a nearby salesperson reached her ears, and the surrounding customers rushed over to snap up the deal.

A box of food powder was usually a week’s supply for one person. Depending on the nutritional content, the price ranged from fifty to eighty original coins. Thirty for a box was indeed a great deal.

Ning He was short on cash, so naturally, she saved wherever she could.

She grabbed a box of mango-flavored powder, put it in her cart, and headed for the fresh produce section.

While the customers snatching up the food powder had been packed three layers deep, forcing Ning He to use her long reach to grab two boxes, the fresh produce section was practically deserted.

It was simply too expensive.

In the refrigerated display, even the cheapest lettuce, bok choy, and spinach cost eight original coins for 250 grams. Not to mention other vegetables with smaller yields and longer growing cycles.

Although Ning He didn’t need to buy these items, she had to research market prices to set the price for her snacks. She noted the vegetable prices and moved on to the meat counter next to it.

This counter was small and locked. Inside, it displayed eggs, chicken, and pork.

A box of six eggs was priced at thirty original coins.

grams of chicken was priced at sixty original coins.

And a small portion of about 300 grams of pork cost a staggering eighty original coins—equivalent to a week’s food expenses for an average person.

Ning He hadn’t eaten any meat since coming to this world. Her salivary glands involuntarily started producing saliva, and even her stomach reacted, cramping violently as if it wanted to leap out of her throat and drag the eggs and meat down into her belly.

No wonder this counter was locked.

Otherwise, she really might not have been able to control herself and would have started gnawing on them right then and there.

However, after a glance at the prices, Ning He crossed off the egg-based items from her list of potential snacks.

Although she had applied for a Second Level stall permit, which allowed her to sell eggs, the ingredients were too expensive. She couldn’t afford the stock.

Ning He went to the rice and flour section.

The prices here were more bearable, basically around ten original coins per 500 grams.

Ning He picked out a 5-kilogram bag of flour and put it in her cart, then quickened her pace and went to the seasoning aisle.

A single glance made her frown again.

Besides the basic oil, salt, and sugar, there were only ridiculously expensive soy sauce and vinegar, packaged in high-end gift boxes with prices approaching three digits.

As for spices like bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, and pepper, there wasn’t even a trace of them.

’It seems I can’t just use the spices the system gave me casually,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, people might get suspicious.’

Ning He only grabbed a small jug of oil, a bag of salt, and a bag of sugar.

Except for the salt, the other two were not cheap.

A two-liter bottle of corn oil cost sixty original coins, and a 200-gram bag of sugar was twenty original coins.

After paying, Ning He only had eighty original coins left, and she still needed to buy a pushcart with a stove.

Fortunately, there were plenty of second-hand ones at the flea market. Ning He searched and searched, haggling the price down again and again, finally scoring a gas stove pushcart that was about 70% new for seventy-two original coins.

All the preparations were made; she was just waiting for the final piece to fall into place.

The next day, around two in the afternoon, her mobile food stall application was approved.

There was no time to waste. Ning He quickly began her preparations.

She climbed up to the attic. The vegetables in the wooden bed had grown again. Even the tomatoes and peppers were almost ready to be picked, their bright red fruits looking extremely tempting.

Ning He swallowed her saliva and pulled out just two radishes. Each radish was twenty centimeters long and as thick as her calf—definitely enough.

She then cut a large handful of chives. After washing both ingredients, she shredded the radishes, chopped the chives, and mixed them into the prepared batter. She was ready to head out.

While doing this, Ning He carefully drew all the curtains to avoid being discovered.

In Beiluo City, private citizens were not allowed to own plantable soil; this precious resource had to be surrendered to the authorities. So, she had to be extremely careful.

Placing everything on her cart, Ning He set off.

When filling out the application, she had already selected her desired stall location: outside the industrial park on the north side of the Fourth Ring. The area was flooded with people every day after work.

Most of the workers there had mid-level incomes and a little extra cash. It was common for them to buy an inexpensive snack on their way home to supplement their meal.

After all, only someone as destitute as Ning He, who could barely afford to eat, would subsist on food powder every day. Normal families would still buy other things to supplement their nutrition and satisfy their cravings.

But apparently, Ning He wasn’t the only one who had spotted this business opportunity.

When she arrived, the stretch of road from the factory gate to the station was already packed with all kinds of food stalls.

Ning He took out her printed permit and handed it to the stall administrator, a forty-year-old man named Cam. After he registered her information, she was assigned to a small, empty spot. While setting up, she carefully observed the surrounding stalls.

The items being sold were similar to those at the market near her home, all ranging between Level 0 and Second Level.

Bread, steamed buns, fried potato chips and fries, flatbreads, grilled corn, roasted potatoes, steamed bean paste, hot soy milk, egg pancakes...

There was quite a variety, mostly consisting of carbs and vegetables. Only one stall was selling egg-based items. And aside from that egg stall, everything was priced between one and four original coins.

Ning He more or less understood the situation. She wrote out her menu on her own sign:

Lampshade Cake (Radish/Chive) 2 original coins/each

The appearance of a new stall naturally drew the attention of the others. Seeing what Ning He had written, they looked curious, having clearly never heard of the name. However, no one came over to ask. They were all competitors; there was no need to be so friendly.

Ning He prepared her wok, lit the fire to heat the oil, and started by making a classic shredded radish one first.

The batter tumbled in the hot oil, gradually turning a shade of gold. After frying it, she took it out to cool. Ning He planned to taste it herself first, but when she looked up, she saw the administrator had wandered over at some point. He was looking curiously at her finished product.

An idea sparked in Ning He’s mind. She looked up and smiled at him.

"This is my specialty. Would you like to try one, sir?"

"Oh, I couldn’t possibly."

Although Cam was politely refusing, his eyes were full of anticipation. He had tried everything sold here, so he was naturally eager to taste something new.

Ning He packed the freshly fried Lampshade Cake into a box and pressed it into his hands.

"It’s my first time running a stall, and I have no idea if this will sell. You’re experienced, so please, consider it a quality check for me!"

"Well... alright then. Don’t mind if I do."

As the administrator, it was normal for vendors to offer him food. Cam didn’t refuse again. He blew on the steaming Lampshade Cake a couple of times, then carefully took a bite and chewed.

’So hot, but so delicious it could make you cry!’

The moment he bit down, his teeth shattered the crispy outer shell with a KRAK. A blast of hot air, carrying the toasted fragrance of flour and the subtle sweetness of radish, swept through his mouth, awakening his dormant taste buds.

After breaking through the crispy shell, he was met with an incredibly soft filling.

The batter and shredded radish rolled between his teeth and over his tongue—one soft, one crisp; one savory, one sweet. The flavors intertwined, and occasionally, the strong aroma of scallions seemed to burst through the gaps. Cam felt like his tongue could barely keep up.

The fresh sweetness and crispness of the radish perfectly balanced the greasiness of the batter. After finishing one, only a lingering fragrance and a hint of sweetness remained in his mouth. He was left wanting more.

"Please, try the chive one as well."

Cam forgot all pretense of politeness, blowing on it briefly before taking a large bite.

It had the same texture—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. The moment he bit through, an even more intense aroma rushed to his nose. Cam could almost see a large patch of vibrant green chives swaying in the wind on dark soil, wild and assertive.

The soft batter, like a gentle elder, tenderly enveloped the assertive chives, neutralizing some of their intensity.

The aroma of oil, the fragrance of flour, and the scent of chives with a hint of spice.

Cam could just imagine how happy the people—hungry and deprived of oil and proper food after a long day of work fueled only by food powder—would be when they tasted these two delicacies!

"So? Are you satisfied?"

Cam shook his head. Ning He froze for a moment.

"No," Cam said, looking at her seriously. "Something this good shouldn’t be sold so cheap."

"Change the chive one to 3 original coins, and sell the radish one for 4 original coins."

"Trust me, these two will definitely be a huge hit!"