Chapter 44 - 40: Subduing the Child Army

Chapter 44: Chapter 40: Subduing the Child Army

The terrifying thunderstorm didn’t last long, dissipating completely after about five hours.

After the all-clear siren sounded again, Ning He quickly flipped the circuit breaker and plugged in the refrigerator. Her most valuable possessions were inside it.

The television showed live footage from various districts of Beiluo City. Despite the protection of lightning rods, quite a few buildings and factories were still struck, resulting in significant losses and a small number of casualties.

Even though the survivors in this world had nearly a hundred years of experience dealing with natural disasters, they still couldn’t achieve perfection.

Ning He offered a moment of silence for them in her heart, then gathered her things to go to the academy.

After a disaster, you do what you have to do. Life goes on, and you have to work hard to survive.

This was the consensus among every survivor of the apocalypse.

The cafeteria’s breakfast was delayed by an hour today.

All the cadets were dispatched to the front lines to participate in emergency post-disaster rescue and public facility repair missions.

It takes a massive amount of manpower to keep a city of a million people running. At a time like this, it didn’t matter that they hadn’t graduated yet; everyone had to pitch in.

The young cadets had no complaints about this; in fact, they were eager to help. The chance to fight alongside the seniors of the Mecha Academy, even just to lend a small hand, was enough to make them proud. They had been assembled and on standby since dawn and had been busy until eight or nine o’clock. Everyone was exhausted, but their young faces showed more excitement than anything else.

Also, hunger.

A large crowd flooded into the cafeteria, and all the stalls were instantly overwhelmed. Only Ning He’s station was managing to keep up.

She and Connie Ahui had fried all the dough sticks ahead of time, dished out the sweet fermented rice balls, and sliced the rice cakes, ensuring the fastest service possible.

Although the texture and temperature weren’t as good as fresh from the pot, at a time like this, the most important thing was getting the cadets fed quickly.

That day, every breakfast stall sold out completely.

The appetites of young people are truly bottomless pits!

After the thunderstorm, Beiluo City was blessed with several days of clear, cloudless skies.

With such rare good weather, Ning He could understand why the rich were willing to spend a fortune to leave the city.

To find a patch of green grass, feel the breeze, bask in the sun, and eat some delicious food.

To listen to a small river flow and smell the fragrance of flowers.

’How relaxing!’

In Beiluo City, not even the First Ring had any greenery. It was just buildings upon buildings. Even if the walls were painted with bright colors, you still didn’t have the freedom to breathe fresh air.

Thinking about this made Ning He look forward to her trip out of the city in a few days even more.

But before that, she had a delivery to make.

The newly planted green peppers were already ripe.

Ning He had now basically grasped the growth speed patterns for vegetables in the black soil. Common leafy greens matured in about three days. Larger vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower took about five days. Root vegetables like potatoes and fruiting plants like tomatoes took a little longer, ripening in about seven days.

The green peppers were a bit faster than tomatoes, ready for harvest on the sixth day. It happened to be a Saturday, so the cafeteria was closed. Connie Ahui had gotten a permit to set up a street stall and had gone out excitedly to earn some money, leaving Ning He at home to process the green pepper sauce.

Since she was selling this separately for profit, Ning He decided to improve the quality a bit.

Not only did she use oil that was twice as expensive, but Ning He also took out a few bottles of savory spices from her hidden spice box to add a special flavor.

After harvesting a basket of ingredients from her garden, Ning He set up her stove and officially began.

Making roasted pepper sauce wasn’t complicated, but every step required care.

First, she infused the oil.

After heating the base oil, she added onions, scallions, cilantro roots, star anise, bay leaves, and Sichuan peppercorns. She let them simmer on low heat until the aroma filled the air and the leaves turned golden-brown and crispy. Then, she strained out all the aromatics, setting the infused oil aside.

Without adding water or oil, she poured the washed green peppers directly into a flat-bottomed pan. She dry-roasted them over low heat until evenly charred spots appeared on the surface and the flesh softened. Then, she transferred them to a bowl, sealed it with plastic wrap, and let the trapped heat steam them further, making the inside even more tender.

Roasting green peppers required patience. Constant turning and mastering the heat were key. If they were too burnt, they’d be bitter; if they were too raw, they’d lack that distinct flavor and texture.

To make five jars of roasted pepper sauce, she needed five jin of fresh green peppers. Ning He roasted a total of eight batches, and her fingers ached.

The next part was simple.

She put all the roasted and steamed peppers together and mashed them with a rolling pin. Then, she spread a layer of minced ginger and garlic on top. She heated the infused oil from earlier until it smoked, turned off the heat, and poured it directly over everything. With a SIZZLE, the rich aroma of the roasted peppers was released.

Finally, she seasoned it with salt, sugar, and a bit of sauce paste she had bought from Connie, mixed it all evenly, and the job was done.

Ning He was so focused on her work that she didn’t notice the fragrant aroma from her home had already drifted out the half-open window.

The children in the community didn’t have school today and were playing near the slide. They were immediately drawn by the scent, their little noses twitching as they slowly gathered in front of Ning He’s window.

With her back to the window, Ning He was completely unaware of the commotion outside.

She boiled a handful of noodles, scooped them out, rinsed them under cool water, and then mixed in a large spoonful of the roasted pepper sauce.

Each noodle was coated in the oily, green sauce, a sight that would make anyone’s mouth water.

Who’s that drooling? (Could it be you, looking at your phone right now!)

After confirming it wasn’t her, Ning He turned around instinctively and was startled.

’Where did all these little rascals come from?’

’When did they get here?’

’Did they see me bring the vegetables down from upstairs?’

Alarm bells rang in Ning He’s mind. Her thoughts raced, and then an idea struck her. She cracked a wide, incredibly fake smile.

She lifted the bowl in her hand, her tone full of temptation.

"Big sister just made some green sauce noodles. Want to have a taste?"

Five minutes later...

There were seven kids in total. Six of them were already sitting in a row at Ning He’s doorway, each holding a small disposable bowl filled with steaming, fragrant noodles mixed with roasted pepper sauce.

Only one boy, around ten years old, stood off to the side with his arms crossed. He held his head high, pouting, a stubborn and slightly angry look on his face.

"I’m not eating your noodles! My mom said you’re a bad woman! If you guys dare to eat her food, you’ll get diarrhea when you go home!"

The other kids, holding their bowls, paused their ravenous slurping for 0.01 seconds after hearing this, then went right back to burying their faces in their noodles.

The residents here were of average means, and the nutritious school lunches for the children consisted of bland, boiled vegetables. When had they ever eaten noodles this fragrant? They didn’t care even if they really did get diarrhea!

"Oh, what a shame. Big sister was going to fry a sunny-side-up egg for each of you, but since you’re not eating, I guess I won’t," Ning He said with a regretful look.

The little boy’s expression changed. He stared at her blankly and swallowed hard. "A... a sunny-side-up egg?"

"That’s right. Fried in oil until it’s golden and fragrant, with a runny yolk. What a shame," Ning He said, shaking her head and sighing.

The little boy froze. The other children also stopped eating their noodles, and all eyes turned to him.

The youngest little girl pleaded, "Big Brother Knight, just eat with us. These noodles are delicious. Ali wants a sunny-side-up egg too, let’s all eat together!"

"Yeah, we all want sunny-side-up eggs! Knight, come eat with us, it’s really good!"

The other children chimed in as well.

The little boy’s expression shifted several times. Finally, he turned his face away awkwardly and mumbled indistinctly.

"Fine... I’ll just have... have a little bit."

’Success!’

Seeing that the fish had taken the bait, Ning He stood up and dusted off her pants.

"That’s more like it. Wait for a moment, it’ll be ready soon."