Chapter 9 - 8: Hitching a Ride

Chapter 9: Chapter 8: Hitching a Ride

It wasn’t until she reached the marketplace that Ning He finally felt a sense of the urgency an impending disaster should bring.

A tide of people rushed by, their footsteps hurried, every face grim and serious.

But aside from that, there was no excessive panic or fear.

Clearly, everyone had grown accustomed to this kind of situation.

The shops in the marketplace were all preparing to close, and many had already shut their doors. Only the restaurants were still bustling with activity. All their food was being sold at a discount, and plenty of people were lining up to buy it.

"Veggie buns, fifty percent off! Five original coins for three!"

"Grilled corn, buy one get one free!"

"Fried dough cakes, Three Original Coins for two!"

The grocery stores were also having sales. Mountainous piles of grain powder were snatched up in an instant, and even the more expensive bread was sold out.

Ning He’s heart sank deeper as she took in the scene.

’From the looks of it, all the food vendors are liquidating their stock early to avoid bigger losses!’

Even the small street vendors were no exception, practically giving away their inventory to clear it out.

The prices were so low that even Ning He was tempted to buy some for rations.

"What are you doing here? Perfect. This saves me the trouble of looking for you. Hurry up and help me move this stuff to the cart."

A vaguely familiar voice sounded beside her as an arm grabbed her. Ning He looked up and realized she had unconsciously walked to the entrance of the noodle shop.

Dragged into the shop by the proprietress, Ning He discovered that this place, unlike the other eateries, wasn’t holding any sort of clearance sale.

Instead, a pushcart was parked by the entrance, its design looking somewhat familiar.

Once she got a clear look, Ning He couldn’t help but be surprised. ’Isn’t this an upgraded food cart?’

It had a stove, a work surface, everything. Jars of oil, salt, and sugar were already arranged on the shelves inside.

"What are you spacing out for? Get moving! If we don’t leave soon, we won’t get a good spot."

Ning He turned to see the proprietress carrying a stack of disposable bowls and chopsticks to the cart.

’What’s going on?’

Seeing Ning He standing there frozen, the proprietress’s brow furrowed. She strode over and yanked her into a corner.

"You told me you were going to Central City and wouldn’t be staying in Beiluo City. That’s the only reason I rented your chef’s certificate. Now that you’re here, you have to come down and run the stall with us. If we get caught without you, we’ll both be fined! Don’t you dare try to cause trouble for me now!"

’Set up a stall?’

Ning He’s eyes lit up.

"Of course not! Why would I want to cause you trouble? I just forgot for a moment. But if we can set up stalls in the shelter, why are all those people outside in such a rush to sell off their stock?"

The proprietress’s expression softened. Hearing the question, she scoffed with disdain. "I think jumping in that river must’ve scrambled your brains, for you to forget even this. The shelter’s only so big. If everyone could set up a stall, would there even be room to stand? The authorities considered that the stocking costs for third-level restaurants like ours are too great. No one could afford to lose it all, so they allow us to run a small stall. We still have to sell everything cheap down there, but at least we can recoup some of our costs."

’Only third-level restaurants can set up stalls?’

’Is this path going to be blocked for me too?’

’No way. I have to piggyback on this opportunity!’

Ning He gazed at the proprietress with pleading eyes, forcing a smile she hoped looked both obedient and pitiful.

"To be honest with you, I’ve been running a small stall myself these past few days to scrape together the money I owe you. I’m still stuck with a lot of vegetables. Do you think... I could bring them along to sell with you?"

"You? Running a stall?"

The proprietress looked skeptical, but seeing that Ning He didn’t appear to be lying, she thought for a moment. "It’s not out of the question, but let’s get this straight: we sell our inventory first. Once we’re sold out, you can sell yours. If your stuff doesn’t sell, don’t come complaining to me. It’s not so easy to do business down there."

"Deal! It’s settled!"

Having achieved her goal, Ning He agreed without hesitation.

The two of them loaded all the ingredients stockpiled in the back kitchen onto the cart.

As one of the few third-level restaurants in the Fourth Ring, the noodle shop was well-stocked. The kneaded dough alone filled two large basins. On top of that, there was a large pot of soup base, two baskets of vegetables, a half-used basin of meat sauce, a basin of raw meat, a basket of eggs, two bags of flour, and various kitchen utensils. The cart was packed to the brim.

’With so much good inventory, it’s no wonder she was reluctant to just sell it all off for cheap.’

"Ah Huai and I will go in through Entrance 21. We’ll wait for you in Designated Dining Area 8. Hurry home, grab your things, and get going. Don’t be late."

Ning He nodded and ran home quickly.

In the residential district, most of the people who worked elsewhere had clearly gotten the message and rushed back. The doors to every home were wide open, revealing busy figures inside, all packing their belongings.

As soon as she got home, Ning He ran up to the attic and harvested all the ready vegetables.

She had already confirmed with the System: while the black mud could shorten a crop’s growth cycle, it couldn’t give it a heat-resistance buff. These vegetables would definitely die from the heat.

Muttering about the System’s useless features, Ning He trimmed and sorted the edible parts of all the vegetables, filling two large baskets.

’If I can sell all of this, I might just make enough money.’

Ning He steadied herself and wheeled out her stall cart. She left the stove behind, loading only her suitcase and the two baskets of vegetables.

The bright red and green vegetables were too conspicuous, so Ning He found a bedsheet to cover them. With her produce hidden, she locked the door and set off.

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The Fourth Ring had dozens of shelter entrances, and Entrance 21 was a half-hour walk from Ning He’s home.

There were many others on the road, a lot of them from her own neighborhood, and they all subconsciously kept their distance from Ning He.

Ning He remembered something and opened the System to check. Sure enough, her reputation value was still a big, fat 0.

Ning He was annoyed.

"At least two or three hundred people have bought my Lampshade Cakes over the past few days, and the praise has been overwhelming. How has my reputation not gone up at all?"

The System’s mechanical voice rang out: "Acquiring reputation value requires others to feel direct positive emotions toward the Host. The System has not detected any customers feeling such emotions toward the Host. Therefore, no reputation value has been recorded."

Huh?

’They only marveled at my skills but felt nothing toward me as a person?’

’That’s even possible?!’

’Back when I made cooking videos, the comment sections were always full of people showering me with praise. So many of them were in awe of my skills.’

’Who would’ve thought it would come to this?’

But on second thought, Lampshade Cakes were a fried food, and frying was the most common cooking method in this post-apocalyptic world. Ordinary people wouldn’t know about the little tricks involved, so of course, they wouldn’t feel any particular surprise or admiration.

Ning He felt slightly better.

’Whatever. It’s not like I was counting on completing this reputation quest anyway. Who cares!’

Ning He was about halfway there when she found the intersection ahead blocked by a crowd, making it impossible to move forward.

"Attention, everyone! The shelter entrance ahead is now open! Please form a line where you stand, follow the directions of security personnel, and advance slowly!"

A voice suddenly boomed from a nearby loudspeaker. The crowd bunched up at the front was quickly organized into lines of two. Ning He was placed in a queue and began to move slowly forward with the main group.

’They’re so well-drilled. Not a hint of panic.’

’This really is a post-apocalyptic world. Even babies are used to scenes of mass evacuation.’

Ning He made a funny face at a baby being carried by a young mother in front of her. It earned her a burst of bright giggles, creating a small ripple in the oppressive, somber atmosphere.

’Only a baby would look at me without judgment.’

’Look at this guy next to me. A strapping young man, too. Acting like a mouse who’s seen a cat. He was supposed to be standing in line with me, but he’s deliberately hanging back by half a meter. Tch. As if I care!’

Holding her head high, Ning He pushed her cart, occasionally making faces at the baby. More than half an hour later, she finally reached the shelter entrance for the security check.