The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

The next day was Shen Lu’s birthday.

Perhaps the heavens were taking pity on her. The wind had picked up, and the forecast called for a Seventh Level wind that would strengthen to Level 8 after midnight.

Shen Lu had just sat up, but seeing the situation, she flopped right back onto her pillow.

It was the perfect excuse to stay in bed for another half hour.

She scrolled on her Light Brain for a while and posted a video she had edited in advance.

The video announced the trial run of her delivery service. The delivery area was limited, covering a twenty-kilometer radius around Little Deer Cuisine.

Just like the dine-in service, delivery was only for lunch. It was also a ground-floor-only service, so customers had to come downstairs to pick up their orders.

The video was posted quite early, but it already had quite a few comments.

Some people complained that Shen Lu’s delivery area was too small, while others griped about why she only delivered lunch.

Of course, some people were cheering with joy, saying their workplace was right within the delivery range. Being able to eat delicious food at noon without leaving was just fantastic.

Others asked how much the delivery fee would be.

Even more people asked where to place an order.

A few days ago, Shen Lu had applied for a business account specifically for her delivery service.

The business account had a full range of features. After fiddling with it for a few days, Shen Lu had created a simple mini-program for customers to place orders themselves.

But since today was a trial run, Shen Lu only opened ordering permissions for a few select areas.

The main focus was the Silver Sea Building, a hub for office workers. There were two other office buildings nearby, also predominantly filled with white-collar workers.

Many of Shen Lu’s customers were from there. It was about two kilometers from the restaurant, and they would usually walk twenty minutes to eat at her place.

After Shen Lu linked the business account in the video’s comment section, friend requests flooded the backend in an instant, coming in like a snowstorm, too many to even look through.

“Fu Cheng, help me accept these,” Shen Lu said, sharing the business account’s backend with Fu Cheng. She asked him to help approve the requests while she went to brush her teeth and wash her face.

After delaying in bed for a while, she figured breakfast downstairs should be ready. If she didn’t go down soon, she’d miss out on a hot meal.

When Shen Lu came out of the bathroom, Fu Cheng had already approved all the requests.

He returned the Light Brain to Shen Lu, and the sound of order notifications began to chime one after another.

“Is today the trial run for the delivery service?” Fu Cheng asked.

“Mhm, with this weather, there will be fewer dine-in customers, so it’s the perfect time to launch the delivery service.”

“But… aren’t you taking the day off?”

“Why would I take the day off?”

“Isn’t it your birthday today?”

“You knew?” Shen Lu raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How did you find out?”

Fu Cheng was momentarily speechless. ‘Could he tell her that he’d accidentally seen her chat with Bai Wanwan using his consciousness?’

‘Probably not.’

Luckily, Shen Lu didn’t press the issue. “I’m not a kid anymore. A simple birthday is good enough.”

Shen Lu put on her Light Brain, glanced at the backend, and took all the dishes offline, marking them as sold out.

‘That’s about enough. Looking at the backend, the number of orders was already over 1,000.’

She still didn’t know what kind of mission the system would issue today, so it was better to take it easy for now.

She wouldn’t rest on her birthday, but she didn’t want to get too tired either. This number of orders was just right.

“Happy birthday.” Fu Cheng pursed his lips. “Sorry I didn’t get you a gift.”

Shen Lu smiled sweetly. “Your birthday wish is more than enough.”

Breakfast was tofu brain and shaobing.

By the time Shen Lu finished eating, Sang Yue still hadn’t gotten up. Cai Su asked if she should wake her.

“No need, let her sleep.”

‘She’s not really my employee anyway. Besides, Sang Yue suffered a lot before and probably hasn’t fully recovered yet, so she tends to sleep in.’

‘There isn’t much to do today anyway, so it’s fine if she gets up late.’

‘After all, she’s getting paid to be here, so I don’t need to be too strict.’

After breakfast, only Zhao Qian’s people came to deliver ingredients. As usual, the suppliers from the Lower City District used the bad weather as an excuse to suspend their delivery service.

That wouldn’t do. She had over a thousand delivery orders to prepare today.

Shen Lu: “If you won’t deliver, can I pick it up myself?”

After she sent the message, several of the owners replied that it was fine.

Just then, Wang Daguo arrived at the restaurant, dragging a half-dead Xin Yu by the hand.

“Brother Wang, come out with me for a trip,” Shen Lu said.

“Boss, where are we going?” Hearing Shen Lu, Wang Daguo rubbed his hands in excitement. ‘Finally, it’s my time to shine.’

Wang Daguo dropped Xin Yu, hoisted Shen Lu up, and got into the military armored vehicle in the backyard.

In that short distance from the building to the passenger seat, Shen Lu got a real taste of the power of the Seventh Level wind.

If Wang Daguo hadn’t been holding onto her, she really would have been blown away. The wind was so strong she couldn’t breathe and could barely open her eyes.

“This is terrifying.” Sitting in the passenger seat, Shen Lu gasped for a few breaths. “I thought I was going to be blown into the sky.”

“That wouldn’t happen. I was holding on tight. I can even carry that kid Xin Yu back to the shop, let alone you, Boss.”

“Let’s go. First to the market to pick up the ingredients.”

Wang Daguo nodded, took a deep breath, and started the engine, following the procedure.

A military armored vehicle drove a bit differently from a civilian car; it was more complicated.

Fortunately, Wang Daguo was a quick study and drove it quite proficiently.

On this trip, not only did they pick up the ingredients, but they also brought Deng Ying and her sister, Deng Xuan, along.

It happened by coincidence.

Shen Lu had only planned to pick up ingredients and, while they were out, show Wang Daguo where to deliver the lunch orders. She never expected to see Deng Ying being kicked out, clutching her sister.

She quickly had Wang Daguo get out and bring them into the vehicle. Deng Ying’s face was filled with terror, and she trembled while holding her sister, unable to come to her senses for a long while.

There was no food or drink in the cabin, let alone any blankets. Shen Lu could only hold Deng Ying’s hand and comfort her softly.

“It’s okay now. Don’t be afraid. Come back to the shop with us first.”

Wang Daguo turned the steering wheel, and the vehicle slowly rumbled toward Gold Street.

The vehicle stopped at the shop’s entrance, and Wu Jun and Huo Qian came over to unload the ingredients.

Shen Lu had Wang Daguo take the Deng Ying sisters inside first, saying she could wait.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Sang Yue had been in the dormitory living room watching Xiao Lang practice boxing. Hearing the commotion outside, she came out to take a look and immediately saw the Deng Ying sisters in their wretched state.

She didn’t know Deng Ying was an employee and thought they were beggars Shen Lu had picked up, the kind who had been severely bullied.

However, her shout made everyone a little awkward.

Cai Su helped the Deng Ying sisters sit down. Xin Yu went to the front counter, found the first-aid kit, and gave them some simple treatment for their injuries.

Deng Ying had a three-centimeter-long gash on her forehead. It had been there for a while, and the blood had already clotted. Deng Xuan’s little face was deathly pale, her breathing faint.

“We have to get them to a hospital, quickly,” Sang Yue said, leaning in with a serious expression. “Especially this little sister. She’s very sick.”

The moment Shen Lu came in, she heard Sang Yue’s words.

“Miss Sang.” Shen Lu greeted her simply. “Have you had breakfast?”

Sang Yue’s brow furrowed slightly. “Boss Shen, why didn’t you take them directly to the hospital?”