Shen Lu didn't look through Liu Chunhua's bag. She just told Zeng Xiaodao to hurry and return it.
"Don't be scared," Zeng Xiaodao said. "Even if you took it, she wouldn't know it was you. She'd just blame me."
"If she's that much trouble, it's better you don't take it either. Put it back exactly as it was so you don't make an enemy of her."
"If you're not taking anything, then I'm not playing around," Zeng Xiaodao said, picking up the bag again. "I can't chat for long, or Granny Liu will be after me."
"Bye."
Zeng Xiaodao was gone in a flash, quick as the wind.
Shen Lu shook her head and decided to walk a bit farther away.
Even by the time she got back to her rental unit, she hadn't seen Liu Chunhua come looking for her.
Her scavenging run that morning hadn't gone smoothly, and it took longer than expected. Shen Lu didn't even have time to go to the public bathhouse.
'I'll just close up early this afternoon.'
Shen Lu thought to herself, her hands never stopping as she peeled radishes.
[DING-DONG~ New Mission: Sell 35 cups of mint water, 25 egg puffs, and 25 orders of malatang.]
'The mission quotas are really getting larger and larger.'
She prepped all the ingredients for the malatang and put them in the pot, mixed the batter and set it aside. The mint water was the easiest, and Shen Lu had already made it as soon as she got back.
Wang Daguo hadn't arrived yet, so Shen Lu took out all the radish peels she had saved from the past two days.
She hadn't thrown them away, instead keeping them in a basin.
Now was the perfect time to make a refreshing side dish: cold-tossed radish peels.
It was very simple to make—just chop them up and toss them with some seasonings.
Shen Lu had struggled with this before. She felt it was a waste to throw the peels away, but she was missing several seasonings needed to make them into a proper dish.
Luckily, she had won a bunch of small seasoning packets in the lottery yesterday, including chili oil and soy sauce, which she could now use.
Just as she finished mixing, Wang Daguo knocked on the door.
"Boss Shen, I'm here."
Shen Lu answered, then put the cold-tossed radish peels into a bowl. She wiped the basin with a rag, and it was instantly spotless.
She then flipped the basin over and placed it on top of the bowl like a lid, to keep anything from getting inside.
She didn't plan on selling the radish peels today. There wasn't much, so she was going to keep them for herself or give them away as a small favor.
This time, when they were moving her things, Wang Daguo brought an extra stool. It hung on the cart without taking up much space.
"Boss Shen, it'd be better for you to have a stool to sit on."
"Okay."
Shen Lu would never refuse something that was good for her.
Before Wang Daguo left, Shen Lu made sure to tell him to come half an hour earlier than usual.
"Got it. I'll be here before three-thirty."
His job didn't require set hours anyway, so his schedule was quite flexible.
The weather was good today, so there were a lot of customers.
Shen Lu's business was booming from the moment she set up her stall. People's love for her malatang was exceptional, and they had a love-hate relationship with her purchase limit.
They hated that everyone could only have one serving, but they loved that since *they* could only have one serving, so could everyone else.
Shen Lu was swamped. She had to serve food, handle payments, and greet customers all by herself, so she didn't notice someone taking pictures of her from a distance.
Liu Qian aimed her Light Brain at Shen Lu and snapped several photos. She picked two where Shen Lu's smile looked particularly eager to please and sent them off.
Liu Qian: Lanlan, isn't this that girl, Shen Lu?
A reply came back quickly.
Shen Lan: Where did you see her?
Liu Qian: On Gold Street! She seems to be running a stall selling something. Business looks pretty good, too.
Shen Lan pursed her lips, her gaze dark and menacing as she stared at the girl in the photo.
Hadn't she ordered her servants to dump Shen Lu and Fu Cheng in the Seventeenth District?
How could Shen Lu possibly be smiling in a place like that?
'Could she have met some kind soul who helped her out?'
'That can't happen! Before I returned to the Shen Family, I lived a life worse than a stray dog's. On what grounds should Shen Lu be able to live a decent life after being thrown into the Seventeenth District?'
Shen Lan's fingernails dug into her palm as a fierce wave of resentment washed over her.
...
As the last egg puff came off the griddle, Shen Lu wiped the sweat from her temples and breathed a sigh of relief.
She had deliberately picked up her pace today so she could go home early.
She'd achieved her goal, but it was exhausting.
[DING-DONG. Mint water 35/35, egg puffs 25/25, malatang 25/25 sold. Mission complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]
She glanced at the clock on the wall of the shop across the street. There were still about ten minutes until three-thirty. Too lazy to start packing up, she sat down on her stool to wait for Wang Daguo.
Everything was sold out, but customers still came over to ask.
"I'm sorry, I'm all sold out of today's ingredients," Shen Lu said politely.
"Boss, I've come to your little stall three days in a row," the customer said, his expression sour. "Can't you figure something out and make one more for me?"
'Another one of these unreasonable, pestering customers,' Shen Lu felt exhausted.
She could, in fact, exchange her scavenged materials for more ingredients. She usually prioritized exchanging the larger pieces of metal scrap first, keeping the smaller, more valuable pieces in her pocket to use when needed.
But she didn't want to stay open any longer today. Her mission was complete, all her prepped ingredients were sold out, and she was just waiting for Wang Daguo to arrive so she could pack up, go home, and head to the bathhouse for a good wash.
"How about you come a bit earlier tomorrow?" Shen Lu said with a sincere tone. "I have a fixed amount of ingredients each day. There's nothing I can do."
The customer huffed angrily, clearly feeling that Shen Lu was slighting him and causing him to lose face.
Shen Lu pressed her fingers to her forehead, genuinely wishing there were fewer of these entitled customers.
Thankfully, Wang Daguo finally arrived.
The two of them packed everything up and returned to her rental unit. Shen Lu paid him his Star Coins for the day.
"Oh, right," Shen Lu called out to Wang Daguo as he was about to leave. She filled a bowl with some of the cold-tossed radish peels. "Take this home with you."
She was very satisfied with Wang Daguo's help so far and was happy to give him a little something to maintain their good working relationship.
"Boss Shen, this is too much," Wang Daguo demurred instinctively.
"It's just made from radish peels," Shen Lu said, coming up with a reasonable excuse. "You and your family can help me taste-test it. If it's good, I'm thinking of selling it."
'She wants my help?'
Wang Daguo hesitated. Shen Lu, having no patience to argue, simply thrust the bowl into his hands. "Just remember to get some feedback from your family for me."
"...Okay."
Wang Daguo scratched the back of his head. "Boss Shen, you're a really good person."
'Truth be told, he felt like he was getting the better end of the deal working for her, and he never expected she'd also give him food every now and then.'
'Sigh. He'd heard she used to be from the Upper City District but was abandoned in the Seventeenth District for some reason. How could such a kind and generous young woman suffer such a fate?'
Wang Daguo felt truly indignant on Shen Lu's behalf.
Oblivious to being awarded the "good person card" and Wang Daguo's indignation on her behalf, Shen Lu sent the kindhearted mover on his way, locked her door, and headed to the Fifteenth District for a bath.
Shen Lu had no intention of wearing that lace dress again. She planned to buy a normal set of clothes.
The lace dress was pretty, no doubt, but the waist was too tight and the cuffs were too elaborate. It just wasn't practical for work.
A short-sleeved shirt and long pants were much more convenient.