Chapter 105 - 96: Countermeasures

Chapter 105: Chapter 96: Countermeasures

After making her bold declaration, Ning He had planned to discuss countermeasures with Connie and Ah Huai immediately, but she was too exhausted the moment she got home and fell asleep right on the sofa.

When she woke up, it was already past three in the afternoon. She quickly called to summon them.

The moment Ah Huai arrived, she started asking about the cafeteria before Ning He could even speak.

Today was the first day the three of them had a day off on rotation, and Ah Huai was still a little worried whether the two new young men could handle things.

"Don’t worry," Ning He said. "San Shui and Ding Wang have been on the job for half a month, so they’re already familiar with everything. Plus, I was there to guide them, so there were no problems."

Ah Huai was relieved. Beside her, Connie pulled something that looked like a greeting card out of her bag and handed it to Ning He.

"These are a few VIP card designs I picked out. Which one do you think is better?"

Ning He took it and opened it. Inside, a dozen or so different card samples were taped to the left and right sides. Each had its own unique style, and they all felt high-quality.

"You pick. They all look fine to me."

Ning He stared at them for a long time but couldn’t decide, so she just scratched her head and handed it back to Connie.

"Then take a look at this. I had someone design a wall-mounted menu board. Using a small chalkboard isn’t right for our restaurant anymore. We need to be a bit more professional." Connie handed her phone to Ning He, gesturing for her to look.

"Isn’t today our day off? How did you get so much work done?" Ning He asked as she took the phone.

Connie’s eyes widened. "Business is booming! We can’t let little things like this hold us back. Hurry up and look. See if there’s one you like."

"Oh."

Ning He clicked on the sea of images on Connie’s phone, and her eyes quickly glazed over.

The designs were all deceptively similar, yet each had its own subtle differences. In short, looking at a new one made her forget the previous one.

Seeing Ning He’s conflicted expression, Connie gave up and took her phone back.

"Forget it. I’d have better luck asking Youzhen. Let’s not waste any more time."

Ning He felt a huge sense of relief.

"You’re right. Whatever you two decide will definitely be better than my choice."

Connie shot her a sidelong glance, put her things away, and asked, "So, what was so urgent that you had to call us over in such a hurry?"

Ning He slapped her forehead and quickly relayed the news she’d gotten from Old Wood.

"That Wendy! I knew she was hiding a dagger behind that smile! She’s trying to completely block our path to upgrading!" Connie’s temper flared, and her fist slammed onto the coffee table with a BANG. The cups on the table rattled from the impact.

Ning He subconsciously scooted a little to the side. "I know, right? I never thought she had a relative like that. It’s a vicious move. She’s blocking us with a perfectly legitimate reason, so we can’t even find grounds to object."

It would’ve been easier to counter some shady, underhanded tactic. But with an official regulation like this, there’s nothing we can do, even if we know she’s the one who orchestrated it.

"If we can’t upgrade, how are we supposed to open our noodle shop?" Connie fixed her eyes on Ning He. "We made a promise back then. Even if we’re not short on money now, we have to open that noodle shop. We can’t just let this go."

Ning He immediately made her stance clear. "Of course not! That’s why I called you two here, to come up with a plan."

Only then did Connie’s expression soften. She turned to Ah Huai. "What do you think?"

"I think we still need to focus on the cafeteria," Ah Huai said. "Since the food company issued a new regulation, they’re not likely to change it easily. But we’re short-staffed. Once we start selling noodles, we probably won’t have time to make things like rice cakes and fermented rice wine. That’s another problem."

"We can solve the staffing problem as long as we make time to find and train a few people. The noodle shop was the old man’s life’s work. The three of us just need to put our heads together. There has to be a way," Connie said firmly.

Ah Huai sighed. "I know all that. But according to Uncle Wood, someone has to voluntarily withdraw or downgrade to free up a spot for us. That’s just not going to happen. The work at the cafeteria stalls is much easier than jobs on the outside. Who would voluntarily give that up for someone else?"

"Not necessarily." Ning He suddenly had a thought and slapped her thigh. "I have an idea. Hear me out."

「Ten minutes later.」

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Connie was the one hesitating now. "Actually... I’m not in that much of a hurry to reopen the noodle shop."

Ning He patted her shoulder. "It’s fine. This isn’t just for you; I have to prove myself, too. Back in the day, my dad was the top dog of the Third-level Stalls. I can’t just keep languishing at a Zero-level stall. That would be too much of a disgrace to the Ning family. Besides, this is nothing. I’ve got plenty more skills up my sleeve."

"I think the idea is worth a try," Ah Huai said. "But are we even inviting Wendy?"

"We are!" Ning He said without hesitation. "I want her to see with her own eyes how we’re going to break this deadlock. But we still need to choose our final partners carefully. We don’t want anyone with poor character; they’re more likely to backstab us."

"Uncle Wood knows everyone in the cafeteria best, so let’s get the details from him first. I think we should also invite the Level 1 Stalls from the lunch and dinner shifts. I’m sure they’ll be tempted too," Connie said.

"Then I’ll call him right now and get a list of names."

Ning He quickly dialed Old Wood’s number and got a few names.

The list included the Level 1 Stalls from the lunch and dinner shifts.

The food company’s supply quotas were calculated based on a daily total, counting all same-level stalls from all three meal services together. As long as any one of them was willing to give up their spot, Ning He could successfully upgrade.

"Then I’ll contact them tomorrow."

The next day, Connie went to work at the cafeteria and stayed until three in the afternoon. When she got back to the restaurant, she excitedly relayed everything to Ning He, who was in the kitchen stir-frying.

"It’s all set! The time is fixed for Thursday at noon. We’ll prepare well, make a few dishes they’ve never seen before, and I guarantee we’ll win them over completely."

"You should have seen it. When I told Wendy I was inviting her to eat, she looked like she’d seen a ghost. People with a guilty conscience always get spooked. I can’t wait to see her reaction then."

Meanwhile, an alarmed Wendy gathered all the people from the breakfast Level 1 Stalls.

"What’s going on? Why are they suddenly inviting us to eat?"

"They said their new restaurant is open and they want us to come try it and have a chat. It’s probably nothing." The speaker was Aunt Xinmu, who sold vegetable pancakes.

But Wendy was uneasy. "Chat about what? They couldn’t have found out about that, could they?"

She wasn’t sure if she had read Ning He’s lips correctly yesterday, but a knot of unease had settled in her heart.

"Why are you overthinking it? The matter’s already set in stone, so don’t worry. To be honest, I want to try her restaurant too. I’ve seen people online hyping her vegetarian buffet to the heavens. I wonder if it’s really that good." The speaker was Skinny Winnie, who made pita wraps.

"That may be so..." Wendy was still worried. She looked toward a tall man standing beside them. "Hai Hei, you’re not going to say anything, are you?"

"I wasn’t involved in this matter, and I’ll act like I don’t know anything. You don’t have to worry about me," Hai Hei said flatly, his arms crossed.

Wendy breathed a sigh of relief.

Skinny Winnie chuckled. "Hai Hei is a man of his word. Stop worrying. We’ll find out tomorrow when we go. With so many of us on your side, what are you afraid of?"

Wendy felt much better.

"Thank you, everyone."

"What’s there to thank? If it wasn’t for the plan you came up with, we’d probably all be out of business by now," said Aunt Xinmu. "You also paid the lion’s share for the gifts. We’re all just benefiting from your efforts."

"It’s nothing. I’m just glad I could help everyone," Wendy said with a smile.

"Then it’s settled! We’ll all go together! We’ll eat and drink to our heart’s content! We have to eat our money’s worth to make up for all the business we’ve lost!" Skinny Winnie said resentfully, shaking his fist. He then slapped Hai Hei on the shoulder. "You better not hold back then! Show them a real appetite!"

Hai Hei shot him a glance but said nothing. Skinny Winnie paid it no mind and continued to arrange a meeting time and place with Wendy. Only then did the group disperse.

On Thursday at noon, Ning He and Connie had all the dishes ready in the restaurant, and Ah Huai arrived with the guests.

"Oh, so it’s in this neighborhood. Not exactly a prime location, is it? Can customers even find this place?" Skinny Winnie said disdainfully from the crowd, surveying the restaurant’s surroundings and curling his lip.

"Don’t you worry. We have more customers than we can handle every day. As long as the food is good, people will come no matter where you open up. Unlike some people, whose cooking is so bad they couldn’t sell a thing even if you gave them a prime stall." Connie shot back bluntly as she walked out of the restaurant.

"You—!" Skinny Winnie and Connie had gotten into verbal spars a few times before over the use of communal utensils, and he had been soundly defeated and forced to retreat every time. Today, they were on Connie’s home turf, so even though he was fuming, he knew what was good for him and shut his mouth.

The others didn’t know the history between them, but seeing the two of them start arguing the moment they met was unavoidably awkward. For a moment, no one knew what to say.

"Is everyone here? Then what are we waiting for? Come on in, everything’s ready."

Ning He stepped forward, breaking the silence, and welcomed everyone into the restaurant.

Soon, the operators of the ten Level 1 Stalls were all seated at a long table that had been temporarily assembled on the second floor.