Chapter 82 - 81: Meeting at the Base

Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Meeting at the Base

Gu Rongjin was the base commander and held supreme power. However, he was also famous for his strict impartiality. If one were to approach the base commander directly, they would likely have the door slammed in their face.

Therefore, Yang Shunsheng set his sights on Liu Hui Chun. Liu Hui Chun had a great relationship with the base commander; Gu Rongjin would always seek Liu Hui Chun’s opinion on matters regarding the cafeteria. If he could build a good relationship with Liu Hui Chun, all it would take was a few good words spoken in front of Gu Rongjin, and the opportunity would naturally fall into his lap.

Hence, Yang Shunsheng decided to curry favor with Liu Hui Chun first. He needed to be fully prepared in advance so that when the opportunity arrived, he could seize it immediately! He refused to live a worse life in the apocalypse than his ex-wife. Relying on his own efforts, he would rise to power and wealth once again, forcing his ex-wife to continue looking up to him!

The news about the construction of the production center had finally settled.

Gu Rongjin had Liu Hui Chun gather all the cafeteria vendors for a general meeting. The meeting was held in the highly prestigious conference center of the Han City Base, which boasted a very modern interior decor. This was Chen Momo’s first time visiting the Han City Base’s conference room. Despite it being the apocalypse, the grandeur of this room was in no way inferior to high-end conference rooms from before the end of the world.

Zhang Wanwan was also present today. She had dressed up exceptionally beautifully, wearing an entirely different outfit than when she was working at her stall. Even though she was over forty, there wasn’t a single trace of old age on her. On the contrary, due to a successful career and excellent self-care, Zhang Wanwan exuded the unique charm of a mature woman. This mature beauty was naturally very attractive to men. At the very least, several men in the conference room couldn’t stop staring at her. Had their wives not been sitting beside them with angry expressions, these men wouldn’t have been able to tear their eyes away.

Zhang Wanwan cast a provocative glance at Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka, who were sitting only a few seats away.

Ever since Zhang Wanwan first rented her stall, she had heard about a stunning woman at the sauerkraut fish stall. Not only was she beautiful, but she also made incredibly delicious sauerkraut fish, earning her the nickname "Sauerkraut Fish Beauty." From that moment on, Zhang Wanwan considered Chen Momo her ultimate rival. She secretly resolved to perfect her Japanese ramen and thoroughly defeat Chen Momo.

The golden broth of her Japanese ramen was sour and spicy, just like the broth of the sauerkraut fish. Because of this, their customer bases overlapped. Zhang Wanwan was determined to snatch all of these overlapping customers for her own ramen stall! During her first few days of operation, everything had gone smoothly; she successfully stole half of the sauerkraut fish stall’s customers.

However, this was far from enough to satisfy her ambitions. Having fought her way to the top of a cutthroat market, Zhang Wanwan knew there were no friends in business. When enemies met on a narrow path, only the bravest survived. Between the sauerkraut fish and the Japanese ramen, it was a fight to the death!

Chen Momo also noticed Zhang Wanwan’s hostile glare. She casually turned her head and saw the smugness and malice in the older woman’s eyes. Even though they were separated by several seats, Chen Momo knew that a silent, bloodless war was unfolding between them. The customer bases for sauerkraut fish and golden broth Japanese ramen partially overlapped. Who would win or lose in this contest depended entirely on who could capture that shared demographic.

Standing on the stage, Gu Rongjin surveyed the stall vendors seated at the tables below and said in a calm tone, "The person in charge of the base management headquarters will soon visit the top ten bases for an inspection. After the inspection, the headquarters executive will select the best-performing base to receive the investment for building the production center. All ten bases are vying for this investment and want the production center built in their own territory. I believe you all know the benefits of constructing a production center—"

Gu Rongjin paused, sweeping his gaze across the audience, before continuing, "Whichever base builds the production center first will be able to sell supplies to the other nine bases. This is the only way our base’s economy can develop first, allowing our residents to prosper before anyone else. I imagine none of you sitting here want to miss this opportunity."

Liu Hui Chun stood to the side, holding a small notebook. Upon hearing the contents of Gu Rongjin’s address, Liu Hui Chun took out a pen and began constantly scribbling in it.

A short, chubby, middle-aged man stood up. Chen Momo recognized him as Hu Yitong, the boss of the rice bowl stall.

Hu Yitong loudly declared, "Base Commander, this opportunity is so good that we absolutely cannot miss it! We must secure the investment and have the headquarters build the production center in our base! Only then can we take the lead in development and escape this plight of supply shortages!"

Gu Rongjin nodded and continued, "That is the reason I have gathered you all for this meeting. Headquarters places great importance on the utilization efficiency of supplies. Therefore, whether a cafeteria prepares meals with care and fully utilizes its ingredients is extremely important. It directly determines whether we can fully utilize the ingredients produced by the center once it’s established. So, to optimize our cafeteria in preparation for the headquarters’ upcoming inspection, our Han City Base has decided to conduct an optimization sweep of all the cafeteria stalls. We will retain the vendors who cook with care and eliminate the stalls that pass off inferior goods as high quality, waste resources, or deceive customers."

As soon as he said this, an uproar broke out among the vendors in the audience.

Gu Rongjin glanced at Liu Hui Chun beside him, who then walked onto the stage carrying his notebook. It contained a compiled list of high-quality and low-quality vendors, formulated after a long period of observation. The low-quality vendors were to be eliminated after this meeting to prevent them from leaving a bad impression on the headquarters executive during the inspection.

Everyone grew tense, terrified that they would end up on the elimination list.

Xu Xiaoka tightly grasped Chen Momo’s hand. "Sister Momo, our sauerkraut fish stall always has so many diners lining up. We shouldn’t be on the elimination list, right?"

Liu Hui Chun cleared his throat, put on his reading glasses, and slowly began to speak. "This elimination is based on a comprehensive evaluation of each stall from various angles, including hygiene, ingredient utilization efficiency, customer feedback, and food quality. Each stall has been given an overall score. In accordance with a bottom-place elimination system, the lowest-ranking twenty percent of the stalls will be eliminated."