Chapter 91 - 90: New Plan 1

Chapter 91: Chapter 90: New Plan 1

Chen Momo finally seemed to know what to do!

"We should focus on enhancing the natural aroma of the fish itself, rather than relying on heavy seasoning."

Xu Xiaoka was extremely confused. "Sister Momo, if you put it that way, what exactly should we do?"

"Tomorrow I’ll find some books on fish farming and learn how to raise them to be more succulent," Chen Momo explained. "I want the diners to truly taste the natural aroma of the fish meat, not just a mishmash of spices."

"But will that really work?" Xu Xiaoka asked worriedly. "I saw that Zhang Wanwan, who sells Japanese ramen, also puts a ton of seasoning in her broth."

"We won’t know if it works until we try," Chen Momo replied.

It was already past ten at night. Exhausted, Xu Xiaoka had gone to bed first, and Xiao Bao was already fast asleep. The little calico cat, however, wasn’t sleepy in the slightest and trailed right on Chen Momo’s heels.

Chen Momo’s current home, Apartment 1608, had one feature she absolutely adored: a massive kitchen. It was perfectly suited for her to research and experiment with various dishes.

While Xu Xiaoka and Xiao Bao were sound asleep, Chen Momo closed the kitchen door and pulled a fish pond out from her spatial dimension. The pond held about a hundred fish. To her surprise, she noticed they seemed much larger than when she had first put them in. Shaking their heads and swishing their tails, they also appeared far more energetic.

Chen Momo suddenly recalled the rebirth novels she used to read. In those stories, the spatial dimensions the reincarnated heroines brought with them often had the ability to accelerate the growth of plants and animals. She wondered if her space had the same function.

To test this theory, she divided the hundred fish into two groups. She left fifty in the kitchen and sent the other fifty back into her space. At the same time, she turned on the stove, brought out her seasonings, and began to re-evaluate the spice ratios and simmering techniques for her pickled cabbage fish broth.

She now had a single guiding principle: the broth had to be rich and savory, but it absolutely could not overpower the natural fragrance of the fish! To make the broth even more delicious, Chen Momo made a bold decision. She would abandon all artificial flavorings like chicken bouillon and MSG, and exclusively simmer the broth herself using natural herbal spices! Fortunately, she had stockpiled a wide variety of seasonings in her space before the apocalypse, giving her all the necessary herbs to craft the soup base from scratch.

Every time she adjusted the seasoning, she would taste the broth herself. If it didn’t meet her standards, she would tweak the ratio of the spices and boil a fresh batch. Thankfully, over the past few days, she had collected numerous broth recipes from major hotels and bookstores. Combining these with her own practical experience, her hard work finally paid off. After a great deal of effort, Chen Momo successfully created a broth she was absolutely satisfied with!

A wave of drowsiness washed over her. She checked the time; it was already past six in the morning. The broth was finally ready, just waiting for the live test later today! Chen Momo was thrilled. There were only ten days left until the ultimate showdown, and whether or not she could clinch the final victory would depend entirely on today’s performance!

She still had to open the stall at ten o’clock. Stifling a yawn, she bid the little calico cat goodnight and went back to her room to sleep.

A few hours later.

"Sister Momo, we need to go open the stall!"

Chen Momo was still deep in her dreams when she was suddenly jolted awake by a loud KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on her door. She immediately sat up in bed and checked the time. It was ten o’clock. She had to hurry up and get the stall ready!

After quickly washing up and getting dressed, Chen Momo carried the broth she had simmered overnight and headed to the cafeteria. As soon as she walked in, she saw that a long queue had already formed in front of Zhang Wanwan’s window.

Zhang Wanwan was in high spirits today, her eyes constantly darting toward Chen Momo’s pickled cabbage fish window. It was already past ten, yet Chen Momo’s stall remained closed. Seeing this, Zhang Wanwan couldn’t help but feel a surge of secret smugness. She assumed Chen Momo couldn’t handle the pressure and was too ashamed to stay open. Anyone facing a formidable opponent like her would undoubtedly admit defeat, let alone a mere housewife. From now on, the Han City Base cafeteria would belong entirely to her, Zhang Wanwan! The more she thought about it, the happier she became. She was determined to carve out her own empire in this apocalypse!

Right in the midst of her gloating, the lights at the pickled cabbage fish window suddenly flicked on. Chen Momo looked incredibly calm, acting as if she wasn’t the least bit worried about the impending competition. However, Xu Xiaoka, who was acting as her assistant, appeared quite anxious; his brows hadn’t uncreased for days.

As the clock slowly ticked toward noon, the crowd in the cafeteria began to swell. The hum of voices grew into a deafening roar as diners wandered between the various windows, searching for their favorite meals.

A line eventually formed in front of Chen Momo’s stall, though it was significantly shorter than the queue for Zhang Wanwan’s Japanese ramen. Chen Momo expertly fired up the stove and began cooking. Thanks to her recent practice, her culinary skills had greatly improved, and her serving speed was much faster than before.

One of her customers today was a gaunt, haggard man. Taking the bowl of pickled cabbage fish from Chen Momo, he couldn’t help but swallow hard. "Thank you," he said.

After receiving his food, he didn’t leave immediately; instead, his gaze shifted to the upright refrigerator behind the window. "Um... could I also get a can of cola?" the haggard man asked, staring blankly at the drinks inside.

"Of course!" Xu Xiaoka said cheerfully. "Cola is three hundred base credits a can!"

The gaunt man looked as though he hadn’t had a proper meal in ages. When he had first fled to the base as a refugee, he didn’t have a single base credit to his name. Fortunately, he managed to find a part-time job with Du Haitao, which allowed him to barely scrape by and avoid starving to death. He stared at the cola in the fridge and hesitated for a moment. Then, as if making a monumental decision, he nodded. "Alright, give me one can."

With that, he tapped his meal card against the reader, deducting three hundred base credits.

Carrying his pickled cabbage fish and cola, the haggard man hurried away. He quickly found a seat in the cafeteria and began to wolf down his food. Perhaps because he was utterly famished, he polished off all the fish meat in the blink of an eye, leaving behind more than half a bowl of broth.

The broth was simply too delicious for him to waste. Lifting the bowl, he gulped it down mouthful by mouthful until it was completely wiped clean.

Xu Xiaoka happened to catch sight of this and softly whispered to Chen Momo, "Sister Momo, look at that guy. He drank all the broth! No one has ever finished our pickled cabbage fish broth before."