Thirty Days to Hoard: Reborn into the Frost

Chapter 93: Chapter 92: New Plan (3)

Clearly, the Japanese ramen was packed with unhealthy seasonings. It had gotten to the point where Song Chuhuan and Ouyang Feng no longer dared to buy it, afraid that continuing to eat it would ruin their health.

A couple walked into the cafeteria, leading a young child by the hand. The three of them stopped in front of the food counters, glancing first at the Japanese ramen stall, then at the sauerkraut fish stall.

”What should we have for lunch today?” the woman asked her husband.

”Let’s get the Japanese ramen,” the man replied.

The woman cast a worried look at their son. ”There are too many additives in the ramen. The broth tastes completely unnatural. I’m afraid eating too much of it will be bad for his health.”

The man couldn’t help but agree. Lately, he had increasingly felt that the ramen broth was off. While it was tasty, it was blatantly obvious that it was heavily processed and full of artificial additives. Every time they ate it, they were left dying of thirst and had to chug water.

The sauerkraut fish, however, was a different story.

Its flavor profile had become increasingly clean and mild. Strangely enough, this lightness didn’t taste bland; instead, it felt incredibly nourishing. When you took a bite of the fish, you could taste its natural, fresh sweetness, as if it had just been pulled straight from the water. The fish broth was just as restorative. A single sip left the whole body feeling comforted and revitalized—just like a meticulously simmered soup that was both delicious and nutritious.

”Mommy, I want to eat the sauerkraut fish,” the little boy said, gazing hungrily at the stall. It was his absolute favorite dish in the cafeteria.

Ultimately, the family of three joined hands and headed over to line up for the sauerkraut fish.

Yang Shunsheng, Huang Yuqing, and their baby had also arrived at the cafeteria.

Cradling their baby boy in her arms, Huang Yuqing glanced at Chen Momo’s stall and sneered. ”A mere housewife dares to compete with the boss of a massive restaurant chain? She really doesn’t know her place! Yang Shunsheng, listen to me closely: for the next few days, we are only buying Japanese ramen. You are absolutely forbidden from buying the sauerkraut fish!”

She threatened him fiercely. She wanted to support Zhang Wanwan to the bitter end and watch her crush Chen Momo completely!

Yang Shunsheng furrowed his brow, looking over at Chen Momo’s stall. Behind the counter, her petite figure was earnestly bustling about. Deep down, he really wanted to support his ex-wife. However, under Huang Yuqing’s threat, he had no choice but to join the Japanese ramen queue.

”Go find a seat first,” Yang Shunsheng said. Casting a reluctant, longing glance at his ex-wife, he steeled himself and turned away to line up.

Inside the sauerkraut fish stall, Xu Xiaoka happened to catch sight of this. She frowned and grumbled, ”Sister Momo, that ex-husband of yours is really a piece of work. He knows perfectly well that you’re in the final showdown with Zhang Wanwan, yet he ran over to support her instead!”

The sight made Xu Xiaoka furious. Chen Momo, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. It would be far weirder if her ex-husband actually came over to support her. Besides, she didn’t need it.

Xu Xiaoka casually peeked out of the serving window. Noticing something, she cried out in pleasant surprise, ”Sister Momo, look! The line for our stall seems to be longer than Zhang Wanwan’s!”

At first, Chen Momo didn’t believe it. After all, her customer count had consistently been lower than Zhang Wanwan’s over the past few days, and she had been struggling just to catch up. But when she looked out the window, it was true—there were already more than twenty people waiting for her stall, while Zhang Wanwan’s queue was noticeably shorter by three or four people!

”Boss Chen, your sauerkraut fish is getting better and better!” a customer at the front of the line said, beaming as he gave Chen Momo a thumbs-up. Happily taking his portion of food, he praised it endlessly. ”How long did you simmer this broth? It’s so fresh and fragrant—even better than the soups I’ve had in Guangdong Province!”

Guangdong Province was renowned for its love of slow-cooked soups. The broths there were all meticulously simmered, yet Chen Momo’s sauerkraut fish soup was just as good, if not better.

Chen Momo smiled and replied, ”Our sauerkraut fish broth is carefully simmered for twenty-four hours. It’s completely natural with no additives, making it highly beneficial for your health.”

The customer, clearly a food enthusiast, nodded in continuous approval. ”Yep, this dish is worth every penny! Boss Chen, you’re putting your heart into making this food. Your business is bound to boom!”

Hearing this, Chen Momo gave a modest smile. Receiving such recognition and praise from her customers meant that her hard work hadn’t been in vain.

Meanwhile, at the Japanese ramen stall, Zhang Wanwan was visibly growing anxious. To ensure her victory in this competition, she had specifically hired a young girl named Liu Xiuxiu to help drum up business at her storefront.

Who would have thought it would be completely useless! Instead of increasing, her customer count had actually dropped! Usually, she had ten to twenty more people in line than Chen Momo. Today, her queue was actually a few people shorter!

While preparing her ramen, Zhang Wanwan kept shooting anxious glances over at Chen Momo’s stall. The calmer Chen Momo and Xu Xiaoka appeared while serving their fish, the more flustered Zhang Wanwan became.

Holding a menu, Liu Xiuxiu stood in front of the stall and called out timidly, ”Everyone, come try our Japanese ramen! Delicious and fresh Japanese ramen—don’t miss out as you walk by!”

Seeing the poor sales, Zhang Wanwan’s anger continued to mount until she took all her frustration out on Liu Xiuxiu.

Taking advantage of a lull in customers, Zhang Wanwan glared at the girl and snapped, ”Do you even know how to do your job? Your voice is as quiet as a buzzing mosquito! How are the customers supposed to hear you? I’m paying you thirty base credits an hour, and this is how you work?”

Liu Xiuxiu was just a recent college graduate with a thin skin. Scolded so harshly by Zhang Wanwan, she couldn’t help but raise a hand to secretly wipe away her tears. Jobs were hard to come by these days, and she desperately needed this one.

”I’ll try harder to promote our Japanese ramen,” Liu Xiuxiu said, her eyes red.

”You’d better,” Zhang Wanwan replied coldly. ”Otherwise, I’ll fire you. Why is it that my business has only gotten worse since I paid to hire you?”

However, even this harsh reprimand proved useless.

By the second and third days, the number of people at Zhang Wanwan’s stall had dwindled even further. Conversely, the line for the sauerkraut fish grew longer with each passing day.

Even Gu Rongjin was surprised to witness this scene when he arrived at the cafeteria. The line for Chen Momo’s sauerkraut fish had gradually become twice as long as the one for Zhang Wanwan’s Japanese ramen.

Standing beside him, Liu Hui Chun smiled and remarked, ”Base Chief, Chen Momo is truly surprising. To think she actually overtook Zhang Wanwan in such a short amount of time. It seems all her late nights and early mornings haven’t been in vain.”

Gu Rongjin also began to look at Chen Momo in a new light.

He had originally assumed that Chen Momo was destined to lose this competition. After all, she was just a housewife, while her opponent was the boss of a massive restaurant chain. He had always thought that Chen Momo was engaged in a futile effort; he had even pre-ordered the uniforms and promotional brochures tailored to Zhang Wanwan’s image.

He never expected that Chen Momo would rely on sheer, unyielding stubbornness to single-handedly reverse a situation where she had been the clear underdog.