The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland novel Chapter 270

Chapter 270: Chapter 270: Small Copper Hot Pot

Besides distributing the new employee uniforms, Shen Lu decided to treat everyone to dinner that night. She would have the new and old employees eat together, and she would cook herself.

Since she was treating them, Shen Lu, as before, told the employees to bring their families.

"Let me know how many people will be coming from your families so I can prepare enough food."

Wang Daguo looked a little embarrassed. "Boss, maybe you should count my family out."

He already ate a lot himself, and with four people in his family, that was quite a few mouths to feed.

"It’s fine. The more, the merrier." Although Shen Lu had never run a business before, she knew that occasional team-building activities were essential.

She couldn’t think of any novel ideas, but treating them to a meal was something she could both do and do well.

"Alright, then." Wang Daguo finally nodded and agreed.

"Oh, right. While you’re at it, invite Granny Jin to come along too."

"Got it."

Deng Ying said she would bring her sister. Xin Yu’s parents had died young, and last year, the grandparents who raised him also passed away one after another. He was now all alone in the world.

Shu Meng was married and had an 8-year-old son. Her husband worked as a security guard at a textile factory in the Lower City District. If he could get the time off, she would bring him and their child.

Cai Su leaned in and whispered in Shen Lu’s ear, "Will Uncle Liu and Aunt Yang be eating with us?"

Shen Lu paused. "It’s not convenient for Liu Yaozu and my dad. We’ll see if my mom wants to come."

She could only somewhat tolerate Yang Jing. As for Liu Yaozu and Liu Qiang, she didn’t want to see them at all.

Including the security guards, there would be nearly twenty people. It could be considered a small party.

There were a lot of ingredients to prepare. Shen Lu planned to start getting things ready for the evening meal after the lunch rush.

With so many people, stir-frying would be too much work. Shen Lu decided to make hot pot for dinner.

She would make three flavors: a classic spicy beef tallow broth, a tomato broth, and a congee-base broth. This way, she could cater to everyone’s tastes. Each person could choose their preferred broth for their own mini hot pot and pick their own ingredients. It was both hygienic and flexible.

The only problem was that she needed to buy the tableware from the System Mall. A single six-inch copper mini hot pot cost 200 popularity value, so twenty of them would be 4,000 popularity value.

’To buy or not to buy?’

’Of course I’ll buy them.’

Shen Lu approved the major expense and bought twenty copper mini hot pots.

These mini hot pots were expensive, but they had one great feature: they didn’t need to be plugged in. The base had its own energy unit that was good for 10,000 hours of use.

The energy units were replaceable, and they were available in the System Mall for 10 popularity value each, which was quite cheap.

Shen Lu comforted herself, ’I can use these mini hot pots today, and I can use them again in the future. Once I start offering stir-fry dishes, I can add hot pot to the menu. This is just buying them in advance.’

The atmosphere at Little Deer Cuisine was exceptionally good today. Everyone had a joyful expression and worked with extra enthusiasm.

Since they opened for the day, customers had been pouring in nonstop. Shen Lu casually asked around and learned that not only had all the Xiangmantian Chain Restaurant locations closed, but Boss Sun’s and Boss Chen’s other restaurants had also shut down.

And it wasn’t just restaurants. Some other shops and small factories had either closed their doors or halted production.

There were more police on the streets. The Lower City District was in chaos.

’Looks like the situation is even more dire than I thought.’

Shen Lu sighed to herself.

In a spare moment while handling a customer’s lottery draw, Shen Lu suddenly saw a news interview playing on the wall-mounted TV.

A reporter in a gray business suit was holding a microphone, asking a question to the research institute’s vice director.

"Boss? Is there a problem with my card?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify