diff --git a/hello/views.py b/hello/views.py
index bd7a34b00..3b94dc29c 100644
--- a/hello/views.py
+++ b/hello/views.py
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import requests
+import os
+from django.http import HttpResponse
 from django.shortcuts import render
 
 from .models import Greeting
@@ -6,7 +9,8 @@
 
 
 def index(request):
-    return render(request, "index.html")
+    times = int(os.environ.get('TIMES', 4))
+    return HttpResponse('Hello! ' * times)
 
 
 def db(request):
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index c420fa54c..952d83e8b 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ django>=5.1,<5.2
 gunicorn>=23,<24
 dj-database-url>=2,<3
 whitenoise[brotli]>=6,<7
+requests
 
 # Uncomment these lines to use a Postgres database. Both are needed, since in production
 # (which uses Linux) we want to install from source, so that security updates from the