Chapter 424: Chapter 336: Sneaking In—Sir, Please Show Your Room Card

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes, with an ’I knew it’ expression. Just as he was about to sit back down, he impatiently waved his hand.

"How should I know? Do I look like an employee to you?"

"Are you buying or not? If not, don’t block the front of my cart."

"?"

Raphael didn’t expect this guy to change his attitude so quickly. Can he really do business with such a poor attitude?

No wonder there are no customers around here!

But when he thought about it, these few trucks setting up near the big hotel are definitely hoping to attract some of the hotel’s foot traffic.

The restaurant’s capacity is limited, and this location is quite remote. There’s a good chance that lazy tourists would come over here to grab a bite.

However, the setup that Lin Chen has will definitely intercept most of the overflow traffic, effectively cutting into these food trucks’ profits. It would be strange if they were friendly.

They want to take advantage without taking any risks.

Raphael shook his head internally, feeling disdain for this hot dog seller but maintained a smile without showing it.

"I’ll buy, of course. Give me a beef sausage, please."

As soon as he mentioned buying a hot dog, the vendor shot up, and his impatience vanished in an instant, replaced by a bright smile.

"Sure, sure, I’ll make it for you right away!"

These two food trucks use grills instead of griddles, with a row of already cooked hot dogs stacked at the edge for warmth.

The man quickly picked up a hot dog and placed it in the center of the grill to reheat, while taking a hot dog bun from aside, splitting it open, and spreading butter inside before laying it beside the hot dog.

"Sizzle—"

The hot high temperature instantly created a delightful sound from the buttered bread, with waves of white smoke drifting up, carrying the enticing aroma of butter.

Raphael’s gaze quickly swept over the equipment inside the truck and the condiment table outside. In his mind, he simulated the taste of this hot dog, concluding it was an ordinary street hot dog.

"Can I ask that question now?"

"Yes, you can!"

The hot dog vendor chuckled, "But I really don’t know. I only came at eight, the restaurant starts serving at seven every day, and when that red food truck is here, there’s almost always a line forming at six thirty."

"By around eight, there’s no need to queue because even then, they’re sold out. The remaining customers will then come over to us, so there’s no point in arriving early."

"Today, when I arrived, I didn’t see that food truck. But strangely, the number of customers coming out for food drastically reduced, not even half of what it usually is."

Didn’t show up today?

Raphael nodded thoughtfully and looked towards the ice cream truck next door, walking over.

"Give me a chocolate vanilla swirl cone. It’s five euros, right?"

"Yes! It will be ready soon~"

The person making the ice cream was a young man, clearly having a much friendlier attitude than the hot dog guy next door.

Raphael repeated his earlier question.

"That big chef’s food truck? I didn’t see it today, but indeed, there were a lot fewer customers today, which is quite odd."

The young man reminisced about the past hour while making the ice cream.

"I also didn’t hear the hotel hosting any events today; otherwise, we wouldn’t still be out here vending."

"Oh right, if there’s anything weird, it’s that the hotel’s shuttle buses ran way more frequently today than usual."

"The shuttle bus?"

Raphael was taken aback, recalling the one that passed by his car a few minutes ago.

"Yes, this hotel has its own large farm and fishery, and also designated shuttle buses for transport."

"The buses have their destinations written on them, but you can tell by their direction: the ones heading to the cliffs are bound for the fishery, and the opposite direction goes to the farm."

"Usually, the first batch of buses to the farm leaves just after eight, and they’re unlikely to be full until around nine when tourists gradually increase."

"But today, when I arrived, I noticed there were two fewer buses going to the farm than usual. It should have been five, and the one that just left was the third, and it seemed full."

The ice cream guy was quite chatty, but Raphael wasn’t inclined to interrupt, silently extracting useful information from his words.

"Here you go, your cone. Come back for more if you like it~"

"Thank you, have a great day."

Raphael returned to the nearby food truck holding his cone, just in time as the hot dog was being packed up, perfectly timed.

There were no garnishes inside the hot dog, just a beef sausage and grilled buttered bun. The side condiment table, like all food trucks, was equipped with pickle slices, spicy pepper rings, yellow mustard, and ketchup.

He added a bit of everything, drizzled with sauces, and held it in his hand as he walked back.

He chose not to munch on the hot dog, instead, licking the cool cone bite by bite.

"The farm, huh... Well, since I’m here, might as well take a look."

He didn’t think that someone like Lin, who works like there’s no tomorrow, would slack off; it’s quite likely that they’ve relocated the stand today.

He recalled seeing a Radison Farm sign at an intersection on the way here; it’s probably in that direction.

He didn’t linger much, got straight into the car, and drove back in the direction he came from.

After driving for just a few blocks, he suddenly spotted a homeless man quietly sitting against the wall on the side of the road.

His hair was a mess, and his clothes were tattered and faded.

Raphael squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, parked the car by the roadside, grabbed the still warm hot dog, got out, and placed it in front of the homeless man.

"?!"

The man looked up in surprise, just about to say something when Raphael raised his hand to stop him.

"Go ahead and eat, I’m not really interested in hot dogs."

Raphael had no intention of engaging in a deep conversation with him and after placing the hot dog, he turned around, got back in the car, and disappeared down the road amidst the sound of the engine roaring.

He’s not foolish.

Having come all this way, he was definitely saving his appetite for something delicious.

Don’t mention that it’s just a plain hot dog; even if it was made fancy, he still wouldn’t be the least bit interested.

Unless it was a purely handmade hot dog and bun, then he might be tempted to give it a taste, although getting that kind of quality and level on the street is almost like dreaming.

After devouring an ice cream cone, he felt much more alert, and his appetite opened up completely, making him even more eager to find out what delicious and novel food he could try next.

Just past nine.

After driving for a while along roads lined with fields of various fruits and vegetables, a clearing finally appeared in front of him, with a familiar bus parked on it, and across stood a wooden house with ’Radison Farm’ written in large letters on top.

This is the place!

Upon seeing those lush trees full of ripe fruit and the fields with rows of mature vegetables along the way, he felt an uncontrollable impulse inside him to rush in and pick a bunch immediately.

Even though the farm didn’t involve a share from Chef Marchello, a partner who could engage him in cooperation surely had guaranteed financial resources and influence.

This farm under the same name must have even higher quality fruits and vegetables than those sold in the outside supermarkets.

As for freshness, that goes without saying; nothing is fresher than what you pick with your own hands.

Besides the farm, he was also quite interested in the livestock here, curious to see what breeds of animals the farm was raising.

Peering through the wire fence, he could clearly see a bunch of people gathered behind the wooden house, doing something unknown, seemingly all holding a disposable paper cup in their hands.

Could it be Lin?

With a chef’s intuition, he instinctively sensed something off and quickly found a spot to park the car, put on a mask, and walked towards the wooden house.

The hall inside was quite empty, with only two or three staff members visible, but through the door leading to the farm entrance, he could clearly see many tourists gathered outside.

Seeing him come in, a young female staff member approached with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Hello, I wanted to ask if Chef Lin from Radison Restaurant is setting up a stand here?"

"Yes!"

The woman smiled even more and had a ’just as expected’ look in her eyes, gesturing towards the guests outside as she stepped aside.

"Right out the door on the left side, those guests are all waiting to buy food."

Nice!

Raphael cheered inwardly, feeling fortunate for coming to the right place.

"Do you know what food is being sold today?"

"It’s handmade meatballs! The ingredients are cuttlefish, black tiger shrimp, and black pork from our farm."

Saying this, the woman appeared particularly excited and proudly took out her phone: "I have photos, sir, would you like to see them? I had some this morning, and they were fantastic. I dare say these are the best meatballs I’ve ever had!"

Such high praise?

Raphael became more interested, curiously leaning over to glance at the photos on her phone, indeed discovering a type of meatball he had never seen before.

Making meatballs with pork is quite normal, but using seafood is quite innovative!

Even though he hadn’t tasted them yet, a series of dish ideas pairing with seafood meatballs had started forming in his mind, whether for appetizers, main courses, or soups, there seemed to be room for creativity.

Good job!

He hadn’t even met the person yet, and this was already the second wave of inspiration hitting him!

Since there were no other customers inside and people were clearly lining up outside, he wasn’t in a hurry to go in, and simply took the chance to chat with the woman, subtly inquiring about things related to Lin Chen.

But surprisingly, the woman shook her head and said, "Sorry, sir, Mr. Lin is also here for the first time today, and he’s never been here before, so we don’t know him very well."

"However, our farm’s manager, Mr. John, goes over to the restaurant to eat every day and he invited Mr. Lin to set up a stand today, so he surely knows a lot about Mr. Lin."

"So, where is Mr. John now...?"

"He’s over by the food stand."

"Thank you! How do I buy a ticket? What activities are available here?"

"Sure, sir, please follow me, but before purchasing a ticket, please show your accommodation proof, or a room card will do."