Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country-Chapter 289 - 290: The Irresistible Final Step

"Charge, brothers!"

As soon as the bell rang, students who had been studiously engaged in their studies a second ago suddenly burst out of the classroom as if the bell had injected them with adrenaline.

They then helplessly queued up at the entrance of the second cafeteria.

"I hate it, why can’t I be the one with no classes in the morning?!"

"Ugh, rushed here right after class, but it seems like an early start was for nothing."

"It’s just reached lunchtime, and the line’s already up to 40 people. Might as well skip lunch."

"...Why aren’t you leaving then?"

"I’m just saying, I wouldn’t actually leave. I just don’t know what to eat today?"

"Eh? There’s some kind of sign over there."

Someone in the queue with sharp eyes spotted a sign at Wang Fan’s serving counter.

"Braised pork with preserved vegetables, 25 yuan per serving, 600 servings left."

"Braised pork with preserved vegetables?"

"Today’s dish is quite the treat."

Upon seeing the sign, many people’s eyes lit up.

Zhang Yang licked his lips: "Didn’t expect it to be braised pork with preserved veggies. With the chef’s skills here, I can’t even imagine how delicious the pork will be."

Kerry was confused: "Is this dish really that good?"

Zhang Yang nodded vigorously: "Trust me, just don’t swallow your tongue, alright?"

Two exchange students stood behind Kerry, looking at him with bewildered expressions.

"Kerry, you said the food here is delicious. What are we having today?"

Kerry shook his head: "I only know it’s called braised pork with preserved vegetables; I haven’t seen it myself."

Zhang Yang turned his head to explain: "Braised pork with preserved vegetables is a famous Huaxia dish, made mainly by steaming preserved vegetables and pork..."

Before Zhang Yang could finish, the two Australian exchange students looked at him in shock: "Pork? That pork with the heavy smell?"

"That pork with the strange chewy texture like rubber tires?"

"My God, can you really eat that kind of meat?"

As they spoke, the two even started gagging, showing just how deep of a negative impression pork had left on them.

"Kerry, my friend, I don’t think we can join you for this meal; we really can’t get used to pork."

"Yes, Kerry, we can eat beef, lamb, duck, chicken, but pork just feels like an apocalyptic taste to us, truly hard to swallow."

The two said as they began to step out of the line.

Kerry quickly said, "Derek, Reggie, you should trust the chef here; the food he makes is really good. If you leave the line now, you’ll have to queue again if you decide to try it later."

Derek shook his head vehemently: "NONONO, I’ll never be interested in pork in my life. You guys queue up, we’ll go buy something else and meet up later."

With that, he and Reggie decisively left the line and headed toward another food stall.

Kerry regretfully shook his head: "They don’t know what deliciousness they’re going to miss."

Zhang Yang shrugged and said nothing; having traveled to Australia before, he completely understood their reaction.

Australia has great meat, except for pork, which really drives people crazy. The pork section in the supermarket has such a strong smell it’s unforgettable.

No wonder those two students described it as apocalyptic.

"Never mind, Kerry; once we get our food, you can give them a taste to change their perception of pork."

Zhang Yang might doubt their pork back home, but he wouldn’t doubt the braised pork with preserved vegetables, nor the chef’s skills at counter number 5.

Even a simple crispy roast pork can be made explosively delicious, how could a heavily seasoned dish like braised pork with preserved vegetables not turn out tasty?

But why isn’t the line moving?!

Is the guy in front incubating eggs?!

Shen Congwen felt innocent in this situation.

Even though he was first in line, he couldn’t do anything since the food wasn’t ready and the chef hadn’t started serving yet.

"Chef, how many more minutes till it’s ready? I’m starving." Shen Congwen urged helplessly.

Wang Fan checked the time and sniffed the aroma coming from the machine before saying, "Please wait a moment, it’ll be ready in 4 minutes."

minutes is the minimum; even a second less would be an insult to the braised pork with preserved vegetables.

"Okay... fine." Shen Congwen sighed and continued taking deep breaths.

Even though he couldn’t eat yet, inhaling the rich aroma in advance was still quite satisfying.

He could even see rows of pork waiting to be steamed in the kitchen, getting a little eye candy.

For those eagerly waiting, 4 minutes felt like an eternity, but for Wang Fan, it passed quickly since he wasn’t anxious.

As Wang Fan donned thick oven mitts, the machine emitted a crisp "ding".

Wang Fan opened the first layer of the steamer, and milky white steam burst forth immediately, accompanied by the rich meat aroma that had been accumulating for a full 100 minutes.

"Wow!"

Students watching the swirling mist couldn’t help but exclaim, with some even taking out their phones to capture the moment.

As the mist slowly dissipated, Wang Fan carefully lifted a tray from the machine.

Twenty white porcelain bowls, still steaming, were neatly arranged on the tray. However, with the preserved vegetables currently on top, it was hard to judge the quality of the braised pork with preserved vegetables at a glance.

Wang Fan placed a plate directly on a bowl, tilted it over an iron pot, and red, glossy sauce poured out through the bowl’s gap, flowing straight into the pot below.

Once most of the sauce had drained, Wang Fan skillfully flipped it so that the plate was below the inverted bowl.

Setting the plate on the counter, Wang Fan didn’t rush to reveal it, opting instead to spoon a scoop of cornstarch into the pot. The students in front finally noticed the soup in the pot was starting to bubble.

Though describing the action takes a while, Wang Fan executed it with the fluency of a seasoned chef, completing it in the blink of an eye.

As the sauce in the pot thickened, Wang Fan used his left hand to ladle a scoop, while his right hand swiftly unveiled the inverted bowl, finally revealing the true form of the braised pork with preserved vegetables.

"Gulp..."

"Hiss..." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Whoa..."

The students in front couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of the meat, and some even began to salivate uncontrollably—a sincere tribute to the allure of fine cuisine.

A moment before it didn’t seem like much in the bowl, but now tipped out, it became apparent that this was a hefty serving, with slices of meat tightly clustering together like a demi-spherical mound.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to the dish, the pork with alternating layers of fat and lean, steamed to tender perfection, presenting an enticing brownish-red hue.

Students with sharp eyes could even see tiny droplets of fat seeping through the meat, slowly soaking the preserved vegetables below, making them glisten more alluringly.