Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 361 - 335: Just Because the Lion’s Head Is Delicious Doesn’t Mean the Fried Rice Is
Upon hearing there was food to be had, the people surrounding Huang Bo began to get restless.
"Chef Huang, don’t worry, I’ll go snag half a portion for free!"
"That’s right, the more people we have, the more Boss Chen next door loses. With Chef Huang’s skills, there’s nothing more to say, my second portion will definitely be the authentic fried rice!"
"Let’s go, everyone! Let’s see what this little boss has to offer, daring to sell fried rice in Yangzhou’s territory at such a high price!"
Many crowded in at once, but there were only six half-portions of fried rice.
Xue Ping saw it and didn’t forget to promote other dishes, "Besides fried rice, we’ve got Lion’s Head meatballs, freshly made with pork belly, in savory sauce, absolutely delicious!"
Damn!
The customers queuing for fried rice cast disdainful glances, thinking you, guy, bet with Chen Mo yesterday and surrendered today, not good.
In the front of the queue was none other than Zhu Yan.
As Huang Bo’s girlfriend, she had to set an example for everyone, though Zhu Yan was still annoyed about Huang Bo not giving her a Lion’s Head last night.
She said to Xue Ping, "Alright, give me a Lion’s Head."
Upon hearing, Chen Mo quickly said, "Give me that Lion’s Head, I’ll make the dipping sauce."
Xue Ping nodded and jogged next door. Carefully, he scooped a braised Lion’s Head in rich sauce into a bowl and passed it to Chen Mo through the shop window.
This was Chen Mo’s little scheme.
The dishes he makes must be sold from the food cart to count as Experience Value. Although it wasn’t business hours yet, Chen Mo had to prepare in advance.
And to save on tableware and sauce, Chen Mo poured aged vinegar directly into the container holding the Lion’s Head. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
In other words, he forced customers to eat Old Chen’s vinegar!
Zhu Yan took the Lion’s Head, sniffed it, and was about to scan to pay.
Chen Mo reminded, "No rush, scanning is such a hassle, we can settle up later."
Zhu Yan didn’t get it at first, paused, then realized, "Hmph, I’m only having one Lion’s Head. As for fried rice, my second portion is obviously my boyfriend’s! Isn’t your half portion supposed to be free?"
After saying that, Zhu Yan seemed a bit unconvinced, aggressively punctured the Lion’s Head with her spoon.
With one poke, she split the Lion’s Head in half, showing slight surprise, clearly not expecting it to be so tender.
Then she scooped a piece from half the Lion’s Head. Even though Zhu Yan wasn’t fond of vinegar, Boss Chen’s way made her have to eat some vinegar.
The spoon slowly entered her mouth.
As the food entered, she began chewing. It seemed like a complete subconscious process, but just when her mouth was about to execute the action, suddenly!
"Yikes!"
The meat melted in her mouth before chewing, leaving only traces of water chestnut and lean meat on her tongue.
By normal standards, a melt-in-mouth texture could seem slightly greasy, but Zhu Yan only sensed a bit of meaty flavor before her taste buds were hit with the sour aroma of aged vinegar.
It was that sour but not sharp taste. Perfectly suppressed the almost exploding greasiness.
With gentle chewing, the crispness of water chestnuts and the smoothness of lean meat quickly emerged.
"Why does it seem pretty tasty?"
Subconsciously, Zhu Yan scooped another spoonful.
After finishing one, she had another!
A few spoonfuls later, she emptied the bowl of Lion’s Head, dazedly looked at Huang Bo making fried rice next door.
Recalling Huang Bo’s awkwardness when eating the second Lion’s Head last night, a thought popped into her head.
Did Huang Bo really want to eat more Lion’s Head last night, or did he eat the second because it was delicious?
Why exactly, Zhu Yan was unsure. But what she was sure of!
"Um... could I have another Lion’s Head, please?"
Xue Ping held back laughter, "Coming right up."
With Zhu Yan leading, the other customers in line seemed confused.
"Is it really that tasty? I smelled the vinegar just now, who dips Lion’s Head in vinegar?"
"88 seems ok too, but you only know if it’s good after trying it yourself."
"Maybe I’ll try one too. Waiting in line is waiting anyway, plus Chef Huang’s girlfriend having a second bowl means it’s something good."
"Hey kid, give me one too, waiting around is dull."
"I’ll have one as well, just scan this code, right?"
Xue Ping was idling, but suddenly got busy, carrying a stack of containers from the food cart to the neighboring stall, he filled the bowls with Lion’s Head while Xue An handed the prepared Lion’s Head to Chen Mo.
Chen Mo, fry rice with one hand, casually added a scoop of aged vinegar to the bowls.
After getting her second, Zhu Yan chatted with the person next to her, "It tastes good, maybe because we’ve had too many local Lion’s Head, sometimes changing flavor is nice."
The young girl next to her nodded, "Makes sense, changing flavors is normal, plus these big meatballs can be cloying. I can usually eat just one, more gets too greasy."
Zhu Yan gave a reassuring nod, then both wielded spoons, ready to dig into the Lion’s Head.
Huang Bo finally finished his first batch of rice, like Chen Mo, his batch could be split into three portions, when divided into six half portions.
He was about to call his loyal fans to come eat the fried rice!
But the scene he saw made Huang Bo a bit confused.
"Well, this Lion’s Head has something going for it, pretty good."
"Amazing, I thought aged vinegar was a failure when smelling it, but it tasted great, key feature is it neutralizes the greasiness, I could have another!"
"Not bad, feels better than last time at Fun Garden, no wonder the brothers lost the bet with the boss."
Xue Ping gritted his teeth, thinking, couldn’t these customers hold their tongues even while eating? Is it necessary to keep mentioning losing the bet?
Those customers totally forgot why they came, each holding Little Yellow Bowls eagerly shoveling in Lion’s Head.
Let’s not talk about that.
The customers at the front, as well as Huang Bo’s girlfriend Zhu Yan, hearing his shout, looked like kids caught stealing, gulped down most of the Lion’s Head, then ran to Huang Bo with their bowl of fried rice.
"Fried rice’s ready?" Zhu Yan beamed, obviously satisfied with the two Lion’s Heads.
"Is it delicious?"
Zhu Yan retorted, "Delicious or not, didn’t you know yesterday?"
Seeing his little plot exposed, Huang Bo chose to skip the topic.
"Lion’s Head’s well made, but doesn’t mean the fried rice is good too, uh, I’ve portioned the rice, y’all can start eating."
After saying, Huang Bo kindly reminded, "Just scan the code after eating, I’m continuing to fry more rice."
Zhu Yan nodded, her boyfriend must be supported!
Then she grasped the spoon, scooped a mouthful of freshly fried rice.
Mm... still as delicious as always!
The diners nodded in approval, saying at this price, eating fried rice from Jingya Pavilion is absolutely worth it!
Half a portion of fried rice isn’t much, after finishing, they turned their spoons toward the remaining half portion.
Which is Chen Mo’s fried rice.
