Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 350 - 325: Customer Traffic Is Picking Up

One hour later.

Yu Hongtao stood on the balcony with a cigarette in his mouth.

Pop~

Yuan Xiaolin thoughtfully lit it for him, holding an ashtray.

"The food made by that little boss at the Ecological Garden is quite tasty, just a bit expensive."

"Expensive is no problem, we have money." Yuan Xiaolin picked up her phone, swiftly transferring a thousand yuan.

Yu Hongtao hadn’t enjoyed such treatment in a long time and was actually a bit unaccustomed to it for a moment.

"Oh right, darling, I was pondering on the way home today, rather than going all the way to the Northwest for spicy hot pot, we might as well go to the Ecological Garden every day. You don’t know, when I went over today, that little boss made a new fried rice, tsk..."

Even just reminiscing, Yu Hongtao’s face was full of happiness.

The sensation of taking a big bite, the crispy yet soft texture while chewing, the ultimately savory flavor—what spicy hot pot could be better than fried rice?

Yuan Xiaolin chuckled, stroking Yu Hongtao’s protruding belly, "You are the head of the household, it’s up to you."

Ssss.

Yu Hongtao’s spine straightened involuntarily. Thinking about the two cups of black juice he drank today, could it be related to that?

He glanced at his phone, still early, and stubbed out his cigarette.

"You..." a hint of panic flashed in Yuan Xiaolin’s eyes, "took medicine?"

"Heh, do I need that stuff?"

The freshly aired clothes were mysteriously pulled down, scattered on the floor serving as a temporary bed.

...

After finishing a big plate of fried rice, Qin Zhenhai sat on a small stool, panting heavily.

"Comrade Xiao Gao in the video wasn’t wrong. If we only talk about the taste, I admit that Boss Xiao Chen’s skills are no worse than any local restaurant."

"Elder Qin, can the part you just said be posted online?"

"Post it." Qin Zhenhai spoke to Gao Hao through the phone he held up, "Sometimes we in the restaurant business need to keep our eyes open and see more of the outside world. Fellow chefs, work hard!"

Having said this, he stood up, glanced a few more times in Chen Mo’s direction, sighed, shook his head, and left the Ecological Garden.

Gao Hao was amused this time.

"How about it, leader, Elder Qin acknowledges Boss Xiao Chen’s craftsmanship, so I don’t need to delete the video, right?"

"Hmm, you handle it, just be sure to monitor online feedback carefully, don’t let a good thing turn into a bad one, understand?"

"Rest assured, don’t forget I studied computer science."

Wang Haoyang nodded and followed Qin Zhenhai out of the Ecological Garden, as did several other colleagues. Now, only Gao Hao and Zhang Huixiang were left there.

"How about it, Director Zhang, this time I won’t have to write any inspections, and I’m on the verge of promotion and raise!"

Zhang Huixiang sighed as well, "Such things do happen. It’s pretty outlandish, huh? By the way, did you notice that there are more visitors at the Ecological Garden today?"

It was fine just a moment ago.

As night fell, it became evident that at the junction of the North Gate leading outside, more people steadily began to enter.

Not just one or two, most of them came in groups of three and five.

Gao Hao suddenly stomped his foot, "Aiya, is it possible the video went viral online and all these people came to see the buzz?"

"Hard to say, they might also be coming to cause trouble." Zhang Huixiang pondered deeply, "I spent a long time reading your comments section yesterday and found that the most agitated ones were some of our local veteran chefs, whereas the residents were relatively fair."

"Of course, think about it, they all thought their own skills were unbeatable, that Huaiyang Cuisine was unbeatable. Suddenly an outsider comes, messes with our traditional famous dish, and somehow it’s delicious—not to mention that—it must make them lose face."

Gao Hao also noticed this matter.

Initially, the video had little attention. Only after a few chefs from local famous brands, using their restaurant accounts to post comments, did it slowly gain momentum.

"I don’t know, let’s just observe the situation."

The two of them stepped back quietly, their eyes inadvertently drifting to the food truck, swallowing their saliva involuntarily.

No denying it, they still wanted to eat.

But that price really exceeded their means. Having one or two servings was already a luxury; any more would cost them a month’s salary.

The two just stood at the side and behind the food truck. Gao Hao snapped some more videos, now that his work was recognized by his superiors, he should get extra footage to edit tonight.

Meanwhile, the brothers next to the food truck noticed more people starting to show up.

Xue An turned his eyes, coming up with an idea.

"Bro, you keep busy."

"Where are you going?"

Xue An took the sign from in front of his cart, "Although Elder Qin also admitted that Chen Mo’s lion’s head is good, not everyone is that rich. I’m going to attract customers. I can’t lose this bet!"

Xue An’s approach differed from his brother’s.

Skills or no skills, that’s for later. As for the bet he proposed, there’s no way he could lose it!

"Lion’s head, authentic Huaiyang lion’s head, only 18 yuan each! Limited ingredients, first come, first served!"

Xue An held up the sign, shouted out loud along the small path.

The two groups of newcomers initially planned to head to Chen Mo’s food truck, but hearing this, they glanced at Chen Mo’s menu before heading over to the neighboring stall without stopping.

"What’s up, boss, how come yours is 18 yuan while the one next door is 88 yuan?"

"You’re not doing joint marketing, are you?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Xue An grinned, "No way, we’re in a legitimate competition. We offer authentic lion’s head, while next door offers modified lion’s head."

The brothers discussing it thought for a moment, "Forget it, authentic lion’s head can be eaten anywhere. Since we’re here, let’s try that modified version."

"Let’s go, see what kind of lion’s head costs 88 yuan."

Xue An watched in confusion as the customers he attracted turned away again.

"Bro, what’s going on? Selling it cheap is wrong?"

"Sigh."

Xue Ping had mixed feelings; it’s difficult to assess.

Sometimes customers’ psychology works that way. When presented with two similar things, they tend to choose the slightly more expensive one, thinking that cheaper means inferior quality.

But honestly speaking.

Xue Ping felt that their cheaper offering indeed didn’t taste as good as what Boss Chen Mo had.

The lion’s head was always stewed in the pot, ready to serve whenever someone ordered.

The three customers who went over each bought a lion’s head and sat down nearby to taste it.

Gao Hao and the others secretly filmed the scene from behind the food truck.

Unsurprisingly, soon exclamations of surprise could be heard.

In a corner of the unpopulated small path, a man was on the phone.

"Elder Qin, you exaggerated, didn’t you? It’s just Yangzhou Fried Rice. How much better can it be?"

"Our family has been making fried rice for a hundred years. Not just locally—across the country, we’re quite famous. I really don’t believe it!"

"Well, you don’t need to tell me more. Today, I’ll let him have one more day of leisure. Since the cultural tourism side won’t delete the video, we restaurateurs have to take action ourselves. Don’t say more, just watch how I’ll deal with him tomorrow."

The man hung up the phone, took one last look at the yellow food truck with a dark expression, paused for a moment, and then turned away.