Gourmet: Midnight Vending

Chapter 42: It's Your Mouth That's Burned So Why Are You Dancing?


The aroma of the steamed buns from the food cart gradually spread, drawing ten people who followed from Jingzhou to gather around and put down what they were doing.

Chen Mo temporarily set aside matters with Old Zhang and returned to the food cart.

A hundred and sixty wrapped buns were in the steamer, and according to the system's prompt, even these cooked meat buns needed to be steamed for at least fifteen minutes.

Besides allowing the buns to be fully cooked, this method also produces a "steaming over water" effect. The braised meat filling was already cooked, and secondary cooking through the steamed dough at high temperature would perfectly blend with the trapped meat juices.

"Finally, they're steaming. This meal's the highlight of the day!" Zhou Hu shouted excitedly.

Old Zhao and Guo Aiping crossed their arms, equally excited.

Dunzi stood in front of the food cart with arms akimbo, "Today we can finally have a peaceful meal. Too many people were around the past few days; if it weren't for the foot massage..."

Oh right, being fellow Cadillac owners, Dunzi and Old Zhao knew each other.

Feeling Guo Aiping's murderous gaze, Dunzi quickly swallowed the latter half of his sentence.

Zhang Feng curiously asked Chen Mo, "Boss Xiao Chen, what brings you to Ning County today?"

Chen Mo sighed, "I heard there's a great flour vendor here. I just inquired about it; you'd have to wait until the latter half of the year to buy their flour."

Hearing this, the group first expressed their surprise, marveling at such a situation existing in the world.

Ma Qiang spat fiercely, "What's so great about that? Boss Xiao Chen, show your best skills! Make them wait half a year to taste your food!"

Chen Mo smiled without responding.

How could that possibly happen?

With just one minute left of the fifteen-minute mark, Chen Mo started to anticipate.

Drawing from the experience accumulated over these days, Chen Mo realized that to make money faster, it's best to sell items that can be prepared in advance, and buns were a great choice.

"By the way, Boss Xiao Chen, how much is one of these buns?"

Chen Mo answered without hesitation, "They cost five yuan each."

Old Zhao pursed his lips and took a breath, "Still a bit pricey, huh."

Guo Aiping elbowed him, "I personally wrapped these just now. Boss Xiao Chen's buns are filled with meat, and the filling is braised. Though they look small when wrapped, they'll nearly double in size when steamed!"

Old Zhao chuckled, though he felt a bit uneasy inside.

Why is my own wife speaking up for someone else...

But everyone knew the prices at Chen Mo's stall over these few days were indeed slightly more expensive than ordinary street food, but they tasted so good!

The mere fact that they taste so good justified the price.

Time's up!

Chen Mo decisively uncovered the top lid, and almost instantly, a huge cloud of steam enveloped the few people in front of the food cart; at least it wasn't scalding.

The steam carried a rich dough aroma, which alone was delightful to inhale.

"Quick, quick, give me five buns first!" Dunzi couldn't resist any longer.

"Whoa there, be civilized! There's just the few of us; let's go one by one!" Zhou Hu worried someone else would eat too much and leave him without.

Chen Mo also laughed, "No rush, everyone. I didn't bring any takeaway boxes today, so really, go one by one. Don't burn yourselves."

With no choice, Chen Mo used some dumpling containers to give everyone a bun.

Dunzi, bun in hand, went straight in, "Oi oi hot hot hot!"

The freshly steamed buns were plump and almost as big as a grown man's fist. Though his hand was burning, Dunzi stubbornly refused to let go of the bun. In the end, he gave up and shoved it into his mouth to grip with his teeth!

The overwhelming dough aroma made Dunzi instinctively take a bite.

"Mm... hot hot hot!"

Having taken a bite, the bun went back to Dunzi's hand. This time, he sucked in air frantically, doing a tap dance on the spot.

Chen Mo watched, feeling secondhand embarrassment—it's your mouth that's burning, why are you dancing?

Dunzi was truly like a mute eating a bun—burned mouth, nothing to say!

But it was precisely this one bite that suddenly made Dunzi feel comfortable all over. With just a small bite into the bun, the soft dough and filling entered his mouth, and after slightly cooling down, the abundant meat juices quickly melded into the bun's skin.

Another bite!

Hiss!

The intense braised meat aroma and indescribable wheat fragrance combined as if dancing a ballroom dance in his mouth.

Dunzi looked down at the meat bits.

The minced meat had a very distinct texture, feeling very meaty when chewed!

The soft bun's interior encased meat filling; you could clearly see the oily meat juices gently wobbling, giving a thick impression.

The key point was for some reason, the minced meat seemed linked by some magical force. Though appearing as chunked meat, biting into it released the texture of large pieces of meat!

And this texture was very different from directly eating meat.

It lacked some of the fresh tender meat texture, but eating it felt more like... right!

No texture.

This minced meat felt completely rendered to a broth-like state. Just a chew would instantly blend meat juices and bun skin together!

Absolutely satisfying.

Without a word, Dunzi took another big bite.

This time it wasn't hot, the large bite filled his mouth, causing all 360,000 pores on his body to open up.

"It has to be Boss Xiao Chen, these buns are phenomenal!"

Another bite!

On-site, Dunzi demonstrated a 3-bite bun consumption.

The way he ate suggested he hadn't eaten for days, enticing others' appetites, though everyone ate carefully after witnessing Dunzi's antics.

At this time, a voice over a loudspeaker came from the entrance of the grain station.

"Next, let's look at a relic from the 1980s, the grain station!"

"Although grain stations no longer exist today, our local folks still make use of this place. Here, you can find the most fragrant vinegar brewed locally, handmade tofu, and potato flour noodles. Everyone is welcome to take a look and purchase what you like. All at fair market prices, honest and trustworthy!"

Zhang Feng and the others were too busy eating buns to bother about what was happening.

But among the people coming in, an old man wearing a red baseball cap pointed towards Xiao Huang's cart, exclaiming, "Aren't those the athletes? What are they doing here?"

"Whoa! They seem to be eating something!"

"Old Dong, didn't you just say they are running hard in pursuit of their dreams? Why does it look more like they're pursuing delicacies to me?"

"Come on, let's go check it out!"

The Sunset Red team completely ignored the guide's lead and walked over to Xiao Huang's cart, holding little red flags aloft.

The evening twilight thickened as they got closer, revealing what the people were doing.

Old Dong watched Zhou Hu wolf down a bun, meat juices trickling down his cheeks only to be licked back up with satisfaction—not faked at all.

"Wow, these young ones—this bun—how much is it? Hand me one as well!"

At this moment, Old Dong recalled his youthful days.

He was that big an eater too back then.

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