Gourmet: Midnight Vending

Chapter 46: Buns Cure-All Remedy


In the face of absolute power, all strategies are just flashy tricks — MacArthur.

After observing for a little over ten minutes, Old Zhang also realized that this young guy's skills were indeed quite something.

If you want to buy buns, you definitely have to use some tricks like the college students and the Sunset Red group.

"Doesn't he want to buy my flour? Actually, selling it to him in advance isn't impossible."

Rules are dead, but people are alive. However, Old Zhang had bigger ambitions.

"These buns are so delicious, and my good grandson loves them so much. Is it too much to ask for a recipe?"

After making up his mind, Old Zhang decisively left the queue, as his position would certainly leave him without any if he just queued normally.

"Hey, boss, let's discuss something."

Chen Mo was packing buns. Seeing it was Old Zhang, he stopped what he was doing, "Go ahead."

"Sell me five more buns!" Old Zhang said boldly, not waiting for Chen Mo to explain the rules. "This time, I won't buy; I'll trade a pound of flour with you. But I have one more request: you must teach me how to make these buns."

If it were just the first part, Chen Mo would have agreed right away.

But with the second part added, Chen Mo couldn't agree.

To be frank, there isn't any particularly special technique to making these buns. In other words, the so-called [Recipe Analysis] feature of the food cart isn't anything extraordinary.

The recipes analyzed aren't much different from what you can find online.

The truly clever part is in the progress bar in front of Chen Mo.

It is precisely this progress bar, which includes every operation, that ensures Chen Mo can always nail the timing perfectly, whether adding seasonings, steaming, stir-frying, boiling, or frying.

The making of delicious food is an accumulation of these little things, like adding just the right amount of seasoning, steaming and cooking for the perfect time, and controlling the temperature just right. These accumulated operations create irresistible flavors.

So, it's not that I won't teach it; it's that there's really nothing to teach.

"I'm sorry. I can promise you five buns, but I can't tell you how to make them," Chen Mo said in a different way.

He looked as if saying, "It's a family secret recipe."

Old Zhang's brows furrowed suddenly. He didn't expect that the kid would be so secretive about the recipe for a mere bun, just as he was about to continue bargaining, suddenly!!!

"Holy crap! Whose money dropped!"

A voice full of shock suddenly came from the back of the queue, causing everyone in line to look over. A piece of yuan was lying quietly where Ma Qiang was pointing.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just now..."

"Where's my money?"

"That's the change from buying vinegar earlier!"

The queue immediately became a bit chaotic. At least seven or eight older folks left the queue in an instant. Ma Qiang and Zhou Hu exchanged a smile and quietly moved forward several steps.

Old Zhang was utterly shocked.

They really did it!

And looking back again, there were only ten buns left in the steaming basket, and Ma Qiang and Zhou Hu had successfully moved up many positions, taking two directly!

At this pace, Old Zhang felt that if he couldn't come to an agreement, he really wouldn't be able to get any.

"Then how about this, you..." A bit of urgency rose in Old Zhang's heart, seeing Zhang Zihan's mouth pout again as he planned to take a step back to negotiate.

It's okay to not get the bun recipe, but at least briefly talk about how to make them.

But before Old Zhang could finish speaking.

"Oh dear, oh dear! What happened, what's the matter?"

The crowd was again attracted by the voice.

At the end of the line, an old lady in a red jacket somehow suddenly went soft and collapsed to the ground, fortunately supported by a burly old man next to her.

"It's low blood sugar! Aunt Qin has low blood sugar and must eat something!"

"Who has sugar on them? No sugar is fine; hurry! Quickly give her two buns!"

Uncle Dong supported Aunt Qin and rushed to the front of the queue, reaching out to Chen Mo, "Hurry up with two buns; Aunt Qin isn't doing well!"

Chen Mo was dumbfounded; he had just scooped a spoonful of sugar from the cabinet but put it down in confusion to replace it with two buns.

Someone in the crowd mumbled.

"Isn't Sister Qin supposed to have high blood pressure..."

Old Dong smoothly got two buns, anxiously feeding Aunt Qin a bite.

The previously weak and limp old lady immediately stood up, "Oh dear, I forgot my medicine today. Good thing I had the bun."

Chen Mo: ?

My bun cures all?

Only six buns left in the steamer.

When the next customer got to their turn, Old Zhang panicked.

"Change! A pound of flour for five buns! I'm swapping!"

Chen Mo had already packed buns for the customer and, after handing them over, shouted to the people behind, "Buns are sold out, no more lining up!"

Then looked at Old Zhang, "So we agree, five buns for a pound of flour, no taking it back!"

Old Zhang nodded vigorously, "No regrets! You pack the buns for me first; I'll go back and weigh the flour."

Zhang Zihan struggled twice to jump out of Old Zhang's arms; he couldn't bear to leave the small food truck for a second, as Liu Kexin's buns had not been bought yet.

Not long after, Old Zhang returned, with a plastic bag containing flour.

Under the dim light, Chen Mo glanced at the flour; it looked different from the supermarket ones, not white but slightly yellowish.

He quietly accepted the flour; with so many people around, Chen Mo decided not to use the Ingredient Identification feature for now.

"No way, young man, I just lined up, and there are none left? I didn't even get a single bun,"

The aunt in front grumbled a couple of sentences.

Apparently, she thought the buns were too expensive initially, holding tofu and vinegar in her hands. But seeing everyone else enjoying them, she had joined the queue.

Chen Mo said apologetically, "Today's sold out, really sorry."

"How about this, young man, when will these buns be ready? Anyway, we're staying another night in Ning County, and I truly love these buns," Uncle Dong came over, wiping oil from his mouth, with Aunt Qin in tow.

Chen Mo was still puzzled by this Aunt Qin, with her rosy cheeks, brisk steps, and loud voice - she didn't seem unwell at all?

Did low blood sugar really get better right after eating something? He truly hadn't seen such a case before.

"I'm not from Ning County. If I set up a stall, it would be in Jingzhou."

Zhou Hu also helped explain, "Yeah, Boss Xiao Chen is from Jingzhou. He usually sets up his stall at the bridgehead of Central Avenue in Jingzhou. We love the buns too and came all the way from Jingzhou."

The Sunset Red travel group had some impression of Zhou Hu. They had seen him running with a team midway when they took the bus to Ning County.

Back then, Old Dong said something about this group of youngsters chasing dreams, yet it turned out they were chasing food.

Old Dong called over the tour guide, "We've seen what we needed to in Ning County; shall we return to Jingzhou for another day?"

This suggestion was directly approved by the other members.

"Yeah, Ning County only has a grain station with some historical context. We've bought what we needed; let's go back to Jingzhou!"

"I didn't get to explore Jingzhou properly yesterday. I heard there's an excellent supermarket there with daily discounts."

"I also want to return to Jingzhou."

Seeing the unanimous agreement, the tour guide consented almost without hesitation, "Uh, that sounds easy, we'll return to Jingzhou and continue our tour!"

This travel group, in fact, didn't have a very clear target destination.

It's just a bunch of older folks bored with nothing to do, each putting in three or four hundred yuan to hire a bus to tour nearby cities.

The guide's commission was fixed, so returning to Jingzhou was still easier for him, as he was familiar with the place.

After arranging for everyone, Zhou Hu and the other six shamelessly spent ten yuan each to catch the tour bus back to Jingzhou.

Saying that night running was unsafe, and also that running right after eating buns could easily cause a prolapsed stomach.

Old Zhao and his wife placed their bicycles in the bus's luggage compartment and also took the bus back.

Dunzi and Zhang Feng were the last to leave.

"Boss Xiao Chen, driving back would take an hour, right? How about us brothers pulling you along?"

Chen Mo kicked the food cart's tire, "You think this thing could explode running fast? You guys go ahead; I'll take it slow."

"Then be careful, the night vision isn't..."

Before Dunzi could finish, Chen Mo pressed the reverse button, and SpongeBob's two eyes on the food cart shot out two beams of light, lighting up the entire grain station courtyard as if it were daylight!!!

Dunzi dumbfoundedly looked at those high beams, "Holy shit, are these parts taken from an Audi?"

Although Dunzi's voice was loud, it was still drowned out by the crisp prompt sound.

"Reversing, please be careful..."

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