Gourmet: Midnight Vending

Chapter 51: Advancing Towards the Development Zone!


"Big bowl of handmade noodles, 12 yuan; add an egg, 2 yuan; buns, 5 yuan. Not bad, boss, my absolute favorite food is noodles!"

This price is pretty standard, not cheap, but not expensive either. It's the usual price at most restaurants, considering Boss Xiao Chen's skills, Zhou Hu felt it was completely acceptable.

Six people stood eagerly in front of the food cart, hungrily watching Chen Mo make noodles, already imagining the scene of devouring noodles and buns later. Just the thought was thrilling.

Some were satisfied, but of course, some were unsatisfied.

Bridgehead.

Over thirty young women in colorful attire, a dozen Cadillacs with their owners, and numerous street vendors.

The scene at the bridgehead was quite grand, and passing policemen were somewhat envious, thinking some local colleague must be about to receive a big commendation.

"What's going on, Boss Xiao Chen hasn't come to set up shop for two days straight!" Xiao Na said anxiously, "I've been skipping meals for this food, yesterday and today, and..."

Others felt the same way.

Xiao Na's words made the waiting customers more anxious. Their stomachs were already growling, and after a day of anticipation only to find Boss Xiao Chen didn't set up shop, it was truly frustrating.

"Who has Boss Xiao Chen's contact info? Someone should ask him what's wrong, could he be feeling unwell?"

"Yeah, Boss Xiao Chen can't get sick; if he does, how will I survive?"

LuLu was also feeling down, as she came to the bridgehead not just for Boss Xiao Chen's food, but with another purpose in mind.

That day, something Boss Xiao Chen said gave LuLu a revelation. Upon returning to Jingzhou, she quit her job as a cashier at the foot massage parlor and opened a TikTok live streaming account. Today was her first live stream, featuring Boss Xiao Chen's late-night street food.

Even though there was no one in the live chat room, the feeling of failing at her first livestream was really unpleasant.

LuLu sighed, closed the live stream, and casually opened her social media.

"Huh?" She immediately saw something very familiar, "Isn't that Boss Xiao Chen?"

Last night, when she went to Ning County, LuLu initially wanted to add Chen Mo's WeChat before leaving. But Chen Mo was busy chatting in the mill, so she added Zhou Hu on WeChat instead and headed home.

It wasn't for anything in particular, mainly so Zhou Hu could take a picture of her when eating buns. If she couldn't eat them, at least she could look at them. Opening her social media, the first post was Zhou Hu's latest update, posted less than ten minutes ago.

[Zhou Hu: A pillow when sleepy and a midnight snack when hungry are nature's best gifts!]

Attached photo: Zhou Hu's eyes glowed green staring at the camera, behind was a yellow food cart, with someone busy on it, seemingly making noodles.

For unknown reasons, Zhou Hu also shared his location when posting: Jingzhou City Development Zone, Jingzhou Sports Academy.

"What the heck! Why did Boss Xiao Chen go to the Development Zone to set up shop? Isn't that area still undeveloped?" LuLu exclaimed instinctively.

Having worked together for a few days, Xiao Na didn't hesitate to look over at LuLu's phone, "Whoa? It really seems to be true! Why did Boss Xiao Chen go to the Development Zone, strange."

Their conversation stirred up a considerable commotion among others.

"No way, there are not even many people at the bridgehead at this hour, let alone at the Development Zone!"

"Right, going to the Development Zone to set up shop at this time, does Boss Xiao Chen not want to make money anymore?"

"Anyway, why suddenly change places from the bridgehead where things were going well? I must check it out; there must be something going on!"

Seeing someone taking action, an old acquaintance, Xiao Na quickly approached, "Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, let me come too? I haven't eaten in two days."

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Zhang Feng asked Xiao Na curiously.

This was the prime time for clients at the foot massage parlor. A Gold Medal Salesperson skipping work was quite a situation!

Xiao Na sighed, "Ever since Boss Xiao Chen started setting up here, who would go for foot massages when everyone ran here for midnight snacks? There's hardly any business at the parlor today."

While saying this, she thought to herself, you Cadillac owners are our parlor's core clientele; now you all just chase Boss Xiao Chen, how can the parlor still have business?

Xiao Na even had a bold idea.

In the future, she might have to carry a footbath to chase Boss Xiao Chen. If a customer wants a foot massage while eating, it's not impossible to do it right on the roadside.

Zhang Feng nodded thoughtfully, "I think it's a good idea. The buns we ate in Ning County yesterday were scrumptious. Who knows, maybe he's still selling buns today. Let's go, go, go!"

Zhang Feng waved his arms, and Cadillac owners started their vehicles; the young ladies from the foot massage parlor giggled and found familiar customers to share rides with.

Old Zhao looked at his bike with resentment in his heart!

Had I known, I'd have brought out the Cadillac too.

Not only could I have gotten there early, but also picked up a girl!

Seeing this, LuLu got anxious and grabbed Dunzi, "Brother, brother! Could you give me a ride?"

Dunzi's car was still empty, "Sure, hop on quick, first ones there get the food!"

LuLu jumped into the car, restarted the livestream, charging ahead!

The bridgehead vendors looked bewilderedly at the now quiet food street, feeling both warmth and chill from Chen Mo's presence, truly poignant.

Development Zone.

This time, Chen Mo was mixing five pounds of dough at once. Six sports academy students were leaning at the food cart window gazing, finding just watching Boss Xiao Chen make dough an enjoyable experience.

"Brother Mo." Zhou Hu sniffled twice, "I think your noodles don't seem right. Why do I smell an aroma?"

"You can smell that?" Chen Mo was surprised, "I carefully selected the best flour. You'll understand when you taste it later."

Zhou Hu blinked, "Brother Mo, I love braised meat sauce the most. What kind of sauce do your noodles have?"

The most common sauces in Jingzhou are braised meat sauce and those made with dried bean curd and wood ear mushrooms, followed by the usual tomato and egg sauce, which is why Zhou Hu asked.

"There's no sauce."

Zhou Hu was stunned, exchanged glances with his roommates to confirm he hadn't misheard, then asked in shock, "No sauce? How do we eat it?"

Chen Mo folded the rolled dough, rhythmically chopping it on the cutting board with a vegetable knife, "You'll know once you taste it."

He didn't quite know how to explain.

Jingzhou people are famously picky about noodles nationwide. Comparatively well-known Clear Soup noodles, made with dragon beard noodles, are seen as the lowest on the disdain chain by Jingzhou people, even less esteemed than instant noodles...

So Chen Mo was a bit embarrassed to say his noodles were Clear Soup handmade ones.

He could only vaguely add, "They taste great!"

Having witnessed Chen Mo's skills, Zhou Hu and the six were still brimming with anticipation, waiting for Boss Xiao Chen to finish making them.

All five pounds of noodles were cut, with each pound divided into evenly sized portions.

The remaining noodles were covered with steamer cloth and placed in the storage cabinet to retain moisture.

He started up the stove, made a fire, and began boiling the noodles!

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