The candles were lit, roses were placed, and the wine glasses were set. My feet were soaked in milk water as the female masseuse kneaded my toes in front of me.

Old Zhao chatted casually with Dunzi from a distance, "You're really taking it easy, aren't you?"

"Aren't you enjoying it too?" Dunzi, wearing slippers, was standing in line, almost his turn. "Boss Xiao Chen, another serving of mapo tofu with rice, please. It's great, perfect with rice."

Dunzi felt he had eaten too quickly earlier, focused on using the tofu to accompany the rice, and realized it was a waste to leave the half bowl of leftover broth.

The broth tastes even better than the tofu, but it's too numbing and spicy to drink directly. But mixed with rice, it would be perfect!

Chen Mo turned his head to confirm, "I'm really sorry, but we're out of tofu today."

"What?" Dunzi couldn't believe it, "You didn't make that many servings to begin with."

He ate quickly and was the first to get his dish. Now, there were only about ten people eating mapo tofu by the roadside, so how could they have had so few ingredients prepared?

Chen Mo was also frustrated. If only he had bought more tofu.

He had bought a total of ten jin, ate one serving himself, and made sure each serving used about eight liang of ingredients, so they ran out quickly.

"Anyway, we're out. But if you want noodles or buns, we still have those."

Dunzi was a bit upset. The tofu was so delicious, and he only managed to have one serving. Now that there's a purchase limit, he'll have to think of other solutions.

He checked the time; it was still early, not yet eleven.

Having just had a taste of a world-class delicacy, only to be unable to have more, felt like there were cravings crawling over his bones, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Dunzi suddenly asked, "Boss Xiao Chen, are you saying there wasn't enough tofu prepared today?"

"Yes, tomorrow I'll figure out how to prepare more."

Chen Mo indeed hadn't expected the mapo tofu to be this popular, even more so than his noodles. Of course, it could also be that regulars were tired of the noodles and wanted something different.

Dunzi chuckled foolishly, "I'll go buy tofu. Anyway, I have a car. Just tell me how much you need!"

Chen Mo was utterly surprised that Dunzi was willing to say something like this just for a bite to eat.

In reality, it was the difference between those who owned cars and those who didn't.

To Dunzi, who had a car, the city seemed small, with everywhere being just a short drive away.

But for Chen Mo, who didn't own a car, everywhere was a bus ride away, and in this city without a subway, it felt vast.

"This doesn't seem right, does it?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Just tell me, and it's settled. You let me be the first one to eat after I buy the tofu, okay?"

Chen Mo explained, "The problem is, my tofu isn't just any ordinary tofu, you remember last time we went to Ning County? It's bought from the grain station there, and it's already this late."

The idea of leaving Jingzhou to go to the nearby county indeed made things a bit difficult for Dunzi.

A round trip on the national highway would take at least twenty minutes.

And while Dunzi was still hesitating, Old Zhao, who was seated and enjoying the food, discovered something new and interesting.

He had a condition where eating rice would give him a stomachache, a problem that had persisted for many years without finding a remedy even after consulting numerous traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. So, Old Zhao didn't order rice today. On his table were a bun, a serving of mapo tofu, and a clear soup with hand-pulled noodles.

Old Zhao took a bite of tofu, then leaned back into his chair with his eyes closed, savoring the moment for a long time, nodding in great approval of the dish.

But there were downsides too.

"If only I could have a bowl of rice," Old Zhao couldn't help but think.

Just imagining how the thick, rich sauce mixed with rice would taste made his mouth water, even though he couldn't eat it.

Old Zhao, now middle-aged, couldn't handle foods that were too spicy, so he decided to take a sip of noodle soup to counter the spicy flavor. As soon as he lowered his head, he saw the slightly yellow, clear noodle soup and noodles in the bowl, with the aroma of wheat wafting up towards him.

Suddenly!

His mind flashed!

"Oh, right!"

Old Zhao placed the wine glass in front of himself, then picked up the bowl and poured the yellow noodle broth into the wine glass.

The noodle broth filled the wine glass perfectly.

As a result, half a bowl of plain noodles remained in the bowl.

Immediately, Old Zhao picked up the mapo tofu and said to the masseuse, "Here, help me strain this."

The masseuse, slightly surprised, obediently used chopsticks and a spoon to strain it at the edge of the bowl. Even though the bowl was hot, Old Zhao steadily poured the thick, spicy sauce into the noodle bowl.

Then, he began to mix the noodles vigorously with his chopsticks.

The plain hand-pulled noodles suddenly turned a bright red, with each strand coated in attractive beef bits. The Shanghai greens on top added a hint of nature.

Just looking at it, it seemed delicious!

But that wasn't all.

Once Old Zhao mixed the noodles, he poured the remaining mapo tofu into the noodle bowl.

So, as Dunzi turned his head, he saw this scene.

Old Zhao held the bowl of noodles, slurped several strands with a sip, making his lips turn greasy red, and before he even swallowed, scooped some tofu on top with a spoon and took a bite.

Gulp...

Dunzi, following Old Zhao's rhythm, swallowed his saliva.

Then he saw Old Zhao picking up the wine glass, gently sipping the noodle broth, and displaying the comfort of pure delight on his face.

In fact, it's possible to enjoy mapo tofu without rice; it can go with noodles too.

The masseuse sitting across from Old Zhao didn't know what to say, stunned by his conduct. Even the wine glass probably never imagined being used to drink noodle soup in its lifespan.

This was intolerable.

Old Zhao was being too infuriating.

Dunzi stomped hard, "Boss Xiao Chen, save me a bowl of noodles; I'm going to buy tofu now! Today, I'll definitely buy it back, dammit!"

As the engine roared to life, Dunzi and his Cadillac disappeared down Xuefu Street, seeming particularly rushed.

Chen Mo wasn't sure if he would be able to bring back the tofu, but if he couldn't, Chen Mo planned to give Dunzi a few dozen yuan for gas money.

Well, back to cutting noodles and boiling them, Chen Mo thought.

Chen Mo had his own reasons for not stopping Dunzi from helping buy tofu.

One serving of mapo tofu sold for 58 yuan, with costs of less than 15 yuan, making it a profitable dish.

That's just one aspect; an important reason as well.

After receiving the 8,000 yuan task bonus from Fang Zhizhong, Chen Mo was just a step away from a Level 3 food truck. If he continued to sell noodles and buns step by step, it would take about three to four days.

However, if he went all out selling mapo tofu,

Glancing at the food truck panel in his mind, Chen Mo noted,

[Experience Value: 41580/50000]

By finishing today's noodles and buns, there would only be a gap of five to six thousand experience points left.

If Dunzi bought enough, Chen Mo was confident in preparing nearly 100 servings of mapo tofu before the business hours ended, closing in on upgrading the food truck.

With that, Chen Mo sliced the vegetables more quickly.

At this very moment,

Guo Aiping, having just finished tutoring her child, was on her phone, complaining to another parent in the same class about the amount of homework nowadays.

Her child had been rushing through homework until eleven o'clock, leaving little time for a good night's rest.

After sending her message, Guo Aiping checked her bicycle's location. The locator had been installed when she bought it, considering how expensive it was and the difficulty of losing it without a tracker.

"Hey? Why has the bike been parked in the development area for so long?"

Guo Aiping found the placement information odd, wondering,

Could it be stolen?

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