Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 156 - 127: Sooner or Later, You’ll Have to Experience Killing
Lucas finally freed himself from the claws and kept rubbing his reddened ear, looking pitifully at Lin Chen.
"Hey, Old Lin, when are we getting paid? I’ve almost worked a full month now; it’s about time for some salary, right?"
Lin Chen laughed and nodded: "Soon, I’ll pay you right after we finish here, don’t worry."
As he spoke, he grabbed the spice jar and sprinkled it evenly over the grill.
"Here, your grilled squid, eat it while it’s hot."
Elise almost forgot she was waiting for barbecue, and was stunned when she received a squid bigger than her face.
This is too big!
While grilling, it was flat, so you couldn’t see any details. When she held it in her hand, it was ridiculously large, blocking the view entirely.
The scent was detected, and those diners who were initially just watching turned their heads, immediately noticing the gigantic squid Elise was holding.
"What... What is this??"
"Oh my God, what a big skewer!"
"Is this squid?? No way, squid should be in white rings!"
"Yeah, the squid sold in supermarkets and restaurants are in rings."
Lin Chen was already used to the ignorance of these foreigners; but Lucas, a local, couldn’t help but reply.
"You should look up some encyclopedia pictures online to see what squid actually looks like."
"Oh right, I could have looked it up online, why didn’t I think of that?"
And indeed, once searched.
"Live squid actually looks like this??"
"No wonder they sell them in circles outside, it’s probably because they cut them directly. But why are your squid flat? It doesn’t make sense."
Elise stared dumbly at the shape of the squid in her hand, scrutinizing it as if she had realized something.
"Is it possible to cut the squid vertically without separating it, making it flat?"
"?!"
"Oh my God, how did I not think of that!"
"You can do it this way too, ma’am you’re so smart!"
Several tourists couldn’t stop exclaiming, their eyes wide with surprise, showing an expression of "living to see everything," leaving Jiang Shuqi and Lucas speechless.
Jiang Shuqi blinked: "Did you record that part just now?"
"Nope, you were pinching me just then."
"Congratulations, you missed another viral moment, I even have the title ready: [Shocked, foreigners have never seen squid!]."
"...Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!"
Lesson learned, Lucas promptly set up the camera on the table to record everything, afraid of missing another exciting moment.
But as fate would have it, nothing interesting happened afterwards, just the usual queueing, ordering, and eating.
If anything, it was the foreigners nodding in appreciation of the skewers they had never tasted before that was somewhat noteworthy.
The squid was relatively okay since it didn’t have a head, just the body and tentacles.
But the whole grilled yellow croaker was hard for many to accept; just the sight of it made them unwilling to try, and Lin Chen had to remove the head before they were willing to taste it.
After finishing the day at the stall, the lack of favorable comments resulted in only a recipe exchange voucher as a reward, which Lin Chen had anticipated.
Choosing to grill fish was meant to test the acceptance level of tourists visiting the area for whole fish.
From the current outlook, it’s best not to have high expectations; things that need removing still need removing. Even if they don’t eat it, just looking at it discourages many diners.
Future attempts to cook fish should take this into consideration.
Unless the diners are Asian.
Tonight, he didn’t use the exchange voucher for the sauce recipe because the dish wasn’t complex or difficult. When he was little, he had done street vending with his mom in their hometown with grilled squid, and the recipe was ingrained in his mind.
Grilled squid with sweet bean sauce and spicy sauce with chili powder and cumin is a popular flavor from his hometown, though he’s not sure about other regions’ recipes and tastes.
After closing up, Lucas eagerly took Xiao Hei to seek advice from Jiang Shuqi, repeatedly reminding him to send the money over quickly so he could pay his tuition fees.
This past month, the two of them stick to their routine, not skipping a single day despite the weather.
On slow days they made a few hundred euros, on busy days they made upwards of four to five thousand.
After subtracting ingredient costs, they agreed to split the profit seventy-thirty. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Lin Chen takes seventy, Lucas takes thirty.
Similarly, once Lucas’s business picks up, the income will also be split seventy-thirty but reversed.
This earning model avoids disputes perfectly, ensuring rightful distribution without any complaints.
Of course, if Lucas shoots a video exploring other stores without featuring him, that segment’s income won’t be shared with him.
However, this type of video hasn’t appeared yet.
Fortunately, despite their different personalities, they aren’t overly focused on money; they’re happy as long as they have something to spend.
Lin Chen doesn’t tirelessly work for himself.
Who wouldn’t prefer lounging instead of working hard!
He tidied up the food truck, opened the payment system, pulled up monthly earnings, and transferred more than ten thousand euros to Lucas’s bank card.
Part of his money had already been sent back home, and the remaining portion was similar to Lucas’s salary, left untouched for replenishing stock.
In the restaurant business, work hours are long, profits fluctuate, and the money you earn has to be saved for restocking. What you actually take home isn’t much.
Having his own food truck makes things easier, but renting a storefront would mean working purely for the landlord and staff.
"Chef, we’re here."
Dais and Elsa, having showered and conferred for half a day at the hotel, decided to come over nonetheless.
Although Lin Chen’s street vending seemingly had no direct relation to the restaurant, they thought it did; it was deemed market research.
Combined with the startling reality of live chickens and ducks, they were genuinely worried, fearing the chef facing this bloody scene alone would be too harsh.
"Why did you come down?"
Seeing them, Lin Chen felt both helpless and touched.
He intentionally didn’t inform them about tomorrow’s breakfast plan, intending to secretly slaughter the chickens and ducks while it was quiet late at night to avoid scaring them, and to prevent himself from embarrassing accidents.
"We’re a team! Facing challenges means tackling them together!"
"That’s right, even though I’m indeed scared, I thought that if I can overcome this fear, I could be more helpful to the chef in similar situations in the future!"
Elsa’s youthful face was filled with determination. She was clearly mentally prepared, not just saying it.
According to the handwritten letter from Chef Marchello brought by Jonathan, they were allowed to recruit kitchen assistants on their own.
It’s already Thursday night, and Lin Chen hasn’t mentioned this, obviously intending to save money for raising staff wages rather than hiring someone.
She’s definitely not the kind to be lazy or selfish, and she’s willing to help Lin Chen with kitchen chores.
Even if it’s just washing and prepping vegetables, or... slaughtering live animals.
As a mother of three, Dais has never bought live animals, and she’s taking this rare opportunity to overcome her fear so that in the future her children can enjoy diverse foods.
Fresh is always healthier than frozen.
"Alright, since you’d like to help, let’s get started!"
Lin Chen took a deep breath, and upon reopening his eyes, they were filled with resolve.
He locked up the food truck and headed straight for the restaurant kitchen with the two of them.
The chickens and ducks tied up were still obediently in the bucket, seemingly exhausted from struggling, lying there unmoving.
Lin Chen didn’t rush to start but instead pulled out his phone to search for videos on how to slaughter chickens and ducks, preparing to learn carefully.
