Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 37: Challenge Complete, Food Truck Upgraded
The teachers from the school arrived, tidying up the equipment on the playground before clocking out just after the students.
Teachers abroad are different from those in China; there’s no concept of overtime in their vocabulary. They leave faster than anyone when it’s time, especially those below the university level. Students don’t have homework, so naturally, teachers don’t have much workload either.
There had been rumors of a food truck selling Great Xia cuisine at the school gate, and the teachers had been itching to try it after seeing all the students flocking to it.
Upon closer inspection, good heavens, almost everything was sold out!
"What? Pig intestines? Isn’t that the part that holds the waste? Are you sure it’s edible?"
Someone’s face changed color on the spot, covering their mouth as if about to vomit, "No way, I could never eat something that disgusting in my life!"
"But... I saw many students post updates saying it tasted much better than expected. Some even bought a few boxes to take home. It must be pretty good, right?"
"They say even the police came to buy it. I find that interesting. Life is about trying new things, after all."
Seeing that most people were interested, Lin Chen used the same excuse to coax a few teachers into buying the marinated intestines, offering them duck necks to taste and piquing their interest.
Women generally crave food more than men. After tasting the delicious duck neck, their appetites were instantly stimulated, and they all decided to challenge the intestines.
The main point was that Lin Chen added a remark when they hesitated.
"Even the students can eat it. Surely you, as teachers, won’t dare not to, right?"
This line was incredibly effective, raising tension instantly.
Many teachers who were quite resistant took a bite with a grimace, chewed a few times, and then their expressions gradually became intriguing.
"It’s... not bad?"
"It doesn’t seem to have that weird taste I imagined? And the more you chew, the tastier it gets, I must say."
"Boss, pack me a takeaway."
"Huh? Didn’t you say you’d never eat it before?"
"...Can’t I take it back for my husband to try?!"
After setting up for another half hour or so, we finally sold out all the marinated dishes.
A good number of female teachers were still hanging around in groups of three or two, either squatting or sitting nearby, holding lunch boxes and eating intestines, with a few bottles of cold beer beside them, eating happily.
[Ding, task settlement complete. A total of six hundred and eighteen items sold, of which two hundred and seventy-four were various intestines. Only the intestines were counted, receiving two hundred and twenty-one positive reviews, task complete!]
[Reward of ten thousand euros, three Recipe Exchange Vouchers, and one Food Truck Upgrade Card obtained]
"Phew... that wasn’t easy."
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Lin Chen looked at the glittering card floating in front of him, finally remembering he had forgotten to use the previous Food Truck Upgrade Card.
He spent most of his time setting up stands at night, with time being his biggest constraint.
After thinking it over, he decided to upgrade the equipment that would save time first.
[Oven upgraded, baking time reduced by 20%]
First, he used one Upgrade Card on the oven and kept one in reserve, deciding whether to upgrade the refrigerator or cookware or any other equipment based on the menu for the next stand setup.
"Buddy!"
Lucas, after resting for more than half an hour, finally got some color back in his face.
"I wanted to ask you something, about those meat buns and noodles. Are we doing them again? One taste wasn’t enough, and foreigners are more receptive to noodle dishes. I think it would make the perfect first video content for our account."
"Bring them back, huh?"
Lin Chen rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then nodded. "It wouldn’t be impossible. Those two dishes did sell well, just a bit bothersome to make. I’m worried there won’t be enough time."
If he wanted to make noodle dishes, he’d probably have to upgrade the oven’s fermentation function or shorten the baking time further to 40%, cutting nearly half the time.
Either choice was fine; they’d need upgrading eventually.
[Ding, triggered keyword: bring back]
[When the host decides to recreate previously completed dishes, daily stall setup tasks cannot be triggered. Only accumulated positive points can be used to complete achievements.]
The sudden prompt made him pause, but after reading it carefully, he didn’t pay it much mind.
Most rewards for regular tasks seemed to be recipes, either specified or random, at least that’s been the case so far. It didn’t really matter then; there was no need to pursue it deliberately.
Without special requests from customers, he’d just update the recipes as usual. With requests, he’d cater to them.
Lucas had been helping him selflessly for so many days; what’s wrong with wanting to eat some meat buns and noodles?
Satisfy him!
Making these two kinds of noodles hardly needed fermentation. The only time-consuming part was the shaping step.
But the shaping process had to be done by him personally; no equipment could replace it. As for baking the buns, it only took about five or six minutes in total. Even reducing the time by 40% would only save two minutes.
After roughly calculating, it seemed the remaining Food Truck Upgrade Card wouldn’t be useful for now.
Wait!
Speaking of buns, he suddenly looked at the warming cabinet.
If the area of this thing could be expanded, wouldn’t it increase the number of buns it could hold?
A 20% increase in space wasn’t a small figure.
Last time, when it was filled to capacity, it served almost over a hundred orders of positive reviews. Expanding it could at least hold thirty more buns, translating to nearly two hundred euros in income, equivalent to two days of work.
Upon further reflection, he realized the warming cabinet would be frequently needed, especially if he prepared fried or baked goods in the future.
As for the freezer, expanding it seemed cost-effective, but he always sold what he made on the same day with no excess ingredients needing overnight storage, mostly just keeping some drinks, so its importance wasn’t as high as the warming cabinet.
"It’s decided then, expand the warming cabinet!"
[Ding, warming cabinet upgraded, space expanded by 20%]
Lucas, still scrolling through his phone, seemed to be creating an account or something, and after a few minutes, he turned his attention to Lin Chen, chatted briefly, and inadvertently glanced at the window.
"Hmm? Your warming cabinet looks a bit bigger than before, doesn’t it?"
"Does it? Maybe you’re so hungry you’re hallucinating?"
"...Good point, hurry and treat me to a big meal!"
"What do you want to eat? Just a reminder, today is Sunday."
"What’s Tuesday got to do with it? Do I look like someone who wants Western food? Come on! Let’s check out a Sichuan restaurant in Chinatown!"
Lucas dug out a camera from the small backpack he carried and waved it in front of Lin Chen.
"Whoa, you’re not planning to make a restaurant review video too, are you?"
"Bingo! Spot on! Isn’t it trendy now for bloggers to have multiple accounts? Like fitness accounts paired with mukbang accounts, travel accounts with restaurant review accounts. I’m planning to run both simultaneously, posting on different apps domestically and abroad. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket."
"Sounds reasonable, but let me put it out there first, make sure you don’t film me—I don’t want to show my face."
