Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 326 - 303: Back to the Old Trade, Setting Up Shop Again
It wasn’t until Chen Mo appeared on the highway that he realized a problem.
"Damn, I still haven’t gotten my property deed!"
Fang Zhizhong had promised to give him a store, but ended up being so absent-minded that he forgot about it.
Of course, Chen Mo believed that Fang Zhizhong would keep his promise. That big boss wouldn’t joke about such things, and while it looked like he was gifting the store, there were conditions attached.
That’s no big deal!
Taking a week off every year to open up shop at Wanglong Mountain wasn’t a big deal, especially now with the positioning and teleportation on the food truck. As long as the store belonged to him, he could instantly transport there anytime.
The car occasionally drove steadily on the highway, sometimes weaving in and out, and at one point when passing through a tunnel without cameras or cars, Chen Mo even transformed it into an ice cream truck.
Eating small ice creams, drinking little juices, heading towards Jiangsu!
"Wait, something’s wrong." Chen Mo turned to check the passenger seat. "Where’s my cat?"
Rubbing the back of his head and recalling carefully, it seemed that last time in Chengdu, Xiao Juzi had been lured out to play by a silver tabby owned by a female customer. Before, Xiao Juzi always came back on his own, so Chen Mo hadn’t paid much attention to it.
At this moment, in Chengdu, at the Primordial Power Yoga Studio.
A thirty-eight-year-old lady looked at the two cats playing and chasing each other in front of her, lost in thought.
...
On the road, sometimes it was boring, sometimes you came across interesting things.
This time, Chen Mo wasn’t met by a fish vendor uncle or a thief; the entire highway journey went swiftly as he reached Yangzhou (a fictional place).
Of course, the first thing was to find a parking space where he could store the car long-term.
Preferably outdoors, since there is black film during the day and air conditioning at night, temperature won’t be an issue. An open-air parking lot has better ventilation, not as stuffy as underground parking.
"This trip to Yangzhou is mainly to learn about Huaiyang Cuisine, and if I can complete the food truck upgrade task here, that would be great."
While on the road, Chen Mo kept browsing videos about Huaiyang Cuisine on his phone.
Huaiyang Cuisine is considered one of the more famous cuisines among the Chinese cuisines and often appears on state banquets.
What left Chen Mo curious was.
Online, or among the public, recognized delicious cuisines like Huaiyang, Cantonese, and Min Cuisine are less widespread nationwide than Sichuan and Xiang Cuisine.
As for Lu Cuisine, it’s very unique; although few cities prominently advertise "Lu Cuisine," many techniques from Lu Cuisine have long been incorporated into the cooking methods of major cuisines nationwide.
Newly arrived in Yangzhou, Chen Mo wasn’t in a rush to find the good eateries.
He parked the car in an ecological garden’s parking lot, where the scenery was nice, with lots of greenery and a beautiful environment. The key point was that apart from early morning and evening walks, there weren’t many people.
"Dun dun dun..." Chen Mo held his phone in one hand as he strolled through his room, holding a cup of strawberry juice in the other.
"For setting up a stall, it’s best not to go to a night market."
This was a hard lesson learned. Chen Mo knew he always managed to cook top-notch cuisine using his skills along with the food truck’s abilities, so if he went near a night market, he would easily be surrounded by countless foodies within a few days.
We want to maintain a relaxed and carefree vibe now, can’t mix that up.
After looking at the map in his room for a while, Chen Mo almost memorized the general layout of this city, yet still couldn’t find a suitable stall location.
Moreover, after completing the side task in Chengdu, Chen Mo had been rather laissez-faire, and after several updates, the system now specified operating hours from 6 to 9 PM, which was quite a special time slot.
First, this is dinner time for most people. Without choosing a night market, setting up a stall during this time wouldn’t generate high sales.
Second, after 7 to 8 PM is just when people finish eating and go for walks. Who still snacks at this hour during a walk?
Chen Mo hadn’t decided what would be appropriate to sell here yet.
If he couldn’t figure it out, he decided not to think about it, flopping back onto the bed for a nice afternoon nap.
When he woke up, it was almost stall time.
Chen Mo emerged from the motorhome, strolling along the paths of the ecological garden, breathing in the air mixed with the scents of soil and vegetation, which felt healthy.
Upon strolling to the entrance of the ecological garden, he noticed a few vendors.
However, since this ecological garden was on the outskirts of the city, even during this time, not many people came for a walk, and the area was rather desolate, with mostly car decoration shops along the streets.
At the entrance to the ecological garden, Chen Mo noticed the stalls were selling things not much different from other cities.
Grilled squid, fried ham, ice cream, potato pancakes, stinky tofu, egg-filled pancakes, etc.
"If that’s the case, then the ecological garden here is totally doable... no need to drive out, just park the food truck at the park entrance and it’s all set."
"Crowds aren’t too big, no identical snacks, at least I won’t be seen as stealing business."
"Hmm... I think it works!"
No sooner said than done. It was already 4 PM by then, so Chen Mo immediately turned back to the parking lot, drove the food truck to the park entrance, unhooked the trailer, and returned the motorhome, leaving only the food truck here.
When Chen Mo walked out, a few people were already gathered around the food truck.
"Wow, even street vending comes with such a high cost? This truck must be at least hundreds of thousands, right?"
"I think more than that. Inside, it’s got everything you need, tools more complete than my home kitchen. It’s hard to believe it’s just in the tens of thousands."
"Is this an electric vehicle? I see there are electrical appliances there?"
"Whoa, there’s even a gas stove. That’s amazing. Is this for selling snacks or what? They could open a restaurant with this!"
Most people gathered around the food truck were other vendors in the area. Looking at Chen Mo’s fancy food truck compared to their own carts, it was like comparing a big mansion to a straw hut. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Chen Mo feigned calm as he walked through the crowd, opened the truck door, and entered the food truck.
Feeling a sense of pride inside, even though the food truck system often seemed to mess with him, it sure knew how to flaunt at critical moments!
He hadn’t enjoyed ten seconds of pride before a security guard in uniform approached the food truck.
"Hey there, are you planning to set up a stall here?"
Chen Mo was momentarily startled, but nodded hastily, "Yeah, that’s the plan."
"Could you please show me your documentation?"
Chen Mo handed over all his food business licenses, health certificates, and the officer took photos of each before saying, "Well, we have regulations that anyone setting up a stall at the ecological garden entrance has to pay a 20 yuan stall fee."
"Twenty?" Chen Mo was slightly surprised.
"Yes, that’s charged daily."
Seeing that people around weren’t surprised, Chen Mo knew it was the norm.
But the price was quite fair.
Of course, if they charged more, no one would set up stalls. Just like Old Liu frying ham, each piece might only earn a little over one yuan in profit, so selling twenty pieces just to cover the stall fee. Back in Jingzhou, Chen Mo rarely saw Ham Liu sell that many in one evening.
Still, they couldn’t sell as much as he and Brother Squid wagered to eat.
Quickly paying the stall fee, Chen Mo set up the display window and brought out all the cooking utensils.
He also had an idea.
Since the lion’s head meatballs he made at Wanglong Mountain had been acknowledged by the Huaiyang Cuisine chefs, why not continue making lion’s head now that he’s here?
Moreover, if I were to make an improved, upgraded version of the lion’s head, how would the people of Yangzhou react?
Let’s do it then!
