Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 397 - 359: Sweet Talk Gets You an Extra Bite
The thin sauce was evenly poured into the pot, and the soup only reached the level of slightly coating the spoon. Chen Mo picked up the second-hand megaphone, "Here we go, here we go, the braised dry tofu slices are 18 yuan per serving, starting now!"
Because of the rapid growth of Experience Value, Chen Mo was particularly energetic today, even talking more than usual.
The first customer in line had long been impatient. He had just bought five Three-Piece Buns. It must be said, those buns were truly delicious.
"Boss Xiao Chen, give me two servings of dry tofu slices!"
"Just a moment."
The young guy watched Chen Mo’s movements, "Boss Xiao Chen, this Three-Piece Bun you invented is incredibly delicious. I’ve been eating buns here in Jingzhou since I was a kid, and I’ve never tasted buns as satisfying as these!"
"Thank you for the compliment~"
The young guy felt he hadn’t praised enough, "And, Boss Xiao Chen, the dipping dish with vinegar and chili oil you gave me is simply unbeatable! I used to think your Jingzhou vinegar was unbearably sour, but when I tried it just now, it was fragrant~ I can’t have buns without vinegar anymore!"
Ah, these words were music to his ears. Chen Mo used a long pair of chopsticks to fish out a large handful of dry tofu slices from the bottom of the pot, "Well said, I’ll give you a bit more with these two servings."
This was Chen Mo’s method.
Since cooking in a big pot has the deadly flaw of slow serving leading to increasingly sticky ingredients, he might as well start serving while the ingredients on top of the pot are not fully cooked.
At this point, he had to dig from the bottom of the pot, because the ingredients at the bottom, soaked completely in boiling water, cook a bit faster than those on top.
And they taste better too. Once the bottom portion is served, the ingredients that were originally at the top are just about ready.
Using long chopsticks, Chen Mo picked out a generous amount of dry tofu slices, wrapping these thread-like tofu sticks around the chopsticks. Finally, he placed the chopsticks upright at the bottom of a bowl, using the other hand to gently scoop the dry tofu slices with a black spoon.
A small mound was easily formed, somewhat like creating pasta, only that the dry tofu slices piled up like a small mountain.
Finally, he used the black spoon to scoop a ladle of broth from the pot. In the broth were slices of ham, shrimp, and green pea shoots, making the colors look very vibrant. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
After preparing two servings of dry tofu slices, Chen Mo didn’t forget to drip some fragrant oil into each serving’s broth and sprinkle a little pepper, "Your order is ready."
Though it sounded complicated, Chen Mo’s serving speed was quite fast, and the customer in front of him was drooling over the mountain of dry tofu slices, "Thanks a lot~"
As soon as this customer left, the person behind him was a young lady.
"Boss Xiao Chen, give me two servings of braised dry tofu slices as well."
"Alright, coming right up!"
Seeing Chen Mo begin to scoop the dry tofu slices, the young lady touched her chin, seemed to come to a decision, then with a fist clenched and blushing slightly, she said, "Boss Xiao Chen, you’re really handsome!"
Chen Mo: ???
What kind of weird praise was this?
"Boss Xiao Chen, I’m a local college student. I watched the livestream yesterday and came today specifically to try your food. If you were at our school, you’d definitely be the campus heartthrob, and those chasing you would line up from Yangzhou to overseas!"
Chen Mo was filled with question marks. Was there something wrong with this girl?
But such straightforward talk was still quite charming, and Chen Mo rarely smiled shyly, "Hehe, thanks for the flattering remarks, I’ll give you a little extra."
The young lady couldn’t help but smile, "Thank you, boss~"
While Chen Mo was scooping the dry tofu slices, the young sister behind the young lady quickly took out her phone and opened an AI app.
[How should I praise a handsome and talented chef?]
The young lady happily took her dry tofu slices and left the line. A new young lady stepped up in line, "Boss Xiao Chen, please wait a moment..."
"What’s that?" Chen Mo was increasingly confused, "How many servings would you like?"
"I..." The young lady looked anxiously at the words jumping on her phone screen, almost panicking.
"Just give me one serving first!" With that, she kept her eyes on her phone and mechanically said, "Boss Xiao Chen, your sharp eyebrows and bright eyes are the coolest aura I’ve ever seen. The first time I saw you, I felt your touch of calm, touch of coolness, and aura of nonchalance. Your culinary skills are..."
"Hey, no, no!" Chen Mo handed a bowl of dry tofu slices to the young lady, "What are you saying, you’ve got the wrong person?"
The young lady looked at her bowl of dry tofu slices, which was clearly less than the two previous customers, and was almost in tears from anger, "What rubbish AI, I’m uninstalling this."
Watching the unhappy young lady leave the line, Chen Mo was still puzzled.
Wasn’t it just buying food, and why was she reading aloud like a novel, and what on earth was written in it? Even decades ago, people wouldn’t write like that, what kind of author is this, really rubbish!
"Next please."
"Boss Chen, I came here today because I think your food..."
"Alright, I’ll give you a little more~"
"Boss Chen, I’m not exaggerating, but these snacks you make, I’ve been eating them for three to four days straight, they’re just so delicious, everyone in my family is especially..."
"I’ll give you more, you’re welcome to come again~"
Chen Mo was truly in a good mood today. Besides being baffled by a person who complained that he incorporated technology into his cooking at the beginning, today’s street performance was surprisingly smooth and for some reason, customers’ words were particularly sweet.
Every customer would compliment him a bit when ordering.
Little did they know, at this very moment, at the back of the line, customers were whispering to each other!
"What! If praising Boss Chen can make him happy, he will give us extra? Quick, pass it on!"
"Hey, have you heard? Boss Chen is in a good mood today. If someone can make him even happier while ordering, he’ll give them a free meal!"
"Hiss... Don’t tell me you didn’t know? Boss Chen is having an event today, whoever has a sweet mouth will get more food, and might even get a free meal!"
"Did you know? Nevermind, seeing you’re an out-of-town tourist I’ll tell you, normally I wouldn’t mention it."
A bizarre rumor was silently changing as it passed from the front to the back of the line.
And at the back of the line, a girl happily tugged at the young lady in front, "Hurry and tell me, I’m so curious, is it about Boss Xiao Chen?"
"Shh..."
The young lady gestured, "My good friend queued up earlier, and she already got her dry tofu slices."
As if to prove she was telling the truth, the young lady said something random and then continued, "She said, Boss Chen is happy today. If someone kisses him, they’ll get to eat his delicious handmade dish for free, plus they’ll get a large serving. What a treat!"
The little sister’s Casillon eyes widened, "Huh?"
"Don’t spread it too much; if too many people know, it won’t work."
"Oh!"
This girl’s figure, at first glance, looked quite nice—very slender, not very tall. But under closer inspection, the parts that should be prominent weren’t.
Upon hearing the elder sister’s little secret, the girl was stunned with shock and a bit annoyed, "Damn it, how did Chen Mo turn into this!"
While she was frustrated, Gold Medal Salesperson Nana, who was carrying a bucket, paused, "Hey? Mu Mu?"
"Ah, Sister Nana?"
"Why are you here too? I remember you weren’t on the bus when we came."
Mu Mu scratched the back of her head, "Recently Yangzhou has become popular, the company said they wanted to inspect a viral city, so they sent me."
"Oh, what’s there to inspect, it’s just your company’s Boss Xiao Chen, just go find him directly." Nana glanced at Chen Mo busy at the end of the line, "I’m still busy over there, how about this, don’t rush back tonight, it’s rare for us to meet in a foreign place, let’s have a dinner gathering later?"
Mu Mu nodded obediently, "Sounds good."
Nana smiled meaningfully, "Good, I’ll contact you later, got to get busy for now."
"Okay~"
After Nana left, Mu Mu dropped her smile.
Looking somewhat speechless, she continued to line up!
