Gourmet: Midnight Vending-Chapter 362 - 336: Does Betraying Your Taste Buds Count as Cheating?

Chapter 362: Chapter 336: Does Betraying Your Taste Buds Count as Cheating?

Zhu Yan cheerfully scooped up half a spoonful of rice and naturally brought it to her mouth.

Crispy, crunchy.

Just one bite and her expression changed abruptly.

"Huh?"

Huang Bo was mixing various ingredients with chicken soup when he heard his girlfriend’s surprised voice and looked up, "What’s wrong?"

Zhu Yan chewed a few more times, somewhat embarrassedly glanced at Huang Bo, then turned her back on him and took another big spoonful.

’How could it be this delicious?’

At this moment, Zhu Yan had only one thought in her mind.

Clearly the first bite had a slightly crunchy texture, but why did it feel so sticky when continuing to chew? What was most unbelievable to her was why each chew seemed to release a juicy sensation from the rice grains?

The rice grains, wrapped in egg yolk, appeared distinct but were neither dry nor greasy; instead, they were full of freshness.

Bite after bite, Zhu Yan found it increasingly satisfying.

This rice seemed to harbor some magical power, sometimes tasting like meaty fried rice, sometimes carrying the freshness of plants, and occasionally filled with the aroma of seafood.

It was truly amazing!

Half a portion of rice wasn’t much, and before Zhu Yan could figure out what flavor it was, the bowl was empty.

"Oh dear," Zhu Yan exclaimed softly, looking over at Huang Bo, who was focused on his own fried rice.

She quietly walked over to the neighboring stall, took out her phone, and paid 88 yuan, then whispered, "Boss~ One more serving of fried rice."

"Just a moment."

As the 8 o’clock business hours approached, Chen Mo was firing on all cylinders, multitasking.

He was vigorously frying rice on one side while sneaking in a moment to add vinegar to the lion’s head soup bowl handed over by Xue Ping on the other side.

During a break in frying rice, Huang Bo looked up for his girlfriend and happened to see this scene, "Yanyan, what are you doing there, why aren’t you coming over here?"

Zhu Yan felt a bit awkward.

To be honest, both emotionally and logically, she really wanted to support her boyfriend.

But that half portion of fried rice had utterly overturned her understanding of fried rice, making her feel like all the fried rice she’d had before had been for nothing in just a few minutes.

"Well," Zhu Yan recalled what Huang Bo had said last night, and argued confidently, "I ate too fast just now and couldn’t taste much, I’ll order another serving to try it again!"

Huang Bo: ???

Why did it seem like his girlfriend was suddenly supporting the other side?

Oh right, Huang Bo thought, Yanyan must be trying to eat another serving to find weaknesses in their opponent’s fried rice, so she could help him during the heated stage of the competition.

This scene was completely captured on Zhang Huixiang’s live streaming phone, and now all eight hundred or so viewers in the official Yangzhou Culture and Tourism live stream were dumbfounded.

"Even the girlfriend defected?"

"Does betrayal of taste count as infidelity?"

"If it were me, I’d break up on the spot!"

"That’s not fair to say, the girl is also being fair, it’s obvious Boss Chen’s fried rice is tasty. If she still supports her boyfriend, wouldn’t that go against the competition’s original intention?"

"Oh my, it looks like it’s not just the girl who defected!"

Those hardcore fans who had been shouting support for Huang Bo on the street earlier all went silent after finishing half a portion and then came over to Chen Mo’s stand.

Some customers, feeling a bit embarrassed, even greeted Huang Bo.

"Master Huang, I’m going to check over there first, you take your time frying."

"Oh Master Huang, this fried rice is really good, but the problem is it’s too slow! I didn’t have lunch today and I’m starving, so let me go over there for another serving to tide me over, and I’ll come back to support your fried rice business!"

"Well, Master Huang, I’m going over there to take a look, I won’t eat, just look."

Huang Bo was a bit bewildered, watching the people who had been gathered around him just moments ago, now all heading over to Chen Mo’s side.

He couldn’t help but sweat a bit while speeding up his actions.

’That customer was right, my frying speed is indeed a bit slow!’

’But there’s no choice, Jingya Pavilion’s style is all about refinement. If I fry too fast, how would it differ from those street stalls!’

Although knowing this, Huang Bo didn’t plan to change.

After all, this was how he learned to make fried rice from the very start, and authentic Yangzhou Fried Rice is an intangible cultural heritage project, with very strict procedures for its preparation!

If he changed the procedure without authorization and the locals saw it, wouldn’t they laugh their heads off? How could he continue at Jingya Pavilion?

’They’re just blinded by the fresh flavors, once people eat more, they’ll know whose fried rice is truly delicious!’

Huang Bo seemed to have found the root cause of the event and felt much better about it.

Although the start was unfavorable, hadn’t the opponent only won a few half-portions?

It didn’t matter. The bet was to last until the end, where the real winner would succeed based on subsequent sales, and those customers blinded by flavor would soon tire of the neighbor’s fried rice, and would obediently return to his stall.

Huang Bo glanced at the end of the alley.

It seemed that yesterday’s customer live stream had some effect. At just past seven o’clock, people started to come in steadily, and there were quite a few of them.

Huang Bo suddenly felt a surge of confidence, adjusted his mask near his mouth, and continued to elegantly make fried rice.

Meanwhile, next door.

After eating another portion of fried rice, Zhu Yan exhaled a long breath, "Wow, this fried rice is really something! Boss, could I have another serving?"

Chen Mo didn’t say a word.

He was fully focused at the moment, not allowing even the slightest distraction, because he was trying to reach a new level: making five servings of fried rice at once!

Don’t be fooled into thinking this was just an increase of two servings; the difficulty was more than just doubling.

Outside the food cart, Xue Ping and Xue An finally understood Chen Mo’s earlier words: you are responsible for maintaining order.

After the previous ten or so customers finished their half-and-half servings, they all gathered around, all wanting another serving.

This frustrated Yu Hongtao a bit.

"Hey, you guys stand back, I was here first, and I haven’t even had a bite yet!"

Yu Hongtao squeezed through the crowd with a cup of dark drink, sweating profusely.

Chen Mo slightly distracted, "There’s a barrier on the cart!"

Xue Ping quickly got into the cart, following Chen Mo’s pointed direction, and indeed found a red barrier tape, along with several one-meter-long iron rods.

"Boss, why do you have these things on the cart?"

"Wherever I set up a stall, there’s a need to queue; is that so hard to understand?"

Xue Ping looked at the boss with admiration.

Frying rice without forgetting to show off—damn.