Chapter 243 - 243 Harvest
“I’ll have another serving of the Crab Roe Fried Rice, and please weigh me out one pound of Gravy Seafood,” said Yan Chao.
Yan Chao didn’t have to wait too long. When it was his turn, he spoke without hesitation to Qin Lang, who was younger than expected.
“Right away. Please hold on,” responded Qin Lang, passing another packet of Crab Roe Fried Rice into his hands. He then began to weigh the seafood.
The remaining food guests looked on, intrigued.
Compared with the twenty yuan Crab Roe Fried Rice, the price of Gravy Seafood had significantly curtailed their appetite for buying more.
Yet the Gravy Seafood, displayed in the most conspicuous place, was hard to miss.
As a result, many food guests, like Yan Chao before, had adopted a wait-and- see approach.
Despite being at the head of the queue for the second time, Yan Chao was the first food guest to order Gravy Seafood.
Seeing Qin Lang’s conscientious preparation and effort to keep the weight down, the people there developed an instant fondness for this young stallholder.
“Enjoy,” said Qin Lang, handing over a pound of Seafood Medley with Sauce to Yan Chao, packed and ready for consumption.
By then Yan Chao had thoroughly enjoyed his second serving of Crab Roe Fried Rice.
Even though he would have preferred another serving, considering the state of his wallet, he thought better of it once he took the Gravy Seafood.
Unlike the Crab Roe Fried Rice, the Gravy Seafood was intended for takeaway in an eco-friendly disposable box. With no utensils to return, it was indeed convenient for those planning to take the food home.
“Hey there, could you tell us how the Gravy Seafood tastes?” another food guest asked Yan Chao.
“I’m just about to try it out,” Yan Chao replied, nodding with a grin.
Although the Gravy Seafood could be taken home, he wanted to taste it on the spot for the first time. If the taste was disappointing, he intended to confront the stallholder about it.
However, Yan Chao knew this was highly unlikely. Given the deliciousness of the Crab Roe Fried Rice, it was hard to believe that another culinary creation by the same chef would be very far off the mark.
And this was precisely why he decided to go for it.
Under the curious eyes of the other food guests, Yan Chao felt a sense of lightness holding the Gravy Seafood.
Without a word, he opened the takeaway box in his hand, grabbed the disposable chopsticks, and picked out an item at random.
“Wlioooa, this is a king crab leg, and a pretty large one at that!” On recognizing what he’d just picked up, an expression of delight appeared on Yan Chao’s face.
King crab, it’s still considered crab, Yan Chao thought to himself.
He’d picked up a generous chunk of king crab leg, where most of the meat was located. The part near the joints which contained precious little meat, had been trimmed off in advance to leave around cylinder-shaped piece.
The reddish exterior of the cooked leg crab became tinged with a brownish hue from the sauce, stirring Yan Chao’s appetite.
What he found most considerate was that nearly half the shell on the side had been removed. This not only meant less inedible shell adding to the weight, but also made it extremely easy to get the meat out.
Just a flick of the chopsticks, and the bulging crab meat wedged between the shell and the flesh came off effortlessly. After dipping it gently in the soup added after the seafood was weighed, it was all ready to be savored.
The satisfaction of consuming large bites of king crab leg exceeded even the gastronomic delight of the Crab Roe Fried Rice he’d just had.
The tantalizing taste of the fresh, sweet crab meat, waltzing with the tangy soup in his mouth brought an expression of bliss to Yan Chao’s face.
It was a pity though that there was only one such piece of crab leg in Yan Chao’s serving of Gravy Seafood.
Even so, Yan Chao understood why.
King crab was significantly more expensive compared with normal river crab.
Just by looking at the thickness of the corb, Yan Chao could tell that the variety of king crab used by Qin Lang was of high quality, which explained the higher cost.
If all the seafood in Gravy Seafood were pieces of king crab leg, Qin Lang would be running a deficit.
Plus…
Yan Chao salivated as he looked at the other varieties of seafood in the box.
The thought of getting to savour the tastes of various seafood in one dish was delightful!
With a tinge of reluctance, Yan Chao closed the takeout box, deciding to enjoy the rest at home. He then gave a thumbs up with a grin, “I highly recommend you all to try it out!”
But actually, there was no need for Yan Chao to elaborate. The other food guests could read from his expression that the taste was beyond words.
In the wake of this, there was obviously an increase in the number of people who ordered Gravy Seafood along with the Crab Roe Fried Rice.
But even after closing his pack, Yan Chao wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
He approached the busy Qin Lang and asked, “Boss, you’re preparing for the Leaping Fish Banquet, right? Will the stall still be operating for the next few days?”
“Yes, right up until the start of the Leaping Fish Banquet, I’ll continue to run this stall,” Qin Lang replied with a smile.
“That’s such great news!” Yan Chao felt delighted.
He had asked the same question at all the stalls that he was happy with previously.
Even though he had guessed where these new stallholders were coming from, it felt different hearing them confirm it.
“Well, boss, I’ll come again tomorrow.” Waving at Qin Lang, Yan Chao turned to leave towards the entrance of Food Street.
Thinking about being able to have the delicious Crab Roe Fried Rice and Gravy Seafood for the next few days, Yan Chao couldn’t help but feel excited.
Quickly, though, he held his wallet and winced.
The price of Gravy Seafood was a bit on the high side, and his wallet just couldn’t afford it…
But once the Leaping Fish Banquet is over, Qin Lang will stop running the stall and he might never be able to get Gravy Seafood again…
After constant internal struggle, Yan Chao eventually made up his mind.
Buy it!
Better regret buying it now than forever regret not buying it!
As the sun set, it started getting dark. The lights automatically came on, shining with the stall’s lighting.
Normally at this time, there would be a sharp drop in the number of people strolling by the lake, and it would be time for the food stalls to close up.
But today, the dark night was unable to conceal the popularity of Food Street.
More and more locals and tourists found out about it, and came rushing over with their friends.
With such large crowds, even if the customers were spread across many stands, there were still queues lining up in front of all the stalls.
Their location was not great, but thanks to their long queues and the small bowls of Crab Roe Fried Rice that passerby would savor and then rave about with amazement, many people who were passing by would also join the queue.
Truly, good wine needs no bush.
Qin Lang and the two spirits had adjusted to the rhythm of running a food stall after three bouts of hasty and clumsy service crossing wires and tripping over each other.
Spicy was responsible for counting how many had been sold, Dan Bao cleaned and sanitized the returned dishes using Thought Waves and Full Firepower, and Qin Lang took care of serving the Crab Roe Fried Rice and weighing the Seafood Medley with Sauce.
Between the three, they managed to divide and conquer the tasks at hand smoothly and efficiently.
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