Jiang Feng's food stand caused quite a stir. In this era of social media, any slight commotion soon gets broadcasted online. People found the queue at the braised meat shop amusing and started shooting videos. Underneath the videos, many local netizens left comments and replies.
"Really? Such a long queue?"
"I've been to that snack street near Shuize Resort. There's nothing particularly delicious there, and I've never seen any queues."
"This boss's braised meat is especially delicious! I've bought it for two days straight; it's simply amazing!"
"Is it really that good? Then I'll check it out tomorrow."
"You gotta go early, the boss packs up early!"
"Why do I feel like I've seen him before? Wasn't he the one from the video selling rice combo sets a few days ago?"
The netizens were abuzz with discussions. Long lines were rare, usually only for schemes to get elderly ladies to queue for eggs, or when a certain brand went viral, inciting herd consumption. For a braised meat stand to become so popular was even more unusual. Thus, the more it was discussed, the more people wanted to taste the braised meat.
Jiang Feng had not expected his business to be so good. All of a sudden, people started spending wildly. He hadn't expected it, and the other food stall owners certainly hadn't either!
These stall owners were all dumbfounded. What on earth is going on with this long queue? This is completely unheard of! This was the first time they'd seen anything like it in all their years of running food stalls.
By around 12:30 PM, Jiang Feng's braised meat was basically sold out. He had arrived shortly after 11:00 AM, meaning he had only been working for an hour and a half.
"Folks, the braised meat is sold out! There's just a little left, so please don't line up anymore!" Jiang Feng shouted to the customers at the back of the line.
Upon hearing Jiang Feng's announcement, the crowd let out a collective groan of dismay.
"What? It's gone? Just like that?"
"Boss, you're slacking off! Why did you make so little?"
"Did I hear that right? It's sold out?"
"Boss, make some more!"
Some people, unwilling to give up, walked up to the food truck and peered into the pot. The stewing pot of braised meat was now empty; after fulfilling the last few orders, absolutely nothing remained.
"Boss, just ladle me some soup. I'll heat it up and pour it over rice," a customer said, sniffing the aroma from the pot.
Hearing this, Jiang Feng was both amused and exasperated. "This broth is delicious for stewing meat, but it might not be as good mixed with rice."
"Can I pay now and pre-order braised meat for tomorrow?" someone suddenly had a brilliant idea and asked.
Jiang Feng thought for a moment and said, "That's possible, but I'm only here around noon. If you have something come up and don't pick it up, I'll have to wait. It's manageable if it's just one person, but if too many people pre-order, it gets complicated."
Jiang Feng had considered the situation thoroughly. For example, if ten people pre-ordered braised meat and he prepared it for them, what if three or four of them didn't show up by noon the next day when he was ready to close? That could be troublesome. It wouldn't be right to just leave, having accepted their pre-orders. Besides, the meat wouldn't be fresh if kept another day. If he waited, there was no telling when they might arrive. Waiting until four or five in the afternoon would be a waste of his time.
So, he simply decided not to do any pre-order business. Jiang Feng didn't like complications.
"How about this: if you come tomorrow, I'll consider you already in line. You can come straight to me, and I'll prepare your order first," Jiang Feng suggested.
"Sure!" The customer was very happy to hear that.
"Count me in too, boss!"
"Me too!"
Hearing Jiang Feng's offer, several other people nearby also wanted to 'pre-queue'.
Jiang Feng found himself in a predicament. If too many people effectively cut the line this way, the next day's regular customers wouldn't be pleased.
Looks like a booming business can be a headache too, he thought.
"Everyone, let's talk about this tomorrow. I'm closing up for today," Jiang Feng announced to the customers, then swiftly took down his sign, closed the serving window, covered his pots and seasoning containers, and stored the disposable chopsticks and gloves in a drawer.
Then, Jiang Feng drove his food truck slowly out of the snack street. The other stall owners watched enviously. To run a stall this successfully was truly unparalleled!
Jiang Feng drove the food truck back to his shop. He had returned early today, so there was no rush to deal with the broth. He could eat dinner and take a nap first. Among food stall owners, I'm probably the only one audacious enough to take a midday nap instead of doing business, he mused.
Today's system task had already been completed.
Looking at the additional rewards from the system, Jiang Feng suddenly fell into contemplation.
[Braised Meat Sold: 352/200 pounds, today's task completed.]
[Extra Reward: Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pill*1]
Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pill? Does the system want me dead?
Jiang Feng remembered that the Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pill was supposedly something Ji Gong, the folk hero, had made by rolling the grime from his body into a pill. Some even said that after eating it, one's eyes would bulge, legs would kick out, and they'd be instantly dead! Why would the extra reward be something like this?
Jiang Feng checked the description of the Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pill:
[Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pill: A major nourishing medicine that enhances physique and stimulates bodily vitality. A comfortable feeling will ensue after consumption; please take it before sleeping.]
[Note: Only effective for the host.]
Seeing the description, Jiang Feng breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it's a tonic. It enhances physique and stimulates bodily vitality.
Although I'm already quite strong, it's never wrong to take some nourishing stuff, Jiang Feng mused to himself.
Hence, after lunch, Jiang Feng lay on his bed, took out the Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pill, and swallowed it in one go.
After taking it, Jiang Feng initially felt nothing. But after two or three minutes, a unique warmth suddenly swept through his whole body. It felt as if someone were gently blowing air across his skin. The sensation was exceptionally tingly. Then, he suddenly felt a burst of pleasure from within.
As the pleasure intensified, reaching its peak, Jiang Feng's legs suddenly tensed up, and his eyes widened slightly. This sensation lasted for more than ten seconds before the intense pleasure finally dissipated.
Whoa, that pill is intense! Jiang Feng thought with a lingering thrill. I almost thought I was really going to kick the bucket!
He drank some water, wrapped himself in the blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.
After the exhilarating sensation faded, he didn't feel anything particularly special. Still, upon waking, he changed his underwear and took a shower, just in case. He did feel that his physique had genuinely improved, and his energy levels were noticeably higher.
Young people these days are so delicate; they get exhausted from the slightest exertion. Jiang Feng's constitution was already quite good, and this tonic had made it even stronger.
Then, he went to busy himself with preparing tomorrow's braised meat. He planned to make more the next day; bringing 400 pounds should be about right.
As soon as the butcher saw Jiang Feng coming, he eagerly stood up to greet him. Now that Jiang Feng was his major customer, he naturally had to be treated well.
"Executive Chef Jiang, you're here!" the butcher said with a smile. The butcher had been curious about Jiang Feng's background, given the large quantities of meat he purchased daily. It was only after seeing Jiang Feng's stall in a trending local video that he realized Jiang Feng was an Executive Chef.
"I need more pig's trotters and duck intestines today, double the amount from yesterday," Jiang Feng said, holding Little Black's leash. "And I need top quality, as always."
Hearing this, the butcher immediately replied, "Rest assured, I've been sourcing directly from pig farms lately. The pig's trotters are all top-quality. I definitely won't shortchange you."
Even if the butcher wanted to cheat him, he couldn't. Jiang Feng always inspected the goods himself. He knew his meat, so he only ever bought the best.
"Executive Chef Jiang, your food stall is really popular! I even saw you on the short video app!" the butcher chatted with Jiang Feng, smiling. "I couldn't believe it when I scrolled past your video. It took me a while to confirm it was actually you!"
Jiang Feng was slightly bewildered by this. They saw me? But I haven't posted any videos!
Then, the butcher took out his phone and showed Jiang Feng the video of the queue at the snack street. The video had 150,000 likes and over 20,000 comments.
"See? Lots of people are praising your braised meat," the butcher added.
A video of a queue getting so many views... that's a bit much, Jiang Feng thought with some surprise.