txolops Chapter 129 Preparing for the Food Festival
Chapter 129 Preparing for the Food Festival
The night was dark.
The bread cart and the electric tricycle drove into the alleyway of the urban village one after the other and stopped downstairs in front of the building where Lin Chen rented a house.
"The engine is off."
Wang Hai pulled the handbrake, removed the car key, opened the car door, and jumped out.
He stretched out a big yawn, and his bones made a few soft cracking sounds.
Lin Chen also brought the tricycle to a stop.
He walked over and opened the passenger door of the van.
Tangtang was already asleep in the child safety seat.
The little girl tilted her head, her mouth slightly open as she breathed steadily, her arms still tightly clutching her little schoolbag.
"This girl has been working with us all night, she's exhausted."
Wang Hai lowered his voice and said.
Lin Chen didn't say anything and unbuckled his seatbelt.
He supported Tangtang's back with his left hand and reached his right hand under her legs to gently lift his daughter out.
As she got up from her seat, Tangtang groggily opened her eyes a crack.
"Daddy..."
Tangtang mumbled something indistinctly.
"I'm home, time to go back to sleep."
Lin Chen comforted her in a low voice, gently patting her back.
Hearing her father's voice, Tangtang nestled her little face against Lin Chen's shoulder with peace of mind, closed her eyes, and fell asleep again.
"You move the things to the first floor entrance, I'll settle her in and then come down to wash."
Lin Chen gave Wang Hai a brief instruction.
"Go ahead, I'll move it."
Wang Hai nodded and turned to walk towards the trunk of the van.
Lin Chen carried Tangtang upstairs and into the rented room.
He gently placed the little girl on the crib and took off her shoes and socks.
Afterwards, Lin Chen went to the bathroom to get some warm water, took a clean, soft towel, wrung it out, and carefully wiped Tangtang's face and hands.
Help her change into loose pajamas and pull the thin blanket over her.
Looking at his daughter's sleeping face, Lin Chen's face softened.
He stood by the bed for a moment, then turned and tiptoed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Back in the downstairs hallway, Wang Hai had already unloaded everything from the car.
Insulated rice containers, stainless steel soup containers, folding tables and chairs.
Lin Chen stepped forward and rolled up his sleeves.
"Connect the water pipe."
Lin Chen picked up the brush and started working.
"Ready, boiling water!"
Wang Hai turned on the tap.
The sound of rushing water echoed in the corridor.
The two worked together seamlessly. Lin Chen was responsible for scrubbing the heavily soiled iron pots and soup containers, while Wang Hai was responsible for cleaning the thermos containers and organizing the seasoning jars.
Doing physical labor on an early summer night quickly makes you sweat profusely.
Wang Hai turned the washed thermos upside down on the shelf next to him to drain, and then took the towel around his neck to wipe his sweat.
He watched Lin Chen cleaning the cracks in the stove with a steel wool pad, and recalled what Su Qingxue had told him in the square. Finally, he couldn't help but speak up.
"Brother Chen, I thought about the food festival next Friday carefully on my way back."
This is a great opportunity, but also a great test.
Lin Chen didn't stop the steel wool in his hand, and with a soft rubbing sound, he didn't even look up: "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, Mr. Su said that the customer traffic in those three days would be several times higher than usual."
"Right now, at most, we can only produce 150 servings of fried rice a day, and that's our limit."
Wang Hai squatted by the pool and analyzed, "Fried rice is all about the heat and the wok hei (wok aroma). You can only make a maximum of two portions per batch."
No matter how long the queue is, our food service speed is fixed.
Only two or three boxes can be produced per minute.
Lin Chen put the clean stove rack aside and took a dry cloth to wipe away the water stains.
"Um."
Lin Chen responded.
Wang Hai was stating an objective fact. He would never rush into making soulless, mass-produced food just to save time; that would ruin his own reputation.
Wang Hai continued, "If there are really that many people next Friday, the queue will be as long as a dragon."
If people see the line not moving, they definitely won't want to wait.
And even if they were willing to wait, you alone, cooking everything fresh from 5 pm to 10 pm, even if you broke your arm cooking it all, you still couldn't keep up!
Lin Chen's wok-flipping movements were indeed nimble, but with the weight of the large iron wok and the ingredients, each flip was a real physical task.
If you work continuously for five hours straight at high intensity, even the strongest body can't take it.
Lin Chen stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Wang Hai.
What are your thoughts?
"Lin Chen asked. Seeing that Lin Chen had taken it to heart, Wang Hai immediately offered his idea: "I think that since the speed of serving food is limited by the freshly cooked part, we should do something about the menu."
My suggestion is to add one more side dish.
"Side dishes?"
"Yes! It has to be something that can be prepared at home in advance, without requiring time-consuming cooking on-site."
Wang Hai explained, "For example, braised pig's trotters, spicy duck necks, or cold dishes."
Once these items are prepared, bring them over; when customers arrive, simply pack them into boxes and sell them.
Customers who want to fill their stomachs with fried rice, or those who don't want to wait too long or just want a quick bite, can buy side dishes to take away.
"Selling them together will allow us to earn more."
Wang Hai slapped his thigh: "The most important thing is that we have one more thing that doesn't need to be done on-site. I can just pack it up and collect the money right here."
This will relieve some of your stress and make you less tired.
Lin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly after hearing this.
Since the efficiency of fried rice cannot be improved, adding a high-quality side dish that can be served quickly is indeed the most realistic solution to cope with the surge in customer traffic.
Lin Chen washed and wrung out the rag, then draped it over the water pipe.
He shook the water droplets off his hands, his eyes calm and composed.
"You make a good point."
Lin Chen's tone was straightforward as he affirmed Wang Hai's suggestion, "Next Friday's customer traffic is incomparable to usual."
Relying solely on fried rice to survive is a thankless and arduous task.
Adding a pre-prepared side dish can definitely reduce the pressure of queuing.
Upon hearing Lin Chen's agreement, Wang Hai clapped his hands happily: "Right!"
I knew you'd understand this, Brother Chen!
"As long as we stock up on enough, we're guaranteed to make a fortune in those three days next Friday!"
"What should we add?"
Wang Hai started thinking about those common roadside snacks.
Lin Chen did not make a decision immediately.
As a craftsman, he has extremely high standards for every dish he makes.
Since this side dish is to be sold at my own stall, I can't just make do with whatever I can.
Not only should it taste good, but it should also go well with the fried rice and not overshadow the main dish.
"Talking about war on paper is useless."
Lin Chen clapped his hands, interrupting Wang Hai's speculation.
"Since we don't need to rush to prepare vegetables tomorrow morning, let's meet up tomorrow morning and go to the farmers' wholesale market together."
Lin Chen made a decision: "Let's go to the market first and see what ingredients are available during this period."
After you've read it all, then decide what to do next.
"OK!"
Wang Hai is also a straightforward person.
"You're an expert when it comes to cooking, so I'll listen to you."
Tomorrow we'll go to the market to pan for gold and see what suitable ingredients we can find.
All the tools by the pool have been cleaned and put away neatly.
Wang Hai walked to the tap, scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face to clear his head.
"Brother Chen, I've finished all the work, so I'll head out now."
Wang Hai shook the water droplets off his hands and waved to Lin Chen, "You should wash up and go to bed early too. You've been working non-stop these past few days. I'll be here to see you at 10 a.m. tomorrow."
"Drive carefully."
Lin Chen said calmly.
"See you later!"
Wang Hai walked out of the corridor.
A short while later, the sound of a bread truck starting up could be heard from the alley.
With a deep roar from the exhaust pipe, the bread truck drove away from the urban village.
Silence returned to the area downstairs.
Lin Chen stood by the pool, a cool breeze blowing through the early summer night.
I've already started planning in my mind which food sections I'll focus on at the farmers' market tomorrow.
No matter what side dishes are added, quality and taste are always his first and foremost principles.