txolops Chapter 136: The group chat exploded, anticipation was at its peak.
Chapter 136: The group chat exploded, anticipation was at its peak.
It's 8:30 at night.
A bread cart and an electric tricycle were parked one after the other downstairs at the rental house.
Wang Hai pulled the handbrake, removed the car key, opened the car door, and jumped out.
Lin Chen also brought the tricycle to a stop.
He walked to the passenger side door of the van and opened it.
Tangtang was already asleep in the child safety seat.
Her little head was tilted to one side, and she was still tightly clutching the empty basket that contained the plastic spoons.
"This girl spent the whole afternoon at the stall today, she's exhausted."
Wang Hai lowered his voice and said.
"Um."
Lin Chen unbuckled his seatbelt, supported Tangtang's back with his left hand, and reached his right hand under her legs to lift his daughter out.
At the same time, he casually took the empty basket down and placed it aside.
Tangtang vaguely felt herself being picked up, and subconsciously nuzzled her little face against Lin Chen's shoulder, letting out a soft hum before falling back into a deep sleep.
"Daddy... we've run out of spoons..."
The little girl was still muttering about her work report in her sleep.
"I understand, that was well done."
sleep."
Lin Chen comforted her in a low voice, gently patting her back.
He turned to Wang Hai and said, "You take the small items upstairs first. We'll move the rest of the heavy items together after I've settled Tangtang in."
"Okay, you take the child upstairs first."
Wang Hai nodded and turned to open the trunk.
Lin Chen carried Tangtang upstairs to the second floor and entered the rented room.
He gently placed his daughter on the crib and took off her shoes and socks.
Go to the bathroom to get a warm, damp towel to carefully wipe her face and little hands clean, change her into loose pajamas, and cover her with a light blanket.
I carried her upstairs and settled her in before coming down.
Lin Chen gave Wang Hai a brief instruction.
"Go ahead, I'll unload it."
Wang Hai nodded and turned to walk towards the trunk.
Lin Chen carried Tangtang upstairs to the second floor.
He pushed open the door to the rented room, gently placed his daughter on the crib, and took off her shoes and socks.
Go to the bathroom to get a warm, damp towel to carefully wipe her face and little hands clean, change her into loose pajamas, and cover her with a light blanket.
Watching Tangtang breathe, Lin Chen stood by the bed for a moment, then tiptoed out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Go back downstairs.
Back downstairs, the two carried all their stall equipment, including folding tables and chairs, a large iron pot, and empty thermos containers, up to their rented room on the second floor.
The tables and chairs were folded up against the corner of the living room wall, while all the kitchen utensils were piled up in the kitchen.
The already small kitchen suddenly felt cramped.
Lin Chen rolled up his sleeves and stood in front of the kitchen sink.
"boiling water."
Lin Chen picked up the brush.
Wang Hai turned on the tap, and the sound of running water filled the kitchen.
The two worked together seamlessly.
Lin Chen was in charge of scrubbing the large iron pot in the sink, while Wang Hai cleaned the thermos and organized the seasoning jars.
Especially the large insulated container that had contained minced meat, its inner walls were covered with solidified grease, making it quite a hassle to clean.
"This insulated container has truly served its purpose today."
Wang Hai said with a smile as he vigorously scrubbed the inside of the bucket with dish soap.
Lin Chen didn't reply, but steadily cleaned the oil stains on the bottom of the pot with a steel wool pad.
After working for more than half an hour, all the tools were finally cleaned and placed upside down on the kitchen drain rack to drain.
Wang Hai walked to the sink, washed his face, shook the water off his hands, sat down on a chair at the dining table, and casually took out his phone from his pocket.
As soon as I unlocked the screen, WeChat started beeping incessantly.
Wang Hai opened the customer WeChat group and found that it was much more active than usual.
"Brother Chen, come and take a look quickly."
Wang Hai stared at the screen, scrolling through the chat history, and said to Lin Chen, who was wiping his hands, "These regular customers in the group are talking about the minced meat sauce we sent out today."
Lin Chen draped the towel on the rack, walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Wang Hai simply read the messages from the group chat aloud.
"Look at this, it was posted by the young man with black-rimmed glasses who was last in line today."
Wang Hai read aloud: "Today, Boss Lin's stall has a new dish for free tasting, called minced meat rice."
The taste was amazing, the meat was stewed until it was very tender.
It's a pity they only gave us a tiny bite; we weren't satisfied at all.
He also included a photo of that small paper cup below.
As soon as the photo was posted in the group chat, those regular customers who hadn't gone to the stall that night immediately followed suit.
A customer named Lao Li replied: What's going on?
Has Mr. Lin added new dishes to his stall?
I went back to my hometown today and missed it!
Wang Hai continued scrolling down and smiled: "Captain Zhang from the security department has also chimed in."
He said: It really smells good.
I wanted to pay Mr. Lin to fill a box for me, but he refused, saying he was only giving it away today.
Lin Chen leaned back in his chair, took out a bottle of mineral water from his pocket, unscrewed it, and listened quietly.
With these people who had tried the dish sharing their experiences in the group, the conversation in the fried rice group focused entirely on this new dish that hadn't even officially gone on sale yet.
Wang Hai looked at the message on the screen and then looked up at Lin Chen.
"Brother Chen, a lot of people in the group are tagging me now."
Wang Hai turned his phone screen to show Lin Chen, "They're all asking if we'll still be setting up our stall tomorrow, Sunday."
Will there be any more meat sauce samples available tomorrow?
Several people said they would come specifically tomorrow to queue up and try it.
Wang Hai put his phone away, turned off the screen, and tentatively asked, "Brother Chen, the reaction in the group is quite enthusiastic."
How about we get up earlier tomorrow morning and cook one less small pot?
You don't need many, just enough to send out a few dozen samples.
Or we could just sell a few dozen portions tomorrow and make some extra money.
Lin Chen took a sip of water and tightened the bottle cap.
He did not answer immediately.
Making the meat sauce takes at least two to three hours, from cutting the meat and frying the shallots to simmering it over low heat.
There isn't much difference in time cost between making a small batch of samples and making a large batch.
If we continue to distribute samples tomorrow, it will indeed satisfy some of our regular customers, but it will also disrupt their weekend rest schedule.
"No."
Lin Chen declined Wang Hai's suggestion.
"Not staying up any longer?"
Wang Hai asked.
"The purpose of today's tasting has been achieved; as long as the customers approve of the taste, that's fine."
Repeatedly building anticipation or offering only small quantities not only wastes your own resources but also risks disrupting the food festival's schedule for the following week.
"We'll be setting up our stall as usual tomorrow, selling only fried rice."
Lin Chen looked at Wang Hai and said, "If anyone asks about the new dish, just give them a definite answer in the group chat."
Tell them the food festival officially starts next Friday, so they don't need to worry about sampling these next few days.
Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, Wang Hai immediately realized what was going on.
That makes sense.
Wang Hai nodded in agreement, saying, "Things are valued for their rarity."
They can't have it today, and they can't have it tomorrow either. When it goes on sale next Friday, these regular customers will definitely rush over to buy it as soon as possible.
Let's focus on preparing for next Friday.
"Okay. Let's just send a notification in the group chat."
Lin Chen said.
"OK."
Wang Hai lowered his head and tapped his phone screen with both thumbs.
He carefully considered his wording, edited a group announcement, clicked send, and casually set it to "tag everyone".
"@Everyone. Good evening, dear customers."
Here's a general reply to everyone regarding the new dishes we sampled tonight.
Wang Hai read aloud the announcement he had just sent out: "This minced meat rice is a side dish that our stall is preparing to offer."
Because cooking takes a long time and requires a large amount of ingredients to be prepared in advance, the stall will only be serving fried rice with minced meat tomorrow, Sunday, and will no longer be giving out samples.
Wang Hai paused at this point before continuing with the second half.
"Next Friday evening, at the Yintai Plaza Summer Food Festival, our stall will officially launch our new minced meat rice."
We will prepare sufficient quantities and sell them as usual.
See you next Friday!
After the announcement was posted, the group chat was silent for a few seconds.
Immediately afterwards, the messages started refreshing.
"We have to wait until next Friday?"
Okay, at least we have some definite news.
"Okay, I'll go straight to line up after get off work next Friday."
"Wang Hai, save me two portions next Friday, I want to take them home."
Looking at the replies in the group, Wang Hai locked his phone screen with satisfaction and put it back in his pocket.
"All done."
Wang Hai stood up, patted his clothes, and said, "The announcement has been sent out."
"Our regular customers have completely secured their place in next Friday's tough match."
"Um."
Lin Chen stood up and threw the empty water bottle on the table into the trash can.
"The work is done, it's getting late, go home and rest early."
Lin Chen said to Wang Hai.
"Okay, I'll head back then."
Wang Hai walked to the door, changed his shoes, opened the door, turned around and waved to Lin Chen, "Brother Chen, see you tomorrow."
"Drive carefully."
Lin Chen gave a word of advice.
Don't worry!
Wang Hai walked downstairs.
A short while later, the sound of a bread truck starting up came from downstairs.
The sound of the engine gradually faded into the distance along the alleyway, eventually disappearing into the night.
The rented room returned to quiet.
Lin Chen went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water.
Lin Chen walked to the bedroom door and gently pushed it open.
Only a dim night light remained in the room.
Tangtang lay in her crib, breathing evenly, fast asleep.
Lin Chen went over and tucked the blanket around his daughter, then lay down fully clothed on the bed next to her.
Close your eyes and drift off to sleep.