Chapter 22: This Is the Taste (Thanks to Woyue Feixing for the alliance leader reward)

Just as Seeing Ouyang was savoring the taste of the crab shell yellow with happiness and regret, intending to continue for another tray, the morning jogger old man group entered.

6 old men came, one more than yesterday.

Each was dressed in an undershirt, casual pants, or sweatpants. The sweat on their foreheads hadn't been wiped dry, and their undershirts were half-wet. It was clear they had just finished a proper morning jog.

"Whoa, there's griddle cakes this morning!" Breakfast connoisseur Old Man Xu exclaimed as soon as he entered the shop, then walked quickly to the window, staring at the crab shell yellow, full of joy. "Crab shell yellow, just out of the oven, right? We caught it."

Old Man Xu pointed at the crab shell yellow and said impatiently: "Young man, give me two of these. Yesterday's baozi, one basket of each, and a bowl of iced mung bean soup. I'm exhausted."

After saying this, Old Man Xu sat at his familiar Table 9, sprawling against the back of the chair.

"How long have you been jogging, and you're already complaining about being tired? And you said I was stingy. I think you've gotten used to the rich life these past two years, eating so much after running. When will your blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids ever come down?" Old Man Cao complained ruthlessly, skillfully scanning the code. "Your shop's waiters haven't started work yet? Two crab shell yellows, one basket of Three-Diced Baozi, transferred."

The other old men scanned the code to order one after another, as familiar as if they had been regular customers for half a year. Only the new old man looked at the menu and hesitated, feeling that he had encountered a new type of breakfast "slaughtering" scam.

"Why are the things in your shop so expensive?" the old man questioned. "Crab shell yellow sells for 5 yuan each. I remember it only sells for 2.5 yuan each in my complex. You've doubled it."

"We have a 30% discount for the new shop opening, and this crab shell yellow is a new product with fresh shrimp filling, limited-time special price, same price as the fresh meat filling, 5 yuan each. It will return to the original price of 8 yuan tomorrow," Qin Huai explained with a smile.

The real reason was that Qin Huai didn't intend to make fresh shrimp crab shell yellow at first, so he didn't make a menu sign, and the menu sign wouldn't be delivered until the afternoon.

The old man hesitated even more.

"Wang Laogen, stop dawdling. This shop's breakfast is a bit expensive, but it's delicious. The radishes in the boutique supermarket and the radishes sold on the street stall aren't the same price. You've been an accountant for 40 or 50 years and have calculated money for most of your life, haven't you calculated enough? I brought you here to run so you could eat at this shop. Trust me, it's absolutely delicious and worth the price!" Old Man Cao started his devilish whispering.

"Exactly, this shop opened yesterday. If it's a while later, I'm afraid you won't even be able to queue up." Old Man Xu had already lived the life of a loyal fan, temporarily abandoning his previous grudges with Old Man Cao and forming a united front.

"It's not Suzhou, how delicious can crab shell yellow be?" Old Man Wang muttered in a low voice.

Although he thought it was expensive, under the enthusiastic recommendation of Old Man Cao and Old Man Xu, Old Man Wang still hesitantly ordered one crab shell yellow, one basket of Five-Diced Baozi, and one basket of Three-Diced Baozi.

The baozi were steamed not long ago and were still a bit hot, but the crab shell yellow could be eaten directly.

For a time, the canteen was filled with the rich fragrance of crab shell yellow.

Old Man Xu couldn't stop eating, swallowing two in two bites, and stood up with his plate, intending to add a few more.

"Clap." Old Man Wang, sitting opposite Old Man Xu, clapped his hands in excitement, scaring Old Man Xu so much that his hand shook, and he almost dropped the plate.

"Wang Laogen, what are you clapping the table for! If the plate breaks, will you pay for it?" Old Man Xu said with dissatisfaction. Damn Wang Laogen, he almost made him pay for the plate.

Old Man Wang didn't care and said excitedly: "This is the taste!"

The old men:?

Has Wang Laogen also developed senile dementia?

This disease progression is a bit serious. Should they call his wife to pick him up?

"What taste?" Old Man Cao asked. "The taste of crab shell yellow!"

The old men:??

Old Man Wang was so excited that he was incoherent, gesturing and saying: "It's exactly the same taste as the crab shell yellow I ate in Suzhou when I was young! This is it, it must be, fresh shrimp filling, I haven't eaten such authentic stuff in half my life!"

The old men:...

Forget it, he's going to start reminiscing about the glorious years of the past again.

Old Man Wang recalled emotionally: "When I was an accountant at the textile factory, our textile factory was one of the best in Suzhou. That state-run hotel was right next to the factory. The thing I looked forward to most every day was riding my bike there after work to queue up and buy crab shell yellow."

"You don't know, the master of that shop made crab shell yellow, and the first batch came out of the oven at 6:00 PM every day. It was so fragrant it could be smelled ten miles away!"

"Once it came out of the oven, the whole street could smell it. The queue was so long; if you got off work a minute late, you couldn't buy it. At that time, I would rather not eat lunch and save the money to buy two to satisfy my craving. If a family promised their child crab shell yellow and didn't buy it, the child could cry all night. Back then, I was able to chase my wife all because I rode my bike fast and grabbed it every time."

"It's a pity, later the factory didn't work out. I also transferred jobs and left Suzhou, and never ate this taste again. I really miss it, back then..."

The old men were probably used to Old Man Wang reminiscing about the past from time to time, and everyone buried their heads in eating without paying attention to him.

After reminiscing for a few minutes, Old Man Wang had told enough about his passionate years, felt that he was instantly 40 years younger, recovered his appetite from his youth, and shouted at the window: "Young man, give me 30 crab shell yellows, to go!"

"My old lady loves this taste!"

Qin Huai packed them up deftly.

Seeing Ouyang was dumbfounded, secretly envious in his heart.

He also wanted to shout "30 crab shell yellows to go," but he had no money, so he could only carry his plate and continue for another tray, sitting on his seat playing with his phone and slacking off after eating.

After the old men left, Qin Huai quietly clicked on the quest panel to check the quest progress.

10.4%/25% (39/94)

The progress was gratifying.

The old men were quite capable; they probably didn't eat out less in the neighborhood on weekdays.

It was 31/94 when he went out in the morning, and 5 old men directly trampled 8 shops.

Qin Huai silently gave the old men a "like" in his heart.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 23 =====