Chapter 134

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

In the kitchen, the chicken soup in the pot had already been stewing for over an hour.

Lu Feng lifted the pot lid, scooped a bit with a spoon, blew on it by his mouth, then tasted a mouthful of the chicken soup.

The moment his tongue touched the flavor of the chicken soup, his eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.

The chicken soup's flavor was exceptionally delicious; the richness of the chicken and the taste of scallion and ginger intertwined in the mouth, carrying a hint of natural sweetness.

After adding the mushrooms, the mushrooms' unique woody fragrance further blended with the chicken's deliciousness, elevating the flavor another level.

Although only salt and pepper were added to the soup for seasoning, the chicken and mushrooms' own umami had already completely fused into the soup; drinking it only made one feel a mouthful of fragrance, not the slightest bit bland.

After tasting, Lu Feng nodded in satisfaction; this pot of chicken soup was stewed very successfully.

What he was making today was Mushroom Stewed Chicken Noodles; the delicious chicken soup was the soul of this bowl of noodles.

With this pot of delicious soup base, it was basically already half successful.

After tasting, Lu Feng put the lid back on, letting the chicken soup in the pot continue to simmer on low heat; by the time business started at six o'clock, this pot of chicken soup would definitely be even more rich and delicious.

"Boss, I'm here for work."

At five twenty, Hu Xiaoyun walked in from outside the shop.

The moment she entered the shop, she smelled the rich chicken soup fragrance in the air, couldn't help but take a deep breath, and said with an intoxicated face: "Smells so good!"

Lu Feng was kneading dough in the kitchen; hearing Hu Xiaoyun's voice, he laughed and straightened up: "You're here? The chicken soup just finished stewing; in a bit I'll cook two portions of noodles first, eat a bit before working."

Hearing Lu Feng's words, Hu Xiaoyun couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

What she ate at the school cafeteria at noon had long since been digested by now; the fragrance drifting in the air made her stomach growl non-stop, and she really wanted to agree immediately.

However, she hadn't forgotten she was here for a part-time job; where was there a case of eating before even working?

Hu Xiaoyun forcibly endured her stomach's protest, shook her head and said: "No need, Boss; I'll work first. I see there are already many people gathered outside; I'll go maintain order first, and eat after business ends. I'm not hungry right now."

Lu Feng laughed after hearing this, didn't insist, and continued lowering his head to knead the dough in his hands.

At five-thirty in the afternoon on Food Street, right when the evening dining peak began, a long queue still formed in front of Lu Feng's shop according to custom.

Those stall owners setting up stalls in front of Lu Feng's shop, although they set up their stalls early, the bosses were extraordinarily leisurely at this moment.

Some sat on chairs scrolling videos and playing games; some gathered in twos and threes chatting.

Only when occasionally one or two customers came to buy something would they come over to greet them.

Their gazes would from time to time glance toward the crowd queuing in front of Lu Feng's shop, their eyes flashing with excited light.

"The queue at Boss Lu's entrance today is quite a bit longer than yesterday."

"Exactly! Mainly because the soup Boss Lu stewed today smells too fragrant; I can't even stand smelling it."

"Huh? Where did Lao Zhao, the fried skewers seller, run off to? Just now a few customers came wanting to buy fried skewers, and didn't see him come out to greet them."

"Him? Look! He's standing in the queue! This guy had me watch his stall; he went over at five o'clock!"

"Hiss! This fragrance smells too tempting; why don't we also go buy a portion to taste?"

"Forget it; if you want to go, you go. If my wife finds out I'm eating such expensive stuff outside, she'll scold me to death when I get back..."

"Alright, done chatting; Boss Lu will start business soon; those who didn't eat their fill will come buy from us in a bit; I have to go back and prepare!"

For these stall owners setting up stalls in front of Lu Feng's shop, the time Lu Feng starts business each day is their real business time for the day.

Seeing so many people coming to eat at Lu Feng's place today, they would definitely earn quite a bit of money tonight.

"Damn! This queue is a bit exaggerated, right? It's not even six o'clock yet, and this many people came to queue?"

At the shop entrance, Xiao Feilong, bringing An Liang and his assistant, stood outside the queue; Xiao Yue looked at the queue stretching to the street corner, and couldn't help but open her mouth wide in surprise.

Xiao Feilong hadn't eaten Lu Feng's cooking for several days already, and was long since impatient.

He knew how popular Lu Feng's shop was, so at a little past four in the afternoon, he waited at the hotel where An Liang and the others were staying.

However, An Liang happened to get a work call at that time, and chatted for half an hour straight.

Although Xiao Feilong was anxious, there was no way; he could only patiently continue waiting.

During the time waiting for An Liang, Xiao Feilong boredly flipped through messages in the fan group, looking at photo after photo of food taken at Lu Feng's shop, which made him crave it so badly it felt like his heart was scratching his liver.

By the time they arrived at Food Street it was already five forty; the customers at Lu Feng's shop entrance had already formed a long, long queue.

Hu Xiaoyun came very early today as well; at this moment she was greeting everyone to queue, chatting a few sentences with the customers in the queue from time to time.

"Xiao Long, this is that food shop you mentioned?"

An Liang frowned and looked at Xiao Feilong beside him, really hoping he would say no.

He disliked queuing; moreover, with the length of this queue before his eyes, queuing would take at least half an hour; he felt it was a bit of a waste of time.

However, Xiao Feilong's words shattered An Liang's hope: "Brother An Liang, it's here; let's go queue first. I estimate around six-thirty we'll be able to eat Boss Lu's culinary skill."

Then, Xiao Feilong looked at the queue at the entrance, and said with some emotion: "Didn't expect that in just one week of not coming to eat, the number of people at Boss Lu's place has increased quite a lot again!"

"Only able to eat at six-thirty?"

An Liang couldn't help but raise his wrist to check the time; so that means waiting nearly an hour?

"Can't we just come over directly to eat at six o'clock?"

Xiao Yue raised her head and looked at Xiao Feilong and asked; she knew An Liang disliked queuing.

All along, no matter which shop they went to, bosses who knew An Liang's Food Critic identity would enthusiastically invite them into the shop and entertain them well.

Even the Master Chefs of five-star hotels had to personally serve dishes to An Liang; when had they ever suffered the hardship of queuing?

"Should... be no, right?"

Seeing An Liang's somewhat displeased expression, Xiao Feilong smiled helplessly and explained: "This shop's boss doesn't like customers cutting in line; moreover, those queuing here are all regular customers; they probably wouldn't be willing to see us cut in line either."

Xiao Feilong spoke while his gaze swept toward the few gray-haired old men standing at the front of the line.

Those few old men seemed to carry an intangible majestic aura; from the moment they stood at the store entrance, they stared fixedly at the three of them with tiger-like intensity.

After being stared at by those few old men for a while, Xiao Feilong felt a prickling sensation on his back.

If those few of them could have brains as agile as Zhao Zhenhui's, they could spend some money to buy someone else's spot, just like him.

Pity those few of them didn't think of that.

However, given An Liang's personality, even if someone among them did think of it, they probably wouldn't agree.