Chapter 7

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

When he opened his eyes again, it was already 12:30 noon.

After getting up and washing up, Lu Feng first placed an order in the System Mall for the ingredients for xiaolongbao.

Not long after the order was completed, the system prompted that the ingredients had been delivered to the shop's storage room.

On the first day selling xiaolongbao, Lu Feng didn't buy too many ingredients.

Mainly because the business hours stipulated by the system were too bizarre, starting at 9 PM, only two hours.

If he made too much and couldn't sell it all, the leftovers would go to waste.

He absolutely would not do that kind of unscrupulous thing of mixing overnight food with fresh food to sell.

Whether it was ingredients or the finished xiaolongbao, the texture was always best when just out of the steamer.

Changing into a set of clean clothes, Lu Feng went downstairs and first ate something at the small restaurant next door to fill his stomach.

Returning to the rental house, he lay on the bed and leisurely scrolled through short videos for a while before setting off.

At 4 PM, Lu Feng arrived at the shop.

Taking the ingredients out from the storage room, Lu Feng first prepared to make the xiaolongbao filling.

After the filling was done, he would knead the dough, to avoid the dough sitting too long and turning sour.

This time he bought 10 jin of meat; turning this much meat entirely into filling still took some time.

If he used a meat grinder, it would speed things up considerably.

But experience told him that the texture of filling from a meat grinder was quite a bit worse than hand-chopped filling.

After the long process of chopping the filling, Lu Feng obtained a full large basin of meat filling.

Just smelling the aroma of the meat filling made the glutton in one's stomach stir restlessly.

Lu Feng wrapped the filling with cling film and placed it into the refrigerator's fresh-keeping compartment; once the dough was ready, he could take it out and use it directly.

The sky outside gradually darkened, and pedestrians on the pedestrian street slowly increased.

Garden Road Pedestrian Street was the National Cotton Spinning Mill decades ago, later transformed into a commercial street.

Now a considerable portion of the residents nearby are former factory workers, long since at retirement age.

There are young people who come here too, but compared to the bustling districts of the city center, there are far fewer young people here.

Older people are used to going to bed early, so after 9 o'clock, the foot traffic here isn't that much.

Besides those groups of old men and women square dancing, it's just some university students from nearby who come to stroll around.

Therefore, when the shopping mall closes at 10 o'clock, the restaurants on this food street are about ready to close up shop too.

Lu Feng glanced outside and sighed inwardly.

If he started selling at this time, even with only two hours of business, 100 portions of xiaolongbao could easily sell out.

At this moment, two girls who looked like university students walked into Lu Feng's shop.

They had no classes this afternoon, came out shopping together, had been strolling for a while, and planned to find a place to eat something and continue shopping.

But by now it was already mealtime, plus the rush hour for getting off work.

Almost every restaurant on the food street was packed with people queuing for food; if they wanted to eat, they'd have to wait quite a while.

The two of them didn't want to waste time queuing, so they walked along looking for a place with fewer people.

Walking along, they arrived here; one look and there was hardly anyone at the entrance.

They often came here to shop and knew this shop used to always be closed.

Now it should have just opened; seeing the renovation at the entrance was quite exquisite, they excitedly walked in to take a look.

But after entering and seeing there wasn't a single person in the hall, they immediately felt doubtful.

Such a well-renovated shop, not a shadow of a customer to be seen — could it be that the food isn't good?

Lu Feng happened to walk out of the kitchen at this time; the two girls guessed he must be the boss, and with an attitude of giving it a try, they asked.

"Boss, what do you have to eat here?"

Before Lu Feng could answer, the other, petite girl saw the price list on the wall and immediately shouted as if she had discovered something incredible.

"Xiao Mei, look quick! One portion of xiaolongbao is 50 yuan!"

"What?"

The tall girl named Xiao Mei turned her head, also saw the xiaolongbao price on the wall, and was instantly dumbfounded.

"Boss, your xiaolongbao price isn't right, right? Over at Li Ji, one steamer is only 30, you're selling for 50?"

"My xiaolongbao is different; the price is correct."

Lu Feng's heart was completely calm, his tone revealing confidence.

After comparing Li Ji's xiaolongbao with his own and seeing the gap, he even felt that the pricing of 50 yuan was too cheap.

"So confident? Then give us a portion to taste."

Seeing Lu Feng so sure of himself, the tall girl also became a bit curious.

50 yuan wasn't cheap, but one portion wasn't unaffordable either; she wanted to taste what kind of flavor this young-looking boss could produce.

People are curious creatures; seeing something unreasonable, they always want to try it.

A 10-yuan portion of fried rice outside might not attract much interest.

But if you make it 100 yuan a portion, I simply have to taste what it's like.

"Sorry, it's not business hours yet."

Lu Feng helplessly spread his hands.

"Your shop is already open, isn't it? What time do you start business?"

"Nine o'clock."

"Nine in the morning? Then I'll come back tomorrow."

"That... it's nine in the evening, why don't you wait?"

"..."

The two girls said nothing, looking at Lu Feng as if he were an idiot, then turned around and left.

"Business starts at nine in the evening, come back then!"

Lu Feng shouted loudly at their departing backs.

"Are you sick? We're not coming!"

The two girls quickened their pace and left the shop as if fleeing.

They'd rather queue and wait a while than be made fools of here.

Lu Feng was also extremely depressed, and silently cursed the Dog System in his heart.

After the two female university students left, several more customers came into the shop one after another.

Seeing the price of fifty yuan per portion of xiaolongbao on Qiang Shang, they turned around and left.

Some others, unwilling to believe it was a scam and wanting to try, had their just-sprouted curiosity instantly extinguished when they heard business hours were nine in the evening.

Having answered the same question several times, Lu Feng was also getting impatient.

He simply set up a Small Blackboard at the Store entrance, which read: Xiaolongbao 50 yuan per portion, business starts at nine in the evening.

That way, when customers came in again, he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

The effect was immediate.

After that, not a single customer came in.

But it was just right; in the time ahead, Lu Feng should prepare the dough.

After being busy for a while, the dough was ready.

The sky outside gradually darkened, and pedestrians on Food Street became sparse.

Looking at the empty Hall, Lu Feng couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Selling ten portions of xiaolongbao on the first day of business wouldn't be bad.

He shook his head hard, deciding not to think so much; he'd sell however many portions he could.

It was getting late; it was time to start wrapping the xiaolongbao.

Wrap thirty portions first; if they don't sell out, he'd just take them home to eat himself.

After wrapping the xiaolongbao and putting them in the steamer to start steaming, Lu Feng calculated the time; just right, by the time the xiaolongbao were steamed and cooled, it would be business hours.

"Damn, fifty yuan per steamer of xiaolongbao? Fengzi, your price is a bit outrageous!"

Li Jiang's loud voice came from outside the Door.