Chapter 73: Let You Open a Food Shop, You Open for Business at 3 AM

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

Xiao Fei looked at Yellow Hair with a face full of worship, his face full of admiration: "Third Brother, you're awesome!"

Yellow Hair ate a few more mouthfuls amidst Xiao Fei's rainbow farts, feeling the spiciness was getting to his head, his brain buzzing a little, and he couldn't help but stop, looking at the fried noodles on the plate, his eyes glazing over a bit.

"Third Brother, why aren't you eating?"

Yellow Hair's heroic performance tonight made Xiao Fei, who had just entered the world, treat him like an idol; seeing his idol stop, he couldn't help but ask in confusion.

"No, I see the Boss gave quite a lot of meat, one piece, two pieces, three pieces, four pieces..."

Yellow Hair squeezed out a smile, the chopsticks in his hand rummaging in the plate, still not putting anything in his mouth for a long time.

He didn't expect that pretending to be cool would cost such a big price; he was starting to regret it now.

But in front of his underlings, he couldn't lose face!

Yellow Hair took a deep breath, the relaxed expression on his face was gone, and his movement of picking up fried noodles with chopsticks had a feeling of generously sacrificing himself for righteousness.

After a few more mouthfuls, Yellow Hair's face turned red, and sweat beads kept flowing down his face along his forehead.

"Third Brother... are you okay? I see your hair is wet."

Xiao Fei looked at Yellow Hair's big red face like Guan Gong and asked with some concern.

"I'm fine! Not spicy at all! I'm just hot! Boss didn't turn on the Kong Tiao, right? This weather is really strange, New Year is seven months away, why is it still so hot?"

Yellow Hair raised his head and looked around left and right for a while, taking advantage of Xiao Fei not paying attention, he quickly panted a few breaths.

"Third Brother, how about... I get you some water?"

Although Xiao Fei was naive, by now he could tell Yellow Hair was just holding on.

"What nonsense! This fried noodles isn't spicy, why drink water!" Yellow Hair was stubborn like a dead duck, his lips already numb from spiciness, but he still refused to lose face in front of his underlings.

"Third Brother is awesome, then keep eating." Xiao Fei gave Yellow Hair a thumbs up.

This time he truly admired him; just look at the reactions of the diners nearby to know this Explosive Spicy Flavor fried noodles was absolutely very spicy.

But Yellow Hair had eaten for so long, clearly unable to stand the spiciness, yet could still pretend to be fine.

Leaving aside the factor of pretending to be cool, this endurance was absolutely top-notch.

Yellow Hair ate two more mouthfuls, seeing there was still half the portion left in the plate, he suddenly felt worried.

But he was also worried about not finishing and wasting it; what if the Boss got unhappy and blacklisted him from coming here to eat in the future?

Yellow Hair turned his head to look at Xiao Fei beside him; Xiao Fei had already finished his fried noodles at this moment and was looking down playing with his Mobile Phone, unable to help but lean over and ask: "Xiao Fei, the Boss gave quite a lot today, I've eaten for half a day and there's still so much, I feel a bit full, how about I give you some?"

Hearing this, Xiao Fei's head shook like a rattle drum: "No, Third Brother, I can't eat spicy like you, this portion of noodles looks scary just looking at it, I can't take even one bite."

"Then get me a cup of water, let me slow down, my mouth is a bit dry after eating for half a day."

Yellow Hair gave in; this fried noodles tasted good, but it was just too spicy; if he didn't drink some water soon, he felt his whole body would burn up.

"Okay, Third Brother!" Xiao Fei quickly stood up and ran towards the Water Dispenser.

As soon as Xiao Fei left, Yellow Hair immediately opened his big mouth and panted desperately, trying to cool down his mouth.

Although this fried noodles was a bit spicy, the taste was really good.

He couldn't help but look at the few diners beside him who had also ordered Explosive Spicy Flavor fried noodles.

Those few diners were at this moment holding chopsticks in one hand constantly stuffing fried noodles into their mouths, and holding cups of water in the other hand, immediately gulping down into their mouths.

After a few mouthfuls of noodles, a cup of water was finished, they stood up to get water, and after coming back continued repeating one mouthful of noodles and one mouthful of water.

The sound of panting came from time to time in the Hall, and from time to time the diners' praise could be heard.

"This spicy flavor! So satisfying!"

"Haven't eaten such spicy delicious food for a long time! Lu Boss's culinary skill has never let me down!"

"This Chili Powder is definitely real stuff, spicy yet fragrant, truly invincible delicious!"

Yellow Hair listened to those people's praise and couldn't help but admire Lu Feng in his heart.

He had never heard before that a shop doesn't operate during the day and specially opens at night.

Originally thought this was just a gimmick the Boss used to attract attention, didn't expect the food made here was all top-notch delicious.

He felt this shop was like a treasure; every time he came here to eat, it could bring him different surprises.

Operating at midnight could attract so many customers; if changed to daytime, wouldn't the business be booming?

The key was the Boss looked so young, seemed to be only a few years older than himself.

When he himself reached the Boss's age in a few years, who knew if he could have a stable job.

Yellow Hair suddenly felt that he spent every day day and night in the Internet Cafe playing games, living quite decadently.

Thinking about it carefully now, games didn't seem to be something he had to play.

Speaking of which, how did the spiciness in his mouth seem not so strong now?

"Third Brother, the water is here."

Xiao Fei ran back holding a cup of water.

Yellow Hair took the water cup, like those diners, one mouthful of noodles one mouthful of water, eating the remaining fried noodles clean.

After finishing the fried noodles, Yellow Hair sat in the seat and rested for a while, waiting for the burning feeling in his mouth to gradually subside, then stood up and walked towards the outside of the shop.

"Third Brother, can you take me to clear a dungeon when we go back?" Xiao Fei followed behind Yellow Hair, asking with a face full of expectation.

"No, I'm a bit sleepy after eating fried noodles, I'm going back to the Rental House to sleep."

Yellow Hair's eyes were somewhat complex; he looked back at Lu Feng's brightly lit shop, inside that young Boss was recording the customers' orders with a smile on his face.

Xiao Fei's face showed some disappointment, but he still nodded: "Okay, Third Brother, you rest well, then I'll go back to the Internet Cafe first."

Huang Mao walked a few steps toward the rental house, then turned back to glance at Xiao Fei still standing in the original place, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Xiao Fei, from now on don't keep thinking about playing games every day either, learn a craft from someone, so later you can earn money to support yourself, don't end up like me, treated like a good-for-nothing by my family, left to fend for myself out here."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Fei was stunned; after a long while, he nodded: "Third Brother, I understand."

Huang Mao smiled, turned around, and walked leisurely toward the distance.

……

At five in the early morning, Feng Jiao arrived at the nurse station of Tong'an Hospital.

The nurse on night shift, Xiao Wang, saw her and asked with a face full of surprise, "Jiao Jiao, aren't you on white shift tomorrow? Why did you come so early?"

Feng Jiao smiled energetically: "I slept too much at home during the day, couldn't sleep at night, afraid you'd be lonely on night shift alone, so I came over to keep you company."

Xiao Wang listened with a moved expression, immediately gave Feng Jiao a big hug, then picked up the instant noodles on the side and asked enthusiastically, "Are you hungry? I'll go make you some instant noodles."

Feng Jiao shook her head; she had already eaten instant noodles at home during the day, and although her stomach was a bit hungry now, she wanted to eat something else.

"What else is there to eat at this hour? The shops on the street haven't opened yet. Why don't you wait a bit, and when it gets light we'll go out for breakfast together?" Xiao Wang looked at the clock on the wall and said.

Feng Jiao suddenly thought of that shop from daytime; she remembered its business hours seemed to be three in the early morning to six.

If that's true, then that shop might still be open right now.

She then recalled being given the cold shoulder by the boss at that shop during the day, and her heart immediately felt a bit uncomfortable.

Refuse me, huh?

Fine, I want to see just how delicious the stuff you make can be!

Feng Jiao stood up and said to Xiao Wang, "I'm going out for a trip, to check out Food Street. There's a restaurant there that operates at three in the early morning, don't know if it's real."

"What shop operates at three in the early morning?" Xiao Wang asked with a face full of surprise. "Sounds a bit like an urban legend. Is it okay for you to go alone?"

"Don't worry, Food Street isn't far from here, ten minutes walking and you're there." Feng Jiao finished speaking, picked up her bag, and left the hospital.

Outside, the sky was still pitch black; the street lamps on the road shone with dim yellow light.

The road was deserted, not a single figure in sight. Feng Jiao, a girl walking alone on the big road, couldn't help but feel a bit scared in her heart.

Scenes from horror movies she had watched before flashed before her eyes one after another like a revolving lantern.

Feng Jiao felt a bit regretful, wanted to run back to the hospital, but thinking of Lu Feng's somewhat punchable face from daytime, the anger in her heart instantly suppressed the fear.

She continued walking toward Food Street, only her pace quickened considerably.

Just as she turned into Food Street, Feng Jiao caught sight at one glance of Lu Feng's lit-up signboard not far away, and her heart immediately settled considerably.

When she walked closer and saw the long queue at the door, she was immediately a bit surprised.

What that old grandpa said during the day was actually true — there really are this many people not sleeping at night coming here to buy food?

Feng Jiao stood at the door looking at the queue extending into the darkness, and couldn't help feeling a bit troubled.

With this many people queuing, when on earth will it be my turn?

By the time I get to buy, the sky will probably be bright already.

At this moment, a fat uncle in his thirties inside the queue noticed Feng Jiao standing beside the queue with a hesitant face, and waved at her.

Feng Jiao walked over with a puzzled face; when she got close, she felt this fat uncle looked a bit familiar, but for the moment couldn't recall where she had seen him.

The fat uncle chuckled: "Beauty, you're here to buy fried noodles, right?"

Feng Jiao also smiled and said, "Yeah, Uncle, but I see there are too many people here."

"Then you came at just the right time." The uncle said: "I've been queuing here for half a day, got a bit of urgent business to go back to, how about I give you this spot?"

Feng Jiao heard this and immediately became delighted; she didn't expect to run into such a kind-hearted uncle the moment she arrived.

Looks like being cute-looking gets you preferential treatment wherever you go.

"Then thank you, Uncle." Feng Jiao beamed with joy and sincerely said thanks.

The uncle walked out of the queue, and Feng Jiao immediately walked over and stood in the uncle's original position.

Seeing the fat uncle smile at her after leaving the queue, Feng Jiao felt a bit embarrassed, took out a bottle of water from her bag, handed it over, and said, "Uncle, are you thirsty? I have a bottle of water here that's unopened, you take it and drink, thank you."

"Fifty." The uncle didn't take the water Feng Jiao handed over, and said a sentence with his mouth.

Feng Jiao was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "Uncle, the water is a gift from me, no money needed!"

The uncle waved his hand, pointed at Feng Jiao's feet: "Beauty, you misunderstood. I mean, the queuing fee is fifty yuan."

"Charging a fee?" Feng Jiao felt her brain couldn't quite turn the corner.

She looked at the fat uncle standing beside her, felt he didn't seem to be joking.

This kind of operation felt a bit familiar to her.

Isn't this just a scalper?

There are people like this in their hospital too, helping people queue for expert registration numbers, then reselling them at high prices to patients coming for treatment.

Looking again at this fat uncle, no wonder he looked familiar — this uncle isn't exactly the scalper who helps people register for expert numbers at their hospital?

No, the key issue is.

She could understand scalpers helping people queue for registration, but since when does eating a meal also need a scalper to queue?

"Beauty, do you want this spot or not? If you don't, I'll sell it to someone else." The uncle, seeing Feng Jiao not moving for a while, revealed a few points of impatience on his face.

"Yes, I want it!" Feng Jiao came back to her senses; although her mind was still a bit chaotic, she didn't want to go to the end of the queue and queue slowly.

She took out her mobile phone and scanned fifty yuan for the uncle; only then did the fat uncle smile and walk toward the end of the queue.

Judging by this posture, the uncle is going back to the end of the queue to continue queuing, wait until he reaches the front, then sell the spot again. What he said about urgent business was all fake.

Have to say, this uncle's move is truly slick.

In this one night's work, he probably earns at least several hundred yuan.

The surrounding queuing customers saw this scene, seemingly taking it as a common occurrence, and had absolutely no reaction to it.

Feng Jiao stood in the queue, her heart filled with an indescribable depression.

Really didn't expect that today she would also become a scalper's target customer.

The queue slowly moved forward; ten minutes later, Feng Jiao finally arrived in front of Lu Feng.

To avoid being recognized by Lu Feng, Feng Jiao even deliberately put on a mask.

Unexpectedly, Lu Feng lifted his head and only gave her one glance, then said with a smile: "It's you. I thought you wouldn't come."

A trace of embarrassment flashed through Feng Jiao's eyes. She hadn't expected Lu Feng to still remember her, but she quickly covered it up: "Boss, you've mistaken me for someone else. This is my first time coming here."

"Alright, alright, what do you want to eat?"

Lu Feng recognized her at a glance. The masked girl before him was precisely Feng Jiao, who had insisted this morning at the shop that Lu Feng make xiaolongbao for her. But seeing her too embarrassed to admit it, he didn't expose her.

"Boss, what all do you have here?" Feng Jiao glanced around at the diners eating noodles in the hall. Seeing them all eating with faces full of enjoyment, she couldn't help feeling a bit curious.

"..." Lu Feng originally wanted to tell Feng Jiao to look at the price list on the wall herself, but thinking that his attitude toward her during the day might have given her some misunderstanding, he patiently began to introduce: "I have xiaolongbao and fried noodles here. The xiaolongbao has shrimp and chive pork filling. The fried noodles come in three flavors: egg beef and explosive spicy. Young Lady, which one do you want to eat?"

"Only xiaolongbao and fried noodles?" Feng Jiao was a bit disappointed. Neither of these two was what she wanted to eat.

"Only these for now." Lu Feng smiled and replied.

"You opened such a big shop but only sell these few things. Aren't you afraid customers will get tired of them?" Feng Jiao frowned. She originally wanted to ask Lu Feng if there would be other things later, but after thinking about it, she didn't ask.

If she asked, she guessed Lu Feng would also say there would be, but he wouldn't know what.

"It's fine. The food I make here is delicious. Customers won't feel tired of it for a very long time."

Lu Feng had patience for Feng Jiao and could slowly answer her questions, but he saw the customers behind Feng Jiao were already starting to get a bit impatient, so he urged: "Young Lady, if you haven't decided yet, please step aside and think slowly. Let the customers behind order first."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Feng felt a bit regretful. These words sounded like he was driving someone away again.