"Esteemed colleagues, today is a significant day, as you all know. I'm personally leading this team to ensure the successful completion of all our delivery tasks for today's grand event. We will make this celebratory occasion a landmark moment for 'E Bu Pa' (饿不怕). For everyone's successful completion of this mission, I will reward you all with an extra month's basic salary!" Zhao Yao proclaimed in a passionate voice to a crowd of employees, all wearing blue windbreakers and blue helmets.
Zhao Yao understood that for these delivery riders, mere words of encouragement held no weight. Nothing was as appealing as an extra month's salary.
As expected, the moment Zhao Yao finished speaking, the morale of the entire group soared, and everyone erupted in cheers.
At this point, an assistant approached Zhao Yao and whispered a few words. Zhao Yao immediately announced, "Brothers, the first batch of dishes is ready. Everyone, please follow the instructions on your personal terminals and proceed to your designated restaurants to deliver the food for the celebration banquet!"
"Yes!" the riders roared in unison. Zhao Yao then led the charge, riding his electric scooter out the gate, followed by thousands of electric scooters that flowed out collectively.
The sight of thousands of blue-clad electric scooter riders instantly transformed the street into a flowing blue river, leaving all the passing residents and pedestrians stunned, wondering what was happening!
However, reporters, prepared for the occasion, were already there, cameras in hand, capturing the scene. Three drones also hovered overhead, filming the momentous event.
"Reporter comrade, what important news is this?!" a curious pedestrian asked, watching the never-ending procession of azure vehicles.
"These are the delivery personnel for the magnetic levitation pipeline's completion banquet!" the reporter replied with a touch of awe.
"The magnetic levitation pipeline's completion banquet? Has the pipeline been fully connected?" the pedestrian exclaimed in surprise. He recalled news from a few years ago stating the pipeline had only reached Guangdong. The speed of its completion was truly astonishing.
"While it seems incredible to us as well, the information from higher up confirms it. In fact, the pipeline was fully connected three months ago, and today marks the first trial run!" the reporter explained while filming the lengthy blue cavalcade.
"So, where are these delivery people picking up and delivering the food from and to?" the pedestrian continued, his curiosity piqued.
"They're picking up food from all over the city and delivering it nationwide!" the reporter answered quickly. The pedestrian, not fully grasping the scope, watched as the reporter chased after the tail end of the delivery fleet.
The pedestrian then noticed that as the river-like blue formation reached the first traffic light ahead, it didn't continue in a single direction but diverged into three separate streams, heading to various parts of the city.
This pedestrian could never have imagined that such vast blue processions, reminiscent of flowing blood, weren't just in his city of Magic City (魔都市), but also in major cities along the coast and throughout the country, flowing through the urban arteries and dispersing into the smallest streets.
Many witnessed this scene, but like the pedestrian, they were all bewildered as to what was transpiring.
An hour later, in a vast open space at a massive construction site, thousands of people were seated at a hundred neatly arranged round tables. Judging by the immaculately set tableware, it was evident that a collective feast was underway.
Everyone present was dressed in brand-new work attire, including laborers, engineers, technicians, accountants, administrators, and even chefs in their white culinary robes.
This scene likely caused further bewilderment. While it was understandable for an entire project team to gather for a celebratory meal, why were the chefs also seated at the tables? Shouldn't they be busy in the kitchen preparing for this very banquet?
In reality, everyone from the construction site had gathered here. Consequently, all other areas of the site, including the kitchens, were deserted and their doors shut tight, devoid of any cooking activity.
However, the workers were excitedly discussing what dishes they had ordered. For instance, the laborer who had just asked the new engineer Fan about his order was now enthusiastically telling his companions, "I've ordered our hometown's Guilin rice noodles, specifically from the most authentic Aunt Xu's shop in Guilin!"
"I'm telling you, this is a place even many locals don't know about. The taste is incredibly authentic. And there's also dog meat and lotus duck – I guarantee with my life that these are the most authentic flavors in all of Guilin. Without a seasoned Guilin native like me to guide your order, you'd never find these authentic dishes!"
"Oh no!" Hearing this person from Guilin speak, someone sitting nearby looked distressed. "I also ordered duck, our Lotus Leaf Duck, which is undoubtedly the best in Liantang. But having two ducks on the table might be a bit much!"
"Well, I ordered Beijing roast duck too. Now we'll have three ducks on the table!" another person said with a hint of frustration.
"No way, your Beijing roast duck isn't even good. I went there once, spent several hundred yuan at Quanjude for roast duck, and it was terribly disappointing. Spare me!" another retorted.
"Hmph, only silly outsiders like you would go to Quanjude for roast duck. I ordered roast duck from Sanshengzhai. The duck meat there is crispy, tender, and succulent, dripping with oil. I guarantee that after one bite, you wouldn't even want to be an immortal in heaven!"
"Ahem, let me interject. A few of you, we already have three ducks on the table. Has anyone else ordered duck?" the person in traditional Chinese attire, who exuded the most authority and was clearly a leader, asked jovially.
"Boss, I'm sorry, but I also ordered duck!" the youngest worker at the table raised his hand hesitantly.
"You ordered duck too?" the leader rubbed his temples and asked with a weary sigh, "Alright, tell me, what kind of duck from your hometown did you order... Wait, I thought you were from the Northeast. Don't they have many famous duck dishes there?"
"I actually ordered the most ordinary roasted duck, but it was made by my mom!" the young man said shyly.
"Your mom's duck? Is your mom in the catering business?" someone immediately asked in surprise.
"No, my mom is just a regular person. She used to sell blind boxes for Jiangnan Group, and now she's a store manager for Jiangnan."
"Then that's not right. If your mom isn't in the catering business, how could you order her homemade duck?"
"Don't you guys know? When ordering, you can actually add a special note with the address and have your family prepare it in advance, then the delivery person can pick it up directly from your home and deliver it!"
"Damn, we really didn't know!" everyone's expression turned somewhat crestfallen. After all, if they had known they could order dishes from their own homes, made by their parents and family, they wouldn't have ordered from restaurants.
No matter how delicious the restaurant dishes were, they ultimately couldn't compare to the familiar taste of home!
Fortunately, the sound of a loud vehicle horn interrupted many people's thoughts. They then saw a large truck drive into the site. Dozens of workers opened the back of the truck, carrying out boxes of pre-packaged dishes. xxs
These packaging bags were all labeled with numbers, allowing the workers to place the packaged dishes on their corresponding tables. The employees, who could no longer wait, immediately tore open the packaging and took out the dishes.
"This is Lotus Leaf Duck, this one's mine!" the worker from Yuzhang exclaimed excitedly as the first packaged dish was opened on the table, clearly the one he had ordered.
"Hurry up and try it, see if it tastes like the restaurant you ordered from!" other workers urged impatiently. The Yuzhang worker immediately picked up a piece of duck meat and brought it to his mouth. After just one bite, he couldn't help but nod. "Yes, it tastes like the one downstairs from my school. I used to eat it once a month when I was studying. No mistake, this is the taste of that place, and the dish is still warm. It's incredible!"
The people around seemed somewhat disbelieving at first, but soon their other ordered dishes arrived. Everyone took a bite and immediately realized that it truly was the taste of their hometown.
Especially the youngest employee, who looked at the contents of the packaging bag and burst into tears. This was because, among all the dishes, his was the only one not served in a disposable plastic bowl, but in a complete set of aluminum alloy insulated lunch boxes.
Therefore, his dish was also the hottest among all of them.
Furthermore, the employee recognized the lunch box. It was the very same one his family had bought him when he was in high school, still adorned with over a dozen stickers of his favorite star, Leng Zhiwen. This was his own, and the employee immediately hugged his lunch box and wept uncontrollably.
Seeing the young man crying, no one looked down on him. Instead, they felt a pang of envy. If they could also eat their family's cooking, they probably would have cried even harder than him!