Chapter 165: Chapter 165: The Clever Delivery Guy!
Back Street, afternoon.
It was just past twelve noon. The weather was not too hot, and the small restaurant next door had already opened early, but Jiang Feng’s little place hadn’t yet.
At this time, Jiang Feng drove to his little restaurant to prepare the spicy crawfish for the day.
Today was the fifth day of the crawfish business.
Even though it would not open until four, several people were already waiting here.
"Boss Jiang, are you open yet?" a young girl asked eagerly.
Jiang Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, "The crawfish are still alive; they haven’t even been washed yet."
"Come back at four in the afternoon."
The customers really were enthusiastic.
Shortly after, aunties arrived one after another. The crawfish vendors delivered several big basins of crawfish that Jiang Feng had selected, and the aunties began to clean the crawfish with toothbrushes.
Meanwhile, Jiang Feng was frying youtiao.
Soon, that young girl came back again.
"Boss Jiang, can I buy some youtiao?"
Jiang Feng responded, "Wait until we open. Everyone outside is watching. If I start selling now, other people will come to buy youtiao as well."
"Okay," the girl nodded, "I’ll come back later."
And Jiang Feng went back to frying youtiao.
Today, in addition to spicy crawfish, Jiang Feng had introduced garlic and thirteen-spice flavors.
This was mainly because some people came to eat every day.
The spicy crawfish were quite spicy, and eating them daily was not good for one’s health.
So he introduced milder flavors; the taste was about the same, and just as delicious.
When the youtiao were almost done, he placed them in the thermal container next to him.
His youtiao were really popular and typically sold out shortly after they went on sale.
Next, he heated oil in a wok, sautéed the crawfish until done, then added a variety of seasonings for a quick stir-fry.
The aroma began to waft through the air.
After a while, that young girl came back again.
"Boss, can I buy some now?" the girl asked.
Her persistence got the better of Jiang Feng, but he still stuck to his principles and said to an auntie,
"Auntie, give her a number, number 1."
"You come around three-fifty; you’ll be the first."
"Just wait a little longer."
On hearing this, the girl nodded and then silently left.
Time ticked by, and soon, more and more customers began to gather outside the shop.
The girl had arrived and was waiting outside the shop.
Seeing it was about time and having just finished a large plate of crawfish, Jiang Feng went outside and put up a sign to indicate they were open for business.
"Boss, you’re finally open!"
"The best crawfish in the city are from your place!"
"Can’t wait any longer!"
Several customers greeted Jiang Feng.
He politely replied,
"It’s autumn now, so the crawfish aren’t as meaty as in the summer; they’re a little inferior."
"This is probably the last batch."
"After this, when the weather gets cooler, there won’t be any more crawfish. It’ll be time for crab."
Ingredients depend heavily on the right place and season.
The season, climate, and soil all affect the taste of the ingredients.
If you want to make top-notch cuisine, you must use top-notch ingredients; they complement each other.
"So, Boss, are you going to prepare crabs next week?"
The customers caught on to a key point and asked eagerly.
"Not sure about next week; we’ll see," Jiang Feng replied politely.
Among the customers were two tourists from Eastern Shandong who had come specifically. They understood from Jiang Feng’s words that he was about to "hit the road."
When he was in the city, Jiang Feng would move his stall every week, which was quite frustrating for his loyal patrons.
But that was how even more people got to taste the food Jiang Feng made.
Now, it was time for these people to experience the void left by the disappearing delicacies.
That scoundrel chef! Fooled our stomachs and then ran off! And he still made us chase him around! But there’s nothing we can do; the food Jiang Feng makes is just too delicious! We have to chase after it!
Business began, and the girl from before finally got her crawfish and youtiao.
"Come at this time next time; that’s good. If you come too early, we won’t be open yet," Jiang Feng advised her.
The girl seemed to be eighteen or nineteen, dressed very ordinarily. She replied,
"Yeah, thanks, Boss. My family runs a convenience store not far from here; my dad wanted to eat crawfish, so he kept asking me to check. Actually, I didn’t want to ask either.
"Ah, there’s no way around it. He’s too stubborn and won’t listen, so I had to come over anyway."
Jiang Feng nodded. So that was it.
Some people are stubborn, have their own understanding, and it’s no use telling them anything; this was quite normal.
The girl left with her crawfish.
Other customers came to place their orders.
The busy scene was still in full swing.
In a short while, the tables outside the shop were filled with customers eating crawfish.
It was just past four o’clock, and it was a weekday.
I don’t know why everyone was able to come out at this time. Aren’t they supposed to be at work? There’s always someone slacking in this world.
"Boss, I’ll take a large crawfish to go, spicy flavor."
"Alright, just a moment."
The shop was small; you could see the cooking area at a glance, and the crawfish beside it just as easily.
Jiang Feng was never afraid of people seeing the kitchen, as long as they didn’t come in and interfere.
One order was completed, and at this time, another Meituan delivery rider arrived in front of the shop.
"Boss, give me two large, two medium, and two small portions, and twelve youtiao," he shouted eagerly.
It was clear he had a lot of orders to fill.
However, to take care of the customers who visited the shop, Jiang Feng had rules regarding the quantity for outside orders.
Otherwise, a delivery driver could buy more than ten servings at once.
Jiang Feng pointed at the signboard and explained,
"Sorry, but an individual can only buy two servings at a time. If you want more, you have to line up again."
"It’s written on the sign; I have to take care of the in-store customers, sorry."
Many people were queuing behind, and when they heard Jiang Feng say this, they all showed satisfied expressions.
That’s how it should be. Otherwise, if the people at the front bought too much, those who came later would have nothing to eat.
The delivery guy finally noticed the purchase limit information on the sign.
"Damn it!"
"Then give me two super-large servings with eight youtiao," the delivery guy quickly did the math and then said.
"Okay." Jiang Feng busied himself at the stove.
Soon after, he had packed two super-large servings of crawfish and handed them to him.
"Boss, could you give me two small boxes and two medium boxes, please? Help me out," the delivery guy pleaded.
These were small matters, and it wasn’t easy for the delivery guys either. Jiang Feng handed him the boxes.
Then, the delivery guy took out a pair of disposable chopsticks, opened the lid of the super-large serving of crawfish, and started pouring them into the small boxes on the side.
The price for each order size was proportionally the same.
Of course, by ordering larger portions and re-portioning, he could fulfill more individual small orders.
Dividing the two super-large servings, he could make two small and two medium servings, or other combinations.
Indeed, there are always more solutions than problems.
Midway through, the guy couldn’t resist the aroma and sneakily stuffed a crawfish into his mouth.
Very sly.
He did this in a corner of the shop where the other customers couldn’t see.
Jiang Feng didn’t quite know what to say for a moment.
Are you trying to exploit a loophole here with me? But he couldn’t really say much about it, as the food was already sold.
The delivery guys always found ways to make money.
After packing up the crawfish, the delivery guy hurried off to make his deliveries.
Several other delivery guys were still waiting nearby.
Some wearing yellow, some blue; they gathered together, all waiting to pick up their orders.
According to the delivery guys, as long as their manager wasn’t around, delivery drivers from rival companies could get along quite well.
But if a supervisor saw them, they had to pretend they didn’t know each other.
They noticed what the previous delivery guy did and were all very surprised.
Damn, you can do that? Originally limited to two servings per order, you could only take two deliveries. But if you buy two super-large servings and then divide them into two medium and two small servings, or even six small servings, wouldn’t that mean you could take up to six deliveries? Good idea.
Indeed, there are always more solutions than problems.
The delivery guys started to follow suit.
Jiang Feng, on the other hand, continued to prepare the crawfish at his own pace.
The garlic-flavored crawfish were very popular with the customers today.
When a customer picked up a crawfish from the basin, the rich garlic scent immediately spread from the crawfish’s body.
The garlic was well-cooked, and somehow Jiang Feng’s preparation made the aroma not overwhelming but actually enticing.
Sniffing it made one’s appetite surge.
Taking a bite of the crawfish meat, it was especially fresh and quite large.
The garlic flavor also had a slight spiciness to it, but it was milder than the spicy-hot level.
The garlic-flavored crawfish had a sweet and savory taste, which really stimulated the taste buds.
As you chewed, it felt like your tongue was turning tender.
"Mmm! This flavor of crawfish is also delicious! I’m a huge fan of garlic sauce!"
"Boss Jiang’s homemade seasoning is really good!"
"You can always trust the quality here!"
"I’ll stick with this place from now on; no wonder it’s so popular!"
The more the customers ate, the more they enjoyed it.
A product from Boss Jiang was bound to be excellent.
This customer was set on these crawfish, and not even Jesus could stop him, he declared!
The customers were exuberant.
「Two days later.」
When this customer returned, Jiang Feng’s little restaurant was closed.
A paper sign was plastered on it with the word "Closed" written boldly.
It was as if he had experienced a dream about delicious food. When the dream ended, the food had vanished.
"What the hell, where’s Boss Jiang?" The customer was flabbergasted.
"Is the rumor true? Does he really move to a new place after seven days?"
Many people around were looking for Jiang Feng, even asking the pork brain shop owner.
The pork brain shop owner replied,
"I don’t know where he went either, but he’s definitely not selling crawfish anymore.
"And it’s already deep into autumn; there are no crawfish available.
"He might have opened a shop somewhere else.
"Wasn’t that how he did it back in Eastern Shandong?"
Hearing the pork brain shop owner’s words, the patrons all felt somewhat disheartened.
Executive Chef Jiang, how could you be so heartless, to just leave us behind like this?
If Jiang Feng were around, he’d probably feel helpless hearing these words.
I’m just cooking; I’m not responsible for you all. Can’t I change locations?