Qian Tong never thought that a small street snack could be so delicious.
A small piece of rice noodle roll, squid the size of two or three peanuts, tasted more and more fragrant as he chewed, he was really reluctant to swallow it.
Unlike teppanyaki squid, which is loaded with seasonings and hardly retains any squid flavor, mainly providing texture.
This rice noodle roll, however, is different; the sauce is not rich at all, biting into the squid piece releases a full mouthful of fresh, sweet seafood taste.
And it bursts with juice in every bite, which is truly magical.
With each bite, the seafood flavor becomes richer, making him playfully reluctant to swallow.
But his stomach protested severely, growling loudly.
Qian Tong reluctantly swallowed after chewing forty-nine times.
Then, quickly, he shoved another piece of rice noodle roll into his mouth.
"Ah, so tasty!"
Qian Tong closed his eyes and leaned back on the seat, his whole body and mind indulged in the enjoyment of food.
Just as he was becoming drowsy, a sound suddenly reached his ears.
"Young man, what's that you're eating? It smells so good! Where did you buy it?"
Qian Tong opened his eyes to see four or five elderly men and women surrounding him, staring fixedly at the rice noodle roll in his hand.
Coming back to his senses, Qian Tong cleared his throat and said, "Sir, what I bought is a rice noodle roll, I got it from over by Shuofeng Park just now."
The elderly man leaned in to take a deep breath and asked, "How is it? Is it tasty?"
A trace of lightning flashed in Qian Tong's eyes, and his hands moved swiftly to close the lid, fearing the aroma of the rice noodle roll would be sucked away.
"It's incredibly delicious, I almost swallowed my tongue!"
Seeing Qian Tong's swift action, the elderly man became disgruntled: "You young person, that's not fair play, how could you close it so quickly, letting me smell couldn't possibly take a piece from you?"
Qian Tong chuckled and said, "That's not going to happen, I had a hard time getting up this morning to buy a portion, I haven't even had my fill of the aroma, hehehe."
The elderly man snorted, gave up, and approached the bus safety officer: "Why don't you talk to the driver about turning around to Shuofeng Park?"
Three huge black lines descended from the sky, landing on the safety officer's forehead.
"Sir, don't joke with me, that's impossible."
The elderly man insisted, "How do you know without asking?"
The safety officer insisted even more: "Absolutely impossible, sir."
The elderly man nodded and no longer made things difficult, but turning around saw Qian Tong secretly open the box preparing to eat again, and muttered angrily, "I remember buses don't allow eating, since the bus can't turn around you should at least control that young man behind, don't let him eat!"
Saying that, he glanced proudly at Qian Tong.
"That's what happens when you don't let me smell! Come on, mutual harm!"
The safety officer sighed in relief and said promptly: "That's no problem."
He's really afraid of these elderly men and women, but not the young man behind.
"Passenger in the back, food is not allowed on buses, please endure for a while."
Qian Tong looked speechlessly at the smug elderly man, reluctantly sealing the box again.
But taking losses isn't Qian Tong's style; as he got off the bus, he directly said to the elderly man: "Although you played a trick on me, I won't hold it against you, that rice noodle stall is pretty popular, going early requires waiting in a long queue, usually, around 8 o'clock people are fewer, you can go at that time, just don't be too late, as it closes then."
The elderly man felt a thin thread of guilt hearing Qian Tong's words and nodded at him without further comment.
Qian Tong smiled inwardly and left the bus.
Being a long-time netizen, he knows all too well the easiest way to fool someone is to mix one lie with nine truths.
When the elderly man arrives at the booth around 8 o'clock and sees the owner gradually leaving, it'll be particularly amusing, wahahaha...
...
...
Wang Fan felt today's customers seemed unusually numerous.
Normally he sells out of rice noodle rolls around 8, but today just after 7 it looks like he'll need to close early.
And this is due to limited availability.
"I beg the brothers in front to have mercy, I've just come all the way from East City, turned for an hour by subway, please be kind, don't let my trip be in vain."
"I'm a big fan, having driven three hours from Tiantongyuan, guys, save me a portion!"
"I'm here out of admiration after watching the video, please, everyone, just buy one portion!"
"Boss, please limit everyone to one portion, there are so many of us, we can't waste our trip here!"
"Yes, yes, I'm about to starve."
Wang Fan heard the calls from the line, his mind picturing the big bear-like man, didn't expect that guy to eat and bring so many new customers.
But today marks my fourth day here, after tomorrow I may be somewhere else, and there's a great chance I won't sell rice noodle rolls again, I wonder what those fans will think then?
Looking at the cooler box with only about 30 servings left, he advised loudly, "There are just over 30 servings of rice noodle rolls left, folks at the back shouldn't queue up, even if you reach the front there'll be none left. The auntie beside sells pancakes which are also delicious, everyone can try a pancake, I'll return this afternoon and tomorrow morning and afternoon, I'll try to make more, brothers and sisters are welcome to visit again, apologies for today."
Once he spoke, those at the back became discontented.
"No way! I came a long way, only to leave empty-handed? Boss, I urge you to be kind."
"I eat pancakes every day, already sick of them. Boss, let's negotiate, maybe sell half servings?"
"I think that's good! Preferably sell quarter servings."
Wang Fan looked speechlessly at that person, quarter servings would do?
The person at the front of the queue cheerfully ordered one beef rice noodle roll, and while eating loudly incited envy: "Oh this rice noodle roll is so fragrant, so fresh, absolutely worth this trip."
His provocation was indeed successful, soon curses arose from the queue.
"Wahaha, curse you never find seasoning in instant noodles!"
"Spilling every bowl of soup over!"
"Peeing and always wetting a shoe!"
"Breaking every piece of toilet paper!"
"Every fart produces an Oreo!"