The commotion at the bridge finally came to an end, thanks to Chen Mo's perfect level mixed fried rice.
"Brother-in-law, I really misunderstood you. With fried rice this good, I'd believe it if you said there was no line!"
Seeing his brother-in-law apologizing, Old Zhao nodded in satisfaction, "You know I'm not the kind of person who's unreliable, right? Enough talk, come to our place after work tomorrow, I'll take you to the foot massage center. Fried rice is nothing, egg dumplings and pork porridge are a real treat!"
"Can I come?" Guo Aiping asked.
She wasn't angry anymore since, generally speaking, angry people would go on a hunger strike, but Guo Aiping had just eaten two servings of fried rice, so pretending to be angry was pointless.
"Of course, you can come! The foot massage center isn't just for men." Old Zhao hugged his wife and waved at Chen Mo, "Thanks, boss, will you be setting up again tomorrow?"
Chen Mo smiled, "I will."
After Old Zhao's family left, the bridge area quieted down a bit, with only the group of young technicians who came to enjoy the show staying behind.
Xiao Na patted her belly contentedly after eating the fried rice and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no!"
LuLu wiped her mouth, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Na looked down, "I've been binge eating late-night snacks for three days straight, and my belly's showing!"
No kidding, bending down to check, there was a visible roundness.
Xiao Na quickly stood up in fright, her lower belly slightly bulging, about as big as if she were three or four months along, "Oh? I've really got a belly now! You college students are lucky, eat as much as you want and don't gain weight."
LuLu sheepishly scratched her head. Actually, if college students overeat, they do gain weight too; it's just that she was wearing a loose top, so it wasn't noticeable.
Recalling what the small boss said earlier, LuLu found it philosophical and wanted to chat with Chen Mo, but when she turned around, Chen Mo had already packed up and was about to leave.
"Boss~"
Chen Mo stopped what he was doing and looked over, "Hmm?"
"Boss, did you go to college?"
Chen Mo didn't know why this girl asked, "I attended for a few days."
Before LuLu could continue speaking, he pushed the cart slowly towards the unfinished building, leaving the people at the bridge sighing in the wind, especially the other vendors.
Rice Bowl Zhang strolled over with fried rice in his hands, "This kid's really something, selling more fried rice in a day than I do in three."
Uncle Liu also smiled with a hint of bitterness, "Today I sold him more hot dogs than I've sold in three days."
"Same here..." Brother Squid lit a cigarette, eyes full of melancholy, "But on the other hand, if I could sell as much squid as Brother Jiaozi every day, I'd accept it!"
Direct selling might have high profit margins, but business is bad right now.
If the prepared ingredients can't be sold in time, they start to spoil, become unappetizing, and throwing them away is a pure loss. If you don't throw them away, customers won't return if the food isn't good; this is the biggest pain point for those in the food industry.
But it's great with Brother Jiaozi around.
Though each transaction's profit is less, as long as the volume increases, the overall profit remains considerable. The key is not having to worry about ingredient spoilage.
After saying this, Brother Squid slapped his forehead, "Damn it, I should have asked Brother Jiaozi if he's selling fried rice tomorrow. If he is, we need to prepare more ingredients!"
Rice Bowl Zhang and Uncle Liu suddenly realized the same thing.
"Yeah, if Brother Jiaozi sells fried rice, the amount of rice I cooked won't be enough!"
"I'll need to stock up on more hot dogs too."
As the small vendors discussed excitedly, LuLu interrupted without enthusiasm, "Isn't it possible that he simply had no other option today? With enough time, he could completely prepare the ingredients himself?"
The vendors were rendered speechless.
It seemed to be true... If Brother Jiaozi prepared the ingredients himself, he'd surely earn more; why would he buy from us?
...
He pushed the food cart into the first-floor lobby of the building unit.
Though it was already 2:30 in the morning, Chen Mo didn't feel sleepy; in fact, he was excited!
Ever since the experience value in his mind maxed out, a new prompt appeared on the panel, but there were too many people around earlier, so Chen Mo didn't make any moves.
[Upgrade?]
Now back at the empty, unfinished building, Chen Mo decisively said, "Yes, upgrade!"
Upon saying this, Chen Mo anticipated his Xiao Huang food cart would transform and upgrade into a new type of cart like Bumblebee!
However...
"Why is nothing happening?"
Unexpectedly, the system obediently displayed new text right before his eyes.
[How can I upgrade with you watching?]
Chen Mo:...
He carried a bucket to the community courtyard, filled it with water, then brought it up to the 28th floor. After a simple wash, Chen Mo took stock of the past few days' earnings.
In three days of street vending, total income was an exact ten thousand!
After deducting expenses for ingredients and cookware, and some initial money, there were still over eight thousand on WeChat!
"Earning nearly three thousand a day on average, at this rate, it's eight to nine grand a month?"
At this thought, Chen Mo's heart started racing.
Who would have thought that the difficulties that once almost drove him to desperation were solved so easily with the food cart system? The housing price in Jingzhou is about ten thousand per square meter, so saving up thirty thousand for a down payment on a new house should be doable.
"If I push a little harder, I can hit that target in under half a year."
Just like Uncle Liu said, Chen Mo had been to college and worked in a large state-owned enterprise for several years, so his way of thinking was somewhat different.
He realized that his current earning ability was about to hit a ceiling. To increase income further, he'd need to expand operations, either by adding labor or by increasing hours, both inevitable results.
With thoughts swirling chaotically, he felt sleepiness overtake him, only to be jolted awake by his alarm.
Luckily, the company is really lenient.
He only needed to focus on work for a few hours a day, which gave Chen Mo a chance for a quick nap during office hours.
After work, feeling excited, he rushed back to the community, spotting three workers smoking under a gazebo while assembling a metal frame.
Chen Mo shook his head and returned to his own apartment building.
[Congratulations, the food cart has been upgraded!]
Upon entering the lobby, a new system notification popped up in his mind!
Along with this, other parts of the system interface also underwent changes.
[Chen Mo's Mobile Food Cart]
[Level: LV2]
[New Function: Ingredient Identification]
[Note: Due to the food cart upgrade, operation times will reset 24 hours after the next setup. Please prepare in advance.]
[Experience Value: 0/50000]
[Note: Would you like to collect the upgrade reward?]
Before Chen Mo could finish examining the system panel's changes, he glanced at the food cart in the lobby, feeling a chill down his spine.
The familiar color, the familiar scent, but...
"Is this still my food cart?"
Huh?