Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

"Sounds good, can I also get myself some lunch then? I’ll take two orders of noodles and twelve dumplings, that should be enough, right?"

He thought it through well, with the two girls at the front desk sharing one order of noodles and three dumplings each, as described by the chef, they should be full.

By himself, he could definitely be full and satisfied with one order of noodles and six dumplings.

Perfect!

"Sounds about right. Okay, head over to the food cart and wait, Dais, go give him a number as a token, we should move the stuff out by now."

"Okay, chef!"

Outside, quite a few diners were eagerly waiting. Although he only mentioned an approximate time frame in the morning, the tourists around here were quite free; they didn’t have to work and could enjoy the beach view while waiting for the stall to open.

Seeing the familiar steamer baskets, the diners surrounded the food cart in a rush, eager to grab a spot in front of it.

The juicy beef dumplings from the morning were truly addictive for them, and a few weren’t enough, but having more felt like too much.

They’d like to buy some to take away, but without such steamers at home, there was no way to reheat them; they had to be eaten on the spot.

Lin Chen didn’t mention that they could be reheated in a microwave, as that would undoubtedly increase his workload unnecessarily.

"Hey, why are there noodles too?"

"Great, there’s a hidden new menu item!"

"Eating with Chef Lin is really satisfying; every meal is different. I feel uncomfortable if I don’t eat for a day."

"Now I don’t feel like eating burgers or sandwiches at all. What am I going to do in the future..."

"Oh no! Now that you mention it, I feel the same. I used to crave pasta when I saw it on a menu, but now I’m not interested. All I can think about is that Sunday garlic crawfish noodles."

"Luckily, the chef is here every day, I’m thinking of just staying here long-term. It’s more cost-effective than buying a house and I can eat such delicious food every day."

Almost everyone here was a regular, and there were few unfamiliar faces. They even seemed familiar with each other, to the point of recognizing each other’s faces. Dais, scanning through the crowd, could easily identify new customers.

Having more regulars had its advantages; it saved time as they understood the process. Numbers could be handed out directly, with only brief explanations needed for new customers.

With Lucas helping with the cooking, Elsa had nothing else to do, so she teamed up with Dais to give out numbers, take orders, and handle payments, making the process much faster than in the morning.

The scene of people starting to line up quickly drew the attention of more tourists playing on the beach or sunbathing on hotel balconies while watching intently over here.

Almost everyone lingering in the vicinity at this time was here for lunch, and a mighty crowd of diners continuously poured in from all directions.

In just five minutes, the line grew from about ten people to seventy or eighty, and it kept growing.

Fortunately, Lin Chen had the foresight to start steaming a dozen baskets of dumplings in advance in the kitchen, and continued steaming after taking them out. Within just a few minutes, they would be ready.

The two massive stacks of steamers were piled higher than a person, to the point where reaching any higher would be dangerous, possibly hitting the ceiling.

Lucas had already begun cooking the noodles, pouring entire bags into the pot without worrying about portions, adding ten bags at a time. Once retrieved, he would add the next set of bags, perfectly controlling the cooking time to ensure consistency.

Boiling so many noodles at once required constantly keeping the pot boiling; otherwise, the raw noodles would easily stick together, causing them to be undercooked.

With too many noodles in the pot, it would boil slowly, requiring the use of long chopsticks for continuous stirring to keep the liquid in motion.

"Number one!"

A few minutes later, Lin Chen noticed that the noodles in the pot were nearly done and nodded towards Dais, who immediately grabbed a small megaphone and shouted loudly.

The logistics guy sitting under a parasol in the nearby beach area heard the call and sprinted over, raising his hand holding a gleaming number card in the sunlight.

"Number one! Number one over here!"

Lucas worked quickly. A basin filled with ice water was ready nearby for the chopsticks and skimmer to retrieve large bunches of noodles from the pot and immerse them in, stirring rapidly with chopsticks to accelerate cooling.

There was no need to wait for them to cool completely; a quick soak of five or six seconds was enough before portioning them into takeaway boxes, topping them with a generous ladle of warm sauce to finish the dish.

The job for Lin Chen on his side was simpler. He moved the ten baskets of dumplings from the cart to the table, allowing the two women to wrap and pack them.

After returning to the cart, he placed another ten uncooked baskets of dumplings in to steam, adding water to the pot to prevent it from drying out.

Each batch of dumplings needed about twelve minutes to steam, alternating between the two batches meant waiting only six minutes for the next lot.

Incorporating the packaging time and Lucas’s serving speed, it was just about seamless to switch between them.

"Here are your twelve dumplings and two orders of noodles, please take them!"

"Thanks! Hope you all have a great day!"

The logistics guy, with a grin on his face, imagined the victorious scene of his life as he carried two paper bags off towards the hotel.

"Did that guy buy that much??"

"Wait a minute, his uniform looks familiar."

"Are even hotel employees coming here to compete with us for food now?"

"He must be buying on behalf of someone else, that’s just too much. Why hasn’t a beautiful girl ever asked me to shop for her like that, especially when I’m so far ahead in line?"

Fortunately, this situation only occurs occasionally, and the amount people buy is reasonable, not too excessive. Some diners just grumble a bit but don’t take it to heart.

The logistics guy walked faster and faster, practically flying, afraid that if he slowed down the food would get cold. In the end, he ran straight to the hotel front desk.

Before he even stood firm, he raised both arms and placed two bags of food on the marble counter, making a ’thud’ sound.

"I got some food for... myself...?"

With a face full of pride, he shouted, only to find that instead of being greeted with surprised looks from the front desk ladies, they were frantically giving him looks, which made him lower his voice gradually.

Wha... what’s going on?

After calming down, he realized there was someone at the front desk, and looking from the side, the figure seemed familiar.

Wang Ziqin was explaining something to the front desk. Upon hearing the shout, he didn’t think much of it, but the faint aroma of buns suddenly wafted past his nose, instantly catching his attention.

He turned his head.

Sure enough, he saw two bags of steaming food placed on the counter beside him. Through the kraft paper bags, he could clearly see the white mist inside the plastic bags.

Although he couldn’t see the contents, his Great Xia DNA told him that the bags must contain freshly steamed buns!

Looking at the time, it was just lunchtime.

He smiled and shifted his gaze to the name tag on the man’s chest.

"Emerson? You’re from logistics, right? Why did you go to line up for food during work hours? Are you dissatisfied with the food the restaurant provides?"

"Uh..."

Seeing the man’s face, Emerson’s smile froze, "Gen... General Manager, I... this... it’s because..."

Instinctively, he looked at the two women for help, only to find them covering their foreheads, looking at him with a ’you’re doomed’ expression.

Fortunately, Wang Ziqin was in a good mood and had no intention of punishing them.

"Don’t queue up with customers for food during work hours; it might cause complaints, and complaints incur fines. Be careful next time."

"If you have any dissatisfaction with the staff meals provided by the restaurant, you can fill out a feedback form on the website, and I will look at them."

"Since it’s the first time I’ve caught you, I won’t fine you this time, but as for this..."

He pointed to the bags in front of him and picked them up, "As punishment, I’ll confiscate this. Remember to queue during non-working hours next time."

After saying that, he carried the two bags of food and walked straight to the elevator.

Chu Yueyue followed closely behind him, her lips quivering slightly, seemingly holding back laughter.

When the elevator doors finally closed, she burst out laughing with a ’pfft’.

"Wow, you’re quite the master at using your position for personal gain. I’ve never seen a boss openly grabbing an employee’s lunch, then pinning the blame on them. Way to go, President Wang."

"Not too bad~"

Wang Ziqin glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner of the elevator, resisted his curiosity, and refrained from touching the bags, planning to open them after returning to the room.

"Caught in the act. How inappropriate is it to snatch food from customers during work hours!"

Back at the front desk.

Elise and Vanessa both sighed and waved at Emerson: "Forget it, forget it, just go back to work."

Neither of them expected this guy to completely overlook the boss standing at the front desk, despite their frantic signaling.

Now, their long-anticipated buns flew away.

This guy is really unreliable!

Thinking about it, Gray is still the reliable one; he always manages to get them some good food.

It’s just that due to the recent scheduling, they haven’t run into him, which is unfortunate.

Right now, there’s not a hint of romance in Emerson’s mind; he’s panicking. Never did he expect to run right into the big boss.

Fortunately, the boss was understanding, didn’t fine him, just confiscated the food, which wasn’t worth much anyway.

Without daring to stay long, he turned and ran, quickly disappearing into a corner of the lobby.

Wang Ziqin and his wife hurried back to their hotel room where they hadn’t stayed for three days, feeling relieved.

They didn’t expect that on a whim to stay in a villa for a few days, they’d be targeted by stowaways, which was quite unfortunate.

The two took out the still warm buns from the kraft bags, only to find there were also two boxes of mixed noodles.

"Mixed noodles? Oh no, we need to mix them quickly, or they’ll get soggy! Honey, you try the buns first to see what filling’s inside."

"They should be vegetable buns, right? They look greenish."