Cooking System: Street Food Rules

"This place... doesn't seem quite right."

Jiang Feng arrived at the system-designated stall location, somewhat bewildered.

In the distance was a park, a vast park.

Skyscrapers formed a steel forest, incredibly imposing.

The interior environment was beautiful.

Several towering office buildings were scattered about, showcasing their grandeur and distinction.

At the very front of the park stood a massive stone tablet that read:

"Alibaba"

There were also a few orange figurine sculptures visible around.

Holy moly, Alibaba? The Taobao headquarters?

Jiang Feng was very astonished.

The location designated by the system was not to set up a stall outside Alibaba Technology Park but to run a food stall inside.

A company like this had a huge number of employees. These included not only graduates from top universities but also many in administration and logistics.

At the same time, there were also many canteens within the company.

Similar to university food stalls, large companies have their own canteen stalls. They even feature branded milk tea and food outlets.

You didn't need to leave the company. Everything could be bought within the premises.

This place was the headquarters of Alibaba.

The main focus here was the Taobao business.

Jiang Feng pondered for a moment, realizing that if that were the case, then he also had a stake here. After all, he had made quite a few online purchases. Every blade of grass and every tree here existed thanks to the support of netizens.

To think I'd end up setting up a stall at Alibaba. Pretty outrageous.

Jiang Feng remarked thoughtfully.

After all, Hangzhou was an international city with many big companies.

Many corporations have branches here, such as ByteDance, JD.com, and so on.

And Alibaba was headquartered here; the fame of "Hangzhou's Ma" was not unearned.

Jiang Feng took out his phone and contacted the manager in charge of logistics.

"So you're the boss who wants to take over the food stall, right? Okay, I've received the notice," said the person on the other end of the phone. "I'll come to find you now to handle the formalities, and you can start doing business tomorrow."

To enter the building, you must have an access card.

And for transporting ingredients and such, you needed the security's approval.

There were many rules.

But once the procedures were completed, there would be no problem.

Jiang Feng agreed over the phone, then after waiting a while, he went to handle the business operations formalities with the logistics manager.

He curiously observed the surrounding buildings.

Each building was extremely tall and occupied a large area, much larger than the average residential building.

The food stall Jiang Feng was going to was on the 6th floor of one of the high-rise buildings, in the employee canteen.

After confirming the location, he went inside to check out the situation.

There was no roasting oven, just a simple stove.

That meant, if he wanted to make roasted chicken, it would be inconvenient to do so here.

When setting up a food stall in this place, cooking on-site wasn't allowed. Everything had to be prepared in advance and then transported over.

Canteens like this were mostly contracted by catering companies, many of which specialized in canteen cuisine.

Jiang Feng didn't mind.

He could prepare the food at his shop and then transport it over.

Once all the formalities were taken care of, Jiang Feng was ready to "join" Alibaba Park.

It was as if he had worked in a big factory.

Of course, with a net worth over a hundred million, he had long left the ranks of wage earners.

Setting up a stall here was purely out of interest.

「The next morning.」

Jiang Feng arrived at the shop, ready to prepare the roasted chicken.

Three helpers were already waiting there.

Apart from Sun Zhuangfei, the other two were hired by Jiang Feng earlier for his roast duck business.

With chicken roasting on the agenda this week, he had called them over again.

Jiang Feng began to explain how to marinate the chicken.

He took a clean, scalded whole chicken, placed it on a plate, then repeatedly pricked it with a toothpick to allow the meat to better absorb the flavors.

Wearing disposable gloves and having added dark soy sauce, Jiang Feng massaged the chicken to color it.

His technique was very skilled; his kneading was right on point.

Soon, the chicken turned a deep soy hue.

Next, Jiang Feng added light soy sauce, cooking wine, oyster sauce, white sugar, and sand ginger powder, and evenly coated the chicken once more.

Finally, he stuffed an onion in its belly.

Of course, apart from these basic ingredients, Jiang Feng also crafted his own "secret marinating sauce."

This sauce would also be poured on during the marinating process.

The sauce, from a system-provided recipe, was perfectly suited for marinating chicken.

And it was even more delicious than the usual marinated chicken.

With that, the chicken was ready.

Then, the marinated chicken was placed in the refrigerator for two hours of cold marination. Afterward, it would be wrapped in three layers of foil and roasted in the oven.

The flavor of the roasted chicken was exceptionally savory, tender, and juicy.

The juices almost seemed to burst out.

That piping hot broth was extraordinarily fragrant. Its essence, a blend of various seasonings, was enhanced within the chicken meat as it cooked.

It left a lingering taste with every bite.

"One chicken plus a spoonful of marinating sauce is enough. Don't add too much, otherwise, the flavor will be overwhelming."

"Stick strictly to the proportions I've given you. Handle one chicken at a time, and don't cut corners by processing several chickens together."

"You guys aren't good at controlling the quantities," Jiang Feng told the three helpers.

"Okay, Boss," they all nodded.

Then, they took out today's freshly purchased whole chickens from the refrigerator nearby and began preparing them.

Today, they had bought 120 chickens.

Jiang Feng had already signed a contract with a farm, and he just needed to go pick them up every morning.

Sun Zhuangfei was responsible for checking and supervising to ensure that the chickens were fresh.

Everything was in order, so there was no fear of any problems.

Sun Zhuangfei asked Jiang Feng, "Boss, when do we set up the stall?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Feng replied, "We head out at a little past five each day, arrive at Alibaba in half an hour, and get ready."

"We start business at six."

"We'll only set up for the evening crowd; no business at noon anymore."

Hearing Jiang Feng's words, Sun Zhuangfei nodded, "Got it."

Sun Zhuangfei was in charge of assisting.

This time, Jiang Feng planned to have him work the front, responsible for selling to the customers.

He, himself, would temporarily stay out of sight.

Otherwise, if Alibaba employees noticed him, it could cause quite a chaos.

After all, Jiang Feng was quite famous now.

「At this very moment.」

Many people were still searching for Jiang Feng in Hangzhou.

Many would also visit the live streams of some anchors who had previously leeched off his popularity, to ask,

"Anchor, have you found Boss Jiang?"

"Where is he setting up his stall now? His food is so delicious!"

"After you find him, could you tell me quietly? Otherwise, the queue will be too long!"

"Anchor, I'll give you a reward if you find him!"

"I'm praying that Boss Jiang sets up downstairs from my house, please!"

People always mentioned Jiang Feng in the chat.

Seeing these comments, the smaller broadcasters also became very anxious.

"Family, I also want to find Boss Jiang, but he's like a Divine Dragon—visible at the head but not at the tail, and I don't know where he's gone," said a small broadcaster facing the live stream.

"Who wouldn't want a touch of this splendor!"

It wasn't that they didn't want to find him—they simply couldn't!

Ordinary food lovers were not too anxious.

But to the small broadcasters, capturing Jiang Feng on film could bring them a substantial increase in popularity, and they were thus extremely fervent.

Many people combed the streets and alleys looking for Jiang Feng.

Eager to find any trace of him.

But they couldn't find him—no trace at all.

There were many internet celebrity companies in Hangzhou, and inside many company group chats, messages were sent:

Whoever sees Jiang Feng should immediately report it in the internal group chat, not post it online.

This kind of traffic is better kept within the company.

"Can't find him, just can't find him."

"How did he just vanish into thin air?"

"Could it be that he left Hangzhou?"

"Unlikely, I heard he wanted to open a restaurant here in Hangzhou; he shouldn't have left so soon."

Many people chatted idly about Jiang Feng.

Some even guessed the reason and would say:

"Boss Jiang, looking at him, he doesn't seem to like the hustle and bustle; he might pick a quiet place to set up shop."

"Yeah, last week in the university town square, it was too chaotic; they wouldn't let him leave after selling the roast duck."

"A lot of people were just there for the spectacle."

"That's what happens when you're famous. I think if he did live streams, he would make even more money."

"He has his own business plans, and his culinary skills are excellent. Doing live streams just to please netizens seems so trivial for him."

Everyone sighed collectively.

In Hangzhou, it was rare to see reliable gourmet food, especially one made by a real chef.

It's just a shame this chef does whatever he pleases, sells whatever he wants, goes wherever he likes.

Who could you even talk to about this?

「Right now, inside Alibaba.」

In the office, a group of corporate drones were working hard, staying late.

They sat in front of their computers, some writing project proposals, others drafting weekly reports, some spacing out, and a few slacking off.

That's how work is: busy when there is work to be done, and sneaking in a break when it's quiet.

"I saw your Moments post; did you run off to eat roast duck in the university town last week? You sure have a lot of free time," said Lin Qiaoqiao, bored out of her mind, chatting with Liu Yao at the next desk.

The two were in the same department and got along very well.

Last week, Liu Yao posted photos of the duck she bought and of Jiang Feng on Moments, earning her a lot of likes from many people.

Liu Yao responded, "Absolutely, I'm particularly fond of that stall owner. He's handsome, makes delicious food, has a great personality, and is wealthy. If he were my boyfriend, that would be wonderful."

Lin Qiaoqiao chuckled, "Then you'd have to compete with a lot of people, which won't be easy."

"Oh, how was the roast duck, anyway?"

Mentioning the roast duck, Liu Yao's eyes lit up immediately.

"Extraordinarily delicious, no kidding. I ordered the Nanjing roast duck."

"The sauce he made was so fragrant."

"Rich and aromatic, it felt like the flavor was blooming in my mouth."

"The more I ate, the more I wanted; I ate half a duck on my own."

"That culinary skill is truly not a boast!"

As they chatted, they kept an eye on the time.

When it was time for lunch, Lin Qiaoqiao said, "Let's go, time for lunch in the cafeteria; after that, a break, and then we prepare to work late."

"Okay."

Liu Yao also left her workstation, and the two got up, heading towards the cafeteria.

The culture of working overtime here was rather intense.

After all, their boss was the one who came up with the "996" thing.

Starting at nine in the morning, ending at nine at night, and working six days a week.

Not working overtime was out of the question.