Cooking System: Street Food Rules

Jiang Feng's little shop.

Soon, bowl after bowl of Big Bone Soup was served. Some ordered the spicy bone soup beef rice noodles. In the bowl, one could see greens, dried tofu, black fungus, enoki mushrooms, some beef rolls, and a whitish bone with tendons still attached. But the real showstopper was the soup in the bowl. Even though it was topped with chili oil and chopped green onions, it was visibly a fresh white color.

He smelled the inviting aroma of the soup and took a sip first. The piping hot Big Bone Soup spread its fragrance instantly in his mouth. The soup was rich and full-bodied, with the fragrance of green onions and chili. Although there were not many spices, they complemented the robust Big Bone Soup perfectly. After sipping the soup, he felt completely revitalized. It was delicious.

The customer then picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a mouthful of rice noodles. The rice noodles, dripping with Big Bone Soup, had green onions and sesame seeds sticking to them. After shaking them slightly on his chopsticks, he swallowed the entire bite. That bite of rice noodles was unexpectedly flavorful. The customer's eyes lit up in an instant.

"Hmm? This is delicious!"

"How can these rice noodles be so chewy!"

The rice noodles were cooked just right; any more and they would be too soft, any less and they would be undercooked. As he chewed, he could feel the bounce of the noodles in his mouth, very springy. Sometimes rice noodles are too soft and mushy, breaking with just a slight nip. Jiang Feng's noodles were much tastier.

He ordered the spicy flavor and added some vinegar himself. While eating the rice noodles, he could taste the sour and spicy flavor stimulating his mouth. His mouth watered uncontrollably. Paired with an additional free serving of salty pickles, the experience was truly perfect.

The customer quickly finished his noodles. After he was done, he still felt unsatisfied, so he fished out the side dishes from the bowl, one by one, and gobbled them all down. These side dishes had soaked up the rich bone broth. As he chewed, the bone broth seeped out from the sides, filling every corner of his mouth. Incredibly tasty. He couldn't find anything to complain about with this bowl of rice noodles; everything was delicious.

When he had almost finished the solids, he started spooning the soup. Every sip was a pleasure. Every sip was memorable. At the end, he lifted the bowl and drank all the remaining soup at the bottom, not wanting to waste a single drop. Initially, he wasn't full, but after downing that bowl of soup, he instantly felt a sense of satiety.

"This soup is really good!"

"Awesome!" the customer exclaimed.

After finishing, he looked around. The queue stretched from inside the shop to the outside, with other patrons focused on eating their rice noodles. Some others ordered the bone soup set meal, sipping the bone broth while munching on steamed white bread. The white bread, also meticulously steamed by Jiang Feng, tasted wonderful and had a rich, wheaty aroma. Eaten together with bone broth and side dishes, it was also very delicious.

The customer paid and walked out satisfied. Seeing him exit, other customers waiting in line asked him, "Buddy, how was it, tasty?"

Upon hearing this, he gave a thumbs up and praised, "Extremely delicious, it was so satisfying! Boss Jiang's food is trustworthy! Definitely worth it!"

Seeing his reaction, the other waiting customers too looked forward with anticipation. They just hoped it would soon be their turn to get a delicious bowl of bone soup rice noodles.

Inside the small shop, bowls of rice noodles kept being brought out from the kitchen. The customers couldn't wait. As soon as they got their noodles, they immediately went for the soup.

Jiang Feng was busy in the kitchen. Luckily, he had prepared a particularly large amount of Big Bone Soup today, a whole big bucketful. He didn't have to worry about running out of bone broth too quickly.

At this moment, the little broadcaster Fang Hui stood outside the shop, doing a live broadcast. He boasted to the camera, "Some people ask if it was me who found Boss Jiang? Yes, it was me. I found him last night. Now I can confirm that he is right here. I'm opening a lucky bag for everyone. Folks, hit that follow button, grab the lucky bag in the top left corner."

There were many viewers in the livestream. This event certainly brought him traffic. The audience in the livestream responded, "Broadcaster, you've said this over a dozen times already, we know Boss Jiang was found by you! Go into the store and broadcast, we want to see Boss Jiang cooking! Broadcaster, go inside and broadcast!"

Fang Hui glanced at the comments and, seeing the audience's responses, said with a smile, "Guys, it's not that I don't want to go in, but the shop has a rule against live broadcasting. With so many people, waving a phone around inside the shop filming indiscriminately isn't good. As a broadcaster, I've got to have standards. I'm lining up to buy a bowl of bone soup rice noodles to try; I'll stop the broadcast when I go in. If I don't queue up now, I'm afraid I might not get a chance to eat."

Fang Hui glanced at the long line and decided to join the queue at the end, waiting for rice noodles. I should get in line while I still can. Who knows how many more people will come later.

During this time, workers from the funeral parlor also came out for rice noodles. Seeing the long queue, Niu Fang regretted her earlier decision. If I'd known not to tell them Boss Jiang was here, I never would have expected so many people to show up the next day. Now we'll have to queue for an hour just to eat! She had meant well in telling someone looking for Jiang Feng about his whereabouts. But who would have thought that by the next day, a flood of customers would have found their way there. Now she felt it was ridiculous.

Niu Fang was walking by when suddenly, Fang Hui noticed her and immediately waved his hand, thanking her, "Sis, thank you for yesterday. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found Boss Jiang so quickly."

Upon hearing Fang Hui's words, Niu Fang glanced over and sighed, too lazy to respond.

The viewers in the live stream found it quite amusing.

"Sis doesn't seem happy!"

"If we hadn't asked her yesterday, we couldn't have been sure if it was Boss Jiang."

"Thanks to the kind-hearted person."

Fang Hui also noticed that Niu Fang was not in high spirits and asked again, "Sis, what's wrong?"

At this, Niu Fang replied, "If I had known so many people would come, I wouldn't have told you. Before, we could eat rice noodles as soon as we walked in the shop. Now look at us, having to queue up, and by the looks of it, for at least an hour. You're live streaming, right? I want to tell everyone not to expose Boss Jiang immediately upon finding him. Otherwise, you'll be the one in line."

The netizens in the live stream had a sudden realization after Niu Fang's remark.

"Sis makes sense!"

"Indeed, it used to be easy to just eat, but now we have to queue up. It's no wonder she's upset."

"Good things should indeed be kept a bit secret!"

"I've learned my lesson. If Boss Jiang set up a stall downstairs from my place, I definitely wouldn't blab about it."

"You wish! Him setting up at your place? Why not directly in your house!"

The live stream got lively.

Fang Hui hadn't realized this point, but after Niu Fang mentioned it, he understood. The situation is already like this; there's nothing to be done. All Fang Hui could do was awkwardly touch his head.

As for Niu Fang, she went to the back of the queue. The queue had to be endured; after all, the Big Bone Soup rice noodles tasted so good, it was worth the wait.

With more people, the busiest one must have been Sun Zhuangfei, sometimes too busy even to collect the bowls. But he didn't mind at all and just kept working wherever there was work to do.

Jiang Feng planned to hire two more people in the next few days. At the same time, he intended to increase production so more people could enjoy it. Since he couldn't afford to be idle, he decided to focus on serving his customers earnestly.

If it were the old guy from Tianshui Spicy Hotpot, he would have already donned his mask of agony by now.

The customers who got to eat the rice noodles were completely satisfied. The Big Bone Soup that Jiang Feng made was indeed different from others. The taste was genuinely delicious. A bowl of soup could refresh and invigorate a person. Everyone was very happy.

Occasionally, someone would stand at the kitchen door and shout, "Boss Jiang, can I take a photo with you?"

Jiang Feng would respond, "Wait a moment, I'll come right out."

When he was done with what he was doing, he would come out to join several customers for photos and check-ins. While snapping pictures, Jiang Feng hurriedly said, "I need to check on the rice noodles; I'll come back in a while."

Many people took videos, documenting Jiang Feng's actions and words. From his manner, it was clear that he was down-to-earth and easy to get along with. This made everyone like him even more. Approachable people are just like that. For instance, take Lei Jun, a CEO with a net worth in the hundreds of billions. He would personally bend down to open car doors for customers, never thinking there was anything wrong with it. Such people are even more respected.

The day's stall was destined to be lively. It continued until around three in the afternoon. Not a single drop of bone soup or big bone was left in the pot. Jiang Feng then announced closing, asking customers to come back tomorrow. This time, there really was none left. The crowd dispersed amongst the hustle and bustle.

After work, Jiang Feng said to Sun Zhuangfei, "Tomorrow, buy more fresh big beef bones. Choose them as I've instructed you. Make sure to select the best ones. It doesn't matter if they're a bit more expensive, as we can make the money back. I'm going to hire two temp workers."

Sun Zhuangfei nodded, "Boss, don't worry, you can leave this to me. I will contact them this afternoon."

The two coordinated very well. Sun Zhuangfei now mastered purchasing skills, and his eye for selecting food ingredients became sharper. Sometimes, he would buy back fresh, high-quality vegetables and meats without needing instructions from Jiang Feng.

With cooking, the trickiest part is preparing the ingredients. If he could buy them in advance, it would be more convenient for Jiang Feng to handle everything. He could then focus more on the flavor of the food.

The day's excitement came to an end. The host Fang Hui also left the town. Before logging off, he told his viewers in the live stream, "I've tried the Big Bone Soup, and I'm not exaggerating, it's really delicious. Extremely fresh. It's a very comfortable feeling. I recommend everyone to come here; it's definitely worth it!"

Fang Hui was still yearning for more. He finally understood why Jiang Feng's popularity was so high, even though he didn't have his own social media account, nor did he make short videos or do live streams. It's because he possesses genuine culinary skills. Not the kind that's just showy or hyped up by others, but concrete and real skills, existing right here in the marketplace, welcoming anyone to taste. That's why everyone likes him even more.

Thinking of this, Fang Hui added, "His culinary skill is really good at attracting fans. You might not believe it, but after eating his rice noodles, I've become his fan too. I can only say, Boss Jiang, Executive Chef Jiang, your charm is really strong."