Gourmet: Midnight Vending

Chen Mo was eating with great enjoyment, not bothering to cook anything, just gobbling down meat!

After two plates of lamb, his whole body was steaming. It was already hot weather, and eating this stuff felt even hotter. Plus, lamb meat is inherently warming, making it feel even hotter to eat.

But there's no helping it; it's just so satisfying!

"Gotta say, lamb is the most delicious meat in the world!"

If you eat enough, you'll easily discover the ultimate food controversy: chicken is the most tasteless, pork is the most fragrant, beef is the tastiest, and lamb is the most perfect.

The reason for this statement is because lamb is a highly distinctive meat, with clear lovers and haters, and almost no middle ground.

After downing two plates of lamb, if you continue eating, all you'll taste is the fatty texture, as the fresh, fragrant taste has considerably faded away.

At this point, eating too much more might start to feel a bit greasy.

So Chen Mo threw in the chopped cabbage to cook, not caring about the leaves and stems, and put them all into the pot together.

After simmering two plates of lamb in the Clear Soup pot, a layer of oil floated on the surface, making the aroma even more complex; this is when the seaweed and mushrooms come into play.

With these two ingredients, even if there's a layer of oil at the bottom of the pot, there's no trace of gaminess.

While waiting, Chen Mo fiddled with his phone, trying to find a video to watch while eating. As the soup base in the pot started boiling, he still hadn't found one.

Soon, he was getting anxious, as if he couldn't eat today without finding a good video!

"Hey, big brother~"

Su Shasha's crisp voice interrupted Chen Mo's search for a video. "What's up?"

"Can I come in and talk?"

Chen Mo was sure that with his permission, outsiders could enter the food truck.

"Come in." Chen Mo continued looking down for a video; the cabbage was almost ready, but he still hadn't found one, driving him crazy.

"Big brother, here's the thing."

Su Shasha paused for a moment. There was a reason they chose her for the "plea" tactic.

Among the three of them, if Lu Yingqiu was the tall and cool beauty, then Su Shasha was the type that looked like a schoolgirl.

Standing at 1.55 meters tall, she loved to wear hoodies and sweatpants, paired with sneakers.

This outfit, along with her soft voice, made her look like a child. If you put her at a school gate, the guard would definitely tell her to hurry up and not be late.

As Su Shasha stepped into the food truck, before she could say another word, she gulped a few times.

In this world, why are there people who enjoy life so much?

From Shasha's perspective, it looked like this.

The handsome guy sat on the stool, with his phone on the counter playing Crayon Shin-chan.

The boiling hot pot was bubbling, and the cabbage leaves and stems within were obviously ready to eat.

In front of the man was half a bowl of sesame sauce, and several small dishes next to it.

There were vermicelli, frozen tofu, and even her favorite noodle dough!

The faint aroma of lamb wafted in the air, clearly showing that the guy had already eaten lamb and was about to start the second half of the meal.

Su Shasha licked her lips, "Big brother, here's the thing! My classmate," she pointed to the front of the car, "the one pressing her ID and student ID against the door for you to see, her stomach isn't very good, and if she doesn't eat at night, it'll hurt. I was worried her gastritis might act up, so..."

"Oh, you mean that." Chen Mo found the 370th episode of Crayon Shin-chan, where the Shin family's house accidentally caught on fire. He hadn't watched it yet. "That's easy, just ask her to come over and grab a bite."

As the phone started playing Crayon Shin-chan, Chen Mo let out a long sigh of relief. The hardest part before a meal is finding a video; once it starts playing, you can eat.

Using chopsticks, he picked up the cabbage.

The cabbage leaves absorbed the broth, tasting soft and brimming with the fresh flavor of lamb and the aroma of garlic chives.

Then came a bite of the cabbage stem, which had plenty of moisture. After being cooked, it remained somewhat crisp. One bite released a burst of cabbage juice, fresh, sweet, and refreshing, immediately making him feel much better.

While hearing Chen Mo agree to have dinner, Su Shasha still felt something was off.

What did he mean: ask her to come eat?

What about me?

Chen Mo looked at the cartoon, where the mom forgot to turn off the gas, and Shin accidentally set the house on fire, reducing it to rubble. He couldn't help but laugh.

This kid Shin is such a troublemaker!

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the girl still standing in the truck. "Isn't your friend the one not feeling well? Why are you still here?"

Su Shasha scratched her head awkwardly. "To be honest, big brother, I also kind of have a stomach ache..."

Chen Mo: (｡•́︿•̀｡)

Your grandpa's last name is Bi too?

"Alright, alright, if you guys don't mind, you can join me. I have plenty over here."

Since they weren't troublemakers, Chen Mo was quite generous. They paid 200 yuan for the truck fare. What's so bad about sharing a meal?

Su Shasha immediately beamed with joy, "That's great!"

She jumped off the truck and knocked on the door repeatedly, "Come out, come out, big brother is willing to let us join for dinner! Hurry up, I'm starving."

Yino jumped down to the ground, while Xiao Juzi clung tightly to her pocket with a look of panic.

Lu Yingqiu, sitting on the bed, hesitated for a moment, but still put on her shoes and got off the truck. Although she was socially anxious, she understood basic manners — if the host invited them to eat together, it wouldn't be right to stay inside the truck alone.

As the three of them got off the truck, they saw Chen Mo waving at them from behind the kitchen window, inviting them in.

"Come on, lend a hand."

Just now, Chen Mo had already taken out his old companions, the little yellow table and little yellow stool, and set them up on the roadside. This highway really had no cars; he had walked for over two hours and hadn't seen a single car pass by.

So he placed the little yellow stool behind the vehicles.

Su Shasha helped carry out the hot pot, "Wow, most people use a copper pot, but yours is an iron pot?"

Chen Mo sneered, "Iron pots heat up quickly, don't you know that?"

Yino whispered to Shasha, "Does iron really conduct heat faster than copper?"

"If I were a high school student, I could answer you, but unfortunately, I'm already a senior in college." Su Shasha placed the hot pot on the table, then took the portable stove Chen Mo handed her and set it up.

Lu Yingqiu stood awkwardly nearby, wanting to tell them that, in fact, iron doesn't conduct heat very well... but she just couldn't bring herself to say it.

The hot pot started bubbling again on the stove, but all the cabbage leaves inside had already been scooped out by Chen Mo.

Pulled noodles and frozen tofu were placed next to the hot pot. Even though it looked a bit simple, Su Shasha and Yino found that in such a situation, having something like this to eat was already incredibly satisfying!

Chen Mo continued rummaging around and directly brought out three plates of lamb rolls, "Here you go."

"Wow!" Su Shasha's eyes sparkled, "We actually have meat to eat!"

Yino's throat felt dry, and she couldn't help but lick her lips, "Great! My stomach doesn't hurt at all now!"

Lu Yingqiu's stomach grumbled twice, but the lamb aroma wafted into her nose, making her feel a bit uncomfortable. Yet, for politeness, she still moved over to the little yellow table.

The three plates of lamb rolls were placed on the table. Having someone to eat with wasn't bad. Chen Mo put away his phone; the sweet and refreshing cabbage he just ate had cleared his palate, now he could enjoy the lamb!

When the big plate of lamb went into the pot, Yino and Shasha's eyes started to light up.

Before the water in the pot even boiled, as soon as the lamb changed color, the two of them used their chopsticks to dive into the pot and grabbed a big piece of meat!

The pieces of meat, dipped in carefully crafted sesame sauce, were taken into the mouth.

"Ah... Refreshing!"

"Oh my, this is the best hotpot lamb I've ever had!"

Food tastes remarkably good when you're hungry. Yino savored this big bite of meat with utter satisfaction.

Chen Mo also wanted to fetch some meat with his chopsticks, but when he swirled around in the pot, he found nothing left.

College students really know how to eat...

Let's cook another batch!

Three plates were cooked one after another. This one batch was indeed a pound of meat, and the two girls ate with no pretense of being ladylike.

Chen Mo looked curiously at the person sitting next to him, "Why aren't you eating? Don't you have a stomachache?"

The little trick was exposed, and Yino and Su Shasha blushed with embarrassment, focusing on their plates of meat, pretending not to hear.

With just that question, Lu Yingqiu's cheeks turned red, but fortunately, it was late, and the weak light from the food truck didn't reveal it.

She whispered, "I can't eat lamb."

Chen Mo strained to hear what she said, "You can't eat it? That's a shame. You can try something else."

After consuming three plates of lamb, the two girls started to feel a bit satiated. The cabbage leaves were cooked again and were quickly eaten up.

Time to cook the frozen tofu.

As the ingredients gradually disappeared, the girls' eating pace also slowed down. Chen Mo picked up a piece of frozen tofu and examined it closely.

Frozen tofu, with its porous structure, was all about the mixed flavors. The bean taste refreshes the palate. This thing is pretty good.

A bite of tofu entered the mouth. As it was lightly bitten, the broth-filled interior was squeezed out, making the three of them gasp from the heat.

This tofu, soaked in the flavor of lamb broth, with chive flower sauce adding a savory touch, made Chen Mo feel it was worth getting burned on the tongue for!

Watching the three of them joyfully eating, Lu Yingqiu couldn't stop swallowing.

'Actually, if it's tofu or something, it shouldn't be a problem to eat, supposedly...'

'But I just said I couldn't eat it.'

'Would saying I can eat it now make me seem hypocritical?'

Lu Yingqiu's mind turned into a messy pot of porridge. On one side was the temptation of delicious food, on the other was her dignity, along with her socially anxious personality making her stomach growl uncontrollably.

The frozen tofu quickly vanished as well.

Chen Mo stood up and sighed, taking out some noodles, "Are you full? If you are, I'm going to cook the noodles."

"We're full."

Su Shasha wiped her mouth, "I'm full too. Another bowl of noodles would be just right."

Chen Mo expertly pulled the noodles, tore them apart, and then put them into the pot to cook.

Yino was curious at seeing how skillfully Chen Mo worked, "Are you in the food business?"

Chen Mo sat back down, "You could say that."

He pointed to the side of the food truck, where the words answered the question.

"Pfft!" Su Shasha covered her mouth laughing, "Chen Mo, that cat drawn on your truck looks so cheekily smug."

Laughing?

Chen Mo turned his head to look.

Really, when did this cat change its expression?