Uncle Niu grimaced, showing off his big yellow teeth, and walked to the back of the line with his calloused hands behind him.
With the distraction gone.
Jiang Liu’s focus sharpened.
His right hand flew up and down.
He chopped the erald-green fennel into tiny, fine dice. Only then could its herbaceous fragrance deeply infuse the eggs.
Next, Jiang Liu poured sesa oil into the fennel.
Fennel, while fragrant, has a rather light aftertaste.
Adding sesa oil enhanced the aroma, making the aftertaste linger longer.
...
Almost imdiately, news that Jiang Liu was releasing a new type of bun reached Jiujiu Restaurant.
"What?! Jiang Liu released a new type of bun?"
"With an egg and fennel filling?!"
Brother Hai was completely dumbfounded by the news; he was starting to lose it.
To steal custors from the shop across the street, he had even lowered the price of all his buns by another fifty cents today.
It was an all-or-nothing gamble.
Yet, just as he had confidently sold a few orders, Jiang Liu dropped a bombshell on him.
’Is he even going to let live?’
’I just wanted to ride on your coattails a bit! Are you trying to drive into the ground?’
’If I drop my prices again, are you just going to co out with yet another new bun!?’
A few students were buying buns from Brother Hai because they were cheap and there was no line. The mont they heard a woman ntion that Jiang Liu had a new type of bun, they left without hesitation.
"Who needs this junk? It’s not that good anyway. Let’s hurry over to Boss Jiang’s for the new stuff."
"Yeah, I wouldn’t even be buying from here if the other line wasn’t so long."
"Hey, shorty! Stop bagging those, we don’t want them anymore."
"But I’ve already packed them for you!" Brother Hai glared, furious.
"But I haven’t paid, right?"
"You...!"
Brother Hai’s hands trembled, and he fought the urge to smash the takeout container on the ground.
"Brother Hai, quick! Check our promotions group!"
Xiao Huzi hurried out from the back kitchen, holding out his phone to Brother Hai.
Brother Hai frowned. "What’s this about?"
"Just look at the group chat!"
Brother Hai scrolled through the Jiujiu Restaurant Promotions Group chat and almost coughed up blood from sheer frustration.
After two days of desperately begging people to join, they had managed to get over fifty custors into their promotions group.
Right now, however, the group chat was buzzing with activity.
But the lively discussion was like a knife to Brother Hai’s heart.
Qingfeng Mingyue: "Have you guys been yet? Boss Jiang’s shop released a new bun!"
TaRA: "OMG!!! Seriously?"
Qingfeng Mingyue: "[Image]"
Potato_Eggyolk: "Egg and fennel buns? F*CKING AWESO, HOLY SHIT!! On my way now."
Lord Lu Bu: "Hahaha, I’m already in line, and I’m number five!! (sunglasses emoji)"
Hey, Girl: "Damn, bro, we’re fellow Jiang-fans. Can you check how crowded it is at the door for ? I’m still twenty kiloters out."
Green lbourne: "If you’re awake, get over here now. There are over seventy people in line."
" 1 1..."
Veins bulged on the hand Brother Hai used to hold his phone, and his face twitched in anger.
...
anwhile, Jiang Liu opened for business.
There were two lines: one for dining in, facing the glass door, and one for takeout, facing the window.
The first to enter the shop were Huang Yunfeng and three other workers.
Jiang Liu was starting to recognize so of his regulars.
"Boss Jiang, thirty egg and fennel, ten shrimp, ten pork and scallion, and ten three-delicacy buns!"
"Oh, and two orange juices, and two waterlon juices!"
"Coming right up." Jiang Liu picked up the buns for them with a pair of tongs.
"Brother Jiang, please, quick! Get ten egg and fennel buns, five shrimp, and a juice," shouted Li Xiaoyang, the manager from Central Real Estate across the street, his voice filled with excitent.
He was starving. He’d been holding out for two whole hours just for a taste of these buns.
"Just a mont."
Jiang Liu placed their tray on the counter first.
Huang Yunfeng was already waiting.
"Thanks, Boss Jiang."
"You’re welco."
Huang Yunfeng set the buns and juice down on a table.
His coworkers couldn’t wait.
"Let’s eat the egg and fennel ones first!"
"Hey, wait for to sit down!"
The mont Huang Yunfeng set the tray down, the others pounced like hungry wolves, practically inhaling a bun with every bite.
He quickly grabbed a fennel bun himself and took a bite.
’Holy shit!’
’This tastes incredible!’
’So good!’
The tender, creamy flavor of the farm-fresh eggs, combined with the unique fragrance of fennel, and just a hint of spice.
The aftertaste was incredibly aromatic.
The amount of oil was perfect. The juices were savory, not greasy.
"I can’t believe the egg and fennel buns are this good too! Another masterpiece!"
"Boss Jiang, how in the world do you do it? The flavor is always so incredible!"
"This is the best egg and fennel bun I’ve ever eaten! It’s just a vegetarian filling, but it gets more flavorful the more I chew."
The custors at the door were practically drooling.
They were all fidgeting, unable to sit or stand still, their eyes fixed hungrily on Jiang Liu’s hands.
Or more accurately, on the buns.
In the midst of the rush, Jiang Liu replied, "I just put my heart into it. If you like them, feel free to co back often."
"We’d love to eat here every day! The problem is, we can’t even get any!"
Huang Yunfeng smiled bitterly.
"Then you just have to co earlier. There’s nothing else I can do."
Seeing that Jiang Liu was still chatting, the custors in line grew impatient:
"Xiao Jiang, stop getting distracted and focus on your work, will you?"
"Seriously, can you speed it up? I’m about to die of hunger here!"
"Fuck! Hey, you son of a bitch up front, got no sha? Fucking line-cutter!"
"I’ll take fifteen of the egg and fennel."
"For fuck’s sake! Have so decency! Everyone’s buying the fennel ones, can’t you leave any for the rest of us?"
The line started to get rowdy.
So of the more hot-headed youths looked ready to start a fight right then and there.
Custors who managed to get the new fennel buns would strut past the line, proudly swinging their bags.
They’d eagerly take out a fennel bun to taste it on the spot.
"This is amazing! Just what you’d expect from Boss Jiang. Simply delicious. I’m bringing so back for my parents. They’ll probably give so much allowance I won’t be able to spend it all."
"Damn! I can’t believe fennel buns can be this good. I’m completely in awe of Boss Jiang."
A notoriously picky custor sighed, "If the shops next door or across the street were even half as good as Boss Jiang’s, my life wouldn’t be so hard."
Ever since Jiang Liu opened his shop.
The nearby neighborhood streets had clearly beco more lively in the mornings.
Even the laziest hobodies who were practically glued to their beds were waking up early to get in line.
The paynt terminal beeped non-stop.
"Paynt to Alipay account received: sixty-five yuan."
"Paynt to WeChat account received: one hundred thirty yuan."
"Paynt to Alipay account received: thirty yuan."...
The speaker broadcasting the paynts never fell silent; it was getting hot to the touch.
Jiang Liu packed the orders at a rapid pace.
In just five minutes.
Five hundred egg and fennel buns were sold out.
"Fifteen egg and fennel to go, and two juices!"
"I’m sorry, ma’am. You’ll have to choose a different filling. The egg and fennel buns are sold out."
Jiang Liu gestured toward the other available fillings.
The hope of the custors behind them shattered. ’It’s only been a few minutes and the new ones are already gone?!’
"Sold out??" The bitchy Yu Han wanted to throw a tantrum, but she didn’t have the courage.
’Whatever. If I can’t get the new ones today, there’s always next ti.’
"Five shrimp, five three-delicacy, five chive and egg, and give three juices."
"There’s a limit of two juices per person."
"Huh? Even the juice is limited?"
Jiang Liu nodded.
He had to set a limit. Otherwise, so big shot could show up and buy out all the buns or juice at once, and the rest of the custors would riot.
"Fine, fine, two cups then. Do you have WeChat? I’ll add you and transfer you the money."
Yu Han lifted her sharp, pointed chin and spoke with an air of arrogance.
She acted as if adding him on WeChat was so great gift bestowed upon him. She was used to sleeping her way through circles of n and naturally assud every man would try to suck up to her to get her into bed.
Jiang Liu frowned and pointed to the paynt QR code. "You can just scan the code. There’s no need to add ."
Yu Han was furious.
If this were any other food stall, she would have thrown the buns right back in his face. But here, in front of Jiang Liu, she didn’t have an ounce of leverage.
"Co on, just add . It’ll be more convenient since I’ll be coming here a lot in the future."
Yu Han persisted.
The hold-up at the front imdiately drew the ire of the people in line, who were all just waiting for their fresh, hot buns.
"Hurry the hell up! Quit wasting ti, for fuck’s sake!"
"Hey, you bitch buying buns, can you fucking hurry it up or not?"
"So classless!"
By the counter, Jun Qingng’s ears twitched as she sat on a small stool.
Before Jiang Liu could say a word,
she shot up like a mother hen protecting her chick and stood in front of Jiang Liu.
Staring at Yu Han, she said, "Just scan the paynt code right there."
The mont she appeared, the arrogant Yu Han from just a mont ago suddenly looked as laughable as an ugly duckling.
"Hmph! Fine, don’t add then!"
Unwilling to give up but seeing no other choice, Yu Han paid with a cold expression on her face before stomping away in her high heels.
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