"Fine, young man, 16.8 yuan it is. Make sure you come back often!"
"Which cut do you want?"
Lu Qin was buying pork to make Twice Cooked Pork, so choosing the right cut mattered.
Four parts fat from the hind leg, two cuts deep; six parts lean, three fingers wide.
Too fatty would be greasy, too lean would burn, and slices that were too wide or too narrow would be hard to shape.
After buying the pork, Lu Qin left the market.
Back home, Lu Qin began preparing the ingredients for his afternoon stall.
He added another line to the small whiteboard.
Twice Cooked Pork: 30 yuan per serving. Limit one serving per person. While supplies last.
Normally, when people ate Twice Cooked Pork at a restaurant, it was made to order.
Selling it from a stall was indeed rather inconvenient.
But Lu Qin had a Fresh-Locking Thermostatic Box from the system lottery.
He could blanch the pork, slice it, and store it in the Fresh-Locking Thermostatic Box.
Once a customer ordered, he could simply take out the pork and stir-fry it.
As for why he did not stir-fry the Twice Cooked Pork first, store it in the Fresh-Locking Thermostatic Box, and sell the finished dish directly?
That naturally would not work. Anyone with even a little knowledge would be able to tell that any freshly stir-fried dish would taste and feel different after sitting for a while.
What was more, Lu Qin's Twice Cooked Pork was extraordinary. If he could make it in advance and still keep its flavor so perfect—
That would defy common sense.
Modern technology could not make such an incredible storage box.
Lu Qin spent two hours making the Mung Bean Paste and Ice Crystal Cakes he planned to sell that afternoon.
Three hundred cups of Mung Bean Paste and one hundred fifty boxes of Ice Crystal Cake.
He put the Mung Bean Paste in the refrigerator to chill and left the Ice Crystal Cakes in a cool place.
Next, Lu Qin began preparing the ingredients for the Twice Cooked Pork.
He put the pork into cold water, then added ginger slices, scallion sections, Sichuan peppercorns, cooking wine, and other seasonings.
Once the pork was cooked, he ran it through ice water.
This made the pork easier to slice into shape.
With the Master-Level Twice-Cooked Pork Skill, Lu Qin's knife work was naturally flawless as well.
He sliced all the pork into pieces as thin as coins, each one the same thickness.
Then he prepared a large stainless steel basin, lined the bottom with lettuce leaves, and placed all the sliced pork inside. It filled the entire basin.
It was enough to make around eighty servings of Twice Cooked Pork.
He also sliced onions and Garlic Sprouts as side ingredients for the dish.
By the time he finished, it was already twelve thirty.
Lu Qin was a little hungry.
He cooked some rice. Since he was alone, something simple was enough; one dish would do, so he stir-fried some Twice Cooked Pork.
The moment the Twice Cooked Pork came out of the wok, Lu Qin caught an incredibly rich fragrance.
The dish looked excellent, golden in color and incredibly appetizing.
Lu Qin picked up a piece and put it into his mouth.
Tender and crisp, fragrant without being greasy—the exquisite flavor and texture soothed every one of Lu Qin's taste buds.
The Twice Cooked Pork made with a master-level skill tasted perfect, without a single flaw to be found.
Lu Qin had been busy all morning and truly was hungry.
Twice Cooked Pork was also perfect with rice, and Lu Qin ate two and a half bowls.
He was completely full.
He had originally wanted to take a short nap, but he had eaten too much.
Lu Qin was the type who could never sit still. He had strong drive and hated slacking off or lazing around.
So he decided to head out and set up his stall.
The sooner he finished selling, the sooner he could pick up Lu Xiyao and take her home.
Lu Qin took out his phone and checked the Stall Map APP.
At this hour, People's Square Pedestrian Street did not have its highest foot traffic.
The stall map showed that West City Flower Fruit Mountain Park had the most foot traffic.
It was Sunday, and many people were visiting the park.
There were stall spots at the foot of the mountain.
However, business for stalls there was not particularly good, because most passersby were not there to spend money. They were there to stroll through the park, take walks, exercise, sightsee, and enjoy the scenery.
If he were selling water, business might be decent.
But there were very few stalls selling snacks.
Still, none of that was a problem for Lu Qin's snack stall.
Lu Qin had never been to Huaguoshan Park, so he opened the map navigation.
After the three-wheeler had been on the road for a little over twenty minutes, he arrived at his destination.
Sure enough, there was a stall selling grilled sausages at the foot of the mountain. The other stalls sold water and drinks, as well as balloons and toys.
Huaguoshan Park was at a slightly higher elevation. Climbing up and down took quite a bit of energy and made people sweat a lot, so drinks and water were essential.
Lu Qin's fried rice noodle stall looked rather conspicuous once it was set up.
It seemed somewhat out of place amid the quiet, elegant greenery around it.
Many people came to hike in order to lose weight.
Why would they eat fried rice noodles?
Some people saw Lu Qin setting up his stall and came over curiously to see what he was selling.
When they learned that he sold fried rice noodles and other snacks, they shook their heads and stopped paying attention.
When hiking or strolling through a park, carrying around a box of fried rice noodles would definitely look strange.
So no one would buy any.
The two elderly women selling bottled water next door secretly laughed.
Seeing Lu Qin's brand-new food cart, they kindly warned him.
"Young man, this is your first time running a stall, right?"
"How could you possibly get business selling food in a place like this?"
"You should go to a busy part of the city."
Lu Qin went along with them and said with a smile,
"I really do not have much experience. Next time, I'll have to choose a better place."
Sure enough, there was no business at first.
Some passersby and tourists bought water or drinks from the elderly women's stalls next door.
Yet no one paid any attention to Lu Qin's fried rice noodle stall.
Lu Qin actually had chilled Mung Bean Paste too.
But once customers had already walked up to the neighboring stalls to buy something, he would not deliberately call out to them.
That would not be appropriate—it would be stealing business.
A young couple strolled over slowly. They did not buy anything, merely standing near Lu Qin's stall to admire the view of the lake.
"Babe, I want milk tea."
"Why didn't you say so earlier? This place is so remote. Where would there be a milk tea shop?"
"Do you want bottled water or a drink?"
"No. I only want milk tea."
"With such beautiful scenery, it'd be such a shame not to have a cup of milk tea."
The man was speechless. There was no milk tea shop nearby.
At that moment, Lu Qin turned around and said to them with a smile,
"Would you two like some Mung Bean Paste? It's chilled, and it tastes no worse than milk tea."
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