Traffic jam

Just as the regulars were growing terribly anxious, a commotion broke out at the far end of the food street.

Then a sea of heads came into view. Zhang Jiale rode a tricycle at the very front, leading a dense crowd of university students who came charging over in a mighty procession.

As they passed the stalls, they even stirred up the air along the roadside.

When they reached their destination, Zhang Jiale stayed on the tricycle. Taking advantage of how conspicuous he was standing up there, he raised a hand with practiced ease and called to those behind him:

"We're here! This is the place. Everyone, keep things orderly. If you haven't been here before, follow the students who have to the back of the line. Move fast, keep your eyes sharp, and stay put once you've found your spot. Don't shove and make a mess of things. Boss Shen doesn't like that."

Zhang Jiale was on the student council at university and knew how to get things done. Everyone was willing to follow his arrangements, too.

"All right, brothers! Let's get in line and wait for some delicious snacks."

"They all kept saying how good it was, and I've been craving it all day. Boss Shen's finally setting up shop."

"I only had it yesterday, but I'm craving it even more today. Hurry up and get near the front."

The university students rushed to the back of the line in a great bustle.

The surrounding vendors, who were tidying up their stalls, gaped at the spectacle.

That many people? Wasn't this a bit much?

The customers already in line were even more bewildered.

"Wait, are you all here for scallion pancakes?"

The student being asked nodded. "Yeah, and not just scallion pancakes. If there are chive pockets, I want those too."

"All of you came together to buy pancakes?"

At that question, the student trying to make his way to the back of the line gave him an odd look. "Is there a problem with coming together?"

"No!"

There wasn't really a problem. The sight was simply so spectacular that it had stunned the customers.

There were over a hundred university students, a dense mass of people as far as the eye could see. Those at the front had already arrived, while those at the back were still calling from the other end, urging the people ahead to hurry. It was crowded and noisy.

And all of them had squeezed into the food street to line up for scallion pancakes.

The newer customers were so stunned by the sight that their mouths fell open. They could hardly believe it and kept staring at the students.

The regulars, however, reacted a little faster.

They had certainly been shocked by the sheer number at first, but thinking it over, there had been university students in line every day lately. Boss Shen's errand boy was a university student too.

One student told another, someone else asked about it, and with so many people finding out, wouldn't everyone gradually hear about it?

Besides, it was Friday. There were no classes tomorrow, so they had nothing much to prepare for. They happened to be craving something tasty, so there was nothing wrong with coming to the stall to line up for good food, especially with Boss Shen's cooking being so good.

Wait, errand boy?

Several customers near the front looked at Zhang Jiale, who was pushing the lemonade stall, with shining eyes. They enthusiastically stepped forward to help him put it in place and started asking questions.

"Hey, young man, you guys seem pretty familiar with Boss Shen. Do you have any inside information? Is Boss Shen setting up today?"

"Yeah, I remember one of your friends is Boss Shen's underling. You helped carry things for him too."

"You've pushed your stall over here, so Boss Shen's definitely coming to set up today, right?"

Only after securing the stall did Zhang Jiale look up and say smugly, "Of course. We head out with Boss Shen every day. When Boss Shen leaves to set up, we head for the food street. Something held him up today, and he's still on the way. He'll be here in a bit. No need to worry."

He looked toward the back of the line and suddenly let out a cry.

"Huh? The line's already this long? Am I even going to get any scallion pancakes today?"

With that, he hurriedly swung his arms and squeezed toward the very back, amusing all the customers near the front.

With that firsthand information, the customers felt reassured.

As long as Boss Shen was still coming to set up, there was no problem.

The regulars had long since grown used to Boss Shen's personality.

If his cooking were even a little worse, they dared say that with his attitude, they'd admit defeat if he managed to attract any customers at all!

But his cooking was outstanding. It was so delicious that it was in an entirely different league from the food they usually ate.

How could anyone resist that?

Even if Boss Shen liked showing off so much that it made their teeth itch, even if there was so much to do at the stall that customers had to pitch in whenever he couldn't keep up, and then there was that tiny amount of ingredients he brought every day-who was that supposed to feed?

Who ran a stall this capriciously?

The customers couldn't help grumbling inwardly, but they didn't dare say a word of it to Boss Shen's face.

They were all swallowing humiliation and enduring hardship for a bite to eat!

The streets in a place like the food street were narrow to begin with. With so many people suddenly cramming into an already long line, the customers at the very back realized they were practically being pushed out of the food street.

That wouldn't do, so they simply doubled back. As the line continued forming, it turned into three long rows.

That made the passage through the food street even narrower.

Quite a few cars were parked on the main road outside, all belonging to customers who had driven over to buy things at the food street.

It had been fine at first, with the cars parked neatly. When later arrivals saw there was nowhere left to park, they simply double-parked.

They all figured they were only going into the food street to buy something and would leave as soon as they were done.

Now look what happened. Once someone took the lead, the others assumed parking that way was allowed here and followed suit, blocking the turning lane.

Someone had driven a "chopped-chili fish head" into the food street. Vehicles came in from both ends, met on the narrow road, and got stuck there.

This occasionally happened normally, too. One side only needed to back out, but today, it was all cars outside.

It was also past five in the afternoon, right when students were getting out of school, and many parents were heading to the nearby schools to pick them up.

With so many vehicles and the road in chaos, the electric cars that had entered the food street couldn't back out.

Since they couldn't get out, the tricycles belonging to vendors arriving late to set up were stuck behind them and couldn't get in either.

For a while, the food street was jammed solid, and even the roads alongside it were completely blocked.

A mass of vehicles sat stuck on the road, unable to move. The clamoring voices and honking horns were painfully shrill.

Even Shen Chuan's tricycle was stuck outside the food street, unable to move forward or back.

Normally, Shen Chuan would already have been getting anxious. After all, wearing such a thick suit while stuck out on the road beneath the blazing sun, how could he not go crazy after a little longer in the heat?

But he had installed air conditioning today. Sitting in the vehicle with cool air blowing over him as he scrolled through videos on his phone, he wasn't anxious in the slightest.

It wasn't as though he had to worry about selling his scallion pancakes anyway. Customers who liked them would naturally come and buy them. Sitting in the vehicle was no different from sitting at home-he was just playing on his phone either way.

He wasn't anxious, but Jiang Wenyan was starting to be.

Until Boss Shen's stall reached its destination, he couldn't make scallion pancakes. If he couldn't make scallion pancakes, Jiang Wenyan wouldn't get to eat any.

It was already dinnertime. He was craving them!

For the sake of this meal of scallion pancakes, he made do with whatever at lunchtime every day and started getting hungry by five or six in the afternoon.

Especially when he was hungry, he couldn't even think about it. The moment he did, Jiang Wenyan started swallowing.

Stretching his neck to look ahead for the third time, he saw nothing but a mass of stranded vehicles without the slightest sign of movement. Unable to help himself, Jiang Wenyan pulled the curtain aside and jumped down.

"Boss Shen, I'll go up ahead and ask what's going on. Being stuck here all this time is holding up your business, isn't it?"

"Sure, go ahead." Shen Chuan glanced at the traffic that hadn't moved in ages and nodded in acknowledgment.