Line up, one at a time

Seeing his roommates already crowding around the chive pocket stall, each asking for several more, Jiang Wenyan hurriedly squeezed his way over.

"What about me? Me! I did you all a huge favor by introducing you to the God of Cooking's food. You promised to treat me!"

He barely had any spending money left!!!

"Sure, sure, sure. Get in line. We ordered first."

The college students jostled around the stall, watching Shen Chuan hold a chive pocket wrapper. Like a magic trick, with a push and a pinch and barely any effort, he had a chive pocket wrapped.

His nimble fingers picked up another wrapper and added the mixed filling. Before they had even tasted it, the aroma of the filling alone had them drooling.

When he finished wrapping the chive pockets and laid them on a stainless steel tray, watching from this close gave them a more immediate sense of awe than watching the video of him chopping chives.

The chubby guy standing closest even stretched out a hand and measured them in the air a few times before saying with a look of worship, "I stake my honor as a science student on this. These chive pockets are absolutely identical in size."

Seeing that the chive pockets were almost ready, Zhang Jiale took advantage of his height, long arms, and quick reflexes to grab the paper bags and tongs from the table first. Just as he was about to make his move, Shen Chuan looked at him.

That stern look made him shrink back, but he still refused to put down the bag!

Without preparing ahead of time, how could he snatch food from his roommates?

When Shen Chuan placed the fried chive pocket on the wire rack to drain, Zhang Jiale picked it up at lightning speed, dropped it into his paper bag, and started eating. He was so fast that, in the blink of an eye, the perfectly good chive pocket was gone.

That showed just how important it was to prepare ahead!

"Holy shit, the bastard's cheating."

"Hurry up and give me the tongs."

Zhang Jiale handed the tongs to one of the outstretched hands and lowered his head, blowing on the food and taking small bites, paying no attention whatsoever to the battlefield.

As the rich, delicious chive pocket, savory and flavorful, entered his mouth, his impatience instantly melted away. Baring his teeth in a grin, he said, "I swear, chive pockets are the best food in the world."

Seeing him already eating, his roommates followed his example, each holding a paper bag, waiting to fill it as soon as the chive pockets were ready.

The tongs were hard to get hold of, though, so they could only hope for the next round.

Seeing another chive pocket being lifted out of the pan, the roommate who had secured the tongs thought he had it in the bag. He chuckled and leisurely reached for it.

Who knew that before his tongs could touch it, a pair of disposable chopsticks would dart in from the side and snatch the chive pocket away with speed, ruthlessness, and precision?

The roommate turned around, saw it was the chubby guy, and grew frantic.

"Where did you get disposable chopsticks?"

Having secured the second one with his heavyweight build, the chubby guy held his chive pocket and blew on it, saying calmly, "Borrowed them from the wonton stall next door."

How could they let it slide when food that had practically been in their mouths had flown away? They absolutely couldn't. While he was busy blowing on it, Jiang Wenyan charged forward, grabbed his hand, opened his enormous maw, and took a huge bite.

Seeing that he was the only one who hadn't gotten any, the remaining roommate simply followed suit and took a big bite too.

"Put down that chive pocket and let me at it."

Once all three had taken their bites, more than half of the perfectly good chive pocket was gone. And that was only because it was too hot to bite into properly, forcing them to take it easy.

Had it not been hot, it would have been like when they brought local specialties back to the dorm from home: only the bag would have remained by now.

The chubby guy wailed at the sight of his chive pocket.

"My chive pocket! They've gnawed you so brutally! Don't worry, I'll avenge you!"

The four of them stayed crowded around Shen Chuan's chive pocket stall like this. He fried one, they ate one. He fried another, they ate another, like a relay race.

Every so often, someone would mutter something about avenging his fallen chive pocket, and another battle would break out. They ate with such relish that they looked as if they hadn't eaten for three days.

Occasionally, passersby noticed the scene and stared in disbelief.

"Seriously? They're fighting over chive pockets? Anyone who didn't know better would think they were eating a Manchu-Han imperial feast."

"Honestly, I'm getting a little hungry too. That smells amazing!"

An elderly man passing by saw how much the college students were enjoying the food and came over to call out, "Boss, give me a chive pocket."

Noting the man's age, Shen Chuan reminded him just in case, "Chive pockets are ten yuan each."

Judging by the previous customers' reactions to the price, although he felt that ten yuan for a chive pocket wasn't expensive given his skills, that didn't mean the customers would agree.

"What? Ten yuan each? Why don't you just rob people?"

The elderly man was stunned. What street stall charged ten yuan for a chive pocket?!

Shen Chuan said solemnly, "The ingredients are all natural and bought from farms. They're fresh and delicious, and with my blessing as the God of Cooking, ten yuan is already a street-stall price."

[Ding, Show-off Points +50!]

The elderly man's mind went blank for a moment. Why did he look as if he were taking a loss charging ten yuan? Was he kidding?!

"Ten yuan each, and these college students are still fighting over them? Have they never eaten chive pockets before?"

"I think they've gone crazy. Even a dog wouldn't eat a ten-yuan chive pocket."

As the chive pockets kept frying, the aroma lingered in the air, growing richer and richer.

The saliva pooling in the elderly man's mouth stopped him from saying anything more.

The sounds of chewing continued beside him, and the savory, fresh fragrance of the filling drifted everywhere, making passing pedestrians crave it too.

Standing closer, they felt surrounded by the aroma and nearly drooled. After a moment's hesitation, someone called out, "I can't take it anymore. It's only ten yuan. Give me one."

Chinese people loved gathering around a commotion to begin with. Seeing the crowd and catching the rich aroma, quite a few passersby couldn't help coming over.

Soon, two more people were drawn in by the aroma and placed orders despite the painful price.

The elderly man had already walked a few steps away, but he couldn't resist his craving. Seeing everyone else buying them, he thought it over. It was just a ten-yuan chive pocket. At his age, couldn't he eat a ten-yuan chive pocket? He quietly walked back.

It was as if he hadn't been the one complaining about the price just moments ago.

Taking a deep sniff of the aroma in the air, the elderly man looked as if he were gritting his teeth and accepting being fleeced. "Give me one too."

With just the four college students earlier, the crowd around the stall hadn't been much of an issue. Now that more customers drawn by the aroma had squeezed over, things in front of the stall became chaotic.

Shen Chuan frowned and said evenly, "Line up, one at a time."

Still eating, the college students went to the back of the line again. Seeing this, the elderly man hurriedly joined the queue too, wearing an expression that said he wanted to see just what a ten-yuan chive pocket tasted like.

"I feel like my bank balance is crying at me, but my legs won't listen. They insist on getting in line."

"The two halves of my brain keep fighting. My left brain says two is enough, or I'll run out of spending money and have to eat instant noodles at the end of the month. Then my right brain tells me it's only a few days of instant noodles. For this deliciousness right now, it's worth it."

"Exactly. A dog won't eat it, but I will. These chive pockets are exactly what I'm here for."

Stuffing chive pocket into his mouth, Jiang Wenyan muttered, "I'm doomed, I'm doomed. This month's spending money is about to run dry, but I seriously can't resist these chive pockets!"