The food truck

Everything was ready; all that was missing was the east wind!

Lin Rui felt he was about to strike it rich.

In his previous life, he had worked as a street vendor in New York too, running unlicensed stalls in Chinese neighborhoods like Flushing.

Poor business was one thing, but good business would inevitably bring the police, and he would lose everything he had invested-only later had he learned that someone in the neighborhood disliked him, envied his earnings, and reported him.

Call New York hell, and it certainly had plenty of filthy, chaotic, rundown places; but when it came to making money, it was a treasure land like heaven.

After all, more than sixty million tourists visited New York every year, bringing enormous foot traffic and money. Yet the entire city had fewer than a thousand licensed food trucks-drive one to practically any tourist attraction, and gold would pour in by the bushel every day.

That afternoon, Lin Rui drove the old pastor's pickup to see Mrs. Jones.

She had specially saved several large baskets of "substandard fruit," along with a dozen-odd buckets of milk nearing its expiration date, and loaded them onto his truck.

"Leon, you can't come to me for supplies every time," Mrs. Jones said quietly. "If anyone finds out, there'll be trouble."

Once it was confirmed that Lin Rui had secured a food truck, even an idiot could see that the kid was going to make some money.

Mrs. Jones became more cautious too, afraid that the young man would show off too much, accidentally let the secret slip, and invite trouble.

"In New York, as soon as you make money, someone will have their eye on you. Plenty of people would love nothing more than to take your place."

"Got it. I'll be careful. Pastor Borg collects food relief from more than one place. I'll make a few more stops to gather supplies."

After speaking, Lin Rui moved the "goods" into the pickup bed.

He had considered whether he really had to use relief food as stock to sell. There certainly were risks.

New York State had plenty of legitimate agricultural produce and food suppliers. As long as he paid, he could get as much fruit and milk as he wanted.

But after thinking it through, he abandoned the idea of sourcing supplies through legitimate channels. The reason was simple: it cost too much and involved too much hassle.

Relief food from supermarkets cost nothing, and things like burgers and hot dogs were ready-made and good quality. He only needed to heat them in a microwave before selling them immediately.

If he bought partially prepared food, processing it would inevitably require additional labor and a great deal of time, which was not worthwhile for a startup.

So the neighborhood's homeless would just have to suffer a little. The food originally meant to fill their stomachs was going to be sold by Lin Rui.

After nightfall, Lin Rui made his final preparations. He mainly sold two categories of food: fruit milkshakes, and sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs.

The fruit needed a little washing and sorting. Apples and pears had to be peeled and cored in advance, and strawberries needed their stems removed.

The outer packaging had to be removed from the prepared food. He certainly could not keep using Whole Foods wrappers; he had to replace them with ones he had purchased himself.

In addition, the truck needed a full tank of fuel and a fully charged battery. The interior needed cleaning, because city health department staff might pose as customers and conduct spot checks at any time.

They were especially strict with newcomers.

"Leon, did you attend the health department's food safety and handling procedures training?" Linda, who had come along, asked while consulting a checklist.

"Yes. I've already got my food safety certificate." Lin Rui busied himself sorting the prepared food, putting items of the same kind into the same cooler and keeping them frozen with ice.

"What about a temporary food service permit? Especially since you're selling frozen desserts-you need additional certification for that," Linda continued.

"Yes, yes, I've got all the permits. I even paid an extra twenty-five-dollar certification fee to sell milkshakes. If you've got time, come help prepare the fruit.

"Tomorrow's the weekend. There's bound to be plenty of foot traffic around Central Park in Manhattan. I've already picked out a spot for the truck. We should use up at least a hundred kilos of fruit.

"At two dollars a milkshake and four dollars a sandwich, my daily sales will definitely top three thousand. That's basically pure profit."

Lin Rui brimmed with confidence, but when he saw Linda take out a handheld video camera, he immediately stopped her. "Hey, don't film, or I'll end our partnership right now."

"Wow, so you do get scared." Linda laughed. "Using donated relief food for profit could be illegal."

Lin Rui immediately retorted, "Ma'am, watch what you say, or I'll sue you for slander and defamation. I'm not making a profit. This is a charity sale to raise money for medical treatment."

Linda burst out laughing. "Leon, I like your cunning. You're much more straightforward than those hypocrites." She leaned in, pressed close to Lin Rui's face, and kissed him.

"Anyway, can you guarantee the flavor and safety of this food?" Linda had one last concern. "Once this prepared food has been frozen and reheated, I'm afraid it won't taste as good as you imagine."

Whenever the church handed out food relief, the homeless complained that the overnight food was hard to swallow.

Especially after freezing and reheating, some burgers and sandwiches were warm on the outside, but the fillings inside still contained ice crystals.

Some homeless people would throw the food straight onto the ground and stomp on it a few times to express their anger.

"I'll thaw it beforehand and heat it a little longer." Lin Rui did not actually have any good solutions. He shrugged. "But the situation you described is unavoidable.

"So... either apologize to the customer or don't worry about it.

"Most tourists will only visit New York once in their lives. They should thank me for the wonderful experience I'm giving them. They should count themselves lucky if I don't give them diarrhea.

"After all, this isn't a three-Michelin-star restaurant. It's just a street food truck selling cheap food. They can't expect too much."

Looking at Lin Rui's face, Linda laughed helplessly, finding the kid more and more interesting.

Early the next morning, the "charity sale" food truck left The Bronx and headed for the Upper East Side, near Central Park in Manhattan.

It was an exceptionally wealthy, luxurious neighborhood, famous for upscale residences, art museums, and being a shopping paradise.

Tourists from around the world could visit landmarks such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection, then take a walking tour of Central Park along the way.

Every day, people surged through the area like a tide. Naturally, tourists needed to eat after wearing themselves out sightseeing, but not every tourist wanted to dine at upscale restaurants charging a hundred or even several hundred dollars per person.

Plenty of tourists actually had little money and chose cheap food and accommodations.

So, just as Lin Rui's food truck opened its awning near Central Park, the nearby tourists...

No, the first to arrive were two neighborhood police officers, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, fully armed and wearing sunglasses, with expressions that warned strangers to keep away. "Hey, do you have a permit?"

"Of course." Lin Rui had come prepared and took out every document he had obtained.

After checking them, the officers said in surprise, "Newly issued? You've got some connections."

"This is a charity sale organized by the Presbyterian Church to raise medical funds for people in need. Miss Linda here and I are both volunteers. Neither of us takes any pay."

Lin Rui knew very well how to "drape himself in a tiger's skin and hoist a mighty banner."

Back when he had run a street stall, the police had driven him away nearly a hundred times. He had long dreamed of the day when he could confidently produce a valid permit and make money openly.

Since they had permits, the neighborhood officers did not give them any trouble, especially since the food truck was run by an Asian man and a beautiful woman-a combination posing zero danger.

One of the burly officers specifically asked, "What do you sell?"

Lin Rui grabbed a wooden board covered with menu items and hung it up. "For drinks, we have coffee and fruit milkshakes. I recommend the milkshakes. They're made with real fruit flesh and taste absolutely great.

"For prepared food, I recommend the beef and mushroom burger. It's extra large, loaded with ingredients, richly fragrant, and the bun is baked just right.

"Of course, today's salmon sandwich is good too-tender, soft, and fragrant from searing, with a thick sauce. Pair it with a little vegetable salad to start your day full of energy."

Just listening to the description made the burly officer hungry, and he promptly called out, "I'll take an order-both the burger and the sandwich, and two milkshakes. Banana and strawberry."

"Just a moment, please." Lin Rui shot Linda a look, signaling her to take payment.

He hopped into position at the truck's prep counter, took frozen burgers and sandwiches from the food cooler, and tossed them into the high-powered microwave to heat.

He took special care to split the burgers and sandwiches in half to ensure even heating, lest the very first customers get food with icy centers.

It might have been one thing with ordinary customers, but these two were police officers who patrolled nearby. He needed to serve them properly.

As for the milkshakes, some were already freshly made; he only had to pour them from the beverage container. His costs were low, so he had deliberately chosen extra-large cups to let customers drink their fill.

Two minutes later, the burgers and sandwiches, hot enough to burn the hands, went into paper bags and were handed to the neighborhood officers waiting outside, along with the milkshakes.

The two men laughed at the aroma and praised him. "Smells good. Freshly made, right? I love that rich, fatty smell. Really whets the appetite."

Listening to their praise, Linda pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and thought, If these cops knew Leon was feeding them yesterday's supermarket food, I wonder if they'd beat him up.

But after praising the prepared food, both officers shook their heads at the milkshakes. "Hey, buddy, these drinks are bland. Not sweet enough."

Not sweet enough?

Lin Rui inwardly grumbled, That's already double the sugar, and it's still not sweet enough? But he had no intention of replacing them or adding sugar. Instead, he pointed out:

"We're running a church charity sale, and these are specially formulated healthy drinks with reduced sugar. You know, Americans consume too much sugar, and obesity rates are alarming.

"Of course, if you two find them hard to drink, I can add enough sugar for you. But I really wouldn't recommend it."

To put it kindly, the two officers were hefty and well built; to put it unkindly, they were already severely obese. With that much said, they did not insist. They took their food back to the patrol car and left.

Linda asked with a smile, "Leon, did you really leave out the sugar out of concern for them?"

"Sugar costs money," Lin Rui grumbled. "We mainly serve tourists. Not everyone has an American sweet tooth."

He deliberately looked back at Linda's waist. "I sincerely hope I never see a gorgeous woman with a hot body ruin herself by eating too much sugar."

Linda pursed her lips, thoroughly enjoying Lin Rui's gaze as it swept over her graceful figure.

Now, as the sun rose, more and more tourists began arriving at Central Park. Customers gradually streamed to the food truck without end.

The two people running the truck soon found themselves rushed off their feet, while the cash in the register kept increasing before their very eyes.