Song Shi'an walked straight to the stall opposite that person and calmly began to set up his stall.
A customer curiously peeked over, looking at Jiang Mingheng and then at the shop across the street, and couldn't help but ask, "Boss, is that your shop too? It looks exactly the same as yours."
Jiang Mingheng looked up and his heart skipped a beat. Didn't this guy quit? Why did he suddenly come back?
He lowered his voice and said to the customer in front of him, "No, I don't know this place. Just look for this shop. Everyone who buys something today gets a 20% discount."
Everyone was even happier when they heard about the discount, and the line grew longer.
Zhu Tao was the first to arrive, panting as he rushed to Song Shi'an's stall, phone stand in hand. "Boss, if you hadn't come back soon, even the Six-Eared Macaque would have gone to the Western Paradise to fetch the scriptures for you!"
Song Shi'an almost dropped the tin foil box he was holding. What Six-Eared Macaque! But to be honest, it was quite a fitting description.
He never imagined that even his street vending would be imitated, down to copying the words on the aprons. It was one thing to have the same apron style, but the phrase "get rich quick" was something he'd just picked up randomly at the wholesale market—and they managed to find an exact copy of that...
He took the items out of the cart one by one. "Whatever, no matter how hard you try to replicate it, you can't get this taste right."
Zhu Tao's eyes lit up when he smelled that familiar garlic aroma; it was even stronger than last time! "Boss! Give me two of everything first, or I won't be able to get any when they come! Is it okay for me to record a video now?"
Song Shi'an put on his gloves. "No problem."
Zhu Tao took the foil box and stood aside to start eating heartily. While eating, he analyzed the differences between this time's taste and the last time, noting that there was also a salt and pepper mini potato.
The customers queuing across the street, smelling the aroma wafting over, began to uncontrollably swallow their saliva.
Many people originally came for the reputation of the internet-famous snacks and their cheap prices, but now the other side is constantly using their killer moves. The aroma of minced garlic mixed with the sweetness of clams is blowing into their noses in gusts of wind.
Zhu Yujie, a food blogger with over five million followers at the stall across the street, immediately recognized this as a hot topic.
The camera, which was originally pointed at Jiang Mingheng, started swaying from side to side. "I've never seen anything like this before. I came to this city hoping to try out some of the hottest food recently, but I ended up running into two vendors who look exactly alike."
The chat was flooded with comments; there were over 50,000 people online.
"Huh? I saw another blogger post this before, and it looked really appetizing."
"What's going on now? Are these real and fake food stall owners? Who's copying whom?"
"It's definitely the side with more people; there are only one or two people on the other side."
Before the comments had even finished scrolling, a group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere and headed straight for Song Shi'an's stall, instantly making the queue twist and turn several times.
"They must have hired shills; so many people suddenly showed up!"
Please, blogger! I want to see you eat what's on the other side of the table!
"Why not just buy one copy of each and compare them?"
"Is this really not a script? There's so much drama..."
Zhu Yujie didn't want to miss this opportunity to capitalize on the trending topic, so he told his assistant to wait in line on this side while he went to check things out on the other side.
He had just raised his phone to point at Song Shi'an's stall when a figure blocked the camera.
Zhu Tao stood in front of him, chewing on a potato.
Zhu Yujie moved one step to the left, Zhu Tao moved one step to the left, Zhu Yujie moved to the right, and Zhu Tao also moved to the right.
Zhu Yujie put down his phone. "Brother, could you move aside? You're blocking the camera."
Zhu Tao turned his head, expressionless. "Did you talk to the boss before you filmed?"
Comments floated by.
"Yeah, boss, you should talk to the boss first, just in case you infringe on his portrait rights."
Zhu Yujie walked past Zhu Tao and stood in front of Song Shi'an. Only when he got closer did he realize that the boss was quite tall, more than half a head taller than him.
The hand holding the spatula looked surprisingly good; when tossing the wok, a flick of the wrist perfectly circulated the broth in the foil container without spilling a drop.
Song Shi'an was so busy taking off that he handed out boxes one by one, not even having time to look up.
Zhu Yujie quickly said, "Hello boss, I'm a food blogger, currently doing a live stream. I was wondering if you could be on camera?"
Song Shi'an glanced at him briefly. He was fully armed, so there shouldn't be any problem. Anyway, his hat and mask covered him up completely, and even his own mother might not recognize him.
He nodded and said, "Yes, but it can't have any negative impact."
Zhu Yujie said, "No problem, boss! If it tastes good, I'll definitely promote it for you!"
After speaking, the camera focused on Song Shi'an's hand, where chopsticks were stirring the clam and vermicelli in the tin foil. The glistening oil from the garlic sauce coated the bouncy vermicelli, and each clam opened to reveal its plump, tender meat, steaming upwards.
The camera panned up slightly, capturing the chef's wrist movement as he tossed the wok, causing the salt and pepper potatoes to roll around in the pan until their skins were golden brown and crispy.
"When will live streaming support the feature of sharing your sense of smell? I really need it!"
"Boss, that's a good move, are you selling?"
"It reminds me of my idol's hands. An'an's hands are just like this. I guess An An's hands are like this when she cooks."
"It looks better than the one across the street. The other one looks bland and watery, and apart from being more affordable, I haven't seen many people praising how delicious it is."
"These little potatoes smell so good! How do they taste? I'm so impatient, let me have a bite first!"
Zhu Tao watched as Zhu Yujie kept taking pictures with his phone, and he was practically grinding his teeth in frustration.
So what if he's a bit more famous and has a few million more followers? Once he becomes a top blogger, he'll focus solely on filming Song Shi'an, leaving no room for anyone else. Anyone who tries to steal the spotlight will be hunted down!
After queuing for ages, Zhu Yujie finally bought everything. He bought one of each item, borrowed a small table from the lady next door, and his assistant laid out the two sets of spoils in a row.
He opened the lids one by one, and the difference in appearance was immediately apparent. Song Shi'an's broth was bright red and the clams were plump and tender, while the clams in the box opposite him were thin and bland, looking like they were malnourished.
After setting up his phone, Zhu Yujie picked up his chopsticks. "Let me taste it for the fans in the live stream and see how it tastes."
He first tried the less appealing one, and after one bite, his brows furrowed. "The taste is so-so, I don't know what spices they used, the flavor is a bit strong, but what can you expect at this price?"
He rinsed his mouth, picked up his chopsticks, and reached for Song Shi'an's portion.
He ate several bites in a row, and then he picked up the foil box and brought it to his mouth, almost burying his face in the bowl.
A barrage of question marks appeared in the live chat.
" Brother Jie! What's wrong with you! At least look up and say something!"
"His face is practically buried in the bowl! Brother Jie, what about your image?!"
"Hey, give me a review!!! Describe the taste!!! I was so anxious I went to the kitchen and drank some soy sauce!!!"