Next day, Saturday.
Early in the morning, Chen Mo moved everything from his rental room to the unfinished building. There wasn't much to move, really, just some toiletries and a folding bed.
By the time he finished moving, it was already noon. He quickly headed to a nearby supermarket to buy ten kilos of eggs, three kilos of pork belly, and various other seasonings.
Aside from that, Chen Mo began examining the mobile food cart.
He had to admit, at first glance, the cart seemed pretty ordinary, but upon closer inspection, it offered some surprises.
The functionality of the stove and workbench wasn't much different from any regular food cart.
When Chen Mo tried putting the eggs and pork belly into the storage compartment underneath the cart, a line of text appeared before his eyes.
[Storage capacity: 450L, Used: 1L, Function: Can set specific storage temperatures based on the attributes of ingredients]
The internal space was as large as an average four-door refrigerator on the market!
Moreover, Chen Mo tried a few times and discovered that even if he placed eggs and pork belly simultaneously, when he retrieved them, their surface temperatures were completely different.
In other words, it might appear to be a single space, but each type of ingredient was given its optimal storage temperature.
This made things a lot more convenient, saving him the trouble of having to buy a fridge.
Finally, there was the functionality of [Recipe Analysis].
On the side of the cart facing the operator, there was a compartment.
[You can place the ingredients you need to use into the box, and the cart system will automatically analyze and suggest the best recipe for you.]
Following the usage instructions, Chen Mo took an egg and a piece of sliced pork belly and tossed them into the compartment.
More lines of text began flashing before his eyes.
[Main ingredients: Egg, Pork Belly]
[Analyzing available recipes...]
[Comparing recipe effects...]
[Report: Based on your current culinary skills and the main ingredients provided, the optimal recipe determined is egg dumplings. Please follow the system-provided recipe. Good luck!]
Seeing this report, Chen Mo felt relieved. His cooking skills were quite limited, just enough to make ordinary dishes at a regular level. If it suggested some high-end recipe, he wouldn't have been able to handle it.
Seeing that it was still early, and having been busy the entire day without eating, Chen Mo decided,
"Let's see how it turns out first."
Today, even the three workers were off for the weekend on this side of the unfinished building site, making the entire construction site eerily quiet. Chen Mo didn't have to worry about being discovered here.
Taking out a piece of pork belly, Chen Mo began his first attempt at cooking.
When he was young, meat and eggs were considered precious ingredients, usually only appearing on the family table during New Year celebrations.
Later, the family raised a couple of hens, and his mother would stash away the eggs. Once she had enough, she'd take them to the market to trade for some meat.
Chen Mo's favorite thing was to squat in the small kitchen and watch his mother make egg dumplings.
The spoon would be held over the stove, and as the egg liquid sizzled, meat stuffing would be added. Each time they were just wrapped, Chen Mo would want to pick them up to eat, only to be chided by his mother, "They're not cooked yet!"
"Now it's my turn to make them."
The first step was to prepare the filling.
Placing the chopping board on the workbench, Chen Mo diced the interleaved fatty and lean pork belly into small cubes and then started mincing them. The new knife thudded against the board with a 'bang bang' sound.
Once minced, he began seasoning.
As more text appeared again before his eyes, Chen Mo's heart couldn't help but race.
The names of seven or eight seasonings appeared, each followed by a progress bar with a glowing spot in the middle of the complete bar.
Chen Mo tried using a small spoon to scoop a bit of salt, slowly sprinkling it into the filling.
Dosing the seasonings correctly was tricky for a first-time maker.
And every time Chen Mo slightly shook the small spoon, the progress bar beside [Salt] would increase a bit. After several continuous shakes, he stopped when the progress bar reached the glowing spot.
[perfect!]
Chen Mo: (confused face)
Why does this feel like playing a beginner's version of QQ Dance Dance Revolution?
Pausing for a moment, Chen Mo laughed.
This feature was quite nice, at least he wouldn't be confused by terms like "a small amount" or "the right amount" when adding seasonings. In the video his mom sent earlier, she simply said, "Grab a handful of salt" when seasoning the filling.
That "handful" was really something.
Pouring a bit of soy sauce, Chen Mo watched the sliding progress bar vigilantly.
"Oops!"
Accidentally, he poured beyond the glowing range, and the system only gave a [great] rating.
Ginger and scallion mince, cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken essence, sugar, sesame oil, pepper powder!
Chen Mo ended up adding almost all the seasonings he bought today, but thanks to the flashing progress bars, he wasn't worried about overdoing any amounts.
However, there were a few times he only got a [cool] rating.
With all the seasonings in the meat mixture, following the [Stir] prompt before him, he started stirring clockwise with chopsticks until it became too hard to continue, stopping when the orb sat on the glowing spot.
[perfect×2!]
"Is this turning into a gourmet game?"
Finally, it was time to make the egg dumplings!
In the midst of his busywork, time flew by. After Chen Mo finished making and tasting them, and prepared sufficient filling for the evening, it was already getting dark.
"Better take a rest first and get ready to set up shop tonight!"
According to the system prompt, the cart was currently at a low level. The weekly business hours were random, and only revenues earned during operating hours were counted as experience value.
[This week's business hours: 23:00~2:00]
To maximize profits, Chen Mo set an alarm for ten o'clock and decided to take a nap, ensuring he'd be energetic for when it was time to head out for business!
On the 28th floor of the unfinished building, Chen Mo had already set up the folding bed in the bedroom, temporarily sealing the windows with plastic sheets. Although the little room was simple, it was his own space, and lying on the bed felt much more secure than the rental room.
...
Jingzhou, Central Avenue.
This was the only street in the whole city with nightlife after ten o'clock at night.
Bars, KTVs, hotels, and several small factories were all located on this street.
This naturally spawned many other industries along this street, such as barbecue restaurants, hotpot places, and skewer shops.
There were also roadside vendors selling grilled squid, deep-fried skewers, and grilled squid.
Liu Jianhua was seventy this year, and his stall sold deep-fried sausages. The chunky starch sausages were 3 yuan each or 5 yuan for two, and he could sell quite a few every day.
Uncle Liu got up and walked around the neighboring new stall, smacking his lips, "What are you selling here?"
He only saw that the little cart didn't clearly state what was being sold, nor indicated any prices, instead only having [Chen Mo's Mobile Food Cart] written on the front.
Which was quite peculiar.
"Egg dumplings."
The young man behind the cart was busy preparing ingredients, while Uncle Liu pursed his lips and shook his head.
He thought to himself that here was another artsy young person trying to earn some extra cash, with two bouquets of flowers placed decoratively on the cart. What use was making it look so nice?
There wasn't even a basic menu!
Even the choice of food was a bit offbeat; egg dumplings? Who even liked eating those these days? He figured it wouldn't be long before the young man realized it wasn't going to work.
Looking at the young boss's outfit, the well-tailored and comfortable sportswear and neatly groomed hair made him resemble those white-collar workers in office buildings downtown.
Liu Jianhua returned to his stand and started chatting quietly with the middle-aged man selling grilled squid next door.
"Three days, that's the max!"
Brother Squid glanced at the Xiao Huang cart, "I bet two days!"
Liu Jianhua nodded, "Alright, this time we'll bet a bottle of Laobaigan and ten skewers of squid!"
Evidently, Brother Squid was used to such scenes, nodding, "If you lose, fry ten sausages and buy ten bottles of Laoshan."
"Deal. Let's see if he can last three days!"
The two sealed the deal with a clap, and the bet was on!