Chapter 2

Originally, Zhao Hu planned to have lunch in the construction site canteen at noon today. Although the food in the construction site canteen was average, it was convenient and affordable.

But the construction site cafeteria today served carrots, potatoes, bean sprouts, and more than 20 days out of 30 days a month. Anyone would get tired of eating these dishes. In addition to the limited variety of food, the taste of the food in the construction site cafeteria is also hard to describe. When eating, everyone just thinks that as long as they can fill their stomachs, it's fine.

After thinking about it, Zhao Hu decided to go out to a restaurant for a good meal.

The construction site where they worked was in the suburbs, a bit far from the city. There was no commercial street nearby, and there was only one restaurant nearby. The food in that restaurant was not that good, but it tasted better than the one in the construction site cafeteria. When the workers wanted to eat something good, they would go to this restaurant.

The money earned at the construction site is hard-earned, and people rarely go to restaurants. Most people only go once or twice a week. Zhao Hu usually goes twice a week, and during holidays he will make an appointment with his co-workers to go to the city for a big meal.

Knowing that Zhao Hu was going to the restaurant, his co-worker and roommate Yang Zhentian stopped him and said, "I don't want to eat in the cafeteria today either. Please bring me a meal when you go to the restaurant. Although the restaurant is a little more expensive than the cafeteria, I will really vomit if I eat in the cafeteria every day. It's better to change the taste occasionally."

"What do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you." Workers help each other, and Zhao Hu readily agreed.

Yang Zhentian thought for a moment and said, "I want to eat duck meat. The duck meat in the restaurant is very delicious."

"OK!"

After saying that, Zhao Hu quickly walked out of the construction site. He had been working hard moving bricks all morning and was extremely hungry.

As soon as I walked out of the construction site gate, I saw a thin girl standing next to an electric bike right in front of the gate. If it weren’t for the lunch box sign hanging on the front of the bike, you wouldn’t have known that the girl was selling lunch boxes.

In the past, there were many people setting up stalls to sell boxed lunches at the entrance of the construction site. Most of them drove electric tricycles or pickup trucks, and they would put a few tables next to the stalls for customers to eat.

When he got closer, Zhao Hu took a special look and saw boxes of lunch boxes in the thermal box on the electric car. This was the most rudimentary lunch stand he had ever seen.

He just took a curious look and heard the girl shouting, "Brother, do you want to buy a box lunch? Two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, with delicious cola duck, fried eggs with leeks, and braised eggplant."

The girl was about the same age as his daughter. Zhao Hu thought of his own daughter, who was studying for a master's degree in Cheng City. He would be heartbroken if his daughter was selling lunch boxes at a construction site.

If life didn't force her, it would be impossible for a young girl to work so hard to set up a stall and sell lunch boxes at a construction site.

The workers passing by just took a look and walked away, no one stopped to buy lunch boxes.

Zhao Hu could understand these workers. The workers who came out at this time were all preparing to go to the restaurant to eat delicious food. No one would want to buy boxed lunches on the roadside.

Moreover, most of the workers on the construction site have a traumatic experience with the lunch boxes sold at stalls outside. They have eaten the lunch boxes sold at stalls outside before, and the taste was very average, so those vendors selling lunch boxes at stalls disappeared after a short time.

The girl stood alone beside the electric bike and yelled, but no one paid any attention to her. The more Zhao Hu looked at her, the more he felt pity for her. He stopped and said to the girl, "What lunch box? Bring me one."

Zhao Hu was the first person to stop and ask about the lunch box. Chen Kangle was overjoyed and quickly took out a lunch box from the incubator and began to introduce it: "Brother, look, there are cola duck, scrambled eggs with leeks and braised eggplant in the lunch box. It's delicious, and only 14 yuan per serving."

Zhao Hu looked at the lunch box in the girl's hand. The lid of the lunch box was transparent, and he could see the food inside. The portion was quite large.

The leeks are green, the eggs are golden, and the eggplants are glowing purple. They look and taste pretty good.

Zhao Hu likes to eat eggplant. He has eaten eggplants from construction site canteens and restaurants. Just looking at the appearance, the eggplant in this lunch box wins. Eggplants are easily oxidized, and the eggplants made in construction site canteens and restaurants are black in color.

When cooking eggplant, Chen Kangle will put some salt on the eggplant, mix it evenly and marinate it for a few minutes, so that the processed eggplant will not change color.

The brightly colored lunch box immediately impressed Zhao Hu, and he said without hesitation, "Give me two."

The two items cost a total of 28 yuan, and Zhao Hu readily scanned the code to pay.

The first business was to sell two lunch boxes at once. Chen Kangle was so happy that his eyes were smiling. "Okay, I'll pack two lunch boxes for you now."

Chen Kangle took out two lunch boxes, put them in a plastic bag, and handed them to Zhao Hu: "Here are your two lunch boxes. If you think they are delicious, you are welcome to buy them next time."

The first time is unfamiliar, the second time is familiar. As soon as Chen Kangle sees someone passing by, he will shout loudly.

"Brother, do you want to buy a lunch?"

"Big sister, our lunch boxes are cheap and delicious, would you like to have one?"

In order to attract customers, Chen Kangle took out a box lunch and placed it on the trunk of the electric car. Appearance was a killer feature, and the brightly colored box lunch attracted people's attention.

Chen Kangle sold three more lunch boxes one after another, and there were five lunch boxes left in the thermal box.

At this time, Zhao Hu had returned to the rental house.

He was so hungry that he couldn't wait to open the lunch box, and the aroma instantly hit him.

This lunch box has four compartments in total, one serving of white rice and two meat dishes and one vegetable dish.

The green leeks and golden eggs are bright and eye-catching, which makes people's appetite grow. The braised eggplant is attractive in color and fragrance, and the cola duck exudes a rich aroma, which makes people's mouths water.

Zhao Hu swallowed his saliva, picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of duck meat and put it into his mouth. He tasted the sweetness of cola as soon as he took a bite. The duck meat was firm and chewy, and tasted very fragrant, with the aroma of cola and the freshness of duck meat.

This was Zhao Hu’s first time eating cola duck. He never expected that cola and duck meat would go so well together.

After a long period of stewing, the cola completely penetrates into the duck meat. The cola can not only enhance the aroma of the duck meat, but also suppress the fishy smell of the duck meat itself. When eating, you can't feel the fishy smell of the duck meat at all, and the taste is excellent.

Two bites of duck meat and one bite of rice.

The rice grains are distinct, giving off a fresh rice aroma, and it tastes fragrant and chewy.

Then, Zhao Hu took a bite of the fried eggs with leeks. The leeks were emerald green in color, fresh and tender without getting stuck in the teeth. The eggs were fluffy, tender, fragrant and not greasy.

There is a secret to making fried leek and eggs delicious. First, fry the eggs over high heat. Leeks cannot tolerate high temperatures, so put them in the pan at the end and stir-fry for more than ten seconds before serving. If you fry them for too long, the leeks will become soft and black in color, which will affect both the appearance and the taste.

Zhao Hu likes the special aroma of leeks, which, when paired with the mellow fragrance of eggs, is so delicious that he can't help but exclaim: "It's amazing, it's really amazing!"

Finally, Zhao Hu's eyes turned to the braised eggplant. The color, aroma and taste of the braised eggplant were eye-catching. The eggplant strips were covered with rich sauce and were extremely soft in the mouth. The eggplant fully absorbed the sauce, and every bite was so fragrant that it made people intoxicated.

“What a delicious sauce!”

Zhao Hu scooped a few spoonfuls of sauce into the rice and stirred it evenly. The rich aroma of the sauce made him finish all the rice in one breath.

Before he knew it, the lunch box had been eaten up by him.

Just as he finished eating, Yang Zhentian came back.

"Brother Tiger, where's my meal?"

"The food is here. I bought the box lunch sold by the little girl at the door. Come over and eat it. It's delicious." Zhao Hu was a little excited after just finishing the delicious box lunch.

Yang Zhentian looked disappointed. "Didn't you say you were going to the restaurant to buy food? Why did you go to buy a box lunch on the street?"

When he came back just now, he also saw the little girl selling lunch boxes at the door. She had a small electric car and an insulated box filled with several lunch boxes. It was so shabby that he couldn't help but complain.

Seeing Yang Zhentian's face full of disgust, Zhao Hu immediately said: "Don't be disgusted yet, you will know after you eat it, it is really delicious."

Yang Zhentian: "Are you sure it tastes good?"

Zhao Hu said with certainty: "I'm sure!"

As he said that, he brought the lunch box to Yang Zhentian and said, "Look, there is the duck meat you like."

Yang Zhentian took a look at the lunch box in front of him. The green leeks, golden eggs, and purple eggplants were so bright that they made his eyes bright.

“It looks pretty good.”

Yang Zhentian, feeling a little excited, opened the lunch box. The rich aroma made him feel itchy, so he immediately picked up a piece of duck meat and put it into his mouth.

"Delicious!" Yang Zhentian said happily while chewing the duck meat: "This duck meat is fragrant and sweet, I like it, it's much better than the ones in restaurants outside, not dry at all, and the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes."

After just one piece, Yang Zhentian was surprised by the taste of the duck meat. The meat was delicate and firm, completely different from the duck meat he had eaten in restaurants outside. The duck meat in restaurants outside was a bit loose and not fragrant enough.

Yang Zhentian ate four pieces of duck meat in one go, and was very happy. In a happy mood, he picked up the braised eggplant and started eating. The eggplant was soft, tender and fragrant, and even the scrambled eggs with leeks were extremely delicious.

He couldn't believe that the lunch box he was eating was a 14-yuan lunch box from a roadside stall. It was simply the most delicious lunch box he had ever eaten.

After eating a box lunch, I feel full of energy.

Zhang Zhentian stood up and said with full energy: "Brother Hu, remember to call me when you go to buy lunch boxes this afternoon."

"Okay, I also want to eat this lunch box this afternoon."

Zhao Hu wishes he could eat this delicious lunch box every day.

Suddenly, Zhao Hu thought of a problem. If the business was not good at noon, the girl selling lunch boxes might not come in the afternoon.

"I hope she will come over in the afternoon, please! Please!" Zhao Hu prayed sincerely.

"As long as she comes, I will ask my brothers to go and support her. Such delicious lunch boxes will surely sell out!" Yang Zhentian vowed.

At the construction site, it was already half past twelve and Chen Kangle still had five lunch boxes left, and the last ones had not been sold yet.

Now, almost everyone coming out of the construction site gate has already eaten in the construction site canteen, and no one is interested in her lunch box.

Chen Kangle planned to stand there for another ten minutes. If he still couldn’t sell anything, he would go home.

Time passed by minute by minute, and no matter how Chen Kangle shouted, no one paid attention to her lunch box.

At 12:40, Chen Kangle prepared to pack up and go home.

Although he had thought that business would be bad on the first day before coming, Chen Kangle still felt a little depressed when he looked at the five lunch boxes left in the thermal box.

"It's okay, business will pick up in the afternoon." Chen Kangle silently encouraged himself.

Just as she got on her electric bike and was about to leave, a young man called out to her, "Beautiful lady, do you have any lunch?"