Chapter 108 108 Mashed Potatoes with Sauce [Second Update]...
The weather turned cold very early this year. There was a slight chill in the air starting in September, and now that it's only halfway through December, the weather forecast indicates that there will be light snow in the next few days.
Everyone had changed into down jackets, and there were fewer students riding bicycles. Instead, the morning buses were packed with people, and private cars would frequently stop at the school gate, drop off a student who was rushing off, and then speed away.
The steamed bun shop is doing better and better. On winter mornings, even people with no appetite can't help but buy one or two when they see the steaming buns.
Other breakfast shops and stalls gradually set up at the entrance, and students gathered around the stalls, buying their food and eating on the spot. Some students from higher floors even ate their buns or sesame cakes as they ran back to their classrooms.
Li Siqi and Qian Hang parked their bicycles in the bike shed. They looked towards the end of the street and saw that Wen Ji, as always, had not set up his stall. They both sighed in disappointment.
"I really want to eat a pork sesame flatbread!"
It's been thirty-two days since I left with the pork and persimmon sesame cakes. I miss them...
The two looked dejected. Originally, Wenji ran a snack stall for three meals a day. Even if they couldn't buy the sesame seed cakes in the morning, they still had the option of sesame seed cakes with vegetables at noon and fried food in the evening.
Being able to at least get one meal a day is some consolation.
But now, they can't even get their hands on food from the shops, let alone the food stalls!
We couldn't make the beef offal hot pot at noon, and as for the other noodle dishes, we'd have to wait until they finished their first year of high school, by which time the shop would be full.
Wenji's business is getting better and better, but they can never get a bite.
Li Siqi and Qian Hang could only come to enjoy the food occasionally on weekends.
"I wonder how much longer Wenji can stay open here."
Qian Hang recalled a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe) stall near his elementary school. He ate there from first grade to sixth grade. Suddenly, last year, a big internet celebrity filmed it, and the jianbing guozi became a local hot item.
Many tourists even made a special trip to visit the stall, which was packed with people from morning till night. Eventually, the school said the long queues were affecting the students, so they negotiated with the stall owner to have him move to another location.
As a result, the stall owner moved to the pedestrian street, and the scale of his business there grew larger and larger.
These days, if Qian Hang wants to eat a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe), he has to find a local scalper and spend ten yuan to buy a number!
If you don't buy a number, you'll have to wait in line for three hours yourself.
Qian Hang glanced at the Wen family's shop and thought to himself that it probably wouldn't be long before the shop moved away.
Sigh... Sigh?
Qian Hang patted Li Siqi on the shoulder: "Look, isn't Wen's Restaurant open?"
Li Siqi is queuing to buy rice balls; she has already paid.
Li Siqi said nonchalantly, "So what if they open the door? Maybe they're preparing lunch... My rice balls don't have meat floss in them."
Qian Hang: "No! Look! The stalls are out!"
"Huh?" Li Siqi perked up. As soon as she got the rice ball, she wanted to drag Qian Hang to see if they were open for business.
The two of them ran the fastest, and when they got to the door, they saw Yao Qingqin arranging things.
"Auntie, are you selling breakfast today?"
Yao Qingqin arranged the items on her stall and was somewhat surprised to see someone running so fast: "Yes."
Li Siqi raised her voice: "No matter what! Give me one... no, two!"
Qian Hang went even further, saying he wanted to buy three portions, so he could eat more in the morning and skip lunch!
Yao Qingqin smiled and said, "Take your time. We don't need to make today's food ourselves, everyone has some."
Li Siqi and Qian Hang exchanged glances, both filled with intense curiosity.
No time required?
What is that?
...
Previously, Wen's mother had asked Wen Fan to bring his classmates to the shop for breakfast. However, breakfast was suspended in the middle of the year, so Wen Fan brought them for a while longer. Today, it was Han Lulu's turn.
Wen Fan handed a box to Han Lulu, who was dozing off. But now she was wide awake, holding the warm box and asking in a daze what it was.
Wen Fan rubbed his shoulders: "You'll see when you open it... By the way, come to my shop again tomorrow, we're making breakfast again, we sell this."
Upon hearing this, Han Lulu jumped up with joy: "That's great!"
You're just like Doraemon!
Just a few days after she expressed her desire to eat Wenji's snacks, Wen Fan made her wish come true. With such a classmate, Han Lulu said she was so happy!
When the box was opened, Han Lulu immediately saw that the bottom of the box was filled with yellow mashed potatoes, topped with various side dishes, minced meat, and a rich broth.
Mashed potatoes with sauce!
Han Lulu, the potato-loving girl, was so happy she almost fainted!
Without asking Wen Fan for more details, Han Lulu couldn't wait to stir it up and take a big gulp.
The mashed potatoes were smooth and creamy, the minced meat inside was fried until crispy and fragrant, and the sauce was incredibly flavorful. It was half soup and half noodles, and you could still faintly taste the fried peanuts, pickled cowpeas, cilantro, and scallions inside...
The broth was slightly spicy, and the mashed potatoes seemed to have some butter in them, giving them a slightly milky flavor that went very well with the mildly spicy broth.
Han Lulu was so happy while eating that she was completely absorbed in the food. Her favorite food was mashed potatoes, and she had been eating mashed potatoes from a certain fast food brand since she was a child without ever getting tired of it. Every time she bought a hamburger, she would also buy a piece of fried chicken to dip in.
Wen Fan's mashed potatoes were even better than any I'd ever had before.
In the mashed potatoes, Wen Fan deliberately left a few diced potatoes uncrushed. This slight chewiness became the most delightful part of the mashed potatoes. The slightly chewy potato pieces, nestled among the fine powder, provided immense satisfaction.
When Han Lulu enjoyed the delicious food, the other students in the class saw it and almost everyone became envious.
Someone asked Wen Fan if there was any left at noon.
Wen Fan: "Yes, we sell them in the morning and at noon. A large portion is ten yuan, and a small portion is six yuan."
Wenfan didn't make many flavors; there were only two: spicy and non-spicy, corresponding to different meat broths.
The classroom immediately became lively.
"Shall we go out for lunch?"
"No seats? No problem, we'll take you to the cafeteria."
"Um...won't this be enough to fill you up?"
"The portions look pretty big, maybe I should just buy some more at the cafeteria."
...
It was still morning, and everyone was already looking forward to noon.
When Teacher Wang walked into the classroom, she could still hear the students whispering among themselves.
Taking a deep breath of the delicious aroma filling the classroom, Teacher Wang patted the desk: "Final exams are just around the corner, everyone get back to your senses..."
Hmm? Wenji has new items again?
Otherwise, the classroom would smell so good!
Teacher Wang figured she only had two classes today, which were the first and second periods, so she should have enough time to eat around 10 a.m.
...
The sudden appearance of mashed potatoes with sauce caused a sensation at the school.
Nobody can resist potatoes!
This is Han Lulu's famous quote.
That's why the mashed potatoes with sauce sell very well.
Moreover, the mashed potatoes were prepared in advance, and the sauce was also prepared in advance and heated on the stove.
The gravy-dressed mashed potatoes have an advantage that previous products didn't have.
--quick!
The word "fast" made the students fall in love with it instantly.
You should know that there are rarely any days when you don't have to queue at Wenji. The reason why there are so few people who can eat at Wenji at noon is because you have to queue.
Students are different from other customers; they only have so much time at lunchtime. If they queue for half an hour, they won't even have time to rest at noon.
Therefore, mashed potatoes can be considered a great boon.
Yao Qingqin and Yu Fangfang worked together, one serving the mashed potatoes and collecting money while keeping track of the order, and the other adding ingredients and pouring sauce. They were able to coordinate their tasks in just one lunch break, and their movements were very fast.
The prepared items can be sold out within half an hour, and students who come to shop don't have to waste time waiting once that time is over, which is convenient for everyone.
The hot mashed potatoes were drizzled with sauce, and some students who didn't want to go back to eat them simply stood there and ate them while holding the disposable boxes.
The broth mixed with mashed potatoes and uncrushed potato chunks is pure bliss with every bite.
Li Siqi and Qian Hang, who had already eaten mashed potatoes for breakfast, bought a large portion together this time.
It wasn't that they were trying to save money, but rather that they brought the mashed potatoes to the cafeteria.
The two then each bought a serving of hand-pulled noodles.
Li Siqi and Qian Hang said in unison, "No meat sauce!"
Without meat sauce, isn't it just noodles and a little bit of greens?
The person selling hand-pulled noodles at the stall was very puzzled, but still served the two of them two large portions of hand-pulled noodles.
Once you have the round noodles, divide the mashed potatoes in half and put them and broth in each bowl. Then take the mashed potato noodles to the stall, choose from the self-service side dishes, add some cilantro and green onions, a generous spoonful of pickled vegetable pieces, some chili oil, and finally buy a fried egg to top it.
This bowl of mashed potato noodles would make even the most hard-hearted person smile.
Many people in the cafeteria saw what Li Siqi and Qian Hang were doing and looked enviously at the bowl full of mashed potato noodles.
The two of them took a bite; the mashed potatoes were sticky and gooey mixed with noodles...
Mmm, this is the taste!
The other students, sitting one seat away, saw this and a thought immediately popped into their heads.
This person is incredibly shrewd at making money.
How could I have thought to buy mashed potatoes outside and bring them in to mix with noodles!
Looking at my own food, I suddenly felt that the meat didn't taste good and the vegetables weren't tender. I just wanted to eat the ultimate carb-on-carb feast.
Despite her shamelessness, she went over to ask where she bought the mashed potatoes, and Li Siqi said it was from Wen Ji.
Some students always eat in the cafeteria and usually go about their own business without knowing about Wenji, but most of them do. Upon hearing this, they asked about the price and time and decided that they must be the first to rush out of the classroom tomorrow at noon.
Mashed potato noodles! Here I come!
...
Even Wen Fan himself didn't expect that selling mashed potatoes would lead his students to master the art of food preparation without any instruction.
I originally thought that sales would be better in the morning, but it turned out that the busiest time was at noon.
Many students bought mashed potatoes and then went to buy noodles; mashed potatoes mixed with noodles quickly became popular at the school.
Even Teacher Wang, who had only tasted mashed potatoes once, went to buy a serving of mashed potatoes after school that day.
When I got to the office, I saw that my colleagues looked a little confused.
"You went out to buy food? Why did you order takeout?"
Teacher Wang smiled and said that she hadn't eaten breakfast and was a little hungry at lunchtime.
After saying that, he opened the takeout box. The takeout box, which separated the vegetables and noodles, was convenient for him.
She poured the mashed potatoes into the lunchbox, stirred them well, and then, seeing that the portioned curry chicken topping was a waste to leave untouched, added a little to the noodles as well.
Surprisingly, the curry flavor blended perfectly with the broth. Originally, the broth was a bit bland after being mixed with the noodles, but adding the curry instantly made the flavor balanced.
Curry mashed potato noodles...
The teacher next to her initially looked at Teacher Wang with mixed feelings, but eventually couldn't sit still any longer.
"Teacher Wang, which brand of noodles did you buy? Could you send me the link?"
This stuff smells amazing!
I can't take it.
I want to try making curry mashed potato noodles myself!
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Author's note: There will be two updates tonight as well~
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