Chapter 34: Why the Nighttime Siege of the Hospital?
Suddenly, a rustling voice came from the entrance of the cafeteria. The voice grew louder and louder as it approached, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
Su Yingxue was bending down to put the savory pancakes into the pan when she heard the noise. She paused slightly and looked up.
Not far away, several familiar yet unfamiliar figures were walking briskly toward her stall. Leading the group was none other than Hou Defa, who was sitting at a table not far away. Behind him was a group of well-dressed and excited men and women, including middle-aged men in sharp suits, working women in high heels, and even a few elderly men with graying temples but vigorous spirits.
They walked and talked in hushed tones, their words filled with curiosity and anticipation:
"Is this really the place? The place where Chairman Hou personally came to have a late-night snack? It's just a cafeteria?"
"I just hung up the phone. I heard that the savory pancakes here smell so good they can wake you up from your dreams, so I came right away!"
"It's the middle of the night, I thought it was some kind of special food opening, but it turns out it's just this cafeteria stall!"
"Hurry, hurry, don't dawdle, or it'll all be gone!"
Su Yingxue blinked, and before she could react, she saw that the group of people had arrived at the stall, their eyes all fixed on the steaming, fragrant savory pancakes.
Hou Defa sat to the side, smiling like an old fox who had stolen a fish. He raised his eyebrows at her triumphantly, as if to say: See, I told you so.
Su Yingxue was taken aback. She looked up and saw Hou Defa sitting leisurely at a familiar table not far away, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand and waving at her cheerfully. Around him, more than a dozen people had gradually gathered, each one well-dressed, but all staring intently at the savory pancake and Fuding meat soup in her hand.
"Little Su, I've brought all the 'distinguished guests' to you!" Hou Defa said with a smile, his tone revealing a hint of pride.
Su Yingxue blinked, not quite reacting yet, when she saw the first man in a suit walk up to the stall and say somewhat awkwardly, "Um... excuse me, do you still have this savory pancake? We heard it's really delicious."
"Yes, yes, it'll be ready soon." Su Yingxue quickly snapped back to reality and her hands moved even faster.
Next, it was like flipping a switch—
One after another, men and women entered the once quiet canteen. Some even jogged over, their faces full of anticipation: "Boss, give me two!" "Do you have any hot ones?" "I heard this pancake can wake up people who stay up all night!"
Su Yingxue was stunned: "You... all came with Chairman Hou?"
"Yes, yes, Chairman Hou said there was an 'unparalleled delicacy' here. We didn't believe it, but after trying it, it was really delicious!" A man wearing glasses gave a thumbs up while eating, his mouth still chewing on a pancake, and praised it indistinctly.
In less than ten minutes, a long queue had formed in front of the small table that Su Yingxue had temporarily set up, and even the open space next to it was full of people. Even more exaggeratedly, not long after, several buses came "putt-putt-putt" into the alley, and groups of night shift workers in work clothes got off one after another, as well as some programmers in plaid shirts with tired faces but bright eyes.
"I heard there's a really good late-night snack place around here that's still open late at night?"
"It's true! A colleague of mine posted on his WeChat Moments that this sliced meat soup can save his baldness and his coding!"
"Hurry, hurry, or they'll be gone!"
Su Yingxue's hands were almost too busy to keep up; one savory pancake after another was coming out of the pan, and she didn't even have time to greet each customer. Meanwhile, Hou Defa, who had started the whole thing, sat to the side, grinning like a cat that had stolen a fish, slowly sipping his tea and raising an eyebrow at his grandson, Hou Yiming: "See? I wasn't wrong, was I?"
Hou Yiming stood on the outskirts of the crowd, his lips twitching. He had only wanted to handle his grandfather's "sudden inspiration" for publicity discreetly, but—
"Grandpa, what did you do? You called all the middle managers from several branches of the group? And you even called a bus to bring people here?" Hou Yiming asked in a low voice, his face clearly saying, "Whatever makes you happy."
Hou Defa calmly took a sip of tea: "I call this resource integration, and I'm also helping the young lady with her promotion. Look at this, what a great business opportunity! If she's really interested, she could open a chain store."
At this moment, even the hospital security guards couldn't help but peek out, dumbfounded at the sudden surge of people: "What's going on in the middle of the night? Is the hospital having an event? Or has some celebrity secretly come to provide free medical consultations?"
"It's not a celebrity, it's a pancake!" A programmer who had just bought a savory pancake answered indistinctly while taking a bite. "This pancake is amazing! I can't even write code that tastes this good!"
"Really? Give me one too!" Another security guard couldn't resist getting closer and taking out his phone to scan the code.
"And this Fuding sliced meat is delicious too, have a few more bowls."
In less than half an hour, Su Yingxue had almost sold out of the ingredients she had prepared to close her stall, and even used up her spare dough. Meanwhile, her phone kept beeping with payment notifications.
The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only a few diners who were still eager for more, asking, "Boss, will you come again tomorrow?"
Su Yingxue smiled and nodded: "Come, of course, at this time again."
Hou Defa stood up, slowly walked over to her, and patted her on the shoulder: "Xiao Su, with your skills, it's a pity you're not an entrepreneur."
Su Yingxue wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied with a smile, "I just want to make some food peacefully, help people, and earn a little money. That would be great."
Hou Yiming stood aside, watching this scene with a complex expression, silently thinking: This girl is perhaps much more capable than I imagined...
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of HouTu Group, several senior executives had already sent a message in the group chat: "I heard that the savory pancakes are incredibly popular tonight? Should we consider introducing them into the employee cafeteria?"
Hou Defa watched the constant stream of group messages without saying a word, only able to watch Su Yingxue busy herself until all the guests had finally left. He quickly took credit, saying, "How about that, Xiao Su? Our connections are pretty good, right?"
Seeing Hou Defa's excited expression, Su Yingxue gave him a thumbs up: "Grandpa Hou, I'll prepare the food in advance and deliver it to your ward tomorrow. Please let me rest. I just wanted to secretly open a small stall at night, but with such a big fuss, we... can't accept it."
Hou Defa saw that Su Yingxue was too exhausted to speak, so he coughed and said, "Cough cough! Young man, no pain, no gain. This food tastes better when shared with everyone. Since you were willing to deliver it early, I won't arrange it for tomorrow. If your business is slow, I'll come and help you again!"
Su Yingxue nodded. After seeing Old Master Hou and his grandson off, she was about to wash the pot when her phone started ringing incessantly.
"Hello, Ms. Su? We are staff members from the food exploration program. We heard that your savory pancakes are delicious. Would it be convenient for us to come and interview you tomorrow night?"
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