Chapter 94 Food Festival in Full Swing
“No need, no need,” the scenic area leader hesitated for a moment, “The number of tourists should be even higher this afternoon. I’ll grant you a special privilege—you can temporarily use that empty temporary stall next door to store your food and insulated boxes if you need it.”
This was a godsend! Su Yingxue stopped shoveling and thanked her supervisor earnestly. The supervisor waved his hand and said meaningfully, "Keep up the good work. I think your stall has the best chance of becoming a hit at the March Mountain Food Festival."
Half an hour later, a folding table "borrowed" from next door was set up in front of Su Yingxue's stall, neatly stacked with insulated containers, dried radish, and disposable tableware. Zhou You, panting, carried over two cases of bottled water: "Xiao Su, I've repackaged all the rice you brought, and I also bought some extra bottled water; the tourists will definitely need it."
"Great!" Su Yingxue took the water. "Manager Zhou, how about you have some fried rice too? Try it; I just adjusted the recipe and added some shredded scallops for extra flavor."
Zhou You waved his hand repeatedly: "Never mind, never mind, you're busy. Look over there—" He pointed to the distance, and Su Yingxue then noticed that several more tour buses had arrived at the entrance of the scenic area. The first thing the tourists did after getting off the bus was to look in the direction of the food festival.
"What...what's going on?" Su Yingxue asked in surprise.
"I had my staff hand out flyers at the entrance. We have a partnership with a travel agency offering day trips to surrounding cities," Zhou You said proudly. "Besides the basic information about the food festival, they specifically recommended your fried rice."
Su Yingxue finally understood why so many tourists had suddenly arrived. She turned to look at the system notification: [Task Progress: 25%] It seemed there was still a long way to go before completing the task, but at least the situation had already undergone a dramatic change.
Just then, a commotion arose from in front of the stall. Su Yingxue looked up and saw a group of young people holding selfie sticks crowded in front of the stall. The girl in the lead excitedly shouted, "This is it! The super popular 'March Mountain Immortal Fried Rice' online! We came here specifically for this!"
Su Yingxue was completely confused: "Online? What online?"
"TikTok!" the girl exclaimed, waving her phone. "Look! We all came here specifically because we saw the videos on it!"
Zhou You leaned over to take a look and almost jumped up—a short video posted ten minutes earlier on the scenic area's official Douyin account already had nearly ten thousand likes: in the video, Su Yingxue skillfully stir-fried golden fried rice; close-up shots of the spatula flying across the pan revealed each grain of rice coated in egg, the aroma seemingly wafting through the screen. The caption read: [A must-try at the March Mountain Food Festival! This egg fried rice is so delicious that even local aunties are scrambling to get their hands on it! #MarchMountainFoodFestival #FoodExploration]
"Who...sent this?" Su Yingxue stared in disbelief.
"I bet it's that Aunt Guo!" Zhou You suddenly remembered something. "The one who sells cotton candy! I just saw her filming a video, saying she was going to send it to her daughter!"
Su Yingxue suddenly realized. No wonder Aunt Guo had been crowding around the stall earlier; that was the reason! She turned to look at the system: [Task Progress: 32%] The number was still slowly rising, and it was only just past noon.
"Xiao Su." The boss had come over again at some point, a rare smile on his face. "Your sales are pretty good! Keep it up! Make sure you cook good fried rice!"
Su Yingxue gripped the spatula tightly, her gaze resolute: "Okay, keep it up and do a good job!"
Zhou You whispered, "Boss, I just contacted the travel agency and instructed the tour guides to specifically refer our food festival to us when they come over, so that we can help sell our food."
Su Yingxue was surprised to find her heart suddenly racing. The fried rice she had originally only sold to complete a system task was now being heavily promoted? She secretly glanced at the golden fried rice in the pan, then at the growing crowd of tourists gathering around the stall, and a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.
The system's voice sounded at the opportune moment: [Detection indicates a continued increase in stall popularity; task completion rate has exceeded 50%. Friendly reminder: Peak visitor traffic is expected this afternoon; please prepare sufficient ingredients. Special reward: Unlock one "Secret BBQ Sauce" recipe.]
Su Yingxue took a deep breath and relit the stove. The fried rice in the pot was fragrant, with the crunch of dried radish and the aroma of scallions. This was not just an ordinary bowl of fried rice, but the result of her hard work at this March Mountain Food Festival.
But the real challenge has only just begun.
I thought it would stay busy in the afternoon. But to my surprise, even more food stalls showed up after hearing the news.
As the afternoon sun gradually slanted westward, the number of tourists at March Mountain reached its true peak. The crowds at Su Yingxue's fried rice stall were no longer as dense as in the morning. She gazed at the several new stalls in the distance—one selling starch sausages, the glistening casings sizzling on the grill; another selling fried chicken strips, piled high like a small mountain of golden, crispy strips; and a squid stall, the strong aroma of cumin wafting over, instantly overpowering the delicate fragrance of her fried rice.
"Xiao Su, things aren't looking good." Zhou You ran over, wiping his sweat, holding the latest statistics from the scenic area. "Since 2 PM, five new food stalls have opened, all selling snacks popular with young people. The flow of tourists here is severely diverted."
Su Yingxue nodded, looking at the few customers in front of her stall, already prepared for the situation. She looked down at the last plate of fried rice in the pot; the golden rice grains were coated in egg, and the aroma was still tempting, but it had definitely lost the magic that made people line up in the morning.
“It’s okay,” she said calmly. “I’ll finish cooking these last ones and then we’ll close up shop.”
Zhou You hesitated, watching Su Yingxue skillfully stir-fry the rice in the pan, her movements still so practiced and elegant. In just two days, this girl had become one of the most professional stall owners he had ever seen.
In the distance, a small queue had already formed in front of the newly opened sausage stall, with young girls holding up their phones, live-streaming the sausage grilling process while waiting. With a "crack," the charred sausage casing split open, and pinkish juices seeped out slightly, filling the air with a fragrant aroma.
"I want two!" a girl in a school uniform shouted excitedly.
The fried chicken strip stall wasn't to be outdone. The owner, a middle-aged man, shouted loudly as he fried the chicken strips: "Freshly fried chicken strips! Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, three skewers for ten yuan!"
The squid stall was even more bustling, with the strong aroma of seafood mixed with cumin and chili attracting a large group of tourists. The stall owner skillfully flipped the squid skewers, brushed them with a special sauce, and each skewer glistened with oil.
In contrast, Su Yingxue's fried rice stall was unusually quiet. Occasionally someone would pass by, but they would only glance at it briefly before heading towards the more "trendy" food stalls.
This is it.
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