Chapter 27 He Zhao was quite accepting of these tucked-away shops, and Qiao Yanyu didn't seem to mind either...
He Zhao was quite accepting of this kind of shabby little shop, and Qiao Yanyu had no complaints either. She had even lower requirements for food. After all, she was the kind of person who could even eat cold rice from He Zhao's place with a ghost like Ge Sinian who was completely unrecognizable, let alone just a small, run-down shop.
The two had a clear goal: to eat spicy wontons.
Before He Zhao could even speak, Qiao Yanyu, like a regular customer, went straight to the proprietress who was making wontons: "Two bowls of red oil wontons, one medium spicy and one mild spicy." The proprietress casually asked, "Would you like some scallions and cilantro too?"
Qiao Yanyu turned to look at He Zhao, and He Zhao nodded.
"I want them both."
Qiao Yanyu sat back down opposite He Zhao, who was taking out tissues and placing them on the table. The shop was indeed old. Although the proprietress was very hygienic, with disposable chopsticks in the chopstick box and the table being very clean, it had been there for so long that a layer of grease had formed on the tabletop, which couldn't be wiped off no matter what she did.
He Zhao doesn't really care much about the environment, but she still wants it to be as clean as possible—especially now that she has to wash her own clothes.
Qiao Yanyu also pulled out a piece of paper to sit on in front of her. Her phone rang, and she gave He Zhao an apologetic look before going out to answer it. He Zhao watched her leave, and seeing that she hadn't gone far, standing just across the alley, speaking very softly and inaudibly, he turned around and began to look at the shop.
I knew it was an old shop from the outside, even though it didn't have a sign. Once inside, I took a closer look and realized it was indeed old. The stools were comparable to the cheap plastic stools used at He Zhao's stall, giving the impression that they were about to collapse at any moment.
However, it's not entirely incomprehensible. This little shop doesn't earn as much as He Zhao's stall. She earns a thousand a day, almost all of it pure profit, and she doesn't even need to charge her electric scooter. The little shop, on the other hand, sells cheaply—a bowl of wontons in chili oil costs only six yuan. They buy fresh fillings every day and make the wontons by hand. After factoring in electricity and water bills, and possibly rent, their monthly income is really not much.
The shop was dilapidated, and the regulars inside were mostly elderly. Apart from He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu's table, the early arrivals were all elderly customers, each with gray hair and seemingly on their deathbeds. Despite its somber appearance, the shop gave off a sense of vitality.
While eating the spicy wontons, the customers all had smiles on their faces, and they would occasionally chat with people they knew, or tease the middle-aged proprietress: "Your skills are so good, if you opened a shop outside, you might earn even more."
"We're all getting old, and we don't know how many more times we'll be able to come to your house."
Although it sounded somewhat sad, the regular customers all had smiles on their faces, clearly they often chatted with the proprietress in this way. The proprietress kept making wontons, just smiling and saying, "We're getting old, and this is the only place we can sell a few bowls. Going out into the world is so complicated, we don't want to end up losing our children's dowries."
"Haha, you two just stay here and look after us old folks! You'll just make a little money out of us."
The proprietress smiled, but more and more wontons were being wrapped up next to her.
He Zhao's gaze fell on the filling in her hand and the way she was wrapping the dough. The filling was pure pork, a large bowl full, already seasoned, and judging by its color, it was very fresh. The proprietress was also quick and efficient; she took a wrapper, used her chopsticks to scoop out a lump of filling from the bowl, and it landed on the wrapper.
The proprietress was generous, giving a lot of filling. With nimble fingers and a couple of light flicks of her thumb, she wrapped the wonton and casually placed it on a large wooden board beside her. Seeing the board full of wontons, He Zhao watched as the proprietress stood up, carried the board into the kitchen, and when she came out again, she was carrying two bowls of spicy wontons.
One bowl was bright red, almost completely covering the wontons, while the other bowl had less chili oil, making it easy to tell which was mild and which was medium spicy. He Zhao gestured to the proprietress to place the mild bowl in front of him, and then placed the other bowl opposite him.
After putting down the red oil wontons, He Zhao was about to call out to Qiao Yanyu when he found that Qiao Yanyu had already entered the store and was standing next to him.
Almost as soon as the proprietress left, Qiao Yanyu sat down opposite He Zhao: "Wow, it's already served."
"yes."
Seeing that Qiao Yanyu had sat down, He Zhao also began to examine the bowl of wontons in red oil in front of him.
This bowl, about the size of two palms, costs six yuan. The portion isn't particularly large, but it's definitely enough to fill you up. The bowl is deeper than usual and is made of plastic. Inside, it's filled with wontons in chili oil, the red broth at the bottom clearly visible, and the wontons are topped with chili powder. The white wontons are already slightly coated with the red broth and a fair amount of chili powder; they look very spicy.
On top of that, there's a generous amount of chopped green onions and cilantro.
The cilantro wasn't chopped too finely; just a few pieces were placed on top, giving it a vibrant green color and a refreshing feel. It looked quite delicious.
It was a bit too spicy.
The aroma of chili oil wafted into He Zhao's nose the moment it was served. These red oil wontons were truly delicious; it was the unique spiciness of chili peppers. The spiciness was particularly pronounced. The moment He Zhao smelled it, his taste buds were already conjuring up the delicious flavor of the chili, making his mouth water involuntarily.
Meanwhile, Qiao Yanyu, after observing for a while, took two pairs of chopsticks from the chopstick holder, handed one to He Zhao, and started eating herself. Inspired by Qiao Yanyu, He Zhao also began to eat.
She took the disposable chopsticks Qiao Yanyu gave her, peeled off the outermost layer of plastic packaging, and then broke the chopsticks apart. She was a bit of a fussy person in this regard, not as straightforward as Qiao Yanyu. He Zhao stacked the two chopsticks together, carefully rubbed them to remove the burrs, and then tapped them a couple of times before finishing.
The chopsticks were ready. She held them, facing the spicy wontons, ready to eat. But the moment she held the chopsticks in her hand, she hesitated. Because He Zhao... really couldn't handle spicy food very well.
However, the way Qiao Yanyu was eating the spicy wontons with gusto was so tempting that He Zhao swallowed hard, but still picked up her chopsticks. She didn't start eating right away, but first mixed the scallions and cilantro into the spicy oil. Only after lifting the scallions and cilantro did He Zhao realize that there was a layer of sesame seeds underneath.
Quite a few.
Well, putting so much stuff in a six-yuan bowl of spicy wontons, there's practically no profit to be made. This is truly a case of low profit, high volume, and He Zhao genuinely respects it.
After mixing it well, He Zhao picked up a wonton with chili oil and placed it in front of him. The wonton was freshly made and still steaming hot. The white wonton wrapper was evenly coated with chili oil thanks to He Zhao's mixing action, and it was sprinkled with chopped scallions and several sesame seeds, making it look particularly appealing. The wontons made by the proprietress, on the other hand, had thin wrappers and generous fillings; through the wrappers, one could see the pale pink meat filling inside.
The wontons were wrapped up so round and plump that they looked rather cute.
Few could resist such temptation. Even though He Zhao knew he wasn't very good at handling spicy food, he still opened his mouth, put the wonton inside, and took a bite.
The first sensation upon tasting the wonton was the smoothness of the wonton wrapper. Only wonton wrappers made by hand could be so tender and elastic. The moment he bit into it, the juicy meat filling burst open, filling He Zhao's mouth.
The freshly made red oil wontons were still hot, making He Zhao's mouth tremble from the heat. But it wasn't hot enough to burn him, and since it was the dead of winter, a bowl of red oil wontons made him feel warm all over. Even though it was so hot, He Zhao couldn't bear to spit it out.
Because it tastes so good!
The meat filling inside is tender and juicy, with a slight elasticity from being thoroughly kneaded. Once it enters your mouth, its sweetness spreads to every corner. Combined with the chili oil on the wonton wrapper, it's simply irresistible.
This restaurant's chili oil doesn't deliver an immediate, scalding heat or even a burning sensation. Instead, it develops in layers. First, you experience the aroma of chili and sesame, followed by a fragrant spiciness. There also seems to be some Sichuan peppercorns in the oil, adding a touch of numbing spiciness. However, the numbing effect isn't overpowering; the aroma and spiciness are the dominant characteristics.
This one bite was too much for He Zhao to resist, and she couldn't stop eating, stuffing most of the remaining wonton into her mouth. She was panting and exhaling hot air as she chewed and swallowed the wonton.
After finishing one, they ordered two or three more.
It was really delicious, otherwise He Zhao wouldn't have eaten so heartily. However, He Zhao really couldn't handle spicy food very well. After eating just a few bites, He Zhao's face flushed red. This time, it wasn't because he was shy with his crush next to him; it was purely due to the spiciness.
Tears welled up in her eyes; she was also hurt by the spiciness.
Before, you could still exhale hot air while eating, but now you're just breathing in cold air to relieve the spiciness.
Qiao Yanyu, sitting opposite her, was the first to notice that she was finding the spiciness unbearable. Qiao Yanyu grabbed a tissue, wiped her mouth, stood up, and turned to ask the proprietress, "Do you have bottled water?"
"Yes, two yuan a bottle."
"I'll take two bottles."
The proprietress wiped her hands and handed her two bottles of mineral water. Qiao Yanyu took them and returned to her seat, unscrewing one bottle and placing it directly next to He Zhao's hand. At this point, He Zhao, whose nose was practically bubbling from the spiciness, wasn't embarrassed at all; she just felt the burning sensation needed to be relieved.
She gave Qiao Yanyu a thank-you look, then picked up the mineral water bottle and chugged it down in one big, loud "gulp gulp gulp gulp." In no time, the freshly opened bottle was only half empty.
After putting down the bottled water, He Zhao felt much better. Then, looking at the red oil wontons in front of her, she picked up a napkin, wiped her nose, and decided to continue her battle.
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