Everyone knows that Aunt Zhang's cooking skills are excellent, so naturally everyone queues up for Zhang Qiaoyue's food first. In addition, with Chi Chan's interruption today, even students who didn't want to queue went to Zhang Qiaoyue's food, making the women's business even worse.
Everyone has left the school gate now, except for Chi Chan, who was kept behind by her mother for a short talk, which is why she's still here.
Seeing that no one was coming out, the woman was about to leave when Chi Chan came up and said he wanted to buy her lunchbox.
The woman had seen it all clearly: as soon as Chi Chan arrived, the people who were queuing up with her moved over there, stealing several of her orders. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many boxed lunches left unsold.
Upon hearing Chi Chan's words, her first reaction was to be wary. Everyone was selling boxed lunches, so why was she buying her boxed lunch? What was she trying to do?
"Auntie, several classmates told me that I must eat a boxed lunch today, but my mom is running out of boxed lunches. I just saw that you have some left. Could you sell them to me?"
Seeing Chi Chan's soft and pleading expression, the woman relaxed her guard.
She's probably overthinking it. How could a teenage girl be so shrewd?
“Sure, of course I can sell it!” The woman suddenly became enthusiastic.
"What other flavors do you have here?"
"We have stir-fried pork with chili peppers, eggplant with minced pork, cola chicken wings, and celery with tofu. Which one would you like?"
Good heavens, it's exactly the same variety as what her mother sells, without any changes!
This was clearly premeditated!
"I'd like one serving each of stir-fried pork with chili peppers and cola chicken wings. How much is that in total?" Chi Chan ordered two of Zhang Qiaoyue's best-selling boxed meals.
"Okay, that'll be 20 yuan in total!"
The woman happily accepted the money and gave the boxed lunches to the customer.
Business was indeed good. In just over ten minutes, more than a dozen boxed meals were sold, earning nearly two hundred yuan!
As for the few boxed meals left in the box, the woman didn't care. She could just add them in when she cooked the dishes in the afternoon. Why throw away perfectly good food?
Chi Chan returned to the classroom with two boxed lunches.
"Zhuo Zhiyuan! Come here quickly, you're in for a treat today!"
Chi Chan called out to Zhuo Zhiyuan, who was already preparing to sleep in the classroom.
Zhuo Zhiyuan looked up and instantly jumped up from his seat, his agility belying his 180-pound weight.
He forgot to make a reservation in advance yesterday, and he was too slow to get there after class today. When he got to the administration building, there were too many people, so he knew he wouldn't be able to buy anything. He just ate something quick at the cafeteria and didn't feel full at all.
"How could I do that? I didn't do anything."
That's what he said, but Zhuo Zhiyuan didn't hesitate to reach for the boxed lunches.
"Little Lin, you're in for a treat today!"
Chi Chan turned her head and smiled at Lin Da, who was engrossed in studying beside her.
Lin Da nodded upon hearing this, tidied up the books, and then waited for Zhuo Zhiyuan to come and take them first.
After eating the boxed lunch Chi Chan gave him the first time, Lin Da stopped being polite whenever Chi Chan invited him to dinner.
First, he simply couldn't refuse Chi Chan; second, after consuming Chi Chan, he would make up for it by tutoring her in her studies.
As for Chi Chan, she studies hard and makes progress every day, so of course she's experiencing both pain and joy!
Just as Zhuo Zhiyuan touched the lunchbox, Chi Chan spoke up at the opportune moment: "The top is stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and the bottom is cola chicken wings!"
"Linda likes stir-fried pork with chili peppers, so I'll give him stir-fried pork with chili peppers!"
Zhuo Zhiyuan had already picked up the boxed lunch, but upon hearing what Chi Chan said, he abruptly turned his hand and handed the boxed lunch to Lin Da.
A handsome and dashing man like Zhuo Zhiyuan would naturally prefer sweet cola chicken wings!
Chi Chan chuckled inwardly; she knew it would be like this!
Zhuo Zhiyuan happily opened the lunchbox, picked up a cola chicken wing, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chi Chan stared intently at his expression: "How is it? Is it delicious?"
Zhuo Zhiyuan swallowed with difficulty, frowning as he said, "Did Auntie have an off day today? It didn't taste quite as good as usual!"
Linda nodded: "It's not as good as the usual late ones! This wasn't made by Auntie, was it?"
Not only was the taste different, but the dishes were also very different. The stir-fried pork with chili peppers he had eaten before had more meat and less chili peppers, but today's dish had a lot of chili peppers and hardly any meat.
Aunt Zhang's stir-fried pork with chili peppers also had a secret sauce, which made it very fragrant. This one obviously didn't have that sauce.
"What—? You're saying this wasn't made by Auntie?" Zhuo Zhiyuan asked in surprise.
Chi Chan nodded: "Yes, there was also an auntie selling boxed lunches at the school gate today! The dishes are exactly the same as my mom's!"
"Tch, with this level of skill, you're trying to sell boxed lunches!" Zhuo Zhiyuan scoffed.
He only buys boxed lunches from Aunt Zhang's family!
"Shall I give it a try?"
"Come on, let me show you. I didn't touch this side!"
Zhuo Zhiyuan handed the boxed lunch to Chi Chan, and Lin Da also moved the untouched side of the lunchbox to Chi Chan's front.
Chi Chan tried a bite of each of the two dishes and the side dishes.
Well, it wasn't as bad as Zhuo Zhiyuan described. It just tasted like a regular boxed lunch, though it was a bit oily.
It sells for less than her mother's, so naturally the dishes can't compare to her mother's.
Stir-fried pork with chili peppers is mostly fatty meat with very little lean meat.
Unlike their restaurant, which selects only the finest pork belly and renders the fat from it, this restaurant offers a slightly charred pork belly with a spicy, savory, and salty flavor that's perfect with rice.
Each Coca-Cola chicken wing boxed meal had several fewer pieces than theirs.
I was a little worried at first, but now that I see what the boxed lunch looks like, I'm not worried at all.
Such boxed meals might be acceptable if sold outside, but they are not suitable for schools.
Spoiled students are usually picky eaters; they don't need oily or heavily seasoned food, but rather delicious food!
The stir-fried pork with chili peppers was all fat, and the students simply couldn't bring themselves to eat it.
The cola chicken wings were even worse; they were slightly too sweet, and upon closer inspection, there was still a slight fishy smell. Chi Chan only took one bite and then stopped eating.
Her mother's worries were completely unnecessary!
Chi Chan opened the insulated lunchbox that her mother carefully prepared for her every day and took out most of the food.
Put it back in the original plastic lunchbox so that Zhuo Zhiyuan and Lin Da could eat it with their original chopsticks.
Ever since Chi Chan started living the life of being fed by Zhang Qiaoyue at fixed times and places every meal, that plastic lunchbox has become the shared lunchbox of Zhuo Zhiyuan and Lin Da.
Zhang Qiaoyue always prepared an excessive amount of food for Chi Chan at every meal, which Chi Chan couldn't possibly finish by herself, thus benefiting Zhuo Zhiyuan and Lin Da.
Recently, Linda seems to have grown a little taller, and her sunken cheeks have also gained some flesh. This is all thanks to the cicadas that Chi Chan often feeds her!
As for Zhuo Zhiyuan, his father was puzzled when he saw him last night. Didn't this kid always say that the school cafeteria food was bad?
Why am I getting fatter and fatter?
The culprit behind all this—Chi Chan—has kept his merits and fame hidden!
Lin Da barely touched the food Chi Chanxin handed her, letting the greedy Zhuo Zhiyuan finish it all by himself.
Adhering to the principle of not wasting food, Lin Da tried her best to finish the two boxed lunches that Chi Chan had bought. She was still feeling full after a whole afternoon of classes, and unusually, she didn't go to the cafeteria for dinner.
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