The familiar old neighbors on the ancient street started buying dinner from Lin Ruifeng again, which made him very happy because it was a kind of recognition of him.
People are always like this. When they gain a sense of identity, they can stimulate potential that they may not even know about.
Lin Ruifeng was very serious. After the iron plate was heated, he quickly prepared dinner for the merchants and delivered it to the stalls one by one. The bustle before the night market started seemed to indicate that Lin Ruifeng's business would be good today, which was a good omen.
Ma Xiaolong watched Lin Ruifeng busy at work and saw that the business owners all went to him to buy food.
This scene seemed like a wake-up call, ringing the alarm bell for him, making Ma Xiaolong realize that perhaps his barbecue fried rice was not invincible and there were still many problems.
When Ma Xiaolong had also set up the stall, had already started grilling the BBQ meat and the iron plate was already heated.
A figure appeared in front of Ma Xiaolong's stall: "Excuse me, are we open for business now?"
Ma Xiaolong looked up and saw the person standing in front of the stall asking questions. She was a woman who was a bit old but had a very spirited and extraordinary temperament.
Out of the habit he developed in foreign restaurants, Ma Xiaolong immediately responded: "Good evening, ma'am. We are open now. What would you like to buy?"
The woman glanced around, looked at the huge rotating barbecue being grilled, and asked, "Is it ready now?"
Ma Xiaolong immediately said, "Yes, ma'am. The barbecue was actually cooked before I came here. I am reheating it here. If you want to order one now, I can make you a barbecue fried rice right away. It is a specialty of our place."
The woman nodded: "Okay, let's have some barbecue fried rice."
Ma Xiaolong agreed and said, "Okay, please wait a moment."
Then Ma Xiaolong quickly cut out the right kind of meat from the rotating barbecue, stir-fried the fried rice on the iron plate, added Ma Xiaolong's exclusive fried rice sauce as usual and stir-fried it evenly, and finally mixed the cut meat into the fried rice.
After frying, put the fried rice into the prepared kraft paper box.
Finally, pour some lemon juice on it and add some chopped green onions as garnish. Then seal the kraft paper box.
Ma Xiaolong was very efficient throughout the whole process, without any unnecessary nonsense. He just continued cooking until he handed the finished box of barbecue fried rice to the woman in front of the stall.
"Madam, this is your fried rice. Please enjoy it slowly. Thank you."
The woman took the fried rice, paid for it, and turned to walk towards Lin Ruifeng's stall next door.
Seeing this scene, Ma Xiaolong did not feel that there was anything wrong. After all, in recent times, many videos on the Internet have introduced that eating his barbecue fried rice is best paired with the crepe wontons from Lin Ruifeng's stall next door, and many customers who come here do so.
So Ma Xiaolong didn't take it seriously at all and continued to busy himself with his own things in front of the stall.
The woman walked over to Lin Ruifeng's stall, observed it and said, "Give me a portion of fried rice."
Lin Ruifeng didn’t notice who was standing in front of the stall
Hearing that the other party ordered fried rice, Lin Ruifeng immediately responded: "Okay, would you like a stronger or lighter taste? Do you need chili? We have barbecued pork, roast goose, roast duck and other combinations. Do you want anything else to go with it? And do you want chopped green onions?"
The woman standing in front of the stall was stunned for a moment, as if she had not expected that Lin Ruifeng would ask so many questions in just a few seconds.
The woman thought for a moment and said, "Don't add chopped green onions. Make the taste a little lighter. You can't eat too much heavy food when you are old. Pair it with some goose meat, but don't make it too greasy. Try not to make the fried rice too oily. Oh, and don't add chili peppers."
While Lin Ruifeng was waiting for the other party's answer, he had actually already started preparing. After hearing the other party's answer, he started to fry the rice while repeating: "No chopped green onions and chili peppers, the taste should be lighter, not greasy, and put less goose meat, right?"
The woman at the stall responded, "Yes, that's right. How long do we have to wait?"
Lin Ruifeng did not stop working, and said as he fried the rice: "It will be ready in a few minutes."
Next, the woman standing in front of the stall watched Lin Ruifeng's hands flying on the iron plate, and in the blink of an eye, a plate of iron plate fried rice was cooked. According to her request, no chopped green onions and chili peppers were added, and Lin Ruifeng didn't even add iron plate fried rice sauce, but copied a very light fried rice.
Finally, when the food was about to be served, Lin Ruifeng asked, "By the way, do you want to eat it here or take it away?"
The woman immediately said, "Let's eat here."
Hearing the other party say this, Lin Ruifeng quickly put the fried rice into a plate, arranged the sliced goose meat, put the plum sauce aside, and handed a plate of very elegant-looking fried rice to the woman in front of the stall.
Looking at this plate of fried rice, the woman standing in front of the stall was a little surprised.
Although it looks very light and even a bit like teppanyaki fried rice, the aroma wafting from it is still very tempting.
The woman paid the money, picked up the fried rice given by Lin Ruifeng, and turned to walk towards her seat in the small market.
When the woman turned and walked towards the tables in the small market, Zhao Daxia saw the brown paper box in her hand. She quickly nudged Lin Ruifeng with her elbow and said, "Look, that woman just now also bought a portion of fried rice from Ma Xiaolong next door. Who is she? Why did she buy two portions?"
When Zhao Daxia reminded him, Lin Ruifeng quickly looked over and noticed the two servings of fried rice in the woman's hand.
Thinking carefully about the woman's voice, Lin Ruifeng suddenly remembered who the woman was.
It was the one who should obviously be called "Master Aunt", but who insisted that Lin Ruifeng call her "Master Uncle" when they met for the first time, Shi Jiahui.
After guessing the opponent's identity, Lin Ruifeng suddenly realized that the formal competition had begun.
Then he instantly became nervous, and kept thinking about his performance just now, wondering if there was anything wrong with him or what he did not do well.
After falling into this state of contemplation for a while, Lin Ruifeng was awakened by someone.
"Ah? Is there something wrong, Auntie?"
Zhao Daxia looked at the startled Lin Ruifeng and asked, "What's wrong with you? Xiaolin, are you okay? I'm not your aunt, I'm your Aunt Zhao. Someone is buying food, you should hurry up and make it for them."
When Lin Ruifeng heard this, he suddenly came to his senses. He glanced at the person waiting in front of the stall and also came to his senses.
Regardless of whether he made a mistake or not, and regardless of whether he could satisfy Shi Jiahui in the end, Lin Ruifeng understood that he had no chance to start over, so he could only continue to be himself.
With a smile instantly back on his face, Lin Ruifeng kindly asked the customers in front of the stall.
"What would you like to order? How would you like it to taste? Do you want chili peppers? Can I add chopped green onions? Do you want barbecued pork? Or roast goose or roast duck? Do you want it to be less greasy..."
Lin Ruifeng has now formed a habit. Whenever someone stands in front of the stall, he will ask the other person. Whether the other person wants fried rice, noodles, or even a bowl of crepe wontons, he will always carefully ask the other person about their taste preferences.
Shi Jiahui sat there and glanced towards Lin Ruifeng. She vaguely heard Lin Ruifeng's question and the corners of her mouth slightly raised into a smile.
Next, Shi Jiahui opened the brown paper box and took out the barbecue fried rice that had been transformed into a rice ball shape.
After carefully examining the rice balls pressed out of the kraft paper box, Shi Jiahui had to admit that this gimmick was indeed very interesting. It really looked like a rice ball when held in the hand. Moreover, it was very convenient to eat in this way. If you were a little careful, you would not get oil stains on your body, and you didn't even need to wash your hands.
In comparison, Lin Ruifeng's use of a plate to serve fried rice seemed a bit old-fashioned.
In terms of appearance, Ma Xiaolong still has some advantages. It is not difficult to understand why his business is so good recently.
Then they tasted the food. Shi Jiahui also tasted it carefully, comparing the taste of the two restaurants.
As a cook, Shi Jiahui naturally ate both servings of fried rice. After eating, she took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth. After looking at the two servings of fried rice carefully, she stood up, turned around and left the market without saying a word. She did not have any unnecessary communication with anyone throughout the whole process.
When Lin Ruifeng finished his work and looked up to look for Shi Jiahui, he found that she had already left.
Seeing his uncle-master leave, Lin Ruifeng still felt a little lost and worried.
I couldn't help wondering: Is there something I'm not satisfied with? Whose fried rice is better, mine or Ma Xiaolong's
These concerns were soon diluted by the booming business.
That night, Ma Xiaolong's business was still booming.
Whether it was the women who came for Ma Xiaolong's good looks, or the young people who had seen his videos online and came specially to check in as internet celebrities, Ma Xiaolong's business was extremely hot. As night fell, Ma Xiaolong's stall was almost surrounded by people.
Of course, thanks to Ma Xiaolong's fame, many people also line up to buy Lin Ruifeng's crepe wontons.
In the eyes of the merchants in the ancient street, with the presence of Lin Ruifeng and Ma Xiaolong's families, the night market business is naturally booming.
The booming business continued until almost midnight, when it began to quiet down.
Before the clock struck midnight, some vendors at the night market had already started to close their stalls, and most of the food vendors had also basically left.
Only Lin Ruifeng and Ma Xiaolong were left, and they were also preparing to close the stall.
Ma Xiaolong sold his last portion of fried rice. Today was another day when he sold out everything.
As usual, he came to Lin Ruifeng's stall and ordered a plate of fried rice and a bowl of crepe wontons.
Lin Ruifeng seemed to know that he would definitely come, so he would save the last portion of the day for him. He prepared Ma Xiaolong's last portion and handed it to him, and Lin Ruifeng's business for the day also ended.
Ma Xiaolong was holding fried rice and wontons and sitting opposite Lin Ruifeng's stall.
"It's really tiring. It's such a high-intensity business every day, you know? This feeling makes me feel like I'm back with Chef Feng. When I was working with him to strive for three stars, I worked so hard every day, researching various dishes and constantly improving them."
Ma Xiaolong took a bite of fried rice, chewed it carefully, and swallowed it.
"Yeah, that's the feeling. When I'm busy until late every day, I will make a staff meal and eat it with Chef Feng and the restaurant staff. Sometimes it's fried rice, sometimes it's bread, and sometimes it's some vegetable pie. I really miss that time."
After hearing what Ma Xiaolong said, Lin Ruifeng processed the last remaining scraps of the day on the iron plate, made himself a plate of midnight snack, and walked over to sit down opposite Ma Xiaolong.
Ma Xiaolong looked at the food on Lin Ruifeng's plate and immediately couldn't help but say, "Wow, you are so unrefined. You left so many good things for yourself, why didn't you tell me to eat them?"
Lin Ruifeng was a little surprised: "Didn't you ask for fried rice, no barbecued pork, no meat, and a light taste, and a bowl of crepe wontons without chopped green onions? What's wrong now? Do you regret seeing me eating these leftovers? But there's nothing you can do about it, you can't eat it."
As he spoke, Lin Ruifeng protected the plate, not giving Ma Xiaolong any chance to reach out.
Seeing this scene, Ma Xiaolong laughed: "Hahaha, you are actually protective of your food."
But after laughing, Ma Xiaolong suddenly thought of something. He looked at Lin Ruifeng in surprise: "You, how did you know that my fried rice tonight doesn't have barbecued pork and meat, and it doesn't have to be greasy, and you actually remembered that there are no chopped green onions in my wontons?"
Without waiting for Lin Ruifeng to answer, Shen Qingluo walked into the small market and said, "Of course, Xiaolin will record the habits of familiar customers. You do this every day, so of course Xiaolin will remember it."
Ma Xiaolong didn't turn his head to look at Shen Qingluo, but stared at the fried rice and wontons in front of him.
For a moment, he seemed to grasp a piece of information.
But those thoughts flashed through his mind, but Ma Xiaolong didn't really care about them. They might have been just fleeting thoughts.
Ma Xiaolong raised his head and looked at Lin Ruifeng and said, "I think you look a bit like Chef Feng now."
Lin Ruifeng quickly waved his hands: "No, no, I am still far from being a master."
Ma Xiaolong continued laughing: "Hahaha, you don't really think that I think you can catch up with Chef Feng, do you? In my opinion, Chef Feng is the best chef I have ever seen. Not to mention you, there are probably not many people in the world who can catch up with him."
Lin Ruifeng nodded in agreement: "Yeah, I think so too."
Ma Xiaolong was stunned, then laughed even more happily.
The two sat opposite each other and ate their supper quickly. After that, they closed their stalls, said goodbye to each other, and left the market one after another.
After leaving the small market and on the way back, Lin Ruifeng said to Shen Qingluo: "Master's uncle came today and ordered a portion of fried rice for me and Ma Xiaolong respectively. I think the test of Master has begun. I am not sure if my performance today will satisfy Master's uncle."
Shen Qingluo looked at Lin Ruifeng in surprise and asked, "Your uncle-master?"
Lin Ruifeng nodded: "Yes, Uncle Shi's daughter."
Shen Qingluo then exclaimed: "Oh no, we have all been deceived by my uncle. My uncle deliberately let Aunt Ruoxi tell us that they will not be back until next week. In fact, my uncle has already notified others to come over to test you first."
Two hours before Shen Qingluo's scream, Feng Yifan was still lying on the bed, pressed down by his wife. His ears had been pulled red by his wife, and he begged for mercy desperately.
Su Ruoxi was furious: "Humph, you still dare to beg for mercy? You bad guy lied to me and used me, I will not forgive you tonight."
After saying that, Su Ruoxi leaned over and opened her mouth to bite her husband.