Bringing a baby to a street stall: The anorexic female CEO is brought to tears by her cravings at th

The East District Farmers Market was bustling with noise, and the air was filled with a variety of smells.

"Fresh Chinese cabbage, 3 yuan per jin (500g), only two left to clear out!"

"These fresh and tender baby bok choy are only 4 yuan a pound, and each one has a heart!"

"Freshly picked bok choy, only 2.5 yuan a bunch. Come take a look even if you don't buy any!"

"Look, look! Two pounds of big red tomatoes for only 5 yuan, guaranteed sweet and juicy!"

......

Wang Hai led the way, pushing a borrowed rusty cart.

Lin Chen carried Tangtang in one arm and followed behind at a leisurely pace.

"Brother Chen, over here, over here!"

Wang Hai stopped in front of a grain and oil store, pointed to several exquisite rice bags displayed in the most conspicuous position at the entrance, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Boss, give me twenty catties of this Japanese Snowflake Rice!"

Thirty yuan per pound, right?

Get a new one!

After saying that, Wang Hai turned to Lin Chen, his face full of confidence: "Brother Chen, this afternoon we're going to sell fried rice downtown. Our customers are all high-level white-collar workers, so we have to use this top-quality imported rice to make it truly fragrant!"

Wang Hai made a gesture as if he was about to take out money.

"Wait a moment."

Lin Chen stepped forward and reached out to press down on Wang Hai's wrist as he took out his money.

He didn't even glance at the expensive bag of imported rice. His gaze swept around the store and finally landed on a few dusty burlap sacks in the corner.

He walked over, untied the rope of the sack, and reached in to grab a handful of slightly yellow, even somewhat shriveled, rice grains.

He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.

"Boss, how much is this aged indica rice?"

Lin Chen turned his head and asked. The grain and oil shop owner glanced at Lin Chen impatiently: "That kind of old indica rice is usually bought by fast food restaurants to make up their quotas. It's dry and has no nutrition."

Two yuan per pound.

"I want twenty catties."

Lin Chen spoke calmly, taking out two twenty-yuan bills from his pocket and handing them over.

"Brother Chen, are you crazy?"

Wang Hai slapped his thigh in frustration and lowered his voice, "We're going to sell to white-collar workers who make several hundred yuan a day, and you're using broken rice that costs two yuan?"

They could tell right away with just one bite!

Before Lin Chen could even speak, Tangtang, who was being held in his arms, became unhappy.

The little girl frowned her adorable brows and said to Wang Hai in her childish voice, "Uncle Fatty is silly!"

My dad is the best chef in the world, so his choice must have been right!

"Uncle Fatty, don't talk nonsense if you don't know!"

Wang Hai was speechless after being scolded by the little girl. He scratched his head and said, "Okay, okay, Uncle is stupid. I'll listen to your daddy."

Lin Chen smiled and pinched Tangtang's little cheek, then spread out the old rice in his hand and handed it to Wang Hai.

"It won't work for anything else, but it's essential for making fried rice with crushed gold."

Newly harvested rice has too much moisture, making it prone to sticking to the pan and clumping together, resulting in a sticky, mushy texture when stir-fried.

Only rice that has been stored for more than six months has had all its internal moisture evaporated completely.

Only when cooked can they perfectly absorb the aroma of the egg mixture and scallion oil, resulting in truly separate grains.

After buying the rice, the three of them went to the poultry section.

"Daddy, Daddy! Look at that! That egg is huge, bigger than Tangtang's fist!"

Tangtang lay beside a cardboard box full of eggs, pointed with her delicate little finger at a few double-yolk eggs, and excitedly turned around and shouted, "Daddy, shall we buy this big one?"

There must be lots of meat inside!

Lin Chen walked over, smiled and shook his head: "Tangtang, this big egg doesn't taste good."

"Dad taught you, we should buy those small, slightly rough-textured free-range eggs."

Tangtang blinked her big eyes, seemingly understanding but not quite, then eagerly grabbed a plastic bag and volunteered, "Tangtang will help Daddy pick out the small, ugly eggs!"

"Tangtang is such a good girl."

While protecting his daughter as she made her selections, Lin Chen turned to Wang Hai, who was still puzzled, and explained, "French eggs have a lot of water content, thin egg whites, and yolks that are easy to break apart."

These authentic free-range eggs have firm, dark-colored yolks.

The key to making "Golden Rice" is that golden sheen that coats the rice grains.

After buying the eggs, Lin Chen went to the vegetable section and picked out a bunch of the cheapest scallions with the thickest white parts.

With an initial investment of 500 yuan, I only spent a little over 100 yuan to buy all the essential ingredients for today's stall. The remaining money was just enough to buy a batch of high-end packaging boxes and two barrels of good oil from the wholesale market.

……

Noon.

Back to the rental house.

Wang Hai, carrying the 20-pound bag of stale rice, rolled up his sleeves and asked, "Brother Chen, have you steamed all 20 pounds of this?"

"Need not."

Lin Chen shook his head, his tone calm, "Today is the first day of setting up a stall, just testing the waters."

If cooked rice isn't sold, it will completely spoil and become unusable overnight.

Weigh out three catties of rice, wash it, and steam it.

"Also, after you rinse the rice, just rinse it twice with water, but don't wash away the starch on the surface."

Then steam them in a 1:1 ratio.

As Lin Chen gave his instructions, he walked to the rusty water tank.

He picked up the old kitchen knife left behind by the original owner from the cutting board, found a chipped ceramic bowl, and turned it upside down on the counter.

I wet the knife a little, gripped the handle with my right hand, and quickly rubbed it against the bottom of the bowl.

"Sizzle—sizzle—" In less than half a minute, the rusty, curled edge of the kitchen knife was now gleaming with a sharp, cold light.

Lin Chen picked up the washed scallions, held the scallion segments down with his left hand, and gripped the knife with his right.

"Chop chop chop chop chop chop—" A series of incredibly fast chopping sounds suddenly rang out, like a downpour hitting banana leaves.

The knife in Lin Chen's right hand turned into a blurry afterimage.

In less than ten seconds, a large bunch of scallions were all turned into finely chopped scallion pieces of exactly the same size.

"Wow!"

Tangtang, who was sitting in the living room, ran over when she heard the noise. When she saw this, she excitedly raised her two little hands and clapped her hands loudly: "Daddy's hands are gone!"

Wow, that's amazing! Daddy's like a knight-errant from TV!

Lin Chen put down the kitchen knife, turned around and smiled indulgently: "How about I give you a task now, sir?"

Lin Chen took a small bowl and placed it in front of the small stool, then grabbed two cloves of garlic and gave them to Tangtang: "Help Daddy take off these garlic cloves' clothes."

"Mission accomplished!"

Tangtang sat obediently on the small stool, her little hands vigorously peeling garlic.

After a while, the little girl held up a peeled, tender garlic clove, raising it high like a treasure: "Daddy, look, wasn't this garlic clove peeled clean by Tangtang?"

Plump and white!

"So clean."

Lin Chen cautioned, "But don't rub your eyes after peeling the garlic, or you'll cry from the spiciness."

"Tangtang, remember! Even if it's spicy, Tangtang won't cry."

The little girl said earnestly, "Because if Tangtang does more work, Daddy can do less!"

Let's work together to earn money and buy pretty dresses!

Lin Chen felt a warm current flow through his heart as he listened to his daughter's sensible words.

In the kitchen, the rice cooker made a soft "gurgling" sound.

Even though it was just a pot of the cheapest two-yuan old rice that was steamed, the pure fragrance of rice was exceptionally strong, gradually filling the entire cramped rented room.

Tangtang sniffed and couldn't help but swallow: "Daddy, why does the white rice smell so good?"

Tangtang wants to have a bite right now.

Wang Hai, standing to the side, was also swallowing hard: "Incredible... Brother Chen, I really believe you now."

It was 3 PM. The rice was cooked. Lin Chen scooped it all out, spread it out on a large bamboo tray, and placed it under a fan to cool it quickly, allowing the moisture on the surface of the rice grains to evaporate and tighten rapidly.

It's 4:30 PM. All preparations are complete.

Wang Hai carried the bag of cooled rice, while Lin Chen carried the iron pot and gas cylinder, and they began to move them downstairs onto the peeling electric tricycle.

Wang Hai turned to look at the two large, intact platters of eggs on the stove and asked with some confusion, "Brother Chen, why are there still two platters of eggs?"

Why don't we set up a stall over there?

I've seen other vendors prepare their food at home beforehand, cracking eggs into a bucket and whisking them into a large bucket of egg mixture before bringing it over. That's so much easier and faster!

Lin Chen carefully placed the gas cylinder in the truck bed. Upon hearing this, he stopped what he was doing, and his expression became very serious.

"That's a waste of things."

Lin Chen looked at Wang Hai. "If the eggs are broken beforehand and exposed to air for a long time, a lot of the flavor and moisture will be lost, and the fried rice will become dry and tough."

The finest shredded rice must never be made with pre-beaten, dead egg liquid!

Lin Chen pointed to the two trays of intact eggs: "We must bring whole eggs with us."

He performed the act of kowtowing in front of the guests.

Using the extremely high oil temperature in the iron wok, the egg mixture breaks apart the moment it hits the wok, tightly coating every grain of rice just before it solidifies.

This is truly divine fried rice.

Wang Hai listened in a daze. Although he didn't quite understand the profound intricacies, seeing Lin Chen's confident eyes, he immediately nodded: "I understand!"

Made on the spot, that's pretty cool!

I'll take the eggs down right now!

The last rays of the setting sun shone on this dilapidated tricycle.

Lin Chen tied the apron around his waist.

He first carefully checked the gas cylinders secured with ropes, the folding table, and the refrigerated boxes full of ingredients in the truck bed to make sure everything was in order.

Then, he turned around and picked Tangtang up.

"Let's go! To make some extra cash!"

Tangtang waved her little hands happily.

Wang Hai straddled the wide, long driver's seat at the front of the tricycle, gripping the rusty handlebars with both hands.

Lin Chen held Tangtang and sat steadily in the passenger seat next to Wang Hai.

Lin Chen looked up at the gleaming glass curtain walls of the buildings in the city center in the distance.

"Let's go, head to the CBD."