Chapter 25: How Much for Qiong Peach?

Chapter 25: How Much for the Qiong Peaches?

Jiang Yingxue had only made five shrimp and seaweed rice balls this morning. Liang Qianru from the Xihua Oil Factory had placed an order via WeChat shortly after Jiang Yingxue set up her stall, requesting two shrimp and seaweed rice balls, four pork chop seaweed rice balls, two cups of freshly squeezed Qiong Peach Juice, and four cups of regular Qiong Peach Juice. She had also transferred 460 yuan.

Jiang Yingxue packed Liang Qianru's order and placed it in the special warm crystal lunchbox for pre-orders.

With Min Junru's purchase of three shrimp and seaweed rice balls, they were now sold out.

"Here you go, your rice balls are ready," Jiang Yingxue said, handing the packaged food to Min Junru.

"Thank you, sister," Min Junru replied, smiling happily at the takeaway bag, thinking her grandparents would surely love them.

To thank Li Shanshan for recommending the delicious rice balls, Min Junru decided to repay her with food.

Having just stepped away from the stall, Min Junru turned back, scanned the payment QR code on the stall, transferred 300 yuan, and said to Jiang Yingxue, "Sister, I'd like to reserve three shrimp and seaweed rice balls for tomorrow. I've already paid."

"Okay," Jiang Yingxue replied with a smile, giving her an "OK" gesture.

Min Junru returned to the shade under the tree and said to Li Shanshan and Liu Xiaofu, "I'll treat you both to rice balls for lunch tomorrow. Tell your parents not to pack lunch for you tomorrow."

Li Shanshan beamed, "Great! Junru, how was that exclusive secret recipe? Was it good?"

Liu Xiaofu laughed, "It must have been incredibly delicious."

Min Junru snapped her fingers, teasing them, "You'll find out for yourselves when you try it tomorrow."

Li Shanshan and Liu Xiaofu exclaimed in unison, "Wow~"

Based on today's customer traffic, Jiang Yingxue would need to increase the number of rice balls tomorrow. Today, she had made the same quantity as yesterday: five shrimp and seaweed rice balls, fifteen pork chop seaweed rice balls, and thirty ham and egg rice balls.

Wang Huajing from Class 10, ninth grade, arrived at the Xuehe Rice Ball stall with two male classmates. He turned to his friends and said, "This is the place. I had the ham and egg yesterday, so I'm trying a different flavor today. What about you guys?"

Luo Shaoji said, "Ham and egg."

Zhang Fuyao hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "I... I'll have ham and egg too."

Unlike Luo Shaoji and the others, Zhang Fuyao was a boarding student from a poor family. He usually ate at the school cafeteria. He hadn't wanted to come today, but he couldn't resist their urging. Since he was here, he chose the cheapest option.

"Alright, I'll order then."

Wang Huajing then turned to Jiang Yingxue and said, "Boss, we'd like one pork chop and two ham and egg rice balls."

"Okay," Jiang Yingxue accepted the 50 yuan and quickly packed the three rice balls separately.

"Here you go, your rice balls."

After receiving their rice balls, Wang Huajing and Luo Shaoji rode their bicycles home, while Zhang Fuyao took his ham and egg rice ball back to the dormitory.

Chen Jinbin had also successfully completed the errand his grandmother had given him. Today, he bought two pork chop seaweed rice balls and three cups of freshly squeezed Qiong Peach Juice. His grandmother had given him 200 yuan yesterday, which was more than enough for the freshly squeezed juice today, leaving him with 10 yuan to spare.

At the stall, Jiang Yingxue handled the packing and making of the Qiong Peach Juice alone. Though busy, she managed everything with ease and without any mistakes.

The students today were very supportive. In less than an hour, all the rice balls at the stall were sold out, with not a single one left.

The Xihua Oil Factory got off work at 12 PM, so Liang Qianru and her colleagues probably wouldn't arrive to pick up their order until around 12:10 PM.

Jiang Yingxue put away the wooden stool, set up the lounge chair, and lay down on it.

Xiao Zhao hadn't come to the stall today. In the morning, Jiang Yingxue had roasted a low-level demon beast meat as large as an ox. Xiao Zhao had eaten most of it and was now sleeping at home. She had turned the remaining meat into jerky to snack on when bored.

Now, she reclined on the lounge chair, watching over the stall while munching on jerky, feeling utterly content.

Suddenly, a white sedan stopped in front of the stall. A young man got out of the car; it was Xue Kaisheng.

Yesterday, he had bought one exclusive secret recipe rice ball and five cups of Qiong Peach Juice. He had shared the juice with his companions, and all four of them had given it a thumbs up. Lin Zhiwei also somewhat understood his daughter's feelings when she drank the Qiong Peach Juice, but regardless, putting oneself in a dangerous situation was wrong and deserved a scolding.

Xue Kaisheng also thought it was excellent, especially after eating the exclusive secret recipe rice ball. He found himself completely uninterested in the restaurant's dishes, feeling a huge gap in flavor, as if falling from heaven to earth.

After the meal, they had passed by the school gate on their way back to the factory, but the Xuehe Rice Ball stall was already gone by then.

Especially when he returned home and found a plate of stir-fried shrimp on the dinner table, the difference became stark. He picked up a shrimp and put it in his mouth. How to describe the taste? Previously, he would have found it delicious, but after tasting the even more delicious shrimp in the rice ball, this one tasted like cardboard. He lost all interest.

He couldn't understand why, even though they were both shrimp, the shrimp in the rice ball could be so incredibly delicious, while the shrimp on the table lacked so much flavor.

Unable to forget the shrimp and seaweed rice ball, he wrapped up his work early this morning and drove to the street outside Taoxi Middle School to find the Xuehe Rice Ball stall.

Xue Kaisheng said to Jiang Yingxue, "Boss, I'll take four exclusive secret recipe rice balls and six cups of freshly squeezed Qiong Peach Juice."

Jiang Yingxue lowered her gaze, her eyes sweeping over the empty countertop. She looked up at him with a slight smile and said, "Sir, you're a bit late today. The rice balls are sold out. However, we still have freshly squeezed Qiong Peach Juice. Six cups, right?"

Xue Kaisheng was surprised, "Sold out?"

"Yes," Jiang Yingxue replied, thinking of the student Min Junru who had pre-ordered. "You can also choose to place a pre-order and pick it up before 1 PM tomorrow."

It was just past 12 noon. Xue Kaisheng thought he had come early, but he hadn't expected the rice balls to be gone. Fortunately, the Qiong Peach Juice was still available.

Xue Kaisheng said, "A pre-order is fine. I want four exclusive secret recipe rice balls."

"The Qiong Peach Juice is always available, right?"

Jiang Yingxue said, "The regular one is, but the freshly squeezed one isn't necessarily. Once the Qiong Peaches are used up, it's gone."

Xue Kaisheng's eyes flickered, his gaze falling on the Qiong Peaches. Each one looked plump and fresh. Remembering the delicious taste of the freshly squeezed juice, he asked, "Boss, how much for your Qiong Peaches?"

"You want to buy them? How many?"

"How long do they keep?"

"Two weeks at room temperature." As long as they aren't exposed to direct sunlight and are stored properly, they can last a month at room temperature without issue.

Xue Kaisheng said, "If you're selling, I'll take all the ones you have left on your stall right now."