Chapter 100: Food Blogger’s Wasted Trip

Chapter 100: The Food Blogger's Trip for Nothing

The plot of land in front of the stone rabbit wasn’t large enough. Initially, Jiang Yingxue had planned to just build a simple house there due to practical constraints. However, after discussing with the village cadres, she changed her mind.

During the conversation about building the house, she learned that while rural homestead land in the village couldn’t be directly bought or sold, it could be transferred or traded if there were existing structures on it.

Next to her family’s homestead were three mud-brick houses with courtyards. These houses were quite old—not only did they leak during rainy days, but there was also constant worry that typhoons or storms might cause them to collapse, endangering lives.

“Grandpa, Grandma, I want to buy the land and houses of those three households in front of our stone rabbit.”

“Have you thought it through?”

“Yes, I have. I want to build a big house.”

“Alright then, Grandpa will go with you to talk to them.”

That same day, Jiang Yingxue and her grandfather, Jiang Xianzheng, spoke with each of the three households. They purchased the three mud-brick houses for 600,000 yuan per household, signed the relevant agreements, and went through the full process.

If any of the three households had been unwilling, Jiang Yingxue wouldn’t have forced them. She already had a fallback: to give up on building on the land in front of the stone rabbit. She already had a design for the house in mind; if this plot couldn’t accommodate it, she would simply find another piece of land that could.

Since Jiang Yingxue offered a price significantly higher than the local rural market rate, the discussions went very smoothly. The three households readily agreed. They had other homesteads in the village, and with 600,000 yuan, they could build a new, better multi-story home. They had no reason to refuse.

However, with the design changes, the construction start date had to be pushed back a few days.

This delay was perfect for Xiao Yang and Xiao Feng to learn more about cooking and adapt to everyday life.

*

On Chengyang Street in front of Yaori International High School in City J.

Some customers were already waiting in front of the original location of the Xuehe stall.

When it got past the usual opening time and the owner still hadn’t arrived, they grew anxious.

“It’s already 10:30. Why hasn’t the owner come? What’s going on?”

“Does anyone have the owner’s phone number? Call to check on her.”

“There’s no school today. Maybe the owner isn’t coming.”

“Does anyone have the owner’s number? Call and ask, otherwise we’re just waiting here for nothing.”

Cheng Huibai was also waiting in line. Remembering she had Jiang Yingxue’s number from work, she called.

“Hello, Ms. Jiang? This is Cheng Huibai. I wanted to ask if you’re setting up your stall today?… Okay, have a nice weekend.”

After hanging up, Cheng Huibai told the waiting crowd, “Everyone, you can stop waiting. Head on home. I called the owner, and she won’t be setting up this weekend. When the students are on break, she takes a break too. So, please come back on Monday.”

With that, Cheng Huibai left, and the others gradually dispersed as well.

One person, however, was dissatisfied with this outcome: Xu Simei.

Xu Simei was a somewhat popular food blogger online, who went by the username “Little Berry Loves Food.” During her live stream the previous day, some viewers had been acting like they were possessed, spamming the chat and urging her to review the “sky-high priced lunchbox.”

“Little Berry, have you heard about the sky-high priced lunchbox? Please review it!”

“Someone went to review it at noon. I suspect they’re a plant by the owner. Little Berry, go give us your honest take!”

“The person upstairs, are you talking about Brother Shanding? I think he seemed pretty genuine.”

“Hmm… who’s Brother Shanding? Never heard of him. I still trust Little Berry. Little Berry, go give it a try, please.”

…

Subsequently, her followers showered her with gifts, and since the sky-high priced lunchbox was excellent material for a video, she booked a flight overnight. After all, trends are best caught fresh.

But Xu Simei never expected the stall she wanted to review wouldn’t be open today!

No—not just today, but today and tomorrow! She was now utterly dejected.

“Ugh, this owner is really something. So what if it’s the weekend? Don’t people buy food from stalls on weekends? ‘Students are on break, so I’m on break too’—why doesn’t she just sell at the school cafeteria then!”

“Made me come all this way for nothing. So annoying!”

The more Xu Simei thought about it, the angrier she got. She typed out a post and shared it online. “Hey everyone, I came to City J based on your recommendations [cute face]. But unfortunately, the owner isn’t setting up for these two days. A bunch of us got turned away [sad]. Ah, I’m so hungry [hungry][hungry][hungry]. I’m going to find something to eat first. P.S.: We only found out because a young lady called the owner on the spot.”

Within five minutes of posting, she received a flood of comments from fans, most of them comforting her.

“Aw, our Little Berry is hungry. Little Berry, go find a place to eat quickly. It’s not good to starve.”

“The owner is really something. If she’s not coming, she should say so in advance. If no one had called, how long would Little Berry have had to wait?!”

“Feeling sad for Little Berry.”

“It’s okay, go again on Monday.”

She considered returning directly to City H, but felt it wouldn’t be worth it. Her mission this trip was to review the sky-high priced lunchbox. If she impulsively went back now, not only would the trip be wasted, but she’d also miss out on the trend.

Forget it, she’d stay in City J until Monday, eat, and then leave. As for the review of the sky-high priced lunchbox, she would definitely be honest and straightforward, without any exaggeration!

*

Time flew by, and it was Monday—the final week of October.

Ji Fu officially started work.

Having taken the Transformation Pill, Ji Fu had assumed human form. While her bewitching, seductive beauty had toned down somewhat, a hint of alluring charm remained. Together with Jiang Yingxue, they formed a stunning pair—one pure and fresh, the other gorgeous and captivating. Wherever they stood, they became a scenic view.

After setting up the membership card display stand, Jiang Yingxue placed a new display stand beside it. This new stand featured two images: one of the Xuehe Gourmet app icon, and the other a QR code for downloading the app.

The app was developed by Xue Kaisheng. Over the weekend, he had specially come to Nanhe Village to share the good news. He even gave a live demonstration, showing Jiang Yingxue and Ji Fu how to operate the merchant backend of the app. This included, but wasn’t limited to, posting announcements, setting whether orders could be placed for the day, listing products, and delisting products.

“Sir, what would you like to buy today?”

The first customer of the day was You Tianlei. He was on a mission: to place a takeaway order for everyone in his department’s office.

He took out a purple membership card and said, “Boss, I’d like 8 nutritious lunchboxes, 8 small cups of Qiong Peach Juice, and 4 roast chickens. Could you cut the roast chickens in half for me?”

“Sure.”