Chen Yu rubbed Tuan Tuan's little head.
"Tuan Tuan, you really were daddy's hero today! Haven't you always wanted to eat the spicy chicken from that place on East Street? Let's go now!"
"Yay, long live daddy!"
After cheering, Tuan Tuan very obediently helped Chen Yu start packing up the food cart.
This had almost become a habit for Tuan Tuan, as Fang Yuan had been busy filming for the past few years, and Chen Yu had been handling everything at home.
Every time Chen Yu did household chores, Tuan Tuan was always very willing to help out, and this gradually became a habit.
After filtering the waste oil, wiping down the workbench, and meticulously cleaning the entire food cart, Chen Yu finally, satisfied, took off his rubber gloves.
[Congratulations, host, for perfectly ending a day of business. Award: contact information for all ingredient vendors.]
Chen Yu was slightly startled. It seemed that if he hadn't cleaned the food cart thoroughly, he wouldn't have received the vendor's contact details.
It's worth mentioning, today's ingredients were all top-notch. If Chen Yu had to find the raw materials himself, he probably wouldn't have found ones this good.
At that moment, his phone also got a few new contact numbers.
"Let's hurry, dad, or they'll close up soon! Oh, and we still need to print out the payment code. Using the mobile phone to collect payments all day was exhausting!"
It was already ten o'clock at night, and apart from a few 24-hour fast-food restaurants, most places had closed.
Fortunately, not far from them, there was a print shop still open.
After printing and copying the payment code, Chen Yu took Tuan Tuan to a small Sichuan restaurant.
Having ordered two spicy chicken rice bowls, Chen Yu started making phone calls.
"Flour at three yuan per pound, a hundred pounds per bag, right? Deliver ten bags to me at four o'clock tomorrow morning!"
"Sweet potatoes and purple potatoes mixed, five yuan per pound, deliver two hundred pounds to me at four o'clock tomorrow morning!"
"Pure sesame seeds at ten yuan per pound, deliver one hundred pounds to me at four o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Both white and brown sugar are two yuan per pound, deliver a hundred pounds of each at four o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Pure mineral water at ten yuan per barrel, deliver ten er, er, barrels to me at four o'clock tomorrow morning!"
The raw materials Chen Yu bought were double the amount the system had provided on the first day.
After all, he had sold out of his initial batch of ingredients in just half a day.
At this time, there were not many people in the small Sichuan restaurant, and though Chen Yu spoke in a low voice, everyone could hear him clearly.
The owner, serving the rice bowls, very familiarly sat down beside them.
"Brother, you sell fried dough for breakfast, right? Your ingredients are too expensive. Let me tell you a place where you can get flour for one yuan per pound, it could double your profits!"
Chen Yu just smiled and didn't feel like engaging with the owner.
Flour at one yuan per pound definitely wouldn't be good quality. Buying that would only affect the quality of his fried dough.
"Uncle boss, my dad doesn't sell ordinary fried dough! We can't be so careless in choosing our ingredients, that cheap flour is definitely fake."
Had someone else said this, the owner would likely have gotten quite angry, as that was the kind of flour he used in his shop.
But Tuan Tuan's voice was not only sweet but also cute. Even the most fierce-looking person would be softened by his charm.
"Ai ya, when doing business, profit has to come first! No matter how well you make your fried dough, it still tastes the same, not much difference."
Just as the owner finished speaking, Tuan Tuan suddenly spat out the spicy chicken he had put in his mouth.
"It tastes so bad, not even as good as the fried dough my dad makes! I never thought it tasted this bad before."
The boss couldn't take it anymore.
"Little girl, you shouldn't talk nonsense. My spicy chicken is the most famous in the whole street!"
Tuan Tuan pouted, "It's really not as good as the fried cakes my dad makes. If you don't believe me, you can go and try it tomorrow morning at the mobile food cart on the next street!"
"Okay, Tuan Tuan, that's not polite! Finish your meal quickly and get home, you have school tomorrow!"
Chen Yu gulped down his rice dish somewhat ravenously; he was indeed exhausted after a long day.
Tuan Tuan didn't speak anymore but she really couldn't eat any more of the spicy chicken rice dish, so she asked the boss to pack it up.
Having known hardships from a young age, Tuan Tuan couldn't bear to waste food.
"Humph, you look down on my rice dish and still want to take it home! You're just a fried cake seller, what's so great about that? I'll try it tomorrow, and if it's not good, I'll smash your stall."
Chen Yu didn't pay attention to the boss and just took Tuan Tuan back to their food cart.
After settling Tuan Tuan in the only room of the food cart, Chen Yu tidied up the driver's compartment a bit and lay down.
The partition between the driver's cab and the room wasn't very thick. There was a small window the size of a head, so any noise could be clearly heard.
"Tuan Tuan, do you miss your mom?" Chen Yu suddenly asked.
"No, I've hardly ever seen her!"
Chen Yu didn't know what to say, after all, it was about her mother.
"Dad, I still think Ms. Tong Ya is really nice. You're so handsome, and now we have our own business. Maybe you could win her over!"
"You silly girl! Go to sleep now; you have to go to school tomorrow!"
...
At four in the morning, there was a knocking sound outside the food cart.
Several cars, as if having coordinated, stopped outside the cart.
"Boss, your stuff is here, time to unload!"
Chen Yu hurriedly got out of the cart, settled these merchants as they unloaded the goods, washed his face, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.
But the noise still woke Tuan Tuan up.
"Dad, you're up so early, let me help!"
Chen Yu was helpless and didn't force Tuan Tuan to go back to sleep, since he would probably wake her up eventually.
"Boss, you've finally set up your stall, I've been waiting all night, quick quick quick, I'll order a hundred!"
The teenager who had stayed overnight at the internet café, with obvious dark circles, had heard the food cart very clearly.
"Alright, but since I just started, you'll have to wait about twenty minutes!"
"Ah! That long! That's the length of a game!"
The teenager hesitated for a moment then made a call.
"You guys go ahead! Don't wait for me, I'm going to wait here for the fried cakes!"
"What? Are those the fried cakes from last night? Then I'm not playing games either, I'm coming over."
Before long, students staying in the nearby internet café swarmed in, making the boss wonder if someone was competing with his business, and he hurried over.
"Oh my, boss, your fried cakes smell so good, no wonder these kids aren't staying online! Give me fifty!"
Seeing how many customers had come right at the opening, Tuan Tuan also got excited, quickly got off the cart, and picked up the pre-printed QR code for payment.
"Scan the code, pay, choose your flavor, everything is right here!"