"Sorry to interrupt your chat."
The front hall manager came over, "There's only one hour left until we start serving, shouldn't you two be in the kitchen preparing?"
"Ah?"
The head chef was stunned and realized it was already four o'clock.
He didn't mention it, so naturally, Lin Chen didn't bring it up himself either.
Had a great time slacking off for almost three hours, awesome!
"No worries, let those young guys do more work and get more practice. Lin's skills don't really need to waste time like that; rest a bit so he can perform better later."
...
At exactly ten o'clock.
Lin Chen's food cart appeared as usual under the cinema building.
The ice jelly was ready; just need to cut some fruit and start selling.
Today, only Lucas was waiting by the roadside. Those other familiar faces didn't show up.
He didn't ask, since they're just customers and vendors, and coming or not depends purely on their mood.
"Hey buddy, what are you selling today?"
Lucas approached with a big smile like the past few days, "I managed to promote all of your twenty servings of cold dishes, got great reviews, but today is Saturday, you know, everyone went out drinking."
There's no nightlife abroad; the only entertainment is either clubbing or quiet bars.
Especially on weekends, quiet bars even start from the morning, and you can see idle foreigners sitting from morning till midnight, not drinking much the whole day, just wasting time.
Lin Chen greeted him, casually grabbed a large watermelon, sliced off the peel in a few swift moves, revealing the fragrant red flesh inside.
"Today, we're selling ice jelly."
"Wow, are you a genius?"
Lucas was startled, slapping his thigh hard: "Cold jelly is great, especially with fruits, it's great to see and eat, a dessert that'll definitely sell. Get me a bowl first, I'll be your walking advertisement!"
He pulled out his phone and started filming Lin Chen handling the fruits, planning to send it to Amber later and edit it as a promotional video for the food truck.
Cut both ends of the watermelon, stand it up, slide the knife along the curvature of the skin in an arc downward, repeating this to easily peel off all the skin, leaving the ruby-like flesh.
Peel the mango, slice both sides off, remove most of the flesh, leaving the flat center seed, then scrape around the side to remove remaining flesh, chop it up for later use.
Honeydew, red dragon fruit, pineapple, oranges, strawberries...
Several colorful and flavorful fruits were processed and filled the plastic baskets, looking extremely tempting.
The hand-mixed ice jelly wasn't as clear, taking on a slightly pale yellow hue, casually cut into pieces.
Place a few chunks of ice at the bottom of the bowl, scoop in a spoonful of chilled syrup, add a drop of mint essence, then half a bowl of ice jelly, pile sliced fruit chunks on top, sprinkle some cashews, goji berries, raisins, and hawthorn slices, and it's done!
Mint was Lucas's pick, he got tired of the brown sugar flavor, wanted a refreshing mint ice jelly.
"Hey, you made dessert today?"
Just as the ice jelly was handed over, Boss Brazil Lunard appeared out of nowhere, smiling and nodding.
"Get me one just like his~"
This transparent, jelly-like treat looked delicious, especially loaded with so much fruit, ice-cold, perfect for the night.
Especially for people like him standing in front of a sizzling hot teppanyaki grill for hours, there was no resisting chilled desserts.
The serving speed was fast, just a matter of adding various stuff.
Lunard took the brimming ice jelly, almost overflowing, eagerly leaned in for a sip.
"?!"
Instantly, an expression of disbelief spread across his face.
Expected cold syrup to be refreshing, but didn't anticipate such intense minty freshness.
The sensation was like chewing on several mint leaves, and the whole brain instantly felt clear and bright, extremely refreshed.
Taking a deep breath made the whole mouth cool and full of lingering mint freshness.
Some foreign desserts and juices also use mint, but mostly for decoration or blended directly, lacking the unique ingenuity of Great Xia People.
The miraculous flavor captivated Lunard, taking spoonfuls of syrup in sheer delight.
"Wow...damn! Your Great Xia desserts are unbelievably tasty, outrageous! Feels like I've wasted my thirty-plus years."
Lunard gave Lin Chen a resentful glance, took a spoonful of translucent ice jelly.
Contrary to the expected jello texture, it wasn't that hard, instead soft and silky, easily crushable with the tongue, or if you suck harder, it slides directly down the throat.
The ice jelly itself carried a faint sweetness, paired with mint syrup, and various dried fruits mixed in the syrup, the flavor instantly became richer.
Sour hawthorn slices, slightly firm but sweet raisins, nutty and aromatic cashews...
A spoonful of ice jelly, then add a spoonful of fruit you like, different combinations create varied flavors, each time offering a new experience.
The two strong men stood by the roadside with bowls of colorful desserts, drinking blissfully, attracting curious looks from passersby.
Fortunately, many people knew Lunard, having been setting up stalls here for over two years, eight out of ten pedestrians recognized him.
"Hey Lunard, what are you eating, looks good?"
A blonde, dressed in a short leather skirt, smoky makeup, walking flamboyantly, approached smilingly, "Can I try?"
Before Lunard could reply, she grabbed his spoon and took a big scoop of ice jelly.
"Hey! That's mine!"
Lunard protested, reclaiming the spoon, looking regretfully at the decreased amount of ice jelly.
"?!"
Like him earlier, the woman's surprise at the strong mint aroma left her blinking widely, planting a kiss with bright red lipstick on his cheek.
"Don't be stingy, is this okay?"
Like it was the most normal thing, she didn't blush, walking past him to the food cart window with an alluring smile.
Raised her finger.
"Hey handsome, I want one exactly like his, or do you have other flavor recommendations?"
"Only mint and brown sugar, you can mix them, up to you."
"Mix then, how much?"
"Five euros."
Although he didn't know this woman, from her sexy outfit and demeanor, it was evident she was a dancer from a nearby strip club.
When he first came to Romantic Country, he was young and couldn't openly stare at such scantily dressed beauties; now he's long gotten used to it.
"Any dietary restrictions?"