"Amber!"
The woman angrily pulled the man away, leaned in, and showed an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, little brother, my boyfriend isn't usually like this, don't take it to heart. He doesn't mean any harm, he's just worried you won't sell enough and lose money."
Lin Chen nodded, smiled at the woman, his face full of indifference and unconcern.
If it were his first year here, he might still think about arguing or explaining, but now, he was long used to it.
The man was just about to speak when his phone rang.
Seeing the name on the screen, Amber was taken aback. She glanced at Lin Chen and answered with a smile.
"Hi, my dear Lucas! Are you almost here? Great! You spent a few years in Great Xia before, right? Come over, there's a guy here making Great Xia burgers, give him some advice, I'm afraid he'll lose money and end up on the streets!"
The commotion caught the attention of several tourists who had just come out of the movie theater looking for food.
Lin Chen glanced at the gathered diners, raised his hand to hold the knife, and skillfully cut another roujiamo into small pieces.
With crisp "crunch-crunch" sounds and splattering meat juices, the strong aroma of braised meat and bread wafted out from the small window.
"Eh?"
The woman voiced her surprise. The seemingly ordinary white bread burger was actually crispy?
And the shredded pork's sauce seemed too much, and the aroma... wow, it was surprisingly fragrant, completely beyond her expectation.
"Hey! Found you, my dear Amber!"
A roadside taxi stopped steadily, and a tall handsome man waved over enthusiastically.
"It's been so long, how long exactly? Four years? Or five years? Oh, I can't remember, Jade is still so beautiful."
"Thank you for the compliment, you're handsome too."
They exchanged pleasantries, and Amber handed him another box of exquisite sushi that hadn't been opened yet.
"Knowing you haven't eaten, try this. It's sushi from Sakura Restaurant, comparable to Michelin Restaurant, even with a discount it's over thirty euros a portion! Eat something first, we'll eat more later."
"Sushi?"
Lucas twitched the corner of his mouth and shook his head, "I appreciate the gesture, but there's nothing special about it, just rice mixed with some sweet and sour sauce. By the way, the Great Xia food truck you mentioned, oh, I see it!"
Seeing the crooked Chinese characters on a cardboard five or six meters away, Lucas's eyes lit up and he quickly rushed over.
"Roujiamo? Oh my! Bro, are you from Old Xia?"
"???"
Lin Chen opened his mouth, completely unexpected to hear such authentic dialect from a blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigner.
"No, my mom is from there."
"Great! That makes us half fellow townsmen. Quick, give me a roujiamo, with lots of meat! I've been craving this so much! You know how I survived the past few weeks back home? It's been unbelievably miserable!"
"Lucas"
Amber and Jade walked over, "Tell him, this kind of burger won't sell, the bread doesn't even have color..."
"You don't understand!"
Lucas interrupted, "This is authentic roujiamo. Outside the local area, you can't even find this in other cities in Great Xia, especially in a foreign country."
"The chances of finding this are like winning the lottery!"
"Look at this tiger stripe, this chrysanthemum heart, and the level of cracking, oh my god, it's definitely a traditional brand heritage!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a steaming hot roujiamo was handed over.
The man swallowed hard, eagerly opened his mouth and bit.
"Crunch"
The crispy crust was crunchy outside and chewy inside, full of bread aroma, paired with soft, juicy, marbled meat crumbs, it was remarkably intriguing.
Lucas closed his eyes in delight and nodded repeatedly, "It's amazing, absolutely delicious! Such authentic roujiamo, you don't appreciate it, just ramble on; could you make it better? Fools!"
"?"
Amber looked puzzled, "Lucas, what did you say? I can't understand, it doesn't sound like something good?"
"No, I was praising this guy's skills!"
Lucas cheerfully patted his shoulder and picked up a small sample piece of roujiamo from the food truck window, holding it to the man's mouth.
"Quick, taste it. I'm telling you, this is Great Xia's culinary heritage spanning over five thousand years, not some imitation by anyone or anything. I guarantee once you've tasted it, you won't want burgers anymore!"
"Well..."
Amber was still hesitating when Jade took it and stuffed it into her mouth.
Having heard the crispy sound when it was cut earlier, she already wanted to try it, but held back for fear of hurting her boyfriend's pride.
Chewing carefully a few times, her eyes brightened with surprise, nodding repeatedly.
"Oh my, it's really delicious, a flavor I've never tasted before. Handsome, I want to buy one!"
"Alright, one roujiamo! Do you want extra meat? Extra meat is 2 euros."
"Add it!"
Lin Chen lifted the pot lid, took out a large piece of fatty pork belly, cut down a piece, used the blade to press it into paste, poured a spoonful of sauce, and quickly chopped it a dozen times.
He retrieved a biscuit from the warmer with one hand, gently pinched with his index finger and thumb, the biscuit cracked open, and he inserted the sauce-covered meat paste inside.
"Here, your roujiamo is ready!"
"Jade, why are you... what about the sushi?"
Watching the complete roujiamo-making process up close, Amber secretly swallowed several times, but still hesitated.
They had bought two boxes of expensive sushi totaling 60 euros, and now his girlfriend ran to buy 5 euro food?
"Uh... it's alright, I'll taste it all. It's just snacks, that's how it is. You can help finish the rest, right?"
After five years of dating, she obviously knew her boyfriend's character well.
She took a few bites of the delicious crispy roujiamo, stuffed it into her boyfriend's hand, and grabbed the sushi: "Here, eat some of this, it's tasty, I'll start with the sushi."
"Okay then."
Amber pretended reluctantly, taking a small bite in the area with more meat, still thinking about what flaws to find.
Chewing, hmm, couldn't find any.
Try another bite, definitely didn't eat enough, haven't tasted it fully.
Holding the sushi box, Jade munched on two or three pieces, frowning strangely.
Is this sushi really made by a well-known shop? Why does it taste so ordinary?
Not that it's bad, just there's no 'wow' feeling.
Perhaps because she ate the richly flavored Great Xia burger first and obscured the sushi's subtle taste?
Thinking this, she decided to try that burger again.
Turning.
"...Amber!! I asked you to help, not eat it all, leave me two bites!!!"
Lucas ordered a second roujiamo with extra meat, leaning against the window winking at Lin Chen.
"Fellow townsman, don't mind. Ignorant foreigners are like this, don't know what real food is. By the way, how long have you been setting up here? When are you going to make noodles? Get the trio going!"