Ding Sha glanced over and saw a male student in his early 20s, wearing glasses and holding a selfie stick and phone. When he noticed her looking over, he smiled shyly.
"Young man, would you like to order some peppery beef tripe?" Gong Sister-in-law came over smiling warmly, asking very kindly.
The young man thought for a moment. "Sister, could I see a menu?"
Gong Sister-in-law handed him a slip of paper.
Feeling the thin paper, the young man was surprised. This was the menu? It was just a piece of paper!
The young man hesitated, wondering if he had made the right choice wandering in just following the smells.
Gong Sister-in-law noticed his confusion and explained with a smile, "Our little shop's menu changes every day, depending on what ingredients the boss sends in the morning."
"The boss's wife handwrites the menu each day."
The young man suddenly understood, scratching his head. It sounded like fun.
He looked over the menu and said, "Okay... I'll have an order of peppery beef tripe, crispy fried chicken, and a cola."
Gong Sister-in-law quickly memorized the order. "Coming right up! Have a seat, it'll be ready in no time."
She headed to the back kitchen.
The young man adjusted his phone to a good angle and said to the screen, "Alright, now we just wait for the food."
Ding Sha glanced over and saw words flying by densely on the screen. He must be livestreaming.
The young man was Zhou Fei, a moderately popular food livestreamer. Today he had intended to check in at a wildly popular Western restaurant that was trending online, but he was drawn in by the delicious smells when he got to the door.
The streaming comments were filled with laughter.
"Fei, what happened to the fancy Western place you talked about? Hahaha!"
"This shop looks really unique and interesting! I want to know the address."
"Fei, be honest, isn't this a staged scene and you're actually promoting this shop?"
Zhou Fei quickly explained, "No promos, I really just wandered in following the smells!"
He showed his other phone with the reservation page for the Western restaurant to prove it to the audience. "I swear if I was doing a promo I'd never get a reservation at Coastline again!"
Coastline was Zhou Fei's favorite restaurant that he livestreamed from almost weekly. Seeing him swear on Coastline made the audience even more curious.
Just how delicious was this little shop?
Just as they wondered, they saw Zhou Fei sniff the air exaggeratedly. "Friends, it's starting to smell amazing."
Right after he said that, Gong Sister-in-law came out with a plate of peppery beef tripe. "Want me to bring you a bowl of rice?"
Zhou Fei waved his hand. "No need, this is fine."
He eagerly grabbed a bite with his chopsticks right away.
Sure enough, just the smell told him this dish would be delicious.
The audience watched his blissful expression hungrily.
"Well, how is it?"
"What does it taste like, Fei?"
Zhou Fei carefully savored it before replying. "The peppers are very aromatic, spicy and tingling. The tripe itself has a braised flavor, even more rich when stir-fried. The texture is both tender and chewy. Delicious!"
He took another bite. "So good!"
Who knew how many viewers swallowed their drool watching.
When Xiao Jun came out with the crispy fried chicken, the streaming comments went silent for a moment, then filled with exclamations of "Whoa!"
"Who's this hottie??"
"He can't be a real person, is this some drama filming on location?"
"Don't move the camera! I need to screenshot!"
Zhou Fei was still confused when Xiao Jun set the chicken down and went to Ding Sha, who was sitting at the next table with food left unfinished because she was full. He poured her a glass of warm water. "All full?"
Ding Sha rubbed her belly and looked longingly at the tripe left in her plate. "I'm full, I feel like I might throw up if I eat more."
Xiao Jun sat down casually and gave her a peck, then picked up her bowl to finish her leftovers.
Ding Sha glanced at the phone still pointed their way and felt a little embarrassed. "You don't have to finish it..."
Xiao Jun coolly glanced at Zhou Fei, who finally reacted and pointed his phone camera back at the steaming fried chicken. "Uh, uh, chicken's getting cold, chicken's getting cold..."
The streaming comments immediately started mocking Zhou Fei's cowardice.
Xiao Jun went on casually chatting with Ding Sha. "Tired? Want to take a nap?"
Ding Sha silently went to the back room, cradling her belly.
"And the lady is so pretty too!"
"Look at her big belly, she must be a little pregnant wife! Are they the boss and boss's wife? What a good looking couple!"
"I can't eat the tripe and chicken, but I just ate dog food!!"
Zhou Fei pointed the camera back at the fried chicken.
It was rare unbreaded fried chicken. Zhou Fei picked up a drumstick, fried to a dark golden brown, and smelled the rich meaty aroma.
He took a gentle bite. Crispy and delicious, the juicy leg meat inside was full of flavor, with just the right saltiness. Dipped in the chili powder on the plate, the spicy flavor was irresistible.
Way better than KFC.
Zhou Fei thought to himself as he tore off a piece of breast meat to show the camera. As he ripped it open, the meat fibers still jumped, and a burst of hot fragrant oil briefly filled the air. Looking closely, the meat surface still glistened with a layer of oily sauce.
A wave of wailing instantly flooded the screen.
"Oh my god, what sin did I commit to watch you eat fried chicken in the last half hour of my last class before lunch! I didn't even eat breakfast!!!"
"I'm done, I'm drooling! I just ordered fried chicken for lunch!!!"
"Ahhhhhhh I know this place! I'm going right now to eat!!!"
As soon as that comment posted, it set off countless threats from others.
Especially when they saw Zhou Fei eat without even glancing up or chatting with the stream, the wails and complaints peaked.
But some still didn't believe it could be that delicious, thinking it was an ad.
"How could it possibly be so good, it's just fried chicken, isn't offal all the same taste as long as it's not fishy?"
"I followed Fei because he always tells the truth about food, saying directly if something is good or bad. But you've changed, doing sponsored reviews now. Wish you the best, unfollowing."
"Took the shop owner's money, review over."
"Must be hyping up the handsome shop owners to try getting into showbiz."
Fei noticed these comments and blew up.
"If I did a sponsored review, I'll tear my head off for you to kick around!"
One comment immediately replied, "You said it!"
Fei specifically invited him into video chat. He saw this guy had been jumping around the most excitedly.
"Yes, I did." Zhou Fei said. "What if you lose?"
"If I lose? I'll stream myself eating a keyboard." The man covered his camera, only a male voice could be heard.
"Good. I'll DM you the address. Call me when you get here, I want to see how you lose."
Gong Sister-in-law came in with medicine Ding Sha took daily. "There's a bet going on outside."
She told Ding Sha what happened and Ding Sha giggled covering her mouth. "I'd love to see how he eats that keyboard."
"That'll be easy. Just see if anyone orders fried chicken in a couple days." Ding Sha laughed.
She had absolute confidence in her shop's food.
Sure enough, after a few days a man in a suit walked in, looked around, and said straight to Gong Sister-in-law, "One order of crispy fried chicken."
After Gong Sister-in-law told Xiao Jun, she rushed to Ding Sha's room. "He's here, he's here! Keyboard's here!"
Ding Sha immediately sat up. "Help me up! I still want to watch the show!"
