Chapter 285: Chapter 269: What’s Wrong With My Restaurant Being Too Hot?

The afterglow of the sunset slowly sank into the sea, with golden light dancing on the shimmering waves. As night gradually spread, stars began to twinkle in the sky, akin to pearls embedded in the night’s velvet.

A young man wearing a cool baseball cap suggested, “Let’s go check out the famous Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals seafood stall first…”

His friend nodded in agreement, “Sure! No problem!”

The two walked side by side toward the most renowned Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals seafood stall nearby.

The stall lights had already been turned on, with warm yellow lights illuminating the sign, making the words “Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals” strikingly prominent in the night.

Inside, small groups of tourists were dining, with the clinking of glasses and cheerful laughter occasionally drifting out.

The owner lady stood at the entrance, acting as a hostess.

Upon seeing the two young men, her face immediately lit up with a bright smile as she warmly greeted, “Welcome, young men! What would you like to eat?”

“You have scallion oil fish, right?” The young man with a cool baseball cap smiled slightly, revealing his white teeth.

“Yes! Scallion oil yellow croaker and scallion oil pomfret are the signature dishes here. Tonight, many guests have ordered these dishes and praised them for being delicious! Let me tell you, all our seafood is freshly caught today; it’s absolutely fresh, and you’ll surely want to come back after trying it.” The owner lady said enthusiastically, beckoning them into the store, “Come, come on in…”

The two smiled and waved their hands, “No rush, we want to savor the aroma first…”

With that, they stood at the entrance, closed their eyes, and took a deep breath.

The owner lady: ?(.ヘ°)

What the heck does this mean?

What do they mean by savoring the aroma?

She understood each word, but together they seemed to baffle her…

The young man in the cool baseball cap and his friend continued standing at the doorway, ignoring the curious gaze of the owner lady, still savoring the aroma of scallion oil fish coming from inside.

Yet…

The aroma coming from inside felt quite different from what they had just smelled at the beach.

How to put it!

The aroma of scallion oil fish was rich yet refreshing, elegant while layered, as if it penetrated directly through the throat. Just with the sense of smell, it was enough to intoxicate and spark longing.

The scallion oil fish from this stall, though similarly enticing, seemed to lack an elusive essence.

“No, this isn’t the aroma we’re looking for.” The young man in the baseball cap shook his head, showing a hint of disappointment on his face.

“Indeed, it feels different.” His friend nodded in agreement, then suggested, “Shall we try another place?”

“Let’s go, let’s go, check out other places…”

The two readily agreed, turned around, and strode towards another seafood stall, leaving the owner lady standing bewilderedly at the store entrance.

What’s the situation?

What do they mean by not the aroma they’re looking for?

Saying this.

What aroma are they actually looking for?

Saying this.

What on earth are these two young men up to?

Could it be.

Are they imitating the ancient story of “painting a cake to satisfy hunger,” making a modern version of “satisfying hunger with aroma”?

But…

She clearly saw they didn’t bring any camera equipment, nor did they look like they were shooting short videos…

What’s even more perplexing…

Subsequent customers arriving at the store, after smelling the scallion oil fish aroma from the entrance, unexpectedly showed similar expressions to the two young men, then turned and left without hesitation…

The owner lady watched these customers leave, her face wearing a puzzled expression, mumbling to herself, “What’s going on? What’s really going on? Why do these people just smell at the store entrance and leave? Is my store some kind of hotspot?”

Saying this, her nose instinctively sniffed the air, feeling it was filled with a distinct scallion oil fish aroma, stronger and more enticing than the aroma at her stall.

Oh?

What’s going on?

Is there really a scallion oil fish more fragrant than the one at her stall?

That shouldn’t be…

She’d been running her stall in this area for years and knew the skills of other stall chefs nearby. They simply couldn’t produce such an intoxicating aroma.

Then the question arose…

What’s the deal with this aroma?

Could it be some stall replaced their chef?

Thinking about this…

It seemed quite plausible.

Now.

She started feeling a slight sense of crisis.

If another stall truly replaced their chef and improved the dish quality, wouldn’t her business be affected?

The competition among the stalls in this area was already intense; if she didn’t take measures to improve her competitiveness, she might risk being eliminated from the market.

But after calming down, everything felt all the more peculiar about this situation.

She hadn’t heard any rumors of chefs being swapped at nearby stalls or seen them interviewing new chefs.

There were only a few stalls in the vicinity; any minor disturbances would be communicated among each other, but this time there was no news at all…

This is really strange!

She’d been managing her stall for years and had never encountered such an odd situation as today.

She decided to get to the bottom of why the tourists who only sniffed the aroma at her stall before leaving did so and what they were really up to.

At the same time, she also wanted to investigate if another stall had indeed swapped their chef.

Thus…

She waved her hand dramatically, “Xiaopang, come over, mom has something to talk to you about.”

“Mom, why did you call me?”

Xiaopang, with a “life is hopeless” look, walked over slowly.

This year, having just started fifth grade, he is usually busy with his studies. Even during holidays, he seldom gets a chance to rest, often being called to help out at the store by his mother.

All in the name of “earning money to get a wife”!

But the problem is…

He wants to play, not get a wife.

Even though he expressed his desire to his mom, it was to no avail. All he got was a flick on the head and a retort from his mom saying, “You might not need to earn money for a wife, but you’ll at least need to earn money for school fees, right?”

In short, whether he wants to or not, he has to work…

So.

His holidays are often spent busily in the store, serving dishes, pouring drinks, washing vegetables, running errands… these became his “daily duties.”

Ah!

He’s just like a brick, being moved wherever he’s needed.

Today is only the first day of the National Day holiday, and he’s already desperately wanting to go back to school…

“Follow those guests and take a look,” the lady boss pointed to the customers who just left, saying to Xiaopang: “See where they end up, and if they go to another seafood stall. Also, keep an eye out if other stores have any new tricks up their sleeves.”

“Oh, got it…”

Even though Xiaopang was very reluctant, he didn’t dare to defy his mom’s orders and could only nod to execute this mission.

At least it’s a bit more relaxing outside compared to being constantly busy in the store.

So why wait?

Off he goes swiftly~

…

Wearing a trendy cap, a young man and his friend would edge towards the entrance of each seafood stall they stepped into, sniffing if they heard scallion oil fish was being cooked.

If they sensed that this wasn’t the aroma they were looking for, they’d just turn around and leave without hesitation.

If the stall wasn’t cooking scallion oil fish, they would step forward and ask, “Have you changed the chef here?”

Once they got a negative answer.

Goodness!

They would immediately turn around and leave just as unceremoniously.

Therefore.

Other tourists, also tempted by Huang Jun’s scallion oil fish aroma and seeking it at seafood stalls, silently followed behind this pair of young people and then…

When the young pair stopped, they stopped to watch; when the young pair moved on, they followed closely.

But this move of theirs…

Directly bewildered the bosses of the various seafood stalls.

They all peeked out to have a look.

Not understanding what these tourists were doing and why they’d just sniff the aroma and leave, yet all seemed to follow those two young guys.

A truly rare sight!

In all their years running the shops, they had never seen such “sniff and leave” peculiar customers.

If it was just one or two, it would be understandable.

But a whole group like this, now that’s really unusual.

If not for this being the same situation at every store, they might even suspect if they had unintentionally offended someone, leading them to send a bunch of people like this their way.

Xiaopang was confused as well.

Finding that the task his mom gave him was a bit hard to handle!

But at least he could confirm one thing, no other stalls had hired new chefs.

It’s just that…

The task wasn’t complete yet, so he had to keep observing.

Though the young man with the trendy cap and his friend scoured several seafood stalls nearby, they still hadn’t found the enchanting aroma of scallion oil fish they were searching for…

How frustrating, and how bewildering…

“It seems the scallion oil fish aroma we smelled earlier didn’t come from these stalls,” his friend said, somewhat disappointed.

“You don’t have to tell me; I already know it didn’t,” sighed the young man with the trendy cap, his brow furrowed. “You say, where exactly is this aroma coming from?”

His friend spread his hands, giving him a helpless expression as if to say, “You ask me, who should I ask?” He stubbornly asked, “Why not keep following the scent to find it?”

Saying this, he instinctively sniffed hard in all directions, hoping to catch that unforgettable aroma again.

Unfortunately…

Aside from other food smells, that particular aroma of scallion oil fish had already vanished without a trace.

It couldn’t be smelled anymore!

He asked, “So what do we do now?”

“What else can we do? Let’s go back and have some BBQ…” The young man with the trendy cap wasn’t in a great mood, filled with regret and even a bit irritated.

The other tourists also looked disheartened.

What could they do?

They could only accept this fact and head back to their camps.

Just as they were heading back…

Wave after wave of new aromas drifted over, aiming directly for their noses, causing their strides to come to a halt.

Though these smells weren’t as irresistible as the scallion oil fish, they were enough to captivate and arouse appetite.

The tourists felt a stir in their hearts.

They were almost certain that this aroma must have come from the same person.

Don’t ask why they were so sure.

Just know it had the same unforgettable quality as the scallion oil fish aroma before…

But the problem is…

Where on earth is this “dinner bomb” person?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep