Food Intelligence King

Chapter 153: The deliverymen to the community canteen all arrived at once.
Around noon, two small vans happened to drive by in front of the community canteen.

One of them was a delivery truck from Maixiangji, which delivers flour.

One of the cars was my uncle bringing chestnuts.

The two cars were parked side by side. After getting out of the car, Mr. Mai greeted his uncle.

"Are you here to deliver goods too?" Master Mai asked.

"Yes." Uncle nodded. He recognized Mai Xiang Ji and knew it was a pretty good brand.

But Master Mai still explained it to him:
"I'm delivering flour here."

My uncle shook the nylon bag, making a rustling sound inside. "I'm delivering chestnuts."

Conversations between strangers usually unfold in this way.

The two chatted as they unloaded the goods.

Seeing that the other party didn't seem very familiar with him, and knowing that he often delivered goods to this place, Master Mai suddenly felt a sense of familiarity and offered a word of advice:
"The steamed buns at this shop are especially good; you can try them later."

My cousin had heard Old Chen mention Chen Zhou opening a shop.

But he had never tasted his nephew's cooking.

Uncle Yang Dayong smiled and said to the other party, "This is my first time here today. I'll try it in a bit."

"You can eat it without worry," Master Mai nodded.
"Our company cafeteria serves steamed buns from this shop every Friday."

My uncle was slightly surprised:
"Your cafeteria doesn't cook? You order from here."

It's true that saying it out loud would be a bit puzzling.

After all, Mai Xiang Ji's distributors sell flour, so how could their own canteen not make steamed buns?

But their company still orders from here.

This store not only cooks better than our own canteen, but it's also better than all the downstream customers of our flour business.

These are all based on real comparisons.

Master Mai explained:

"Look, this shop's food is so good that several departments in our company suggested to the owner that we buy buns from here on one particular day."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Uncle thought to himself with admiration after hearing this.

Wow, my nephew is pretty amazing. He's even selling steamed buns to flour mills.

This will lead to big business in the future.

Yang Dayong had indeed heard Lao Chen talk about Chen Zhou.

He initially thought Old Chen was just bragging.

Even when his nephew helped him sell chestnuts, Yang Dayong told Chen Zhou to give it a try first. He didn't place his hopes on his nephew.

But this time, he brought several hundred kilograms directly, saying that many of the pre-orders had already been sold.

At this moment, my uncle couldn't help but think:
My cousin wasn't lying.

He also wanted to try the steamed buns from Chen Zhou's shop. He also wanted to curry favor with his nephew.

At this point, Mr. Mai unloaded the goods first.

"Wait for me to ship it over first, then you can use mine later."

Master Mai has a small cart that can be pushed directly to the back of the community canteen without affecting the store's business.

He skillfully unloaded the flour and continued:

"If it's your first time here, I recommend you try their fresh meat buns, they taste amazing."

Master Mai thought with some pride: They all use flour from our Maixiangji brand.

"Okay, thanks."

My uncle made a mental note of it and then shared his information with the other person:
"Did you know that he has new products for tasting at his shop?"

Master Mai shook his head.

He could only say that he vaguely knew the community canteen often introduced new dishes, but he really didn't know what they changed each week. "What new dishes are there this time?"

"Chestnut buns, and chestnut shortbread."

My uncle thought to himself: These are the chestnuts I planted.

He was also a little proud.

The two transported the goods to the back of the community canteen one after the other.

A young man was helping out in the kitchen today; he looked quite strong.

Uncle waited a bit for the flour deliveryman's cart; he was the second one to arrive. "You're here, Uncle," Chen Zhou said with a smile, "You arrived at the same time as the flour deliveryman from our shop."

My uncle no longer calls me "nephew" all the time.

“What a coincidence, Mr. Chen,” he said politely. “The guy who delivered the flour just now borrowed my cart. We parked our carts together.”

"Hey, why are you being so polite? Have a simple meal at my place later," Chen Zhou invited him with a smile.

"We have to come in through the front door."

The rear window is definitely not convenient for people to get in.

My uncle smiled and nodded, "Since you've come all this way, you should definitely try it."

He walked around the store and entered through the front door. There happened to be a chef from Mai Xiang Ji, who even gestured to him to reserve a seat.

Chen Zhou chatted briefly with his cousin about selling chestnuts.

The uncle and nephew were very clear about money matters.

My uncle broke even and solved part of the problem of unsold chestnuts;
Chen Zhou also made a small profit; his efforts weren't in vain.

Yang Dayong was very content, and even wanted to give Chen Zhou another bag of chestnuts.

“That’s not appropriate, Uncle,” Chen Zhou said, naturally refusing the offer. “It’s not easy for you to get such a small amount of money. We’re related by blood, so I should help you out if I can.”

Yang Dayong nodded meaningfully.

He also has some long-term considerations. If he can sell chestnuts here this year, there's always next year to come.

“I see that my nephew’s wife really likes winter melon. I’ll bring you two more next time I come. It keeps well, and I grew it myself without any pesticides.”

Chen Zhou smiled and said, "That'll do."

After my uncle sat down, he prepared to try the steamed buns in the shop.

The man sitting across from him, Mr. Mai, asked in a low voice, "Are you related to the boss?"

“A distant relative, I’m just benefiting from this.”

After the steamed buns were served, the two didn't chat much and busied themselves eating.

My uncle took the steamed buns from the waitress and began to devour them.

Take a bite of the steamed bun, a sip of porridge, and then a clove of garlic.

I enjoyed the meal very much.

My uncle finished eating two steamed buns before continuing his conversation with Master Mai across from him.

"These steamed buns are so fluffy and delicious. The meat filling inside is also very tasty and juicy. They're so fresh and appealing."

Chef Mai laughed and said, "That's why our company orders meals from here. They taste best when they're fresh out of the pot. Our boss is planning to order semi-finished products next time to steam at home."

My uncle agreed: "No problem, that's the kind of enthusiasm we have."

As the weather turned colder, he couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be to have a hot meal here on a cold winter day.

Besides steamed buns, Master Mai also received some small shortbread cookies from the shop, which Chen Zhou had sent over.

The suppliers' workers are very disciplined; they always pay by scanning a QR code.

But it's okay to sample it, right?

Chen Zhou also saved two pieces for Master Mai today.

Chestnut shortbread,

Just like its name suggests, the outer layer is exceptionally flaky. It crumbles at the slightest touch, layer upon layer, so flaky it falls apart.

You can hear a rustling sound when you bite down gently.

Tiny crumbs of pastry playfully bounced into my mouth, initially even a little prickly, but being so thin, they crumbled easily with a gentle touch of the tongue.

The aroma of the baked pastry's fat does not overpower the other flavors.

The filling inside is chestnut paste, which is soft, fluffy, and delicious. The chestnuts have a simple, sweet, and mellow nutty flavor, and there is even a hint of tea aroma.

"Hey bro, these chestnuts are from you, right?"

"Yes." Uncle nodded.

The community canteen doesn't need to be lacking in ingredients.

Master Mai felt he was very lucky today.

"I'll have to suggest this to my supervisor when I get back."

(End of this chapter)