If I ask you to set up a stall, why do you always run to deserted places?

Zhou Ye suddenly raised his head.

The soup came out so suddenly.

He was clearly biting into a pancake, but his mouth felt like it had suddenly been filled with half a bowl of beef soup—it was absurd.

Can't believe it? He couldn't believe it either.

The scalding broth first gushed out from the puff pastry layer, the freshness of the beef mixed with the sweetness of the onions and a hint of peppery spiciness, all spreading out on the tip of the tongue.

Then your teeth bite into the beef chunks inside. The chunks aren't big, but they haven't been minced into soft paste. Each one retains fine fibers, making it tender with a slight chewiness.

Combined with the crispy, crunchy crust, it becomes more and more fragrant with every chew.

Zhou Ye was completely stunned.

He is a fitness instructor who has been working for more than four years.

The food I ate most during those four years was boiled chicken breast.

When I'm in a good mood, I sprinkle some black pepper powder on my face; when I'm in a bad mood, I don't even need the black pepper. My main idea is to go against life.

Over time, Zhou Ye's first reaction to anything he saw was not whether it tasted good or not, but how much protein and carbohydrates it contained.

How long do I need to run on the treadmill after eating to pay for it?

When they came to climb Mount Tai, Chen Yu and Tang Guo both brought bread and sausages, but he took out a bag of protein powder from his bag.

At that moment, Chen Yu looked at him as if he were looking at someone who had lost their sense of taste.

But now Zhou Ye has suddenly regained this sense of taste.

He suddenly realized that he might have been practicing wrong for the past four years.

If people only look at the nutrition facts label when they eat something, then what the hell is the point of having a tongue?

Why not just make an incision in the stomach and pour whatever you're lacking into it?

"How is it?"

Chen Yu stared at him expectantly, "Is it delicious? Just say one word."

They were eager to hear Zhou Ye's insights.

Zhou Ye looked down at the pancake in his hand.

What could he say?

One bite, and steam was still wafting out from the opening—it was so damn amazing!

The beef broth slowly seeped into the paper bag along the puff pastry layers, and the aroma filled the air.

"It's alright."

Zhou Ye replied calmly, and before Chen Yu could react, he immediately turned around and took another big bite.

"no."

Chen Yu was dumbfounded. "You usually eat behind our backs? You've done it three times already!"

"Let me try again for you."

"Give it a try, and you'll finish the whole pancake."

Chen Yu quickly reached out to grab it.

Zhou Ye, being a fitness instructor, shifted his body to the side and used his back to block him.

Then, with his head down, he quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

The flaky pastry kept crumbling, and the scalding soup made him gasp for breath, but he couldn't bear to stop. It smelled so good, so incredibly good.

Zhou Ye ate until the very end, not even letting go of the crumbs that fell out of the paper bag.

He tilted his head back and poured it all into his mouth. After finishing it, he even subconsciously licked the corner of his mouth.

Chen Yu and Tang Guo both fell silent.

They had known Zhou Ye for so many years, and they had never seen him eat like this before.

When everyone goes out for meals, Zhou Ye always talks about losing weight or controlling oil intake. While others eat hot pot, he rinsing his food with plain water. While others gnaw on fried chicken, he holds a box of broccoli with a serene expression, looking like he's about to become a monk.

But now? Zhou Ye's eyes practically turned green with envy as he looked at the freshly poured pastries from the pot!

When have they ever seen Zhou Ye like this?

"Big brother," Zhou Ye said, looking at Su Yun who was flipping the food, "give me another beef one."

Su Yun looked up at him. "Why did I hear you say 'average' just now?"

Zhou Ye's expression stiffened for a moment. "I was pretending to be sweet to fool them, so pack all of these up for me!"

Zhou Ye, ever the shrewd one, quickly whispered, "Otherwise, they'll try to take it from me! Their hands are damn fast!"

Su Yun: "..."

You'd better make sure those muscles aren't just dead muscles, or I'm afraid you'll get beaten up!

"Not bad, bro, that's skillful." The man in the blue windbreaker next to him nodded in agreement.

His companion looked down and saw that the boy had two more shortbreads in his arms.

When did you buy it?

"Just now."

"Haven't you already eaten several?"

"Can't we just take it to go?"

Good heavens, why are they eating and taking the cakes with them? Tang Guo couldn't hold back any longer when she saw how the group was acting.

She pointed the camera at her mushroom pastry, gently broke it in half, and snapped a picture.

The thin, flaky crust cracks open, revealing snow-white tofu, tender green cabbage, golden vermicelli bits, and diced wild mushrooms.

It's very evenly distributed. Although it's not as intense as ground beef, the mushroom's fresh aroma becomes even more pronounced after the steam rises.

"Family members, I chose vegetarian filling mainly so that I could give you a review."

Tang Guo said to the camera in a serious tone, "It's definitely not because I didn't manage to get any beef earlier."

The live stream chat was filled with comments.

You better be!

[Stop introducing it, I can see your drool is practically dripping onto the pancake.]

[Exactly! The sound of her swallowing was louder than the wind.]

[This is hilarious! That old woman is so two-faced!]

【Pah!】

【...】

Tang Guo blushed, lowered her head and took a bite. The crispy crust crumbled in her mouth, and the fresh sweetness of the cabbage first emerged.

Next comes the freshness of the wild mushrooms; the tofu absorbs the mushroom juice so much that it's so tender you hardly need to chew it.

The fried vermicelli pieces are still slightly crispy, and although there's not a single piece of meat in them, the flavor is anything but bland.

Tang Guo had originally prepared a lot of things to say for the evaluation.

She was amazed by how fresh, fragrant, and not greasy it was, and how rich in flavor, but once she actually tasted it, her mind went completely blank.

"What?!" Tang Guo stared wide-eyed, then took another big bite. "What?!"

I waited in the live stream for ages, but nothing came of it.

[That's it? You just told me two words and that's it?]

Is this all the food bloggers know?

【No, I've already taken my pants off, why did you stop talking?】

[I get the feeling she's not out of things to say, she just can't find the words.]

[Teacher, I'm reporting this! There are shills involved!]

[Definitely a shill!]

【...】

Tang Guo wanted to refute, but the aroma of the mountain mushroom cake was still wafting out.

"Forget it!" She silently turned the camera to the side. "Say whatever you want, the important thing is that this pancake gets cold."

Just then, Zhou Ye's phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

"Ding-dong!" He took it out and glanced at it; there was only one work message on the screen.

[Manager Cao: You son of a bitch, Zhou Ye, are you brain-dead? Didn't you know another customer cancelled their class?!]

[Manager Cao: Where the hell are you now? Reply to this message immediately!!]

Zhou Ye's smile faltered for a moment. "Manager Cao, it's him again!"

Zhou Ye couldn't help but grip his phone tighter!

The next second, Su Yun handed him the second beef pastry.

Zhou Ye glanced at his phone, then at the still-steaming pastry, and finally flipped his phone face down on the table.

"We'll talk about it later." He took the pastry, lowered his head and took a bite. This was the first time in his four years of working that he hadn't immediately replied to his manager's message.

Chen Yu glanced at Zhou Ye with some surprise. "Why aren't you replying to my messages?"

"What's the rush?"

Zhou Ye's mouth was stuffed full. "Even if the sky falls, I'll have to swallow this."

It wouldn't be surprising at all if someone else said that.

It would be very strange for Zhou Ye to say it.

In the past, even if the gym sent him a message at 11 p.m., he would have to reply immediately.

Once, while a group of people were having a meal, Manager Cao asked him to go back and attend to a customer who had come to the store unexpectedly.

Zhou Ye barely ate two bites of his meal before putting down his chopsticks and leaving.

Chen Yu even scolded him, saying that he wasn't going to work, but rather selling his body to someone else.

Zhou Ye just smiled and said that's how it is in sales.

What's wrong with me today? After eating a pancake, I finally realized that I'm actually a person after all?

"What are you looking at?"

Zhou Ye cautiously pulled the pastry closer to his chest, saying, "If you want some, go buy some yourself."

"Who's looking at your pie?"

Although Chen Yu said that, his eyes couldn't help but drift towards the pot.

"Hey bro, is my beef patty ready yet?"

"immediately."

Su Yun flipped the pastries in the pan over.

The golden-brown flaky layers trembled slightly, releasing a mixture of beef and wheat aromas that drifted far away on the mountain breeze.

Chen Yu felt his stomach churning violently.

He could only pick up the osmanthus-flavored jujube and millet porridge and take a sip.

The millet has been cooked until it's fully cooked and has a very smooth texture.

The sweetness of the red dates blends into the aroma of the rice, making it very refreshing.

Chen Yu felt a jolt; that bite felt like a hot water bottle had been placed inside his stomach, bringing him back to life from the inside out—it felt so good.

Chen Yu picked up the bowl and gulped down two more big mouthfuls.

Tang Guo's eyelids twitched. "Slow down, this is millet porridge, not mineral water."

"Shut up!" Chen Yu gulped down half a bowl of soup, his glasses turning white from the steam.

After receiving the beef pastry, he couldn't wait to take another bite.

Click.

The scalding hot soup burst in his mouth, and Chen Yu's eyes lit up. He immediately stood up straight.

"Damn it." He finally understood why Zhou Ye had turned his back earlier.

It's not that he's stingy; it's that anyone holding this kind of pie would have to be wary of their friends.

"Tang Guo," Chen Yu said very seriously, "why don't you turn off the live stream first?"

Why?

"This guy only has one pot. If you keep broadcasting, what will we eat when everyone arrives?"

The viewers in the live stream were immediately enraged.

[What?! You little brat, you're already trying to unplug the internet after just starting to eat?]

[Tang Guo, send your location quickly! I've arrived at the entrance of Nantianmen.]

Wow, how did you guys get here so fast?

[Please reserve a spot for me, I'll pay 20.]

I'll bet 30.

That's awesome!

Tang Guo glanced at the backend and saw that the number of viewers in the live stream had increased from 200 to 1000.

The number of people is still jumping up.

She's been making videos for almost two years, and this is the first time she's attracted so many viewers because of a stall.

No, that's not right, this can't be called a roadside stall either.

Strictly speaking, it should be called a cloud-top stall.

"Don't worry, everyone. Let me show you how the boss does it."

Tang Guo turned the camera towards the cutting board.

Su Yun is making the next batch of cakes.

He rolled out the dough in his hands, brushed it with flaky pastry, rolled it up, and coiled it into a ball—a series of movements so fast it was dazzling.

After wrapping the filling inside, tighten the dough with your thumb and forefinger, then gently press it down with your palm to make a round and plump pastry.

The ones with white sesame seeds are beef, and the ones with black sesame seeds are wild mushrooms; they are almost indistinguishable in size.

And yet, it was all made by his own two hands.

Wow, that's fast!

Chen Yu, holding a bowl, leaned closer. "Big brother, you didn't work on an assembly line before, did you?"

Su Yun didn't even look up.

"Nonsense, can an assembly line be as fast as me?"

Chen Yu: "......."

How arrogant.

But looking at the rapidly increasing number of dough pieces on the cutting board, he couldn't find a way to argue.

They're making so many blurry images, can you say they're not fast?

As the new batch of shortbread was poured into the pan, it sizzled and the white dough quickly turned a pale yellow.

Su Yun flipped the pancakes over every now and then, and used tongs to hold the edges up while cooking. Even though there were several pancakes cooking in the pan, he wasn't worried at all.

I know perfectly well which one should be overthrown, which one should be left standing, and which one needs a little attention.

Before long, each pastry turned golden and translucent, with no soup leaking out, and the flaky layers on the surface had already opened up one by one.

The chat in the live stream paused for a moment.

This isn't just a simple filming session where you put a few finished products into a pot and call it a day. From kneading the dough to filling the fillings and then cooking them, it's all done by someone's own hands!

Twelve yuan a piece, and it's even on the top of Mount Tai!

Many people who had just suspected the photo shoot was staged suddenly fell silent, embarrassed.

Zhou Ye and his two companions originally planned to finish eating and then help Su Yun pack up her things, but the number of people in front of the stall kept increasing.

Tang Guo was reluctant to turn off the live stream, Chen Yu squatted by the pot with millet pudding, and Zhou Ye casually pulled two tourists who wanted to cut in line to the back.

By the time they realized what was happening, the three of them had been busy at the stall for most of the morning in a daze.

More than two hours later, Duan Ming and the other three were climbing up the railing.

"Old Xu sent us another message." Duan Ming took out his phone, panting.

"What did they say this time?" Zhang Yue asked without turning his head. "Are they still telling us to hurry up and eat the pancakes?"

"No, he said the beef patties were almost sold out, and told us not to go up there, because he was afraid we'd try to take them from him."

"Huh? What the hell?"

Do you believe it?

"I definitely don't believe it." Duan Ming said he didn't believe it, but he silently quickened his pace a little.

After climbing only a few steps, he stopped again, holding onto the railing.

Damn, this pancake better be real.

Otherwise, just to get a hot meal, he might actually lose his life on the Eighteen Bends.

Zhang Yue and his three companions set off late, by which time the sun was already high in the sky.

Along the way, Xu Yang sent more than a dozen messages.

It started with a photo of beef shortbread, then came mushroom shortbread, and then osmanthus sauce, jujube, and millet pudding.

Finally, they even sent a video.

The video shows a large group of tourists, each holding the same brown paper bag, with the payment notification sound constantly ringing.

It doesn't look staged at all.

Something's not right.

Qiaoqiao watched the video twice. "Look, there are way too many extras!"

"Is it possible that they are genuinely setting up a stall?"

Duan Ming said.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Qiaoqiao shook her head.

She is a travel blogger herself, and she has done a lot of staged photos in the past to shoot videos.

So she knows all too well how these videos are made.

"Look, the camera is always pointed at the stall. Maybe all these people around here were arranged in advance."

"Who hires extras to climb Mount Tai on their own?"

Duan Ming couldn't help but complain, "Even if you offer 200 yuan per person, there's no guarantee anyone will be willing to come."

Qiaoqiao was stunned for a moment.

That makes sense.

After all, Mount Tai is so high, unlike when she used to pose for photos, she could just grab two people off the roadside.

"Wait a minute, there are people on the top of Mount Tai too."

"But... the professionalism of these extras is just too high."

"Their expressions alone make it seem like they've been eating the finest delicacies."

He Sen, who was walking at the very back, took the phone, and after looking at it for only a few seconds, his brows furrowed.

He didn't look at the customers, but kept staring at the pancakes in the pan.

The video isn't very clear, but you can still see the layers of texture on the side when you flip the pastry over.

The surface color is also very uniform, with no charred areas.

"It looks alright, though."

He Sen was somewhat shocked.

"Just okay?"

Duan Ming was a little surprised.

He Sen's family runs a private restaurant, and he started learning to cook from his father when he was a teenager.

In the past, when they went out to explore different restaurants, Zhang Yue wouldn't even have time to fully understand which place had the best food, while He Sen could already tell pretty much what made it.

"Photos and videos can be deceiving."

He Sen returned the phone, saying, "The most important thing about pastries is how you eat them."

"I'll say it again: the wind is strong at the top of the mountain, and the fire in the stove is unstable."

"It may look cooked on the outside, but it might not be fully cooked on the inside."

"Moreover, these beef patties have such a high moisture content that they easily become fishy if the heat is too low, and they easily leak soup if the heat is too high."

"Old Xu and his friends just finished hiking and were so hungry they'd eat stones with sauce, so it's not surprising they found it delicious, right?"

Zhang Yue nodded in agreement after listening.

"Look, that's what you call professional analysis, damn it."

He almost got fooled by Xu Yang's video just now.

The group continued climbing.

But the higher they went, the more they felt something was wrong.

Along the way, we encountered several groups of tourists heading down the road, all carrying the same type of brown paper bags.

One of the boys was talking on the phone with a friend as he walked.

"Yes, they really do. They're 12 yuan each. You guys hurry up and go up."

"What do you mean by staged photos? I saw the boss making the filling with my own eyes."

Zhang Yue and the other three slowed down at the same time.

What happened?

Xu Yang could be a plant, and the people in the photos could be extras.

But it's impossible that all the tourists on the entire Taishan mountain road were invited by that boss, right?

This is simply unbelievable.

When we got close to the South Heavenly Gate, a mountain breeze blew in our faces.

He Sen was too tired to talk, but after smelling the scent in the wind, he suddenly stopped.

It has the aroma of wheat, beef, and the very special crispy aroma of butter when heated.

The smell wasn't strong, but it was exceptionally clear in the crisp air at the mountaintop.

"What's wrong?"

Zhang Yue asked.

"It smells delicious, a beef patty."

He Sen did not speak.

He just said that photos and videos can be deceiving, but you can't possibly pack the smell into a box beforehand and let it blow over with the mountain breeze, can you?

Qiaoqiao's eyes gradually brightened.

"Could it really be true?"

Duan Ming immediately took out his phone and sent a message to Xu Yang.

"We're almost at the summit, where's the booth? Could you come pick us up?"

Xu Yang replied almost instantly.

"I'm busy. Just follow the scent."

Duan Ming: "..."