Chapter 195 The Pregnancy Cravings and Full Mastery of Chinese Pastry Making

Lu Xiyao’s bright eyes, white milk-like skin, and adorable appearance made everyone who saw her want to pinch her cheeks and shower her with affection. How could such a cute creature exist in the universe?

It had to be said, Lu Boss’s genes were outstanding!

One couldn’t help but wonder, what does her mother look like?

She must be a stunningly beautiful woman, right?

“I’m Lu Qin’s little boss lady! Big brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunties, if you want to eat Ice Crystal Cake, Chickpea Flower, or Chilled Green Bean Soup, come to my spot and line up!”

Lu Xiyao’s soft, sweet voice echoed, incredibly pleasant to hear, making many customers want to rub her little head.

Swipe, swipe, swipe!

A large group of customers immediately headed over to line up for her. Lu Qin smiled slightly at the sight. The little boss lady was already used to the routine.

Meanwhile, in the food festival area next door, there were only a few customers left. The owner of Chen Ji’s crayfish stall was smoking a cigarette, gazing at the sky with a hopeless look on his face.

He had paid over 1,000 yuan in stall fees and prepared hundreds of pounds of marinated crayfish, expecting to sell them well and promote Chen Ji’s crayfish in Lianhua District. But unexpectedly, a stall named Lu Qin popped up next door and stole all the customers. Now, his sales were barely 400 yuan, not even enough to cover the stall fees. He was losing big.

“Old Chen, it’s over! There’s no business today!”

“Pack up early. Tomorrow, Lu Qin will come over to this side, and once the customers return, our business will pick up!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Boss’s mood lifted slightly. The crayfish he had marinated today could still be sold tomorrow. Reluctantly, he packed up, planning to fight again tomorrow.

“Mr. Ge, how did you all come over here?”

Lu Qin was surprised to see that the old neighbors from his street had come all the way to Lianhua District, which took about half an hour by car.

“I couldn’t stand not eating your food today. My old man wanted to try a trendy snack and came for a late-night treat!”

“I said we could take a cab, but you insisted on taking the bus, which took an extra twenty minutes. Now, there’s barely any fried rice left from Little Lu Boss!”

Chen Daqi peered into the food truck, noticing several ingredient boxes were empty. Business was booming. Chen Daqi was an interesting character. Despite owning a mansion, he preferred living in the old street district.

Originally, he was helping Shen Hongda by getting close to Lu Qin. Later, realizing how impressive Lu Qin was, he thought he could marry his daughter, Chen Yue, to Lu Qin.

He thought it would be easy for a woman to pursue a man, but to his surprise, Lu Boss remained unmoved. Chen Daqi thought Lu Qin must still prefer his original partner, so he gave up. But he still visited Lu Qin’s morning stall every day.

Now, living in the old district and practicing Tai Chi, his health had improved, so he hadn’t moved out.

Wang Guifen spoke up, “Taking a cab would cost over 40 yuan, but the bus only costs 2 yuan. The money saved could buy two boxes of Ice Crystal Cake!”

As she spoke, she handed a bottle of yogurt to the little one. The yogurt was quite expensive, about ten yuan a bottle, locally produced in Jiangcheng. The milk content was over 90%, and there were no additives except for probiotics.

Food safety concerns were high, so people were becoming more careful, especially when buying food for their children.

The little one chirped, “Thank you.”

Ge Daqi and others gave the little one some snacks and fruit. Lu Qin didn’t stop them. These neighbors genuinely liked the little one, and if he didn’t let them feed her, they would be upset.

In return, Lu Qin would give them extra fried rice, Ice Crystal Cake, pickles, and so on. They gladly accepted. Some customers noticed this “feeding” feature and wanted to try it too.

“I’m going to buy snacks right now!”

Lu Qin quickly stopped them. The little one didn’t lack food, and this “feeding” behavior would spread and lead to waste.

Even though customers were doing it out of affection for the little one, it wasn’t necessary. The old street neighbors bought their food and left.

For these familiar people, Lu Qin would give them extra food and allow them to buy without limit. Other customers watched, envious.

Ge Daqi and Wang Guifen couldn’t help but feel superior.

“We’re Lu Boss’s neighbors. We see each other every day, so of course, we get special treatment.”

In the food festival area next door, most of the stalls had already packed up.

What could they do? All the customers had been taken away!

Some stall owners, after packing up, came over to check out Lu Qin’s stall.

“Is Lu Qin’s food really that good?”

“One stall has practically taken all the customers from the whole festival?”

“How is this possible?”

They joined the queue. They bought the food. They tasted it. They silently walked away. It was good, really good!

And not just good, it was extraordinary!

How to describe the difference? Sure, they were street stalls, but Lu Qin’s food had the level of a five-star hotel chef.

It was a pure dimensionality reduction strike.

“Dear, how are you feeling?”

“Disgusted, want to throw up, but also hungry!”

Not far away, a young couple walked over. The wife was pregnant and had severe morning sickness.

“You haven’t eaten anything all day. You must eat something. You used to love fried chicken. Should I get you some?”

The husband patted his wife’s back, anxious.

“Ugh… don’t mention fried chicken, just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. I can’t eat anything!”

“What do you feel like eating? Hotpot? Barbecue?”

“Ugh… no, I don’t want that either!”

The husband scratched his head, thinking, How about crab pot? Cold noodles? Spicy skewers?

“Ugh… can’t eat! Can’t eat anything!”

The wife was in agony but still hungry.

It felt like having a severe stomach illness. The husband scratched his head. What could he do? The foods his wife used to love now made her nauseous.

What could she eat?

“How about some stir-fried rice? Darling, bear with it, just eat a little. The baby needs food too!”

“I said I can’t eat, why are you asking me to eat?!”

The wife glared at her husband, annoyed that he couldn’t understand. As they walked past Lu Qin’s food stall, the strong smell of oil and spices wafted over.

“You led me here. It’s a street stall, the oily smell is too much. You’re going to make me sick!”

The wife was feeling miserable, thinking if she had known pregnancy would be this hard, she would have never gotten pregnant. The husband could only silently endure. Pregnancy was the biggest issue.

Just as he was about to cover his wife’s nose and move away from the stall, he saw her stop in her tracks.

“Wait, I think I’m not that nauseous anymore. What does this stall sell?”

The husband was confused, quickly ran to take a look, and then ran back.

“Dear, they sell many kinds of food, and the boss is making mapo tofu. It smells really good!”

“Mapo tofu?”

The wife took a deep breath, and magically, she felt an appetite.

“I want to eat this mapo tofu!”

“You’re hungry now? You want to eat!”

The husband was overjoyed. Finally, she wanted to eat something!

“Wait here, I’ll go queue up!”

“Hurry up, I’m starving!”

“Coming! Coming!”

The husband hurriedly ran to join the queue but soon realized the line was… insanely long!

How long would this take?

At least 30 to 40 minutes! Wouldn’t his wife starve before that?

“Excuse me, could I cut in line? My wife hasn’t eaten all day, she’s really sick, and she’s finally hungry. She can’t wait that long! Please, I beg you!”

The young man earnestly requested.

Many customers had noticed the young couple’s struggles, and feeling sorry for them, the person at the front of the line let them through.

“Thank you, thank you…”

The young man was immensely grateful and ordered a portion of mapo tofu.

The customers behind him reminded, “Lu Boss’s food is all great, you should order more. It’s tough waiting in line.”

“Really? Oh! Okay!”

The young man glanced at the small menu board and added Ice Crystal Cake, Crystal Shrimp Dumplings, and Green Bean Soup to his order. After paying, the husband rushed back to his wife’s side.

“Dear, the mapo tofu is hot, eat slowly!”

“Give it to me fast.”

The wife was starving, finally having something she wanted to eat. Her stomach began to growl.

She devoured several bites of the mapo tofu, and finally, she felt like herself again.

“This mapo tofu is amazing!”

The spiciness and numbing sensation instantly opened her appetite.

“Dear, try this Crystal Shrimp Dumpling!”

“This Crystal Shrimp Dumpling is amazing!”

The wife then tried the Ice Crystal Cake and was blown away!

It was magical!

She didn’t know why, but before, she couldn’t eat anything, but now she could eat everything without feeling sick!

The customers around gave a thumbs up to Lu Qin.

“Lu Boss, you’re incredible! Your food even cured the morning sickness of a pregnant woman!”

“Yeah, I saw that young mom, she was so nauseous earlier, and just hearing the name of food made her want to throw up. But she ate your mapo tofu in large bites! That’s amazing!”

“I’m reminded of Stephen Chow’s movie God of Cookery, where the urine cow ball cured a person’s loss of appetite. Lu Boss’s food can cure appetite loss too!”

It may sound exaggerated, but the truth was in front of everyone. Everyone knew that when the morning sickness hit, pregnant women couldn’t eat anything. But that young mom could eat Lu Boss’s food without any issues—it only meant one thing—Lu Boss’s food was truly incredible!

The young wife drank the last of her Green Bean Soup in one go, and with a satisfied burp, said, “Ah, I haven’t eaten this well in a long time!”

She didn’t leave a bite for her husband and ate everything herself.

“Dear, is your morning sickness gone?”

“I don’t know, but this stall’s food is really good!”

“If it’s good, we’ll come back tomorrow!”

The young man ran to ask and found out that Lu Qin’s stall would still be at the food festival tomorrow. He was relieved and added Lu Boss’s food lover group.

After the news that Lu Qin’s food could cure morning sickness spread, the stall’s popularity soared. By 9:10 PM, the food was almost sold out. Lu Qin left three portions of fried rice, a box of Ice Crystal Cake, and three cups of Green Bean Soup as midnight snacks.

There were still dozens of customers who didn’t manage to buy anything, but with everything sold out, they could only leave disappointed. Some ran to the convenience store to buy instant noodles or bread for supper, looking a bit miserable.

Lu Qin turned off the sign lights on the food truck, and the surrounding area quieted down. The three of them finished their midnight snacks inside the truck, then cleaned up and headed home.

Back at home, Lu Qin helped his daughter wash up, while Xiao Mi cleaned everything, then rode the tricycle back.

“Good night, Daddy! Mwah~!”

“Good night.”

Lu Qin turned off the lights and exited the room. Today, their income not only broke 100,000 but also exceeded that—125,800 yuan. Just from fried rice alone, Lu Qin had made 700 to 800 servings. Then there was the twice-cooked pork and mapo tofu.

Fortunately, the system’s fatigue elimination aura was in effect, or he would have developed a career-related illness after working for so long.

Lu Qin checked his system points: 6,563. He could do six advanced draws.

His luck was good—he drew the [Full Mastery of Chinese Pastry Making Techniques].

Mooncakes, Qing Tuan, Lotus Root Pastry, Date Paste Cakes, Osmanthus Cakes, Dragon Beard Pastry…

He had mastered over a hundred kinds of Chinese pastries!

“Not bad.”

Lu Qin planned to add two new Chinese pastry items tomorrow. For the remaining five advanced draws, besides a few bags of mint candy, he also received [Fluency in Eight Languages].

Fluency in languages?

It didn’t seem that useful now, but having more skills never hurt.

Just as Lu Qin was about to sleep, he heard a notification on his phone—It was Shen Mu Yan. He opened the message and was shocked to find a selfie of the rich lady in a nightgown!

But this wasn’t an ordinary nightgown. It was a wine-red ice silk, thin and seductive!

The ice silk fabric was soft, light, and smooth…

But even smoother was the delicate white skin beneath the nightgown.

Lu Qin’s throat went dry.