CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: AH, FIFTH RING ROAD

Before dealing with the chives, there’s a critical step.

The most troublesome thing about chive and egg filling is the moisture. If too much moisture is drawn out from the chives, it not only affects the taste but also makes the steamed bun skins become limp.

The knife from the kitchenware set Wang Fan received can best retain the vegetable moisture when cutting, and the recipe also taught him a double insurance.

Which is oil.

Pour the eggs into the bowl and heat oil in a new pot.

Green onions, ginger, fennel, Sichuan pepper, Amomum tsao-ko, cinnamon, star anise, Wang Fan took a suitable amount of each and put them into the oil pot.

A blend of spice aroma mixed with the smell of oil began to permeate.

When the spices were all fried golden, he fished them all out, and set the oil aside to cool.

The room was quite cold, so these things cooled down relatively quickly.

After completing all this, he took out the newly bought chives.

The old lady’s chives were really clean, just washing them once with clear water allowed them to be directly added to the filling, saving him the trouble of picking through them.

Lay the juicy chives on the cutting board and start cutting from the root.

The root was cut into smaller pieces, and when he reached the chive leaves, he left them a bit longer, to better retain the texture of the chives.

Wang Fan felt that the things from the system’s recipe seemed to be imprinted into his brain, and whenever the corresponding item appeared, those imprints would automatically trigger and tell him how to proceed.

His muscle memory would reflexively follow the most correct way to do it, a feeling both wonderful and magical, as if he was truly born with a culinary prodigy.

This feeling was really satisfying, as if he was born to do this.

Once the chives were cut, Wang Fan swept them into a big bowl, and poured in the oil that had cooled down.

Putting on disposable gloves, Wang Fan began to gently give the chives a spa treatment.

His movements were very gentle, handling them delicately, ensuring each piece of chive made contact with the oil.

After mixing evenly, he sprinkled some salt and MSG, then poured in the scrambled eggs and mixed again.

Until the chives and scrambled eggs were fully integrated, it was considered done.

The other two fillings were also prepared. Having experienced it once before, he was more adept at making them, and it didn’t take long to complete.

Putting the three large bowls of filling in the ingredient preservation box, Wang Fan began to prepare the dough skins.

His hands moved swiftly, and soon, the large bowl of dough balls on the board had been transformed into stacks of steamed bun skins.

Taking out the bowl of chive and egg filling, placing a steamed bun skin in his right hand, he scooped a spoonful of filling with a left-handed spoon and placed it in the center of the bun skin. His two hands moved like butterflies, and a 24-fold bun was completed.

The speed of making a bun was less than three seconds!

Wang Fan was like an emotionless bun-making machine, executing his actions flawlessly and with flair, quickly filling a whole steamer basket.

Before you knew it, he had filled four steamer baskets full.

Lighting the fire to steam the buns, Wang Fan shook his slightly tired hands, and continued making buns while waiting for them to be done.

After finishing another steamer basket, Wang Fan stopped, using the time to play Snake on his phone.

After 10 minutes, Wang Fan put his phone down, took the top steamer basket down, and placed the newly made buns into the bottom layer of the steaming basket.

After letting them cool slightly, he moved the buns from the steamer basket into the food preservation box, then continued making buns.

He made buns like this for four to five hours, and surprisingly, he didn’t feel bored at all.

Checking the time, it was just five in the afternoon, perfect timing to head out.

Loading the buns, Wang Fan drove out the door and then...

He got stuck on the Fifth Ring Road.

Beijing’s traffic jams are famous nationwide. Wang Fan left early in the morning and missed it but caught the evening rush on his way back.

The lanes were crammed with bumper-to-bumper cars, barely moving 10 meters a minute.

Wang Fan looked exasperated at the snail-paced traffic, unable to comprehend how it could be this congested.

Looking around to see if any lane was quicker, he found everyone was moving at a snail’s pace; no one was faster.

The car on the right was a "Don’t Touch Me X5," its driver’s window down, revealing a pudgy, round-headed guy.

His face wore a constant cheeky grin, giving off a funny vibe.

The guy seemed bored and started singing a song.

"Ah, ah, ah, Five Rings, you’re one less ring than Six Rings, ah, ah, ah, ah, Five Rings, you’re one more ring than Four Rings."

Wang Fan thought to himself, the singing was decent, but the lyrics were a bit childish, something a grade schooler could do better.

The guy, perhaps due to the car’s air conditioning, had sweat beads covering his round face.

Recently, Sun Yunpeng was on cloud nine with everything going his way. As his fame increased, his lifestyle also significantly improved.

He bought a new car for himself, a new house for his family, and suddenly was living a comfortable life.

Today, after finishing a performance, he was heading home but got caught in the evening rush on the Fifth Ring Road.

Just as he was singing, suddenly he felt dizzy, and his once flushed face turned pale.

Sun Yunpeng was alarmed—damn, his low blood sugar was acting up!

With his rapidly increasing weight, Sun Yunpeng had been dieting, resulting in occasional low blood sugar episodes.

Though not a serious issue, low blood sugar hits quickly, and eating something helps a lot.

Usually, Sun Yunpeng kept snacks in his car, at the very least, a chocolate bar.

But today, being out all day, all the snacks were gone, and the car was empty now.

Oh crap, he thought, in a panic, tearing open anything that could open, finding nothing to eat.

He urgently called out to the car on his left, "Hey, buddy, buddy... do you have anything to eat? My low blood sugar is acting up."

His voice wasn’t as strong as before, even carrying a tremble.

Wang Fan was already listening to the singing. Although these later words were quieter, fortunately, he heard them loud and clear.

Looking around, he only had steamed buns in the food preservation box, so he hurriedly opened it and packed a bag of buns.

Rolling down his window, Wang Fan held the steering wheel with one hand, extending the other out of the window as far as he could: "I’ve got some steamed buns, they’re just out of the steamer, have some to tide you over."

Luckily his arm span was long enough; otherwise, a normal person might not have been able to reach out the window.

Hearing this, Sun Yunpeng was overjoyed, quickly reaching to take them.

"Thanks, buddy..."

He was in no condition to say many words of thanks, immediately grabbing a bun and stuffing it into his mouth, regardless of whether it was hot or not.

The fluffy steamed bun skin felt like cotton candy, then as he chewed, there came the unique spicy aroma of chives.

Sun Yunpeng began chewing in big bites, as the water locked in the chives and the oil juice spread all over his mouth as he chewed, the distinct, delicious flavor directly conquering his taste buds.

With food in his stomach, Sun Yunpeng felt much better, no longer dizzy. Just as he was about to thank Wang Fan, the speed of the cars in the lane remarkably picked up.

The Seven-Star Hong Guang from earlier had already disappeared from view.