Chapter 35: Really, Not a Single One Left
Today, as usual, was one hundred and twenty lunch boxes: twenty for the Zijing Garden construction site and one hundred for the Hai City Library site.
The temperature was only a degree higher than yesterday, but it felt twice as hot.
Even the construction workers, long accustomed to working outdoors, couldn’t help but complain about the extreme heat.
Worried the workers might get heatstroke, the site management changed the work schedule. Everyone clocked out at eleven in the morning and wouldn’t start again until four in the afternoon.
On paper, the schedule might sound great, but the total workload for the day remained the same.
Clocking out at eleven meant they had to start at five or six in the morning. Starting again at four meant they’d be working until eight or even ten at night.
The biggest beneficiaries of this new system were Xu An and the other food stalls lining the street outside the site.
In the past, many workers got off work too early or too late, missing the street vendors’ operating hours. Their only options were restaurants and fast-food joints with longer hours.
Now, with everyone getting off by eleven, the workers had a lot more options.
The one they were most interested in was the lunch box stall at the site entrance—the one their fellow workers were always raving about.
Eight yuan for a three-dish-and-a-soup combo.
One of the workers, a former chef, had even given his review: the vendor used quality ingredients and never cut corners. He really looked out for us working folk.
Today, they could finally try it for themselves.
Xu An had just finished setting up his stall at 10:50, and by 11:00, he was already surrounded by workers.
Many had come straight from the site after clocking out, and Xu An could see a layer of white crystals crusted on their clothes.
It was a white, salt-like powder that formed only after their clothes had been repeatedly soaked with sweat and dried out.
Three waves of workers came and went, and in total, seventy-two lunch boxes were sold.
Xu An felt like his little stall was on the verge of poaching every single worker from the three nearby construction sites.
The three sites combined had fewer than five hundred workers. For seventy-two of them to buy from his stall... it was a ratio that made Xu An feel incredibly happy.
As usual, Ding Nan and Luo Min arrived at Xu An’s stall at precisely 12:02 PM.
By the time they had crossed the short, hundred-meter distance, their foreheads were covered in fine beads of sweat.
Usually, the two of them would chat with Xu An for a bit and ask about the next day’s menu before heading back.
Today, however, they grabbed their lunch boxes and dashed back across the street even faster than they had come, disappearing quickly into their office building.
The moment they stepped inside, a blast of cold air hit them. It felt as if every pore on their bodies opened up in relief, the oppressive heat that had been clinging to them vanishing completely.
"Ahhh!"
Luo Min let out a long sigh, her steps feeling lighter as she walked toward the administration office.
"If only the boss delivered, that would be amazing. Then we wouldn’t have to go outside. Just one trip and I’m drenched in sweat. This weather is insane."
"We should ask him tomorrow," Ding Nan chimed in. "We’re not that far away. He might say yes."
"Good point. The worst he can say is no, and we just keep buying them ourselves. But if he agrees, we could be sitting here in the nice, cool office, comfortably eating lunch boxes delivered right to our door."
At the far end of the food street by the Hai City Library construction site, a student from the Hai City Nautical College suddenly appeared.
He was followed by a second, then a third, a fourth...
A whole swarm of them poured into the food street—at least twenty or thirty people.
Xu An recognized the ones in the lead. They were those goofy college kids who had been weirdly watching the workers eat yesterday.
"Here! This is it!"
"Hurry!"
"It’s right up ahead, guys!"
’Holy crap,’ Xu An thought. ’Did they get food poisoning? Are they here to cause trouble?’
’No way. All those workers, office staff, and local residents were fine. How could they be the ones to get sick? It doesn’t make sense.’
Xu An reacted instantly, his hand shooting out to grab the bamboo pole used to prop up his whiteboard sign.
The pole had been with Xu An through sun and rain for days, its color fading from a vibrant green to a dry yellow.
Its vitality may have faded, but it had grown even harder!
Liang Dani was just as quick. Her hand clamped down on the lid of the large soup pot. At the first sign of trouble from the students, she could hoist it up as both a shield and a weapon.
The young man at the front of the pack ran toward them, his right hand outstretched.
Xu An tightened his grip on the bamboo pole. Liang Dani gripped the handle of the lid.
The two sides were poised, ready to strike.
The hand drew closer... until it was only twenty centimeters from their faces!
!
The next second, the hand shot down and snatched a lunch box from the foam cooler.
The students behind him descended like a horde, their hands darting into the foam cooler.
The last seventeen lunch boxes vanished in an instant, leaving behind two empty, battered foam coolers.
A few pairs of hands were left rummaging resentfully through the empty coolers, hoping in vain to find a stray lunch box that had been missed.
Xu An’s grip on the bamboo pole relaxed. Liang Dani let go of the lid.
Old Han, the one who had led the charge, stood off to the side with his prize. He was feeling pretty pleased with himself for being the first to grab a lunch box. At the same time, he couldn’t quite figure out why he’d felt a sudden chill run down his spine just now. It had made him hesitate for a split second, almost costing him his first-place victory.
He glanced up at the blazing sun. It was as blinding as ever, and the heat on his skin was still just as scorching.
’Must have been my imagination,’ he thought.
Old Han shook his head, letting the sunlight banish that fleeting chill, and turned his cheerful gaze back to the lunch box in his hand.
His smile grew even wider when he saw the slowest runners resentfully asking the owner again and again if he had any extras stashed away for himself.
’That’s what you get for not hurrying,’ he gloated internally. ’Missed out, didn’t you? Left empty-handed. Now you can only watch us eat.’
’It’s enough to make a guy giddy, enough to make you laugh your head off! BWAHAHAHA!’
"Boss, are you really all out? Just one! Even one would be great!"
The other students had already dispersed, but the last one to arrive remained at the stall, pleading.
"I’m really out for today. Not a single one left," Xu An said, shaking his head helplessly.
If he had actually saved one for himself, Xu An wouldn’t have minded selling it.
But there was nothing. Not a single lunch box remained at the stall, only a bit of soup at the bottom of the pot.
"Come earlier tomorrow. I make a hundred lunch boxes every day."
The student threw his head back and let out a mournful cry to the heavens. Then he pulled eight yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xu An.
Xu An gave him a confused look. "I’m not kidding," he said. "If you don’t believe me, look for yourself. If you can find one, it’s yours for free."
The student sighed and pointed at Old Han. "I’m paying for his."
’Ah, I get it,’ Xu An thought. ’No wonder they were scrambling for those lunch boxes like their lives depended on it. So that’s why.’
Xu An took the money. He glanced at the handful of students who hadn’t gotten a lunch box, thought for a moment, and had Liang Dani pull out some soup containers.
"The lunch boxes are gone, but I’ve still got a bit of soup left. It’s on the house. Have a taste, and if you like it, come back earlier tomorrow."
The students who had missed out on the lunch boxes all gave Xu An a thumbs-up.
"You’re a real one, boss!"