klisemfg Chapter 94 Looking down on people
Chapter 94 Looking down on people
Zhang Qiang gripped the edge of the huge insulated bucket lid with both hands and exerted force.
With a "click," the lid was completely lifted.
A visible gust of white, cold air, like a beast breaking free from its cage, overflowed from the bucket, turning into a cool white mist that rushed straight to everyone's faces.
Old Li was the first to be affected, and was so startled by the cold air that he unconsciously took half a step back.
A rich aroma of mung beans, carrying the sweet scent of rock sugar and the delicate fragrance of lilies, forcefully entered his nostrils.
"This... why is this mung bean soup a paste?" Old Li peeked out and stared wide-eyed.
The contents of the bucket were not at all what he had expected—just clear, watery soup.
It was a whole bucket of thick, smooth, light green red bean paste.
Floating on the surface are pure white lilies, as white as jade, and many small, round, translucent beads of purple and white.
Dazhuang couldn't hold back any longer. He shoved Lao Li aside and shoved the stainless steel basin, which was bigger than his face, directly against the edge of the bucket.
"Brother Qiang! Don't just stand there! Give me a spoonful! My throat is practically on fire!" Da Zhuang shouted at the top of his lungs, his saliva almost dripping into the basin.
"What's the rush! Line up!" Zhang Qiang cursed, but his hands were moving quickly.
He grabbed the long-handled ladle from the bucket and vigorously stirred the bottomless mung bean paste.
"Gurgle, gurgle."
Su Chen stood aside, watching Old Li and the others' expressions, and couldn't help but explain:
"Masters, this is not your ordinary mung bean soup. This is called Iced Rock Sugar Lily Mung Bean Soup!"
See those little purple and white balls inside? Those are our homemade taro balls!
Made with pure Lipu taro and purple sweet potato, kneaded little by little, and then rinsed in ice water, it's incredibly chewy and bouncy!
"Brother Su, stop introducing yourself and fill my cup right now!" Da Zhuang stomped his feet impatiently.
With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Qiang delivered a large spoonful of thick mung bean paste, mixed with seven or eight glistening taro balls, steadily into Da Zhuang's stainless steel basin.
Da Zhuang didn't even pick up a spoon; he simply lifted the basin with both hands, opened his blood-red mouth wide, and poured the contents down the rim of the basin.
"Slurp—"
Rough swallowing sounds echoed in the quiet shed.
The next second, Da Zhuang's expression turned to one of pure bliss.
The moment that mouthful of cool red bean paste touched his tongue, the heat inside him was instantly extinguished!
The smooth red bean paste doesn't need to be chewed at all; it slides directly down the throat into the stomach, bringing an ultimate refreshing sensation from the inside out.
Immediately afterwards, he bit into a few small taro balls.
"Crunch, crunch."
The texture is incredibly chewy! The aroma of taro and purple sweet potato bursts forth as you squeeze your teeth, combined with the sweetness of mung bean paste and the slight crunch of lily bulbs. This rich texture made Da Zhuang, a 1.9-meter-tall rough man, squint his eyes in comfort.
"My goodness..."
Da Zhuang put down the basin, wiped the mung bean paste from the corner of his mouth, and stared intently at Chen Feng, his eyes almost turning green.
"Brother Chen! This stuff...this stuff is so satisfying! After that one bite, I could carry two tons of cement right now!"
Da Zhuang shouted incoherently, handing the bowl over again, "One more spoonful! No! Two more spoonfuls!"
At this moment, Lao Zhou and Xiao Deng each grabbed a paper bowl and started scooping the food themselves.
The two of them frantically shoveled the food into their mouths, making muffled "mmm" sounds of extreme enjoyment, not even bothering to say a word.
The workers who had just been mocking Old Li were now completely dumbfounded.
Old Li swallowed a large mouthful of saliva.
Seeing Dazhuang's eagerness to lick the bottom of the basin clean, and smelling the irresistible sweet and icy aroma in the air, his dark old face instantly turned bright red.
He rubbed his hands together and moved to Zhang Qiang's side with extremely slow and uncontrollable steps.
"Um... Qiangzi." Old Li coughed twice, his voice no longer carrying the sarcastic tone from before, but instead revealing a guilty and ingratiating air.
"Would you like a bowl for your brother too?"
Zhang Qiang was ecstatic. Holding a large ladle, he glanced sideways at Old Li and deliberately raised his voice:
"Hey! Old Li, didn't someone just say that this is just a bucket of broken mung bean soup, not even as good as boiled water?"
"What, you want some now? Doesn't your wife make you chicken soup every day at home? Why would you want this stuff?"
Old Li was so annoyed by the rebuke that he wanted to disappear into the ground, but he couldn't resist looking at the bucket of taro balls that Da Zhuang and the others were about to snatch up.
He grabbed a clean paper bowl from the side, shoved it into Zhang Qiang's hand, and bowed repeatedly with a fawning smile:
"Oh dear Qiang-ge! I was wrong!"
I was just being ignorant and had a foul mouth!
Stop teasing me! Hurry up and get me a spoonful. I'm getting impatient watching Dazhuang eat like this!
"Hahaha! Fine! I'll let you have your way since you call me 'brother'!"
Zhang Qiang laughed heartily, then scooped up a spoonful, filling Old Li's bowl to the brim.
Old Li held the bowl with both hands and eagerly took a big gulp.
"hiss--"
Old Li gasped, his movements freezing instantly.
He closed his eyes and chewed the taro ball in his mouth.
His expression visibly shifted from embarrassment to shock, and finally to a deep sense of admiration and enjoyment.
"This...this craftsmanship..."
Old Li suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Chen Feng, who was standing behind him and hadn't said a word.
Without saying a word, Old Li picked up his bowl and strode over to Chen Feng.
He bowed deeply to Chen Feng.
"Boss Chen!" Old Li shouted loudly, his tone full of sincere admiration.
"I, Old Li, just now looked down on people and said things I shouldn't have. Please don't hold it against me!"
I'm completely blown away today! This is the first time I've ever tasted such an incredibly delicious mung bean soup!
Old Li's bow made the workers who had just started making a fuss even more restless.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Chen! We were blind to your abilities!"
"Brother Qiang! Quick! Give me a bowl too!"
"Don't push me! Save a few more of those purple dumplings for me!"
In an instant, the entire rest area erupted in chaos.
A dozen or so shirtless men surrounded Zhang Qiang and the two insulated buckets, almost knocking off their helmets in their frantic scramble to grab more taro balls.
Chen Feng protected Xingruo and Mengmeng as they retreated outside the shed, avoiding the pack of hungry wolves of workers.
Su Chen also squeezed out, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked to Chen Feng's side.
"Brother Chen, look at how smug Brother Qiang looks." Su Chen pointed to Zhang Qiang, who was surrounded by people and was loudly directing them while distributing red bean paste.
"His tail is probably wagging so high right now."
Chen Feng watched this scene with a relieved smile on his face.
In less than ten minutes, those two enormous double-walled insulated buckets were completely emptied by the dozen or so men, leaving not even the bottoms.
Dazhuang even picked at the last bit of red bean paste left at the bottom of the bowl with his fingers, put it in his mouth and savored the taste.
The workers patted their bellies, their faces beaming with the satisfaction of being soothed by the icy sweetness.
At this moment, the look in their eyes when they looked at Zhang Qiang no longer contained the vague resentment they had shown before; instead, it was filled with envy and flattery.
"Qiangzi, your brother is awesome!"
"Brother Qiang, if Boss Chen comes up with anything new in the future, you've got to bring some back for the brothers to try! We'll pay for it!"
Zhang Qiang stood in the middle of the crowd, listening to his coworkers flattering him with "Brother Qiang" over and over again.
He didn't follow the lead and boast as usual.
He pushed through the crowd, threw the long-handled ladle in his hand into the empty bucket, and strode up to Chen Feng.
Zhang Qiang looked at Chen Feng. His lips moved, but no words came out.
He stretched out his calloused hand and punched Chen Feng hard in the chest.
"Fengzi, I'm not saying anything more." Zhang Qiang sniffed hard.
"You guys go back and rest. I have complete confidence in you managing the shop."
"I can handle everything on the construction site by myself, don't worry about anything!"
Chen Feng laughed and punched Zhang Qiang on the shoulder.
"Go do your work, don't embarrass yourself." Chen Feng turned around and waved his hand.
"Come home early tonight, I'll have your favorite braised pork intestines."
After saying that, Chen Feng led Su Chen, Xing Ruo, and Meng Meng toward the construction site gate.
Behind them, Zhang Qiang's booming voice rang out: "Brothers! We've eaten and drunk our fill! Get up and get to work!"
"Dry!"
The workers' unanimous response was deafening.
Zhang Qiang put on his yellow safety helmet, turned around and walked steadily toward the scaffolding.