tkworld Chapter 496 9%
Chapter 496 9%
Seemingly remembering something, she ran back to the cake shop.
"Miss, I'd like to buy a bag of cookies," Xu Xiaoyan said as she walked to the counter, pointing to the plate of golden cookies under the glass dome.
"Okay," the young woman said, pulling a brown paper bag from under the counter. She scooped out about a dozen yuan, folded the opening of the bag twice, and handed it to Xu Xiaoyan. "Eight yuan."
Xu Xiaoyan took the paper bag but didn't immediately take out her money.
She reached into the side pocket of her backpack and found her phone.
Then she looked up at the young woman and said, "Excuse me, I have money in my account, how do I make a payment?"
The young woman smiled, reached under the counter, and pulled out a small machine about the size of her palm.
The front of the machine had a small display screen showing "0.00". There was a transparent area on the top of the machine. She placed the machine on the counter and pushed it in front of Xu Xiaoyan.
"Each shop has a dedicated payment machine." She pressed her finger on the side of the machine, and the numbers on the screen flashed. "Just bring up the payment QR code on your phone and scan it at this slot."
Xu Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow; everything here seemed so normal that she wondered if she had returned to peacetime.
"Okay," she unlocked her phone, tapped the words "payment code," and a black and white pattern popped up on the screen. She held the phone screen up to the scanning window of the payment machine, and the machine made a short "beep" sound. The number on the screen jumped from 0.00 to 8.00.
The printer dispensed a small, narrow, long slip of paper with the date, time, and amount printed on it.
"Okay," the young woman tore off the small note and handed it to her.
Xu Xiaoyan took the note, glanced at it, and stuffed it into her pocket.
She put the cookies in her backpack, pushed open the glass door, and walked out of the dessert shop.
Xu Xiaoyan crossed two main streets in succession.
The first street is a commercial street, with shop signs lining both sides of the street. There are many breakfast shops, one after another, but the most densely packed are those shops with signs that read "Pawning Transactions".
The items on the shelves in each store are almost the same: mushrooms, wood ear fungus, kelp, seaweed, fish slices, dried shrimp, etc., all packaged in transparent plastic bags, sealed tightly, and arranged in rows on the shelves.
Daily necessities filled the shelves against the wall: soap, tooth powder, towels, toilet paper, and some bottles and jars with various functions and effects printed on their packaging that she couldn't name.
Xu Xiaoyan stood at the entrance of a pawn shop for a while, looking through the glass door. Through the gaps between the shelves, she could see a small blackboard hanging on the wall inside. The blackboard had the reference prices of various goods for the day written on it in chalk. The handwriting was a bit messy, but the numbers were clear.
She continued walking south, the noise gradually subsided, and the appearance of the shops quietly changed.
The signs are no longer colorful; instead, they are simple wooden plaques.
"Old Li's Fish Porridge" is a straightforward name; it likely refers to an old man surnamed Li who makes fish porridge.
Xu Xiaoyan stopped in front of the porridge shop and saw the stove through the half-open door.
The stove was made of bricks and covered with white ceramic tiles. The gaps between the tiles were filled with black grout that had been smoked by cooking fumes.
On the stove was a large earthenware pot, its color a dark brown natural clay, with marks left on its surface from being licked by flames.
The lid of the earthenware pot wobbled slightly from the steam, making a soft, clinking sound, like porcelain colliding with porcelain.
He scooped up a spoonful of thick, milky-white rice porridge, with a few snow-white fish slices wrapped in it. The fish trembled slightly on the concave surface of the spoon, and the edges curled up slightly from the heat of the porridge, revealing the even whiter and more tender fish meat inside. The owner lowered the spoon, letting the porridge slowly flow back into the earthenware pot.
Further on, there were noodle shops one after another.
Ramen, knife-cut noodles, and hand-pulled noodles—each type of noodle has its own shop, its own signboard, and its own chefs who knead, cook, and prepare the broth.
There was a large pot at the entrance of the ramen shop, with water boiling inside. White steam rose from the pot, partially obscuring the face of the ramen chef standing in front of it.
The master held a ball of kneaded dough in his hands, stretched it outwards with both hands, folded it in half, stretched it again, and folded it in half again.
The chef at the knife-cut noodle shop holds a lump of dough in one hand and a curved iron plate in the other. The iron plate slices through the dough, sending pieces of noodle flying out and arcing through the air before landing in the boiling pot.
Each leaf is roughly the same size and thickness; the thinner parts are almost transparent, while the thicker parts are chewy.
There are also many vegetarian restaurants. At the entrance of each vegetarian restaurant, there are bright green seasonal vegetables or tofu. Spinach is displayed in whole bundles, with the soil still on the roots and the morning dew still on the leaves.
With so many fish porridge shops, she immediately thought of the dam that stretched between the two mountains when she came in.
She pushed open the door and walked into a porridge shop, finding a seat by the window.
The window faces south, and sunlight streams in through the glass, casting a bright yellow patch of light on the table.
"Boss, a bowl of fish congee, please."
"Alright!" the shopkeeper readily agreed, turning around to scoop a bowl of steaming hot porridge from a large earthenware pot.
The long-handled wooden spoon swished around in the earthenware pot, scooping up the thickest layer of rice porridge on top and the fish slices at the bottom. With a flick of the wrist, the porridge flowed into the bowl.
He sprinkled on some chopped green onions and a few shredded ginger, and when he served it, he specifically instructed, "Be careful, it's hot, it's fresh out of the pot."
Xu Xiaoyan took a bite. It was fresh and sweet, the fish slices were tender and smooth. She didn't need to use her teeth. With just a gentle push of her tongue, the fish slices would fall apart. The rice was cooked until very soft and sticky.
Xu Xiaoyan sipped her drink slowly while looking around the small shop.
It wasn't big, just seven or eight tables, with payment codes and a yellowed price list posted on the wall.
She noticed that there was an A4 sheet of paper pasted below the price list. It was white paper with black print, and the font was large enough to be seen clearly from the doorway.
The paper read: "Our store can order ingredients on your behalf, 5% off." It also had a line of smaller print that explained the specific operating procedures and applicable scope.
"Boss," she pointed to the piece of paper, her voice not loud, but loud enough for the junior boss who was wiping the stove to hear, "what's the deal with this 5% discount?"
The boss was wiping the stove. He held a wet towel in his hand and wiped back and forth on the stove, removing the splattered porridge stains and oil spots bit by bit. His movements were slow but very careful.
Hearing Xu Xiaoyan's voice, he looked up and smiled, "Oh, that one."
He folded the towel, turned it to a clean side, and continued wiping. "There's a trading center in Qing City. You should have seen it if you've been here. It's in the north."
He pointed north with the towel in his hand and said, "As long as it's a registered shop, you can order rice, noodles, fish, and all kinds of vegetables at 10% off the market price. Of course, other things, like seasonings and tissues, don't have this discount."