AGN -Chapter 103 Explosive Sales

The first sale of tangerine peel tea received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Qin Huai had brewed a large pot. He wasn’t exactly sure how many servings one pot could yield, but it definitely wasn’t 1,314 servings.

Of course, he had no intention of brewing a second pot either. After all, the cafeteria mainly focused on affordable fast meals and higher-priced pastries. Items like herbal drinks, hand-squeezed lemon tea, and the soups given out during this period were all casual offerings in small quantities.

If something tasted good, it was sold; if average, it was partly sold and partly given away; if not good, it was given away entirely. Daily sell-outs relied heavily on loyal regular customers.

Today’s tangerine peel tea was also treated under the same casual approach by Qin Huai.

But reality quickly proved him wrong—some things simply couldn’t be treated casually.

Because it was selling extremely well.

Noon at 12 p.m. was the busiest time of the day at the Yunzhong Cafeteria.

Unlike the hectic breakfast rush where many customers grabbed food without dining in, or the relaxed evenings where nearby residents came with their families to eat, chat, and unwind, lunchtime was packed and fast-paced.

Office workers nearby treated their precious lunch breaks like a timed mission, trying to eat as efficiently as possible.

Sharing tables, waiting in line, and squeezing in extra seats were common. If diners didn’t mind, a four-person table could easily fit up to seven people. Competition for seats was even more intense than a university cafeteria during military training.

At such a time when every seat was precious, the elderly regulars would not occupy tables leisurely. Instead, they deliberately avoided peak hours, returning later for relaxed conversations.

Many customers noticed a new item on the menu today.

A newly added beverage—tangerine peel tea—priced at 15 yuan per bowl. Compared to the budget meal that offered one meat dish and two vegetable dishes for just 25 yuan, this price seemed outrageously high.

But this was something made by Xiao Qin.

Since Xiao Qin dared to set this price and list it as a menu item, the tangerine peel tea must have its unique qualities.

Many regulars gritted their teeth and chose to trust him.

The staff at the serving window skillfully added a small bowl of tangerine peel tea to their trays, calmly explaining to surprised customers: yes, this is the tangerine peel tea—this is exactly how Xiao Qin’s version looks.

After the brief shock, the regulars returned to their meals.

For most regular lunch customers, dining at the Yunzhong Cafeteria ensured freshness, health, safety, and affordability. More importantly, they could spend a bit extra to add a touch of sweetness to their otherwise tiring work lives.

Cheap meals didn’t stop them from enjoying expensive pastries.

After all the hard work, couldn’t they treat themselves a little?

If you couldn’t get crab shell pastries, couldn’t afford the four-delight buns, had never seen white jade frost cakes, and didn’t even know what mung bean ice cakes looked like, at least you could have some fried glutinous rice rolls.

And cut them into big pieces—don’t let outsiders think they couldn’t afford it.

Unbeknownst to Qin Huai, the cafeteria had already gained a large group of devoted fans of fried glutinous rice rolls. Their philosophy was simple: at least have one serving.

Today, the “fried glutinous rice roll believers” paired their favorite snack with tangerine peel tea.

The tea was warm, rich in ingredients, and left them feeling warm inside. The small bowl seemed to wash away the frustration accumulated during half a day of work, making their “struggle wages” feel less painful to earn.

Even messages in the work group chat looked… well, still annoying enough to make one want to leave the group.

After quickly finishing lunch, many of them packed a cup of tangerine peel tea to take back to the office as an afternoon drink, enthusiastically recommending it to colleagues.

“If you don’t like fried glutinous rice rolls, you’ve got to drink the tea! This is something you must try!”

“What? You say this is actually tangerine peel white fungus and lotus seed soup? Don’t worry about that—just drink it.”

At 1 p.m., lunch ended. After a long morning of work, Qin Huai and his colleagues finally sat down together for lunch—slightly delayed due to overtime.

Ou Yang had his own separate meals today and wasn’t eating in the cafeteria. The rest—Chen An, Huang Xi, An Youyou, and Qin Huai—sat at the same table.

Seated next to Qin Huai, Chen An absentmindedly ate while quickly raising a question.

“Today, Grandma Ding mentioned that the egg cakes are a bit hard and slightly dry. I also want to make them softer, but with the current method, it doesn’t seem possible.”

Chen An felt that he had changed.

When he worked in other restaurants before, he never cared about customer feedback. As long as his salary wasn’t affected, he didn’t bother.

But now…

He could only say the elderly regulars were too kind.

Grandma Ding had even given him a pomelo the other day, which he still hadn’t finished. If he couldn’t make soft, tasty egg cakes suitable for the elderly, how could he face that gift?

“Then change the recipe,” Qin Huai said confidently. “If you think the current method can’t make it softer, that means the method itself is the problem. Just change the method.”

Chen An: ?

“You can refer to my osmanthus sponge cake or fermented rice buns. If those seem too difficult, you can also look online at how soft small breads are made.”

Chen An hesitated. “If I change it like that… is it still considered egg cake?”

Qin Huai pointed at the tangerine peel tea in front of him.

“What is this?”

“Tangerine peel tea.”

“And what is it actually?”

“…Tangerine peel white fungus and lotus seed soup?”

“Exactly. But when I asked you, your first reaction was still to call it tangerine peel tea. What we call things is up to us,” Qin Huai said. “Look around—most customers are already ordering it. You just tell them it’s tangerine peel tea, and no one objects.”

Chen An had an epiphany.

He realized his perspective had been too narrow. No wonder someone his age was still working in a cafeteria while the boss, at a young age, was already “working for himself.”

…Wait, he himself had also been working for himself at a young age.

Never mind, not important.

He continued eating.

Just then, a staff member rushed over, still with soup stains at the corner of his mouth, clearly having not had time to wipe it off.

“Manager Xi, Xiao Qin, a group order just came in—36 cups of tangerine peel tea in total.”

Before he finished speaking, another staff member ran over.

“Another 19 cups were just added!”

Seeing work come in, Chen An put down his chopsticks. “I’ll go pack them.”

An Youyou was shocked by the work ethic of her colleague who was willing to skip meals and go straight back to work. She looked up in confusion. “Then… should I go deliver them first?”

“Eat first,” Qin Huai stopped them. “No need to rush.”

Indeed, there was no rush.

By the time Chen An and An Youyou finished their meals, the group orders for delivery had reached a total of 171 cups.

Qin Huai immediately called a halt, asking Chen An to calculate the total for packing while he went to brew more.

Fortunately, Zhao Rong had the foresight to soak a large amount of ingredients in advance—truly, experience matters.

Two hours later, Qin Huai realized Zhao Rong wasn’t entirely foresighted either.

Even though she had prepared one full pot of ingredients, it still wasn’t enough.

Because not only were group orders pouring in continuously, but even people outside the delivery range—who somehow heard about the cafeteria’s tangerine peel tea—were placing orders through couriers and group deliveries.

By 3 p.m., the number of couriers waiting for tangerine peel tea in the cafeteria had surpassed the number of seated elderly chatting leisurely.

Qin Huai was stunned.

At this rate, he couldn’t even make stock soup anymore.

There weren’t enough pots.

The cafeteria simply didn’t have that many large pots.

All the pots were being used to cook tangerine peel tea.

It seemed it was time to order some even larger pots—large enough to cook children in.

“Hey, buddy, let me ask you something,” Qin Huai leaned out of the counter, pausing his online teaching, and asked a courier sitting at table 9 waiting for his order. “Can you tell me where these courier orders are coming from?”

The courier answered readily, “You must be Xiao Qin, right? These were ordered by Doctor Qu.”

“She also left a note saying she’s your friend. She said if you asked, I should tell you.”

“She said she brought some tangerine peel tea back to her colleagues this morning, and they thought it tasted good. So to support your cafeteria, she placed a group order. I actually came earlier this morning—you might not remember.”

He then pointed to several couriers nearby: “These are all from the hospital—some from inpatients, some from doctors.”

“That big guy over there is my friend; he took an orthopedic order.”

“And that blond guy—we chatted a bit while taking orders. He handled emergency department orders, I handled neurology. All of them are from Doctor Qu.”

The courier smiled gratefully at Qin Huai. “Thanks, buddy. Big orders like this don’t come often.”

Qin Huai: …

Understood.

Time to order those giant pots for cooking “children.”

Tomorrow morning—start with 1,314 cups of tangerine peel tea.