Chapter 35: Sister Hong’s Pork Offal Congee

「The next evening arrived quickly.」

Li Xiao glanced at his watch, then clapped his hands in the air.

"Alright, it’s about time. Everyone, get your things. We’re heading out now!"

Zhang Jiawen quickly threw on his jacket.

"Brother Li, I didn’t even eat dinner tonight. I’ve been waiting for you to say that."

Zhou Yu:

"Brother Li, I’m already packed and ready to go anytime."

Huang Zhiyuan:

"Go, go, go."

"My stomach is already GROWLING!"

Li Xiao rolled his eyes in exasperation. ’These three are unbelievable. They actually skipped dinner just to have this late-night meal with me.’

The four of them joked around as they got into a Didi. An hour and a half later, they arrived at their destination.

Sister Hong’s Pork Offal Congee

This pork offal congee shop was located in an old district. As they drove, the people and cars on the road grew fewer and fewer, and the streets became narrower.

Just when the guys in the car thought the driver had taken a wrong turn, the car made a single turn, and the four of them were suddenly dumbfounded.

The originally quiet street was suddenly bustling with activity.

Only one side of the two-lane road was passable, as the other was already packed with all sorts of cars.

People got out of the parked cars in twos and threes, walking briskly toward the shops on the left.

Li Xiao followed the flow of people and looked up to his left.

All the shops on the street were silent and dark. After all, it was already past 11:00 PM, and they had long since closed for the night.

Only one shop in the middle was still brightly lit, with many people standing at a stall by the entrance, waiting for something.

Seeing this scene, Li Xiao knew he had arrived.

He took out his phone to confirm the Didi payment, then opened the backend of his Douyin account.

[Night Raid on Shunde: The Freshest Pork Offal is Only Available at Midnight]

After setting the stream title, Li Xiao started his broadcast.

Even though it was already 11:30 PM, many night owls were nowhere near ready for bed.

In just one minute, over 100 people had already joined the stream.

"Brother Li, why are you streaming so late tonight?"

"Okay, okay, so this is how we’re playing now? A food stream at this hour? Are you trying to kill us?"

"Isn’t the streamer a student in Yangcheng? How did he suddenly appear in Shunde?"

"Does the person above not know those two places are right next to each other?"

"Eating pork offal this late at night? That’s pretty heavy, isn’t it?"

"To be honest, I quite like pork, but I really can’t handle the organs!"

"Looks like tonight is a special feature on heavy flavors!"

Seeing the lively atmosphere in the chat, Li Xiao nodded with satisfaction.

’Good. It seems everyone is quite enthusiastic and looking forward to my stream, or they wouldn’t be reacting like this.’

Li Xiao:

"Good evening, everyone. It’s great to see you all again."

"This morning, I saw some viewers asking in the comments why I don’t stream every day, so I’d like to explain."

"As many of you probably know, your host is still a student. My class schedule was packed yesterday, so I didn’t stream last night."

"Of course, to prevent you all from showing up for nothing, I’ll announce the schedule for future streams at the end of my videos."

"Alright, without further ado, let’s get straight to tonight’s main event."

He turned his phone camera and zoomed in for a close-up on the storefront of Sister Hong’s Pork Offal Congee.

"What I’m bringing you all to try today is this place, Sister Hong’s Pork Offal Congee."

"I looked this shop up, and as of today, it’s been open for a full 16 years."

As he spoke, he began to pan the camera, capturing the entire desolate street.

The other pitch-black storefronts formed a stark contrast with the brightly lit and bustling Sister Hong’s Pork Offal Congee.

Li Xiao continued his introduction:

"Actually, don’t be fooled by how deserted it looks now. This area used to be a relatively famous commercial street in Shunde."

"But times have changed. Urban development in Xia Country is incredibly fast."

"Especially in the last decade or so, things have been changing with each passing day."

"This once-bustling commercial street has become what you see today. The fact that only Sister Hong’s Pork Offal Congee has managed to remain standing just goes to show how amazing this place is."

Stream Chat:

"This was actually a commercial street?"

"You can tell from the two-lane road design that it’s from many years ago."

"For a shop to survive in this environment, it must be something special!"

"Anyone who comes all the way out here to eat must be a true fan!"

"Why are so many people standing by the entrance? Are they all waiting for a table?"

...

While he was talking, Li Xiao and his three dorm mates had already reached the front of the shop.

Even though they had arrived relatively early, they still couldn’t avoid a line.

Seeing the long line at the entrance, Zhou Yu couldn’t help but be amazed.

"It’s already 11:30, and there are still this many people waiting for a table?!!?"

Zhang Jiawen was also confused.

"Something doesn’t seem right. I see several empty tables inside. They can’t be waiting for seats."

Huang Zhiyuan had eaten fresh pork offal congee elsewhere before, so he naturally knew more than the other two. He immediately explained to them:

"They’re obviously not waiting for tables. They’re waiting for the ingredients!"

Hearing his explanation, the other two were a bit baffled.

They asked back in unison:

"Waiting for ingredients?"

Li Xiao glanced at the stream’s bullet comments. Many viewers had the same question, clearly confused about the so-called "fresh" pork offal congee. So, he began to explain:

"For pork offal congee to be truly delicious, the most important condition is that the offal is exceptionally fresh."

"The best is when the offal is delivered fresh, right after the butchering is done at the slaughterhouse. That’s what you call truly fresh."

"I don’t know about other places, but I did some research beforehand. The slaughterhouses here in Shunde start butchering the pigs at 10:30 PM every night."

"Barring any unexpected delays, the first batch of pork and offal should be ready by 11:00 PM at the earliest."

Just as Li Xiao finished speaking, headlights suddenly illuminated the otherwise dim two-lane road.

It was a small truck that had just turned the corner onto the street.

Seeing the small truck appear, some of the regular late-night customers grew excited.

"It’s finally here! I’m starving to death!"

"It’s actually pretty early today!"

"I wonder what goodies they have today!"

Hearing their whispered conversations, Li Xiao finally understood.

’This must be the truck that delivers the pork offal to Sister Hong’s.’

Sure enough, the small truck quickly stopped in front of the shop.

The doors were pushed open, and the driver and a loader jumped out of the cab.

They then walked briskly to the back of the truck and opened the cargo doors.

As the doors opened, blue plastic crates were taken down one by one.

Inside these blue plastic crates was nothing but fresh, steaming pork offal.