High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 747: Chapter 95: Food Street_1

Weekend afternoons were always the busiest time on the pedestrian street of Beta Town.

Free from the pressures of classes and the annoyance of homework, many students would sleep in until the afternoon. Upon waking, they would have plenty of energy, and lots of time. As a result, the pedestrian street, abounding with bars, food, and shops, became especially popular.

Perhaps the wizard responsible for the weather decided enough snow had fallen for the day. When Zheng Qing left Double Tang Note with the Gypsy witch, there were only sporadic snowflakes slowly falling from the sky.

The wind gradually subsided, and those who had been staying indoors due to the snowy weather took advantage of the lingering daylight and beautiful snow scenery to rush out and stroll the small streets.

As the most prosperous commercial street in Beta Town, professional wizards had early on cleared the snow from the central part of the pedestrian street. The white snow remained on both sides of the street and rooftops, stark against the deep colors of the street, exceptionally eye-catching.

The young scholarship student, having already had his fill of snow scenes on campus, naturally didn’t focus on the remaining snow scenes. His arm was held by the Gypsy witch, his body tensed, not daring to move too much, for fear of offending the witch beside him through his behavior.

Elena, on the other hand, seemed more at ease than Zheng Qing.

Not having gone far down the main street, Zheng Qing caught sight of a small archway in the corner of his eye and abruptly stopped.

”Didn’t you say you wanted to eat something delicious?” The wizard spoke, and the courage that had vanished reappeared somehow, filling his chest: ”There, on the food street in the pedestrian street, there are many delicious things.”

Saying this, he extended his hand and pointed at the alley where the small archway was located.

The so-called food street was actually just a small alley on the pedestrian street of Beta Town, only a few hundred meters long and less than twenty steps wide. There were no doors on either side of the alley, just neat white walls, which originally marked the boundary between two districts. But because it was close to the pedestrian street, with its heavy flow of people, it attracted those vendors who couldn’t afford storefronts to do some small business there.

Compared to the prestigious shops on the main street, these small vendors could offer very limited goods or services to the university students - they would go to Shangyuan Bookstore for law books, Three Flavor Bookstore for textbooks and leisure books, Ground Brush, Green Xifang, and Cloud Think Boutiques for clothes, Green Grocery for general goods, Huck Brothers Watch Shop for timepieces, Shepherdess for jewelry, Mirror Picture for daily goods, Apple Pavilion for gifts, and even Wandering Bar for banned and grey area items.

After some turmoil, these small vendors eventually found a perfect niche - setting up a food stand doesn’t cost much, and they could take advantage of the abundant traffic on the main street. As long as they had a few special skills, there would be no worry about not having enough business - thus, this alley gradually became a specialized ”food street”.

The town committee, belatedly realizing this, was not stupid. After the street had taken shape, they incorporated it into their management system, set up a small archway as a uniform facade, broadening the market, creating jobs, adding a unique feature to the pedestrian street, and also providing a new source of revenue for the town’s finances - definitely a case of multiple gains.

Of course, even after becoming ”official members” of the pedestrian street, the small vendors were still running small-scale businesses.

They would push a cart, set up an iron pot, brew a few pots of hot tea, lay out a row of bowls and chopsticks. Some would even hire a few apron-wearing elves as waiters, helping serve tea, pour water, work the cash register, and do odd jobs; the less fancy ones wouldn’t even use magic to light the stove, instead burning dry twigs and leaves from the Silent Forest on the edge of the town.

Upon turning into the alley, the two were immediately struck by the stark difference from the main street.

The cries of the small vendors, the rainbow lights flickering on the simple magic billboards, the constant flow of people brushing past one another, and the overlapping, noisy chatter.

It seemed as if in one instant, they had moved from an ’elite’ world outside to a ’commonfolk’ world.

This lively atmosphere filled with the scent of life not only infected the students on the pedestrian street, but also seemed to affect the weather - Zheng Qing had wondered if the snow would cause the vendors to close.

”It smells so good!” The Gypsy witch took a deep breath, a look of enjoyment on her face.

Zheng Qing sniffed and nodded in agreement.

Upon crossing the small archway, it was as if they had stepped into a new world. The air was filled with the scents of various foods: soy sauce, vinegar, wine, fried, boiled, steamed, grilled, every flavor was present.

Round and plump octopus balls, oily mutton skewers, richly-flavored stew, refreshing herbal tea, all kinds of delicious smells rushed into their noses, stimulating their nasal cavity; green bees, yellowish amber light, fiery red alcohol, tempting everyone’s taste buds, stimulating their retina. Moreover, the cries of the vendors in the alley, the pushing and shoving, were all pulling at every passerby in the street.

”Hmm, the talisman on this archway is very interesting. The magic barrier is very neatly controlled within this alley. No wonder there is no mud or water inside, even though there’s a foot of snow outside.” Zheng Qing unconsciously commented on the small archway they had just passed by, showing off his expertise a little.

Upon hearing this, Elena immediately glanced at him.

”I’ve heard about a food street in town, but never had the chance to visit.” The witch seamlessly steered the conversation back on track, her voice filled with excitement, ”I am definitely going to eat till I’m satisfied today!”

”Definitely, definitely!” The young scholarship student also seemed to have some realization, turned around, picked up two skewers of fried balls from a nearby stall, and handed them to the witch: ”Try these, they are supposedly made from the tentacles chopped off the body of an old octopus from the Mariana Trench... But I guess they are just some ordinary boiled octopus balls, at most those octopuses were caught in the Western Pacific Ocean.”

”Hahaha,” Elena laughed so hard that she was shaking: ”The owner is still nearby, can you say that?”

”No problem, no problem.” The round-faced, chubby owner of the fried balls stall waved his hands, smiling from ear to ear: ”Everyone knows it’s just a gimmick... As long as everyone thinks our balls are delicious, it’s all good.”

The witch rolled her eyes, splitting one skewer of fried balls to Zheng Qing: ”You try it too!”

Zheng Qing hesitated for a second, grabbed it, took a bite, chewed, gave Elena a thumbs-up, and praised: ”Soft and bouncy, oily but not greasy! Indeed delicious.”

The witch’s eyes narrowed into a smile:

”Don’t praise me, praise the boss!”

”Don’t eat too much... I plan to try every stall on this street!”

”Stroll slowly, taste a little at each place.”