“How about we forget it? I’m not from Jin City, so the jianbing guozi I make might not suit your taste. I’m afraid you won’t be satisfied,” Han Fei scratched his head.
If he could avoid making it, he really didn’t want to, especially since he genuinely didn’t know how to make it.
Moreover, he was just following the lead of the young man who initially didn’t want to buy jianbing guozi, so refusing to make it now wouldn’t seem too out of place.
“It’s alright, boss. Just go ahead and make it. You’ve already started, so it wouldn’t be right for us to back out now,” the honest and simple-minded young man chuckled, thinking to himself, “It’s just jianbing guozi. How bad could it possibly taste?”
Hearing his companion’s words, the young man who had initially wanted to leave also looked apologetically at Han Fei.
“Uncle, since you’ve already started, just finish it. I’ll transfer the money to you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, all three of them picked up their phones.
“Ding, Zhifubao payment received, eight yuan!”
“Ding, Zhifubao payment received, eight yuan!”
“Ding, WeChat payment received, eight yuan!”
With the three notification sounds, Han Fei felt utterly defeated.
Well, it seemed he couldn’t escape his fate of having to make jianbing guozi.
Reluctantly, he decided to give it a try.
Back when he used to watch others make jianbing guozi, Han Fei thought it looked simple. Just slap the dough onto the griddle, spread it around with a scraper, flick the excess batter back into the bucket, spread it again, crack an egg on top, spread it some more, then use a spatula to lift the jianbing off the griddle, add some fillings, roll it up, and voila—done!
He could even recite these steps from memory.
But when he actually tried it himself, he realized he had overestimated his hands-on skills and ability to learn.
Unable to control the pressure properly, the jianbing he made ended up thin on the edges and thick in the middle, with some spots even missing batter entirely, leaving the surface full of holes.
The three young men from Jin City stared in disbelief.
What on earth was he doing? How could a perfectly good jianbing guozi turn out like this? Full of holes and not even intact!
“Boss, your technique isn’t very professional,” one of them remarked.
Hearing this, Han Fei awkwardly chuckled.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about the holes. I’ll just crack an egg on top to cover them. Trust me.”
With that, he cracked an egg and carefully spread the egg liquid to cover the uneven spots.
Surprisingly, after five minutes of effort, the jianbing finally started to look somewhat presentable, at least without the holes.
Looking at his creation, Han Fei felt a surge of pride. He thought to himself, “Making jianbing isn’t so hard after all!”
Confidently, he picked up the small spatula, ready to lift the jianbing off the griddle.
But then, another mishap occurred. Because he had spent so much time patching up the holes, the side of the jianbing in contact with the griddle had become completely crispy and crumbled as soon as he tried to lift it.
After a few attempts, all he managed to scrape off was a jianbing that was practically in pieces.
Facing the disdainful looks from the three young men, Han Fei forced a dry laugh.
“It might not look great, but the taste is the same. You didn’t want lettuce or ham, right? I’ll just add a crispy wafer and wrap it up.”
Just as Han Fei was about to add the crispy wafer to the already shattered jianbing, one of the young men suddenly seemed to realize something and whispered to Han Fei in a conspiratorial tone.
“Boss, are you on a mission? I’ve heard that only undercover cops can make something like this.”
To avoid raising Han Fei’s suspicions, he added, “Don’t worry, I’m a law-abiding citizen! I’m not here to cause trouble, and I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Han Fei was stunned. Was his jianbing really that bad? But when he looked down… well, it was indeed a mess. A complete disaster!
Seeing that his cover was blown and judging by their age that these three young men couldn’t possibly be the suspects, Han Fei decided to come clean.
“You guessed it… I won’t make the jianbing for you. Show me your payment code, and I’ll refund your money. Also, please keep this to yourselves. Once I refund you, just leave quickly.”
Han Fei was about to pull out his phone to refund the money when one of the young men stopped him.
“Officer, your technique is way too obvious. If the person you’re after sees you making jianbing like this, they’ll definitely suspect you. Since I know how to make jianbing, why don’t I take over the stall? You can pretend to be my dad and just handle the money. I’ll make sure you don’t get exposed!”
As he spoke, he took the jianbing tools from Han Fei’s hands.
“Officer, no need to refund the money. I’ll just make two more jianbing for my friends.”
Han Fei initially wanted to stop him, but the young man had already started, and his technique was so professional that no one would doubt his identity.
Besides, Han Fei’s own jianbing skills were undeniably terrible and would easily give him away. So, he decided to step back and whispered, “Thank you. I’ll send you a commendation banner later.”
In no time, the young man finished making two jianbing guozi and handed them to his friends.
By now, he had fully embraced his role. “Here you go, gentlemen. Your jianbing is ready. Did you already pay?”
“Yes, we did,” the two replied in unison, clearly getting into the act as well. To avoid disrupting Han Fei’s mission, they took their jianbing and left.
After they were gone, the remaining young man quietly asked Han Fei, “Officer, is the person you’re after male or female? How old are they, and what do they look like? I have good eyesight. I can keep an eye out for you.”
The truth was, Han Fei himself didn’t know. All he knew was that the suspect was likely older, probably around forty or even fifty or sixty.
Of course, even if he did know, he wouldn’t disclose it.
Shaking his head, Han Fei replied, “I can’t say. Just focus on making jianbing to help me blend in. Leave the rest to me.”
“Oh, right, right. It’s confidential. I understand. I won’t pry anymore!” The young man pinched his fingers together and dragged them across his mouth, mimicking a zipping motion.
However, it didn’t take long for him to get restless again.
As a true chatterbox from Jin City, he could even talk to a mushroom if no one else was around. Staying quiet? Impossible!
“Officer, look over there… that woman doesn’t seem like a good person!”
“The one who just walked by doesn’t look trustworthy either!”
“…”