With Su Chen along, buying the at ingredients went much faster.
The three of them were already on their way back before noon.
Aunt Fang asked a question that had even Ling Shuyu curious: how could Su Chen so accurately tell which cuts of at were good and which weren’t?
Aunt Fang even insisted that whenever Su Chen had so free ti, he absolutely had to teach her how to tell good at from bad and which cuts were best for which dishes.
Of course, Su Chen wasn’t about to tell her it was because every ti he went shopping, he would first enter his practice room to summon the corresponding ingredients for comparison. He just gave a vague reply, "If you like sothing, you’ll naturally study it."
’So... was hitting ten bullseyes also because he "liked" it?’
Before Ling Shuyu could figure it out, their car had returned to the High-Tech Developnt Zone. As they walked into iweilai Company, Aunt Fang actually stepped back outside to look around several tis. Only after confirming she was in the right place did she ask a very strange question.
"Boss, did we hire this many new people?"
"Of course not." Su Chen sighed. "These are our clients. The deal is that they’ll be working here temporarily until this big order is finished."
"Oh." Aunt Fang furrowed her brow, mulling sothing over. After a long mont, she asked, "Then what do we do about lunch?"
That was a real problem.
While Su Chen’s ti spent learning to cook in the practice room didn’t take up any real-world ti, the ntal toll was another story. He definitely couldn’t handle making lunch on top of practicing like a madman.
He was afraid he’d burn out.
After thinking for a mont, Su Chen found Ling Shuyu, who was adjusting the equipnt in the conference room.
"I’m not sure if Xiaobai told you all, but to properly prepare for the lunch the day after tomorrow, Delicious won’t be able to provide al service for the next couple of days."
"Did he?" Ling Shuyu turned to her assistant, Zhang Li.
"He didn’t!" The young assistant was just as confused. "He just told he was going on a business trip and that we’d talk when he got back. Then he went completely dark. I had no idea!"
Su Chen smiled through gritted teeth but nodded anyway.
’Great, Bai Xiaobo. There goes your bonus for the month.’
"Yes, that’s our mistake. My apologies."
Zhang Li couldn’t quite wrap her head around Su Chen’s apology. "Boss Su, don’t tell you’ve been cooking everything all by yourself these past few days? But you’re the boss!"
Ling Shuyu fiddled with the equipnt, but her ears pricked up.
Wang Rui, who had co over to help, was also curious. "Yeah, Boss Su, we were just talking about it yesterday. Why would a boss like you get in the kitchen yourself? It must be exhausting to make so much food, right?"
Su Chen laughed dryly. "Well, it’s like this. I only oversee the most critical steps. My employees handle the simpler tasks, like prepping the ingredients."
With that, Su Chen gestured toward the door. "All my employees are away on business right now. There’s no way I can handle cooking that much for lunch by myself."
"That’s not a problem!" Zhang Li raised her hand. "I don’t have anything else to do today now that the move is done. It’s just prepping so ingredients, right? How hard can it be? Let’s just do it!"
Other people could miss this al; that was fine.
But for Zhang Li to miss it? Absolutely not!
The first night, the "not-so-hungry" Ling Shuyu had devoured all of Zhang Li’s fish with pickled greens and garlic eggplant.
The next morning, the pork knuckle buns Zhang Li had packed and left on her desk were polished off by "a certain anonymous individual"!
If it weren’t for Director Li from the Comprehensive Affairs Office, Zhang Li would still be starving!
When Su Chen didn’t say anything, Zhang Li turned to her boss. "Right, Sister Ling? I really don’t think I have any work left today. And if I do, I can always co back to it later!"
Facing the projector screen, Ling Shuyu clicked the mouse. "Mhm, go ahead. Eating is important. You can’t work on an empty stomach. Just rember to have everyone pay for their als in advance."
"Mhm!" Zhang Li nodded eagerly.
Not to be outdone, Wang Rui chid in, "I can help too! The Comprehensive Affairs Office is pretty quiet these days. If anything cos up, President Ling can just give a heads-up, right? I’m going to help!"
’I wonder if the girl in the stockings is still around,’ he thought. ’This ti, I’m definitely not calling her a waitress. I’ll call her ’pretty lady’!’
Ling Shuyu said nothing, which he took as a silent agreent.
Su Chen rubbed his forehead.
’These people from the other company seem a little off,’ he thought.
’They’re paying custors, but they want to work in the kitchen?’
’This is too much!’
"In that case..." Su Chen said, looking at Zhang Li and Wang Rui. "Aunt Fang is still here. She can show you how to prep the ingredients. I need to get back to planning the nu for the day after tomorrow."
As he was leaving, Su Chen turned back to add, "We’re having wok-fried noodles and garlic eggplant for lunch, and fish with pickled greens for dinner. Once the ingredients are prepped, have Xiaobin... the high school kid... co get ."
After sorting out these simple matters, Su Chen returned to his small office.
Most of the ingredients were now sorted. All that was left was to wait for Bai Xiaobo and the other two to return from E Province.
Based on his calculations, if all went well, the earliest they could be back was noon tomorrow.
In that case, he would first go to the practice room and run through all fifteen dishes!
Su Chen also set a goal for himself: with an unlimited-use practice room, he had to learn each dish to at least A Level before it would be presentable.
As for S Level... that would co down to luck.
...
「At this very mont.」
「On the Jing-E Expressway.」
"Aweso! We’re an hour ahead of schedule. Having three people take turns driving is a ga-changer!" Bai Xiaobo said, having just switched out of the driver’s seat with Liu Shengnan.
Clutching a piece of bread and a bottle of water, he continued, "The three of us really ca through this ti. The boss will definitely give us a bigger bonus. Ha ha! The only downside is missing out on his cooking."
From the back seat, He Shuting leaned against the window. "You say that as if we could get any even if we were there. We’ve had several als snatched away by other people. Honestly, are the folks from that other company a pack of reincarnated hungry ghosts or what?!"
With one hand on the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the road, Liu Shengnan said, "The boss even paid out our full travel allowance... Sigh... Let’s all just work hard. Honestly, it’s really, really hard to find a boss like Brother Chen these days."
"You say that like you’ve had a ton of jobs," Xiaobai scoffed. "But the boss really is generous! He’s giving us the service fee as our bonus. This service fee is three thousand, so we’ll each get five or six hundred! He Shuting’s monthly salary is only fifteen hundred."
He Shuting and Liu Shengnan both shot him a glare.
"All you think about is your bonus! You should get online and start researching where to buy the best ingredients!"
"Hmph!"
The journey was long, but with the three of them traveling together, talking and laughing along the way, it wasn’t boring.
They still had a long way to go, and Bai Xiaobo couldn’t be bothered to start his research just yet. He turned around with a gossipy look. "Shuting, have you noticed sothing’s a little off with Aunt Fang?"
He Shuting gave him an exasperated look. "First, you said there was sothing off with Director Li, and now he’s a big hero. Now you’re saying sothing’s off with Aunt Fang. I think you’re the one who’s really off!"
Bai Xiaobo wagged a finger. "You haven’t noticed? Aunt Fang always arrives really early and leaves really late. She’s incredibly ticulous when she cleans—I think she’s more thorough than I am cleaning my own house!"
"Oh, give it a rest," Liu Shengnan couldn’t take it anymore. "Aunt Fang is a good person and she’s dedicated to her job. If you don’t have anything useful to do, just take a nap!"
Shot down by both won, Bai Xiaobo gave up. Muttering to himself, he pulled out his laptop and started working on his research.
As for the Aunt Fang they were discussing...
...at least at that mont, there really was sothing a little off about her.
"No, this won’t do, will it? This isn’t right at all! Oh, my goodness, you’re all college students, and I’m just a cleaner. How can I be ordering you around? Hey, you there—slice the green onions a little thinner. Yours are too thick."
Aunt Fang was in the kitchen, completely and utterly baffled.
’I’m just a cleaner... how did I suddenly beco the kitchen supervisor?’
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