Free Web NovelChapter 47: Chapter 47: Xinghui Company? Are You All Idiots?
With Su Chen along, buying the meat 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 meat were good and which weren’t?
Aunt Fang even insisted that whenever Su Chen had some free time, he absolutely had to teach her how to tell good meat from bad and which cuts were best for which dishes.
Of course, Su Chen wasn’t about to tell her it was because every time 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 something, 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 Development Zone. As they walked into Meiweilai Company, Aunt Fang actually stepped back outside to look around several times. 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 something over. After a long moment, she asked, "Then what do we do about lunch?"
That was a real problem.
While Su Chen’s time spent learning to cook in the practice room didn’t take up any real-world time, the mental 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 moment, Su Chen found Ling Shuyu, who was adjusting the equipment in the conference room. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"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 meal 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 me 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 me you’ve been cooking everything all by yourself these past few days? But you’re the boss!"
Ling Shuyu fiddled with the equipment, but her ears pricked up.
Wang Rui, who had come 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 some ingredients, right? How hard can it be? Let’s just do it!"
Other people could miss this meal; that was fine.
But for Zhang Li to miss it? Absolutely not! ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
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 come 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 remember to have everyone pay for their meals in advance."
"Mhm!" Zhang Li nodded eagerly.
Not to be outdone, Wang Rui chimed in, "I can help too! The Comprehensive Affairs Office is pretty quiet these days. If anything comes 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 time, I’m definitely not calling her a waitress. I’ll call her ’pretty lady’!’
Ling Shuyu said nothing, which he took as a silent agreement.
Su Chen rubbed his forehead.
’These people from the other company seem a little off,’ he thought.
’They’re paying customers, 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 menu 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... come get me."
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 come down to luck.
...
「At this very moment.」
「On the Jing-E Expressway.」
"Awesome! We’re an hour ahead of schedule. Having three people take turns driving is a game-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 came through this time. 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 meals 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 something’s a little off with Aunt Fang?"
He Shuting gave him an exasperated look. "First, you said there was something off with Director Li, and now he’s a big hero. Now you’re saying something’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 meticulous 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 women, 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 moment, there really was something 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 become the kitchen supervisor?’
