To say he wasn’t hurt would be a lie.
After all his hard work over the years, his future father-in-law had finally agreed to the engagement. But the reason wasn’t his own merit?
Right, right. This was just great.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast. Jiang Wensheng was utterly astounded by the method used to make the tea eggs. He held one, examining it over and over, before he was finally convinced that when Boss Su tapped the eggs with his chopsticks, it wasn’t just for show.
He had actually cracked the eggshells!
"This Boss Su has such a wildly creative imagination when it comes to cooking. It shows in his use of ingredients, his choice of side dishes, and even his techniques are completely unconventional!"
After marveling for a long time, Jiang Wensheng ended up devouring eight eggs in one breakfast!
If Yuan Xiuzhen hadn’t stopped him, he probably would have eaten two more.
The steamed buns were not to be outdone. Every bite was packed with meat. The juices were rich, the fatty parts succulent but not greasy, the lean parts tender and not dry, all bursting with a savory, soy-sauce-infused flavor.
Jiang Yuan, who had insisted several times that she could only eat a single bun, ended up devouring four of the large meat buns!
In the end, she had to leave Delicious clutching her stomach, just barely able to walk.
An incredibly dejected Brother Fang Chang drove his future father-in-law back to the hotel and his fiancée to her company. Afterward, he stood alone for a long time at the foot of the Delicious building.
"Forget it, just forget it!"
He went up to the nineteenth floor, where the employees had already started their day. Learning that Boss Su was resting, Fang Chang found the product manager, Bai Xiaobo.
"I’d like to book my engagement party for the 15th of this month. It’ll be for about eight to ten people, and I want the entire menu to be Huaiyang Cuisine. Let’s say a budget of 8,000 yuan."
Brother Fang Chang had figured out the rules at Delicious by now: the higher your budget, the better the food you got.
If the budget was too low, they could still do it, but the quality would be compromised in many ways.
For instance, you could have a banquet held in the second-floor cafeteria. While the food was much better than at other hotels, it was definitely no match for a meal personally prepared by Boss Su. And for this engagement party, Jiang Wensheng had specifically mentioned that his own older brother would be attending.
And that man was an even more formidable figure than Jiang Wensheng himself!
"The 15th?"
Bai Xiaobo flipped through the company’s schedule. "We have something very important on the 15th. I can’t make the call on whether we can accept this booking. It’s up to the boss."
"What do you mean?" Brother Fang Chang grew anxious. "That’s not an option! It has to be here!"
Jiang Wensheng had agreed to the engagement so readily precisely so he could watch Boss Su cook at the party.
’And now you’re telling me no?’
Seeing Bai Xiaobo’s hesitation, Brother Fang Chang said, "If it’s a problem, I’ll add more money. Ten thousand! I’ll pay ten thousand yuan for this meal!"
Bai Xiaobo sighed.
He grumbled internally, ’Are people really this rich nowadays?’
’Spending ten thousand yuan on a meal for ten people. Tsk tsk!’
In truth, Brother Fang Chang knew what he was offering. A wedding banquet table at a five-star hotel in Jingzhou typically cost between 2,888 and 3,888 yuan.
Ordinary hotels were in the 1,288 to 1,888 yuan range.
And what kind of food did you get for that? It was all prepared who-knows-how-long in advance. When the guests arrived, the staff would just toss it in a steamer and bring it out.
As the leader of the Gourmet Squad, he couldn’t even be bothered to attend large family banquets anymore. He felt it was less satisfying than just eating one of Boss Su’s steamed buns.
Boss Su’s cooking was absolutely worth the price.
Bai Xiaobo explained awkwardly, "Brother, I really can’t make this call. To be honest, we have another very important birthday banquet on the 15th. The guests are some real heavy hitters, and the boss has been busy preparing for it lately."
"How heavy-hitting?" Brother Fang Chang was unconvinced.
’Could they be more impressive than the two brothers—the director of the Xia Country Huaiyang Cuisine Museum and the owner of the time-honored Flavor Residence?’
’And if that’s not enough, throw me in too—a supplier, the young boss of Fang’s Meat Industry!’
"The client is the retired head chef of the Capital City International Hotel’s Lu Cuisine Restaurant. He’s a National Special-Grade Chef, a legend from the state banquet scene. He’s bringing ten or twenty of his apprentices, who are basically all head chefs from famous restaurants across the country..."
Fang Chang: ???
Never mind!
"Wait, that’s not right. A group that impressive... don’t they have their own places to eat? Why come all the way to Jingzhou for a meal?"
Bai Xiaobo crossed one leg over the other. "Well, that’s a long story."
Since they had time to kill, Xiaobai recounted their entire experience in the Capital City to Brother Fang Chang, whose excitement grew with every word.
"Holy shit, Boss Su is that much of a badass? He just casually put the manager of Cuihua Building in his place?"
Now, he felt that paying ten thousand yuan for his engagement party table was an even better deal!
"And that’s how he provoked their master. You beat up the kid, the parent shows up. And after you beat up the parent, who knows what’ll happen next!"
Brother Fang Chang completely agreed. "The old lady is getting on in years. Let’s hope she doesn’t get so angry that something bad happens to her."
After chatting for a little longer, Brother Fang Chang told Bai Xiaobo, "I have to get going. I have a few things to take care of. When Boss Su is done resting, please, you have to tell him about my request!"
"Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. No problem at all!"
With that, Brother Fang Chang left.
However, when the elevator stopped on the second floor, he decided to pop into the small cafeteria for a look.
"Zhang Yi?"
Brother Fang Chang had met Zhang Yi a few times through Zhan Yang’s introduction and had a distinct impression of the plainly dressed man.
"Heh heh, Brother Future-Days."
Brother Fang Chang’s face immediately darkened. "Why are you just as aggravating as Zhan Yang? My name is Fang Chang! It’s from the ’long’ part of the idiom ’Future days are long’!"
"Right, right. The ’Future days’ part!"
Looking at the slightly chubby young man with glasses, dressed in baggy shorts and a t-shirt, Brother Fang Chang felt his anger rising and quickly changed the subject. "What’s the deal? Why are you eating at this hour?"
His gaze fell on the table, where he saw a plate of Braised Pork with Vegetables and another of Flash-Fried Pork, both nearly gone.