"Sigh, a while back I was coming here every night, lying to my wife that I was working overtime. She got pretty mad, so now I can only squeeze in time to come over. These two new dishes are delicious, have you tried them?"
Brother Fang Chang nodded. ’I got to eat food made by Boss Su’s own hands,’ he thought. ’This is, at best, from a recipe he passed down.’ "Alright then, enjoy your meal. I’ve got to run, something else came up."
Zhang Yi lifted his chin. "Alright."
He had just sat down to continue eating when a message from his wife came in.
[Wife: How did you spend the money on your allowance card so fast this month?]
The piece of meat Zhang Yi was raising to his lips suddenly seemed a lot less appetizing. He mulled over how to reply to the message.
After they got married, his wife gave him a 500-yuan monthly allowance on a supplementary card for his daily expenses.
In the past, Zhang Yi could never spend the full 500 yuan.
After all, his company provided free meals, and his wife topped up his bus card. He didn’t smoke, and she even bought his underwear. There really wasn’t much for him to spend money on.
But this month was different...
’It’s all Zhan Yang’s fault for bringing me to such a delicious place!’
Zhang Yi quickly scraped the rest of the food on his plate into his rice, mixed it together, and began shoveling it into his mouth.
After polishing off every last bite, he hurriedly left his table. Only when he was inside the elevator did he reply to his wife: Sorry babe, just saw your message. I’ll explain everything when I get home tonight! Work’s a little busy right now.
After sending the message, Zhang Yi stared at his own increasingly slovenly appearance in the elevator’s reflective panel.
It’s tough being a man!
...
Su Chen finally woke up, having slept in until almost eleven in the morning.
"I really slept in."
He got up, stretched languidly, and poured himself a cup of warm tea.
Now, he had to focus on Cui Yufen’s event. A group of over twenty people would need to be split between two tables, and each table would require at least twelve dishes. If this were just an ordinary banquet, it would be simple.
But if the other party was truly coming with the intent to challenge him...
...it wouldn’t be as simple as just twelve dishes.
He would need at least eight S Level dishes to go head-to-head with that gang of Lu Cuisine chefs!
Fortunately, Lu Cuisine had always been on Su Chen’s learning agenda. Its savory flavor profile was a perfect fit for the local Jingzhou palate, so he would have had to learn it sooner or later anyway.
On the other hand, learning Huaiyang Cuisine hadn’t proved to be very useful.
It was clear that even the three S Level Huaiyang Cuisine dishes held less appeal for Elder Fang’s mother than the three A Level Jingzhou Cuisine dishes.
’That’s the power of taste memory, I guess!’
He settled into his lounge chair, sipping a complex red tea he couldn’t fully appreciate, and mentally flipped through the Lu Cuisine section of his renowned cookbook, starting his research on dishes for the birthday banquet.
His phone chimed several times in a row. Su Chen put his thoughts on hold, picked up the phone, and glanced at the screen.
In just one morning, he had received over a dozen messages.
[Brother Fang Chang: Boss Su, did Manager Bai talk to you about my engagement banquet? Please, please, you have to say yes!]
[Brother Fang Chang: Without you, my engagement banquet is going to be a disaster! Boss Su, I’m begging you!]
’Fang Chang is getting engaged?’
’Looks like I missed a few things by sleeping in all morning.’
’No need to rush this. I’ll find Xiaobai later and get the details.’
As he read the other messages, Su Chen took a sip of water and found himself amused. ’How did Elder Lu get in touch with me?’
[Lu Yongliang: Boss Xiaosu! Hehe, see you in Jingzhou on the 15th! We’re old war buddies, after all. I’ll be sure to bring a gift for Cui Yufen!]
He knew at a glance that Liu Ahbao must have spilled the beans.
Su Chen replied: You’re always welcome, Elder Lu.
The other messages were mostly work reports from Liu Shengnan and her team, none of which were urgent. Another hour had slipped by while he was relaxing; filling his stomach was the real priority.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Su Chen strolled over to the office area. It felt like it had been ages since he’d had such a relaxing day.
Ever since returning from the Capital City, it had been one thing after another. If he remembered correctly, tomorrow was the first day of school, and he’d have to welcome the children back.
Since he had this rare bit of downtime, Su Chen decided he couldn’t be bothered with figuring out Lu Cuisine today. He would just go upstairs to the second floor for a casual meal and enjoy a well-deserved day off.
After his meal, Su Chen went back to his office, happily played some games on his phone, and watched a few female streamers.
’Not having to work feels amazing!’
The day passed in a haze of idle yet pleasant activities.
The next day, Su Chen finally didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn. Waking up a little after six, he first went to the second floor for breakfast.
Liu Ahbao was now a key player at Delicious.
In their spare time, others like Bai Xiaobo and Liu Shengnan were reduced to acting as Ah Bao’s kitchen assistants. The 19th floor was short-staffed these days; one could only occasionally catch a glimpse of Aunt Fang cleaning.
A little after 7:00 AM, the Xinghui employees started trickling in for breakfast.
Over the past few days, under Ling Shuyu’s direction, the cafeteria seating had been reorganized.
Two hundred seats on the east side were designated for the children, while two hundred seats on the west side were for the Xinghui staff. This made managing the space much easier and helped prevent the kids from getting bumped into.
"Boss, what do you think of this?" He Shuting came running over, pointing to several small chalkboards she had decorated.
The illustrations were a bit childish, but kids would likely enjoy them. Su Chen had no childcare experience to speak of. "It should be fine," he said. "Just use your own judgment on things like this."