On the surface, Su Chen was resting.
In reality, he had already appeared in the Gourmet Practice Room.
’What would be a good special reward for Ling Shuyu... Girls probably like all sorts of strange and flashy things, right?’
As Su Chen’s gaze fell upon a famous recipe in his inventory, the word "Pastries" jumped out at him!
The cake shops lining the streets these days are almost all for Western-style desserts. And while Chinese pastries have re-entered the public eye in recent years, with a few time-honored brands emerging...
But ultimately, due to their complicated preparation process and inconsistent quality, they’ve struggled to become mainstream.
Western desserts have one obvious characteristic: they’re heavy on oil, cream, and sugar. In other words, just keep piling in the cream and sugar, and it’s impossible to make something that tastes bad!
Chinese pastries, however, are different. They take the art of working with dough to its absolute peak. Plus, besides looking good and tasting delicious, they often carry deep symbolic meaning.
Take the recipe Su Chen was looking at now, for example.
[Eight Beijing Delicacies: A collection of pastries made with a crust of lard, water, and flour, and fillings of jujube paste, green plum, raisins, rose, red bean paste, white sugar, banana, and salt and pepper.]
[Each pastry is stamped with a character, symbolizing the eight great joys of life, such as fortune, longevity, prosperity, happiness, wealth, and culture.]
After reading the method and process, Su Chen immediately shook his head.
"Way too difficult. This is completely out of my league right now."
’Just the crusts alone come in several types—single-layer, double-layer, thousand-layer crisp...’
’Then there are seven or eight different fillings, and the shape of each pastry changes to match its symbolic meaning.’
"Let’s find something simpler."
Su Chen continued to browse slowly through the recipes. ’When it comes to pastries, the Beijing-Tianjin style is definitely the most magnificent, but as for tea snacks...’
[The Century-Old, Closely Guarded Secret of Taotaoju, Yue Province’s Time-Honored Eatery: Fresh Milk Pudding Xue Dan]
Su Chen kept reading. A moment later, he clapped his hands happily. "This is the one!"
He first reviewed the recipe for Xue Dan, then summoned the necessary ingredients and began to practice making it.
Besides, making lamb hot pot was all about knife skills and dipping sauces; it didn’t require much practice time. Su Chen decided to master Ling Shuyu’s ’surprise’ first!
...
「Jingzhou City.」
At home, Bai Xiaobo stuffed all the dirty clothes from his trip into the washing machine. Seeing it was still early, he wondered, ’Should I go to the restaurant for a bite to eat before heading home for the night?’
Just as he picked up his phone, he saw a message from his boss.
[Brother Chen: We’re closed tonight for a celebration party. We have everything else, but could you grab some sesame paste and peanut butter on your way over? I’m cooking myself. Oh, and don’t tell the others about buying this stuff. You get me.]
After one read, Bai Xiaobo was instantly overjoyed.
’It’s such a small thing, but the boss only told me and asked me not to tell anyone else. This must mean he was too embarrassed to ask the other colleagues. He’s treating me like an insider!’
’Only an insider gets this kind of treatment!’
He quickly replied: "Got it!"
He immediately changed into fresh clothes and shoes and bolted for the supermarket, silently chanting to himself, ’Peanut butter and sesame paste!’
Meanwhile, in a luxury apartment complex.
He Shuting had just finished showering and was applying body lotion, stretching her neck.
DING~
She picked up her phone and glanced at the screen.
[My Dearest Lord Boss: We’re closed tonight for a celebration party. We have everything else, but could you grab some potato noodles and sweet potatoes on your way over? I’m cooking myself. Oh, and don’t tell the others about buying this stuff. You get me.]
SQUEE!
He Shuting hugged her phone and rolled around on her bed.
"Damn it! Why give such an important mission to me? And I can’t even tell anyone..."
"Could it be that the boss has finally realized that I’m the company’s number one beauty?!"
After rolling around a few more times, He Shuting hastily slathered on the rest of her body lotion, threw on a pretty sundress and black pantyhose, and bolted for the supermarket.
Unsurprisingly, when the next message was received, Liu Shengnan was at home on a video call with her boyfriend.
"I even brought you back a present from the Capital City~ I’ll give it to you next time you come to Jingzhou."
"Hang on a sec, I just got a message."
[Boss: We’re closed tonight for a celebration party. We have everything else, but could you grab some lettuce on your way over? I’m cooking myself. Oh, and don’t tell the others about buying this stuff. You get me.]
HISS!
Sister Shengnan sucked in a sharp breath.
’Are the company’s finances really that tight?’
’Given her relationship with the boss, paying for a few heads of lettuce out of her own pocket wasn’t a big deal.’
But Liu Shengnan realized there was a much more serious issue at play.
’We just paid rent, and then the boss used what little money was left to take us on a team-building trip, without spending a single dime on himself!’
’The company’s finances are so tight right now, yet he still insists on throwing a celebration party... and he doesn’t even have enough money to buy lettuce.’
’Brother Chen! As the one in charge of the company’s finances, I will never tell anyone about this! I’ll even buy some extra spinach!’
With these thoughts in mind, Liu Shengnan very seriously ended the video call with her boyfriend.
She immediately got up and headed to the nearby supermarket to buy the vegetables.
At the same time, she secretly resolved to work even harder. ’Where else could I possibly find a boss like him?!’
「At Fang’s Meats.」
After getting a call from Brother Fang Chang, Jiang Yuan skipped half a day of work to rush over.
"You have a business dinner tonight, why do you want me to tag along?"
Brother Fang Chang sighed. "We’re going to that place from last time, Delicious. Don’t you like their food?"
"For real?!" Jiang Yuan’s eyes curved into smiling crescents. "So what are we having tonight? The Lion’s Head Meatballs again? Wow, the ones that boss makes are so good! My dad is already dying to come and try them!"