The Gourmet Customizer

"The sun is bright up in the sky, the flowers smile as I go by~"

Zhang Li hummed a tune as she arrived at the company. She always remembered what the boss had said.

The early bird gets the worm!

Only by coming to the company early could she get the first dish of the day. Not only that, but she could also often eat food made by the boss himself.

"’Little bird says, early, early, early~ Why are you here so early?~’"

"I want to eat breakfast, and nobody can stop me! Let’s see, Brother Ah Bao... Huh? He’s not up yet?"

Normally, the boss and Brother Ah Bao would be cooking in the kitchen by now. What was going on today?

’Did they both oversleep?’

What Zhang Li didn’t know was that because they had already cooked their way through the entire menu Su Chen had provided, Liu Ahbao no longer needed to get up early to learn new recipes.

All he had to do was steam some buns and boil some eggs for the adult area, then whip up a simple breakfast for the teachers at the Mechanical Kindergarten, and he was done.

Bored out of her mind, she trotted into the kitchen. "Oh my! The water’s boiling. Why is the burner still on?"

She quickly ran over and turned off the stove, then proudly dusted off her hands. ’This company would burn down without me, Zhang Li!’

"Huh?" Zhang Li looked down and saw the wooden barrel the boss had been treasuring two days ago. "Why is this barrel here?"

The other day, Su Chen had placed the barrel in front of the window and taken it away that afternoon. It had been on the 19th floor for the past few days, so its sudden appearance on the 2nd floor naturally piqued Zhang Li’s curiosity.

It wasn’t just curiosity.

Zhang Li knew. There were ten fish in there!

And they were fish the boss treasured very much!

She glanced furtively around outside the kitchen. ’Just a quick peek won’t hurt, right?’

The barrel’s design was quite clever. It had two clasps on either side of the round lid, allowing it to be sealed very tightly.

Driven by curiosity, Zhang Li undid the two clasps. After taking a deep breath...

Open!

The first thing she saw was a slate of green stone. She had seen Su Chen place it on top of the fish two days ago.

"’It’s already started to stink and the boss isn’t doing anything about it?’"

The moment the lid came off, Zhang Li held her breath. The strange, indescribable stench was so overpowering she could barely keep her eyes open.

’But this was for the company!’

Zhang Li lifted the stone slab out of the barrel with both hands. When she looked back, the fish inside came into view. They didn’t look any different from when they were first put in.

As Zhang Li relaxed her guard, she could no longer hold her breath. She exhaled deeply, then took a huge gulp of air.

"Holy crap!"

In that instant, she felt as if she was being assaulted by some unknown toxic gas. The breath she inhaled shot straight to the top of her skull, making her brain feel deprived of oxygen!

Zhang Li subconsciously wanted to get away, but for some reason...

...her legs felt weak.

Her eyes were getting heavy, her heart was racing, and her stomach was churning violently, making her want to vomit, but nothing would come out.

’Damn it, I’m going to pass out!’

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the squatting girl’s legs gave out, and she toppled right over.

She was still somewhat conscious, but the smell was too suffocating. She couldn’t get up at all!

Meanwhile, it was about time for Liu Ahbao to get up, but he was trying to squeeze in a few more minutes in bed.

After turning over, he sniffed the air hard. "’What’s that smell?’"

He wondered if some food he had brought back to his room had gone bad.

He threw on some clothes and searched around his room, sniffing continuously. It wasn’t until he reached the door that he realized the smell was getting stronger.

"’It’s coming from outside?’"

The moment he opened his bedroom door, Ah Bao instinctively held his breath. Only one thought remained in his mind.

’Damn, who’s cooking shit?’

The smell was clearly coming from the kitchen. Ah Bao quickened his pace. Why the kitchen? Was someone *actually* cooking shit?

When he stood at the kitchen entrance, everything became clear.

"Damn it! How did this barrel get to the 2nd floor!"

And there on the floor was Zhang Li, looking pleadingly at Ah Bao, her mouth opening and closing without a sound.

"What kind of trouble did you get into!"

With one hand pinching his nose, Ah Bao grabbed Zhang Li by the back of her collar with the other and dragged her straight out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria, then threw open the nearest window.

"HISS... HAAAH!!! HISS... HAAAH!!!" Zhang Li stuck her head out and took huge gulps of fresh air, finally feeling like she had come back to life.

’Damn it, what on earth was that? Why did it stink so much?’

’I was almost knocked out by the smell!’

After a good five or six minutes of recovery, Zhang Li finally felt a bit better. She turned her head and saw that Ah Bao had already put the lid back on the barrel, but the smell in the cafeteria was still just as strong!

"Brother Ah Bao, what on earth is that!"

Liu Ahbao wanted to laugh, but felt it wasn’t appropriate. "It’s just the cured fish. Didn’t you see them a few days ago?"

"Huh?! Why does it stink so much? I was so overwhelmed I fainted!"

This was what left Ah Bao speechless. "It’s been fermenting for ages. It’s bad enough you opened the lid, but you even stuck your face in to smell it. If you didn’t pass out, who would?"

Even with the lid back on, the stench in the cafeteria was still overwhelming.

The two of them just couldn’t smell it anymore because they’d been exposed to it for a while.

That kind of sudden assault, an assault of the most concentrated stench, could truly be suffocating!

As the first victim of the attack, Zhang Li’s reaction was indeed understandable.

Hearing Ah Bao’s words, Zhang Li blushed. "I... I thought it was something delicious."

’Delicious?’

Heh. Ah Bao chuckled. It *was* delicious, to be sure, but definitely not right now!