The Gourmet Customizer

The office fell silent again.

Everyone was waiting for an update from Ling Shuyu at the hospital.

An hour passed.

Amidst everyone’s complicated feelings, a message from Ling Shuyu appeared in the parents’ group chat.

[Ling Shuyu: Hello everyone, I’m Ling Shuyu, the person in charge of the Delicious after-school program.]

[I am currently at Jingzhou City People’s Hospital. Regarding the incident where Dali felt unwell, which was suspected to be related to a food issue at our after-school program, I will now provide the following update.]

Ling Shuyu’s words were very official. After posting the two messages, she paused for a moment, then followed up with a video.

The video first showed Dali lying face down on a bed, his childish cries audible.

"I don’t want medicine in my butt! I don’t want medicine, WAHHHH! My tummy doesn’t hurt anymore, it really doesn’t!"

The camera then panned to a doctor in a white coat, though his face was pixelated.

"This child isn’t sick. The main reason his stomach hurts is that he ate too much for lunch, leading to some indigestion. Compounded by a pre-existing issue with food retention, this caused constipation, which in turn led to abdominal pain. All he needs is a dose of glycerin enema to clear it up."

After speaking, the doctor took out a glycerin enema and snipped off the top. "Could the parent please help me hold this child down? He’s surprisingly strong."

The video was less than a minute long, but it explained things clearly and logically.

After that, Ling Shuyu sent another message to the group.

[Ling Shuyu: So, the reason this little boy’s stomach hurt is that the boss’s cooking is so good, he ate until he was stuffed. I hope everyone will refrain from believing or spreading rumors.]

The combination of text and video was very persuasive, but it wasn’t enough.

Su Chen raised his hand, signaling for Zhang Li to post the other video she had prepared.

It was the video of Zhang Dali sneaking food!

[Teacher Zhang: This child ran into the kitchen by himself and ate a large bowl of Wanzi. This was indeed a lapse in our supervision. We will be more vigilant in the future. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.]

Su Chen waited quietly for the group’s reaction. One person playing the villain, the other the hero. If all went as expected, they could resolve this crisis almost perfectly before public opinion spiraled out of control.

Soon, messages began to flood the parents’ group chat.

"Whoa! How could that kid eat so much? He finished a whole big bowl of Wanzi by himself? Doesn’t he know when he’s full?"

"Didn’t you hear the doctor say he has a history of food retention? The parents are too careless. You can’t just let a kid eat whatever he wants, you have to control his portions a little!"

"We were wrong to blame Boss Su. Boss Su, we’re very sorry!"

"Right... if we have to blame someone, we can only blame you for making food that’s too delicious! Haha, just kidding. After all, this is a cafeteria praised by a National Banquet Chef. I suggest everyone stop being so suspicious."

Seeing the messages in the group, it was clear that most of the parents now understood the cause of the incident. That made things easier.

’If you say my food is bad and the kids are always hungry because they won’t eat it, that’s my fault.’

’But if you say my food is too good and the kids always overeat until they’re uncomfortable... sorry, but I might just have to hit you!’

Fortunately, the situation hadn’t spiraled out of control.

With things like this, the biggest fear is someone with ill intentions making something out of nothing, turning white into black.

Su Chen glanced at Zhang Qing and sighed. "Refund this parent’s money."

With that, he turned and left on his own.

Since the situation hadn’t worsened, there was no need to call the police. It wasn’t that Su Chen was being merciful, but rather that calling the police would create unnecessary trouble for the company.

Seeing the boss leave, the others scattered, leaving only two people in the office.

Bai Xiaobo looked at his former goddess, who sat there with her head down, sobbing. He sighed as well.

"Alright, it’s over now. You should head home."

Zhang Qing remained seated as if she hadn’t heard Xiaobai. Her mind was a complete mess right now.

She felt humiliated for being here, sad for being abandoned by her senior, and on top of that, Boss Su had just said to refund her money, which meant Dali could no longer come to the after-school program.

She didn’t know how she was going to face her parents when she got home.

Xiaobai shook his head and left the office too.

As for Zhang Qing, he couldn’t say he was completely over her, but he was very disappointed.

’Before, I always felt like I wasn’t good enough for Zhang Qing. She was going to be a civil servant, a job everyone envied. What was I?’

’But now...’ Bai Xiaobo suddenly felt a little sorry for Zhang Qing.

’Maybe being a civil servant is good, but working at Delicious is even better!’

"Oh, right!" Bai Xiaobo suddenly remembered something. "Brother Fang Chang has been bugging me for a reply! I still haven’t asked the boss if we’re taking that engagement party job! And I haven’t even told him about Brother Fang Chang’s uncle!"

Damn it all, everything was happening on the 15th. Could they even handle it all?

A challenge from the Capital City, and now being watched by Brother Fang Chang’s future father-in-law and his uncle... isn’t this too terrifying?

’Zhang Qing? Love? To hell with all that! Is any of it more important than my bonus?’

Xiaobai jogged to the elevator, ready to find the boss and report the situation.

「Meanwhile, at the Mechanical Kindergarten.」

The teacher, Wang Xiaoyi, stared at the messages in the group chat on her phone, dumbfounded.

’Wait... so the reason my student, Dali, had a terrible stomachache was because he ate until he was stuffed?’

As a kindergarten teacher, she shouldn’t laugh.

But it was just so funny! BWAHAHA!

"What are you laughing about, Teacher Wang?"

Wang Xiaoyi pressed her lips together and put her phone away. "Nothing."

Then she thought of something else. "Hey, how about we go out to eat tomorrow? We can tell the master chef we won’t be eating in the cafeteria for lunch!"

Her colleague looked at Teacher Wang Xiaoyi in surprise. "Don’t you always say that food from outside is dirty, Teacher Wang? Why the sudden urge to eat out?"

Wang Xiaoyi fiddled with her two pigtails, her eyes darting up toward the ceiling. "Well, not *every* place is dirty!"

’Hmm... I’m really curious.’

’Just what kind of culinary skill could make a little kid eat until he was stuffed...’

’So stuffed he felt sick!’

...

This sudden incident came and went quickly, and everyone involved had their own position and considerations.

Even late at night, the employees of Delicious lay in their beds, still savoring the scene from that day.

Savoring the words their boss had spoken.

’If they lose their jobs, which one of you can take responsibility for that?’

That’s right. No one could bear that responsibility, but Boss Su was shouldering it for real.

In that moment, Su Chen’s image grew even taller in the employees’ minds—at least thirty feet tall!

Unfortunately, what no one knew was this:

「In a certain residential complex in Jingzhou City.」

"WAHHHH, my butt doesn’t want medicine! My butt doesn’t want to eat medicine!"

"Good boy, just one more time, just once! Once you poop, it’ll be all better. Once you poop, your tummy won’t hurt anymore! This glycerin enema doesn’t hurt!"

Then, a teenage girl’s angry voice erupted from the room. "What’s with all the talk? I’ll do it!"

On the window’s shadow, the silhouette of a girl holding some kind of small medicinal bottle could be seen. She aimed it at a tiny bottom and jabbed it in forcefully!

Immediately followed by a childish scream that tore through the night sky.

On this very hot night, neighbors upstairs and downstairs quickly shut their windows.

’Who’s beating their kid? That’s way too harsh, isn’t it?’