The Gourmet Customizer

Su Chen spoke up, "Let’s give a huge thank you to the biggest sponsor of tonight’s hot pot, Boss Fang Chang!"

’There’s a segment for this?’

Brother Fang Chang shyly stood up and waved to everyone.

"As for the second-floor cafeteria, and even our entire company, let’s all vote on whether we should use products from Fang’s Meat Industry from now on!"

The moment Su Chen finished speaking, everyone raised their hands.

"Fang’s meat is definitely top-notch. We locals all approve of it!" Bai Xiaobo said. "It’s just a little expensive..."

"You get what you pay for." Liu Ahbao readily agreed. "I really noticed it when I was cutting the meat today. This lamb leg is from a proper grass-fed lamb, and for this season, this kind of lamb is excellent."

Seeing that everyone agreed, Su Chen nodded. "Alright then. Shengnan, you can coordinate with Boss Fang about the contract."

Delicious’s first business partner since its revival was tentatively decided!

After dinner, the group worked together to clean up the dining room and kitchen. It was getting late, so everyone clocked out for the day.

Su Chen stayed behind.

"Ah Bao, I need to discuss something with you."

"Shoot!" Liu Ahbao was stuffed to the gills. Already chubby, he looked even chubbier now.

After leading Liu Ahbao to the break room and brewing a pot of red tea, Su Chen finally spoke slowly. "I’ve decided to let you take over the second-floor kitchen for the time being."

"Huh?" Ah Bao’s jaw dropped in disbelief. "Boss, people are coming here because of your reputation. Is it really appropriate for me to take over?"

Su Chen put down his teacup. "They’re not coming for me; they’re coming for the food. Over the next few days, I’ll teach you the things Delicious will be serving on the second floor. You’re a fast learner."

Hearing that he was going to be taught something, Ah Bao immediately perked up. "No problem, then! I’ll do whatever you say!"

Su Chen added, "You’ll also need to work with me on the cafeteria menu. For the five weekdays, the dishes shouldn’t repeat. Each meal will be four dishes and a soup—two meat and two vegetable."

Ah Bao nodded. "That’ll be plenty."

Finally, Su Chen discussed the salary issue with Ah Bao. He couldn’t possibly let the man work for free, so he set the salary at 6,500 yuan a month, in line with the average for a head chef in Jingzhou City.

’Hiring a senior technician for sixty-five hundred is a steal!’

He also cleared out a room on the second floor to serve as Liu Ahbao’s living quarters. Staying in a hotel all the time wasn’t a sustainable solution.

Once they had settled everything, Ah Bao returned to his hotel to pack, while Su Chen went to his office to start planning the banquet scheduled in three days.

’Clear-Broth Lion’s Head Meatballs with Crab Roe was specifically requested by the client, so I’ll lock that dish in first.’

Jiang Yuan had insisted that Su Chen make the Lion’s Head meatballs again; it was actually her father who had requested it over the phone.

’I need to show how delicious Huaiyang Cuisine is while also highlighting the appeal of Jingzhou Cuisine.’

Su Chen began flipping through his cookbooks. For the Huaiyang Cuisine, he decided it was best to stick to traditional dishes. After all, Jiang Yuan’s father also ran a restaurant, so trying to innovate could backfire.

’Squirrel Fish is a must-make.’

However, looking at the recipe for this dish, Su Chen was a little puzzled. From when he’d done a special feature on Huaiyang Cuisine, he knew that Squirrel Fish was a dish that showcased knife skills.

You just had to fry it properly and douse it in sauce.

The color of the sauce indicated it must have been stir-fried with ketchup, but this ancient recipe didn’t call for ketchup at all!

’Maybe ketchup didn’t exist back then? I’ll have to really focus on practicing this dish in the training room.’

With the second dish decided, Su Chen chose shredded dried tofu for his third.

However, he couldn’t quite decide between shredded tofu simmered in chicken broth and simple scalded shredded tofu.

’I’ll try making both in the training room and go with whichever gets the higher score!’

Perfect!

With the three Huaiyang dishes finalized, the next step was to research Jingzhou Cuisine.

Speaking of the local cuisine, there really wasn’t much to brag about. Across the entire country, not a single native Jingzhou dish had ever put the city on the map. This was one of the reasons why Jingzhou People were reluctant to work in other cities.

Once you left the city, you couldn’t find its local dishes anywhere else!

The crucial point was, people in Jingzhou loved their wheat-based foods!

If ten people went out for a meal and ordered ten dishes, at least four of them would be wheat-based!

Outsiders would surely find this absurd. Who eats four different staple foods in a single meal?

’Wheat-based dishes it is, then! What can I do? I just love this land... *Sigh*. Two hot dishes, then. Flash-fried Pork is a must; that dish is a total classic. And I’ll add a Dark-Sauce Pork and Vegetable Stew!’

’One more staple... Hmm, oat noodles are a local specialty, so I can make a dish with those. And that’s a wrap!’

Su Chen wasn’t very confident about these three Jingzhou dishes.

They were the kind of thing locals would die for, but outsiders unaccustomed to the taste might find even a single bite off-putting. Some slight improvements were definitely necessary.

Furthermore, none of the famous cookbooks included Jingzhou Cuisine, so he could only rely on the system’s "synthesis" function to see if he could whip up a higher-level recipe.

Having finalized the menu for the banquet in three days, Su Chen saw it was getting late. Since he had arranged to cook with Ah Bao on the second floor in the morning, he went to bed early.

...

After returning home, Ling Shuyu arranged the remaining eleven Xue Dan on her vanity, and then proceeded to...

...draw faces on them, one by one. Some were smiley faces, others were crying faces.

After decorating ten of them, she placed the Xue Dan in the refrigerator to chill.

She gently peeled one open.

"This is so delicious!" Ling Shuyu slowly savored the dessert, which was bursting with the scent of cream. ’If I could get a special reward like this every time I earn a merit...’

An unconscious smile spread across the young woman’s face.

The Xue Dan had a pleasant chill, making it the perfect treat for the sweltering summer.

After finishing one, Ling Shuyu thought for a moment before eating a second. Only then did she head off to bed, completely satisfied.