The Gourmet Customizer

’Could this be the power of the recipe?’

Su Chen emerged from the Gourmet Practice Room, still feeling quite shaken.

There was nothing obviously special about it, yet the result was just delicious. The feeling was incredibly strange.

His mind wandered as he gradually drifted off to sleep.

After some time, Su Chen was gently shaken awake.

"Sir? Sir! Excuse me, are these passengers from Car 9 traveling with you?"

Groggy, Su Chen turned his head and saw a train attendant holding a phone. The picture on the screen was of Liu Shengnan and her four companions.

In the photo, the five of them were standing by their seats, each with an utterly ferocious expression.

Especially Liu Ahbao. His usually simple, honest-looking face was flushed red, and he looked like he was arguing with someone.

"Yes. What’s wrong?"

"Well, sir," the attendant said politely, "they’ve gotten into an argument with another passenger. One of them said you’re their group leader and that we should talk to you if there’s an issue, so..."

"An argument? What happened?" Su Chen asked as he stood up.

’These guys are so much trouble,’ he thought. ’Getting into a fight on a train? Are they kidding me?’

He started walking toward Car 9 with the attendant jogging to keep up behind him. "It seems a passenger took something belonging to your friends. He has already offered to pay for it, but your friends are unwilling to settle."

’Seriously?!’

Su Chen was speechless.

The guy took something, and he was willing to pay for it. Shouldn’t that be the end of it?

Why were they still arguing with him?

’When you’re away from home, you should try to keep the peace!’

After getting the gist of the situation, Su Chen quickened his pace. He knew his employees best; they were all pretty good-natured and wouldn’t cause a scene for no reason.

But he wasn’t so sure about Liu Ahbao’s temperament. He usually looked simple and harmless, but in the photo, he had been the most agitated one.

’It’ll be a real mess if a fight breaks out.’

「Meanwhile, in Car 9.」

"Bullshit! Everyone, come and be the judge! He wants five yuan for one egg. It’s not like I don’t have five yuan, but I’m not an idiot!"

A man stood by his seat, shouting excitedly, "Besides, we’re all traveling. What’s the big deal if I ate a few of your eggs? Didn’t I say I’d share my fried chicken with you?"

"Who wants your stinking fried chicken? Our eggs cost five yuan each! We sell them for five yuan at our own restaurant! Pay up!" Zhang Li wasn’t big, but she wasn’t shy either, craning her neck to argue with the man.

"Say one more fucking curse word, I dare you. Believe it or not, I’ll twist your head off!" Liu Ahbao made a move to push past his colleagues and charge forward.

Bai Xiaobo held him back. "Calm down, calm down! If you get physical, we’ll be in real trouble!"

He Shuting was so angry she stomped her foot, tears welling up in her eyes. "How can you be so unreasonable? You stole our things, and you think you’re in the right? We’re asking you to pay us back at cost, and you still refuse!"

Liu Shengnan was off to the side, speaking with an attendant. "I’m sorry about this. But this passenger really did steal from us first. Even though it was just a few eggs, he’s clearly in the wrong. If this can’t be resolved, we’ll have to get the transit police involved!"

That attendant was also baffled.

’These people...’

’All this over a few eggs? Is it really necessary?’

’Aren’t they making a mountain out of a molehill?’

Opting for a solution that would quell the disturbance, the attendant tried to placate Liu Shengnan. "He ate a few of your eggs. If it’s such a problem, I’ll pay for them! Let’s just all stop making a scene, what do you say?"

Liu Shengnan’s brow furrowed.

’Making a scene?’

She really hated that phrase.

"Heh, he ate six of our eggs!"

Five times six is thirty yuan. This was the main reason the man didn’t want to pay.

Thirty yuan was enough to buy a boxed meal on the high-speed train.

Actually, you couldn’t blame them. Except for Liu Ahbao, the employees from Delicious were almost all young people who had just graduated from college.

Their way of thinking was simple.

’You stole our things, so you should compensate us and apologize.’

But this man refused. He even slandered them, claiming their five-yuan tea eggs were a rip-off!

This really ticked off Liu Shengnan and the others. The fact that the train attendant thought they were making a mountain out of a molehill was the second thing that annoyed Liu Shengnan.

’So they don’t think our eggs are a big deal, huh?’

The argument attracted a crowd of onlookers from the rest of the car. Everyone felt like they were seeing something truly bizarre.

Getting into a fight like this over eggs?

A few young people were even smiling and recording videos on their phones!

"These kids are being a bit unforgiving. It’s just a few eggs, so what if he ate them for free? Demanding money for it, isn’t that a rip-off?"

"I think the kids are right. Stealing is stealing. Why should they let him off the hook?"

"It’s not easy for anyone traveling. Hey, you kids, just let it go. Stop making a scene!"

Hearing the onlookers’ comments, the young women’s faces flushed red with anger and embarrassment. The man, on the other hand, started to look smug.

He was sitting next to Bai Xiaobo. As soon as he’d boarded the train, he had taken out the fried chicken and other snacks he’d brought, ready to enjoy his journey.

But then the kid next to him started eating eggs, and the smell... it was just too fragrant.

He couldn’t resist. While Bai Xiaobo was in the restroom, he casually grabbed an egg and ate it, not thinking much of it. It was just one egg, after all.

Who would have thought these tea eggs were so delicious!

One after another, he kept eating. By the time Bai Xiaobo returned, he saw the man finishing off the sixth one.

Because there had only been six eggs in Bai Xiaobo’s bag to begin with!

He never expected that when this kid came back from the restroom, he’d immediately demand thirty yuan. Wasn’t that a total rip-off? He’d eaten other people’s food on trains before and had never seen such a huge reaction!