The Gourmet Customizer

Everyone leaned over the table, notebooks and pens at the ready, waiting for Su Chen to assign their tasks.

"Liu Ahbao, you can’t let things on the 2nd floor slide for the next few days. I checked the calendar; the 15th is a Sunday, so the kindergarten will be closed. You’ll come up to the 19th floor to start helping on Saturday. Xinghui is also closed on Saturday and Sunday, so the 2nd-floor service will be suspended for two days."

It was just a few walk-in customers, so it wasn’t a big deal.

’What restaurant doesn’t take a day or two off?’

Ah Bao nodded decisively. "No problem!"

’My master is going to be there. And as Boss Su’s first assistant chef, if I lose face, it’s not Boss Su’s face I’m losing—it’s my master’s!’

’I have to make him proud!’

"He Shuting, you’ll continue to be in charge of the daily operations on the 2nd floor. Like Ah Bao, you’ll also come up to the 19th floor to help on Saturday and Sunday."

"Okay! No problem!"

Now that the kindergarten teachers were getting free meals, He Shuting’s workload wasn’t that heavy.

She just had to make sure everything ran in an orderly fashion.

"As for the rest of you..." Su Chen leaned back. "You’re going on a business trip."

"Huh? Boss, are we going to buy ingredients again?" Bai Xiaobo was the first to speak up. "I’ll definitely do a good job this time!"

Liu Shengnan was rather dismissive. "Give me a break. I suggest we just let Bai Xiaobo hold down the fort."

And He Shuting, who had just agreed to her assignment, now realized she wouldn’t be able to go on the trip!

’Damn it!’

"It doesn’t matter." Su Chen’s gaze shifted to Ling Shuyu. "I’ll have to trouble President Ling for this business trip."

Others might be unreliable, but when it came to getting things done, Ling Shuyu was absolutely dependable.

If you asked her to do a job to 90 percent, she was the type of person who would figure out how to do it to 100 percent on her own!

"The main destination for this business trip is Lu Province. I’ll make a list of the ingredients we need to purchase. Shuyu, you’ll lead everyone and leave tomorrow by high-speed rail. All the ingredients are to be sent back via express shipping."

Logistics were very advanced these days.

There were cold chains, and even live ingredients could be transported back.

Besides, this was different from the previous orders. There wasn’t such a tight deadline, but there were a lot of ingredients to buy. If they rented a car to drive there, it would probably be difficult to bring everything back.

"Mm, no problem," Ling Shuyu said faintly.

"While you’re out, you must all follow Shuyu’s orders. All ingredients must be delivered by the 14th."

In other words, they would depart on the 10th, and the ingredients had to be shipped back by the 14th.

That left one day for advance preparations.

Liu Ahbao was slightly puzzled. "Boss, don’t you need to test the dishes in advance?"

Su Chen thought for a moment. "Not for now. I’m confident about these dishes."

’Test the dishes?’

’You only need to test dishes you’re not confident about, and the purpose is to gauge everyone’s reaction. For dishes like these, I just need to make them once in the Gourmet Practice Room and then replicate them later. That’ll be fine.’

’It’s not like they’ll be eating it every day.’

That was about all that needed to be arranged.

The team for this business trip was: Zhang Li, Liu Shengnan, and Bai Xiaobo, with Ling Shuyu as the overall commander.

The 2nd floor couldn’t be without Liu Ahbao and He Shuting, so they could only stay behind to manage the daily operations of the small cafeteria.

As for Su Chen, he needed to start practicing relentlessly in the Gourmet Practice Room, pushing every dish to its absolute peak of perfection.

After the work was assigned, Su Chen stood up. "Before you leave tomorrow, come by the company first. I’ll make some steamed buns for you to eat on the road."

After saying that, he thought for a moment and added an extra reminder for Ling Shuyu, "It’s best to eat them early. We don’t want a repeat of what happened on the train last time."

"Okay." Ling Shuyu gathered her things, also preparing to leave.

A simple meeting came to an end.

Everyone’s tasks were properly assigned. Meiweilai Company was entering full-on battle mode!

...

Capital City, City Construction Group Guesthouse.

"Uncle Lu, it’s still early, what brings you here already? Instead of coming to Capital City, you might as well go stay in Jingzhou for a few days. It’s nice and cool there right now." As Shang Mingke spoke, he was brewing a pot of hot tea. "Besides, you and Master Cui have never gotten along. What made you think of celebrating her birthday?"

Lu Yongliang fanned himself with a cattail fan. August in Capital City was truly hot.

The old man didn’t like to use the air conditioner; he would rather suffer in the heat than be in an air-conditioned room.

"Heh, you really think I’m going to celebrate her birthday? I have to go and back Xiaosu up. Cui Yufen has a bad temper, and it’s obvious she’s going to Jingzhou this time to pick a fight. If no one’s there to help him out, Xiaosu is going to have a hard time."

Lu Yongliang was the type of person who always talked about wanting a fight, but deep down, that wasn’t what he actually thought.

He loved watching a good show, but if things really got to a point the younger generation couldn’t handle, he’d swallow his pride and step in to help.

Besides...

"I’m not sure how well Boss Xiaosu’s Lu Cuisine is. If it’s not good, I can step in to mediate, and the matter will be over. But what if it’s even better than Cui Yufen’s!" Lu Yongliang fanned himself with more force. "What if Cui Yufen wants to take him as an apprentice? I didn’t even succeed in recruiting him, how can I let her get him!"

Shang Mingke smiled faintly.

’That’s Uncle Lu for you.’

’Killing two birds with one stone. If Boss Su isn’t up to the task, he’ll owe Uncle Lu a favor. If Boss Su succeeds, Uncle Lu can then sabotage any talk of an apprenticeship.’

"I’ve already prepared the gift for you. I’m a bit busy with work over here, so I won’t be going. Uncle Lu, please help me bring my gift as well."

"I know, I know!" Lu Yongliang drank his herbal tea and fanned himself with a light breeze, starting to hum contentedly as he shook his head.

More than stepping in to solve the problem himself, he hoped to see Cui Yufen get humiliated.

Just the thought of that old woman’s shocked expression after tasting Boss Su’s cooking made Lu Yongliang smile involuntarily.

"By the way, Uncle Lu," Shang Mingke said as he refilled his tea, "are you saying that Ah Bao’s trial is now over?"

"Hmph." Lu Yongliang grunted. "Thirty years ago, I crushed that group of Japanese people there. Now, it’s up to him. If he brings shame to us, he can forget about ever coming back."

Shang Mingke wanted to say a few more words in Liu Ahbao’s defense, but seeing Lu Yongliang’s unhappy expression, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

Thirty years ago, Lu Yongliang was invited to France to participate in a world cooking competition. In the finals, he stunned everyone with a single dish, Steamed Wuchang Fish, conquering all the judges and defeating his Japanese opponent.

That’s why, although Hubei Cuisine has a mediocre reputation in China, it’s actually quite popular in some regions of Japan.

They eat a lot of fish over there, and many of their current fish-cooking methods were learned from Lu Yongliang, even if they don’t really admit it...

Of course, there was also a little-known secret.

Back then, after Lu Yongliang returned to the country, he wholeheartedly dedicated himself to researching how to promote and glorify Hubei Cuisine.

Five years later, Cui Yufen participated in another competition, hosted by Japan, called the Iron Chef Competition!

But when Cui Yufen participated, television was already widespread. She defeated the resident champion in that competition, causing a huge sensation within Japan.

For a time, Cui Yufen’s fame was unparalleled, and she even earned the title of "Chinese Iron Chef"!

This had always been a sore spot for Lu Yongliang.

’The competition I participated in was more prestigious than yours, the honor I won was more prestigious than yours, but the publicity you got was way better than mine?’

The old man was bitter about it!

Every time he saw Cui Yufen at the National Guest House, he would feel incredibly vexed.

That’s why whenever they were receiving Japanese foreign dignitaries now, Cui Yufen was always the head chef. The purpose was to put those guys in their place!

Lu Yongliang was never on the list of chefs for these occasions, which made him feel unbearably itchy with annoyance.

The quinquennial competition was coming up in a few months, and among all his apprentices, only Liu Ahbao was presentable enough.

’I hope Ah Bao doesn’t embarrass us...’

Night fell, and the stray cats and dogs on the streets found comfortable places to sleep.

In Cuihua Building, a vast private room was unusually bustling with activity.

"Master, why can’t we just stay here in lovely Capital City? Why must we go to a backwater place like Jingzhou? At worst, I can take you to Jinan, and you can inspect the skills of your grand-apprentices there!"

"Senior Brother, didn’t Master already say? Going to Jingzhou for her birthday is just one part of it. The key is to get justice for our junior brother!"

Wang Peixing lowered his head. "I’m sorry, my brothers. It’s because of my business that everyone has to make this long trip."

Cui Yufen knocked on the table. "We’re all family, why say such things? That Boss Xiaosu person didn’t just slap Cuihua Building in the face, he slapped the face of our entire Lu Cuisine circle. I’m going there for one reason."

Everyone turned their gaze to their master.

"To teach that kid a lesson! That’s not how you challenge a restaurant! And that’s not how you cook Lu Cuisine!!!"