The Gourmet Customizer

Well, the flaw was obvious.

Or rather, it was something Su Chen should have realized long ago.

The noodles weren’t good enough... because he had always used a dough mixer to knead the dough and a noodle press to shape it.

So while the flavor of his noodles had already reached a pinnacle, the noodles themselves were not exceptional enough.

Dough from a mixer was hard to get just right; it was either too chewy or not chewy enough.

And while machine-pressed noodles were fine for everyday use, under the scrutiny of the Peak of Flavor system, it was a bit of a cop-out.

Su Chen, who rarely kneaded dough by hand, made a test batch in the practice room and, unsurprisingly, elevated the noodles to SS Level.

’It seems you can’t cut any corners if you want to create truly exquisite food... The industrial era of Delicious can be declared officially over.’

In the kitchen, Su Chen silently added water to a basin and began to knead the dough in earnest.

The best noodles for this dish were hand-rolled ones. He would need to roll the rested dough into a flat sheet, sprinkle it with dry flour, fold it, and then cut it with a knife into thin strips.

Before long, a large pot of noodles was cooked, and a big steamer of buns was ready. Su Chen called out, and Ah Bao came in to help serve.

"Wow, Boss, today’s lunch is so lavish! And there’s so much of it!"

Liu Ahbao saw that Su Chen had steamed a huge basket of buns—a full 24 of them!

He was thrilled. He could finally eat his fill! If they divided them up, each person would get almost five buns. ’This is awesome!’

"Ah... Didn’t Ling Shuyu and the others just get back? They haven’t eaten yet, have they? They can just eat with us."

Er...

Ah Bao silently recalculated in his head.

That wasn’t much at all. At most, everyone would only get two buns. Looking at the pot of noodles, Liu Ahbao’s mind started scheming.

’I can have noodles any day. I can even make them myself, and they’re almost as good as the boss’s. But I don’t get to eat buns like these every day!’

Besides, the next day, Su Chen would set the price for these buns at 38 yuan each.

At Delicious, they were part of the premium menu—the kind that even the staff couldn’t bring themselves to eat with abandon.

’I could trade my noodles for someone else’s bun, but who would be willing to trade with me...’

Liu Ahbao mulled this over as he placed the buns on a large platter and served everyone a big bowl of noodles.

He looked around. The other Delicious employees definitely wouldn’t trade with him, and he didn’t dare try anything with the old gentlemen. He had no choice but to shelve his little scheme.

A moment later, Su Chen and Ah Bao brought out the buns and noodles, with Aunt Fang helping as well.

"Go call Shuyu and the others over to eat."

When the group had returned earlier, they had gone to the 19th floor to store the ingredients. After coming back to the 2nd floor, Ling Shuyu had called them together for a quick, simple meeting.

Hearing Su Chen call them to eat, the group of them burst out of Ling Shuyu’s office excitedly.

"This..." Jiang Wusheng watched the boisterous group. "Boss Su doesn’t seem like a stingy man. Don’t his employees usually get enough to eat?"

Lu Yongliang chuckled. "I’m sure they get plenty to eat. I suspect there’s another reason for their excitement."

The three elders watched Bai Xiaobo and the others holding massive bowls, furiously slurping noodles. Often, before they had even swallowed the noodles in their mouths, they were already taking a bite out of a bun.

An indescribable feeling welled up inside them.

’This doesn’t look like they get enough to eat at all, damn it. This is how you’d expect someone who hasn’t eaten in days to behave!’

’Especially that girl with the short legs!’

’Those cheeks... TSK TSK TSK. It looked like she was just constantly stuffing her face without even bothering to swallow!’

’Unbelievable...’

"Gentlemen, time was limited, so I couldn’t prepare a proper meal to host you. Please forgive me," Su Chen said as he returned to the dining table.

Liu Ahbao had been relegated to the employees’ table, leaving Su Chen to sit with the three old gentlemen, making it a perfect table for four.

"Boss Xiaosu, what are you saying?" Lu Yongliang said, picking up his chopsticks. "This is just a simple, home-style meal. Who eats a grand feast every single day?"

In front of each person was a large bowl of noodles, two steamed buns, and two tea eggs.

To be honest, just looking at the spread, it did seem a little plain.

Jiang Wusheng roughly estimated that this meal would probably cost less than thirty yuan at an outside restaurant.

But he also knew that Boss Su was incredibly busy today. It was good enough to have something to eat at all; it would be pointless to get picky at a time like this.

Lu Yongliang was even less likely to complain. He heartily picked up a bun from his plate and took a massive bite.

The chopsticks in his other hand, which had been moving to pick up some noodles, suddenly froze. He looked like a still-frame image.

"Mr. Lu?" Jiang Wusheng waved a hand in front of his face. "Mr. Lu?"

After calling his name twice, Lu Yongliang finally reacted. But he ignored Jiang Wusheng and hurriedly took another bite of the bun.

’How is this possible!’

At that moment, Lu Yongliang couldn’t be bothered to speak; his mind was in turmoil.

’Is this even a bun I’m eating?’

’No... more accurately, *this* is what a bun should be!’

After he finished the first bun, Lu Yongliang felt as if he hadn’t eaten anything at all, and he hurriedly grabbed the second one.

His wolfish gobbling left the Jiang Brothers completely perplexed.

’Could it be that Mr. Lu skipped breakfast this morning too?’

The two of them shook their heads, deciding not to dwell on it, and started on their own buns.