When Delicious was selling off some of its office supplies, the large round tables and the small square table in the cafeteria, with their unique yet impractical designs, had never managed to be sold, even at a bargain price.

Now, they were finally being put to use.

In the afternoon, Xiaobin had arranged another round table in the cafeteria by himself.

The cafeteria now had two large round tables and one small square table, which could seat at least 24 people.

There were too many people, so Su Chen was in the kitchen plating the mashed garlic eggplant. Only Bai Xiaobo and Xiaobin were responsible for serving the food, but Delicious wasn’t quite like an ordinary restaurant.

There was a warming counter in the kitchen and another in the cafeteria. Previously, employee meals at Delicious had been served buffet-style, where you swiped a card to get your food.

After placing 24 servings of fish with pickled greens on the cafeteria’s warming counter, Bai Xiaobo and Xiaobin also brought out two large platters of rice.

"Whoa, it’s actually a buffet?"

The colleagues from the design department who had come to eat found it quite novel.

"It’s not that different from our own cafeteria, but the buffet style is a nice touch. Hey, why is there only one dish?"

"Isn’t there another one? Our boss is still the best! A fifty-yuan budget for an overtime meal... across the whole company, probably only President Ling would approve that much, haha!"

"Good thing the new Director Li found this place for us. Even if it’s terrible, it’s got to be better than our cafeteria, right? At least we’re not giving our money to those sons of bitches running our own cafeteria!"

"Hey, hey, you two, come sit over here! President Ling’s here!"

The two guys who had been sitting at the small square table glanced toward the office area, then furtively squeezed in with their colleagues at one of the large round tables.

"Why is President Ling here too? She normally doesn’t even eat dinner!"

"Shh! Quiet down."

As Ling Shuyu and her assistant walked into the cafeteria, the chatter came to an abrupt halt.

Ling Shuyu scanned the cafeteria’s environment, took a tissue from her small purse, and wiped down the square table and chair. Only after confirming there was no dust did she sit down.

"Sister Ling, we can just share one serving."

Ling Shuyu nodded.

To be honest, she hadn’t refused her assistant, not because she wanted to eat, but simply because she wanted to get some fresh air and clear her head for a while. It would put her in a better state of mind for working overtime later.

Ever since her university years, Ling Shuyu had gradually developed the habit of not eating dinner.

Every time she ate dinner, she would become sluggish, wanting only to lie in bed and do nothing, and would eventually doze off in a daze.

Ling Shuyu hated that feeling.

Forget dinner; when exams were approaching, she would even make do with a quick bite for lunch in the library. If not for all those years of hard work, Ling Shuyu couldn’t possibly have become so much more exceptional than her peers at such a young age.

She was a firm believer in the principle that heaven rewards the diligent.

Seeing that no one was moving, Ling Shuyu said lightly, "Let’s hurry up and eat. It looks like you serve yourselves here. Once you’re done, we’ll head back and have a meeting first."

"Sister Ling, I’ll get our food," the assistant offered, standing up.

Only then did the others get up and walk to the warming counter. Everyone lined up in an orderly fashion, with the next person only stepping forward after the one in front had taken their food.

Within the entire Xinghui Company, the design department’s status was indeed high, but the work was a real grind, and overtime was a common occurrence.

For the sake of efficiency, they usually just ordered food from their own cafeteria during overtime. Thanks to the high budget Ling Shuyu had requested, the meals were naturally a bit better than usual, but not by much.

The first person to get their food returned to the round table and, out of habit, lowered their head to dig in.

But soon...

The originally quiet atmosphere of the cafeteria was suddenly broken by a cry of surprise!

"Holy shit, this chef really knows his stuff!"

Once the first person dared to speak out, a second followed!

"Quick, you guys have to try the soup from this fish with pickled greens! It’s incredible! It’s just as good as any of those restaurants in the city!"

"Hiss! The mashed garlic eggplant? It’s divine! I’m from Lu Province, and even I’ve never had eggplant this fragrant!"

"Isn’t this the cafeteria of Director Li’s friend’s company? How can another company’s cafeteria make food this delicious? We need to poach this chef and bring him to our company!"

Normally, whenever Ling Shuyu was present during a meal, these junior designers wouldn’t dare to speak.

But now...

Who could possibly care about that now?

The assistant lowered her head and smiled, pursing her lips. "I guess they’re tired of home cooking and find eating out to be a treat."

The little pun finally brought a slight curve to Ling Shuyu’s lips. "Alright, hurry up and eat."

"Sister Ling, you should eat too."

Ling Shuyu shook her head gently. "I haven’t eaten dinner in many years. I’m not the least bit hungry. Sometimes, eating in the evening actually upsets my stomach."

The assistant sighed. "Alright then."

She picked up some eggplant with her chopsticks, placed it on her rice, then scooped up a bit of rice along with it and took a bite.

"Mmm?" The assistant let out a strange sound.

"What is it?" Ling Shuyu put down her phone. "Is it not good?"

"No. It’s just... a little strange. Let me try again!"

This time, the assistant didn’t even bother with the rice, directly lifting a piece of eggplant to her mouth.

"Oh my god! It’s so good! Sister Ling, you have to try it!"

"No, thank you." Ling Shuyu went back to looking at her phone, using the moment to review the important client’s profile one more time.

"No, you have to try it! Just one bite, just one little bite!"

Faced with her assistant holding the food right up to her lips, Ling Shuyu sighed. Her crimson lips parted slightly, and she gently accepted the small piece of eggplant.

Mm...

Mm???

Ling Shuyu’s expression remained blank, but her pupils dilated uncontrollably.

Mmm!!!

’I haven’t eaten dinner in so many years... has dinner really evolved to this extent?’

Almost subconsciously, driven by pure human instinct, Ling Shuyu’s right hand picked up her chopsticks, seemingly moving without any conscious thought.

Another bite!

BOOM!!!

This time, Ling Shuyu’s pupils grew even wider. Her eyes held not just shock, but something more akin to a trance.

The complex fragrance, dominated by garlic, set off a violent explosion of flavor on her taste buds!

Just one bite.

Ling Shuyu felt like everything she had eaten in the past twenty-odd years had been utter garbage!

’Could it be that I don’t enjoy eating, not because I don’t want to, but because the food has never been good enough?’

As the soft eggplant went down, a trace of sweetness lingered in her mouth, along with a barely perceptible hint of spice on the tip of her tongue.

For Ling Shuyu, whose requirements for food had always been speed and convenience, it was as if a magical door had swung open.

’Why was I fine not eating, but now that I’ve had some, I just want more!’

’Just one more bite. I just want to figure out exactly what this flavor is...’

’Okay, just a little more. There’s that garlicky fragrance and a hint of spice...’

’What is that trace of sweetness from? Why does a savory dish have a hint of sweet...’

CLINK!

Ling Shuyu’s chopsticks hit the serving dish, making a crisp sound.

’It’s all gone?’

’Her assistant sure can eat, can’t she?’

Ling Shuyu looked up with regret, only to see her assistant’s eyes, wide with a look of unparalleled shock.

But more shocked than the assistant was someone else!!!

Su Chen.

In the kitchen, Su Chen was enjoying the stream of experience point notifications, quietly waiting to reach the next Level.

He was only 100 experience points away from leveling up. Generally, the first time someone ate his food, they provided a generous amount of experience points, which would then gradually decrease with subsequent meals.

Su Chen remembered clearly that the first time He Shuting snatched Bai Xiaobo’s steamed bun, she had provided him with 99 experience points all at once.

That had set the record for the most experience points from a single person!

Just as he was about to level up, a line of text that appeared in his mind shocked him so much he nearly fell over.

[Deliciousness Value from Unknown Diner +999]

Su Chen had just breathed a sigh of relief.

[Deliciousness Value from Unknown Diner +1999]

’What the fuck?’

[Deliciousness Value from Unknown Diner +2888]

When Su Chen looked at his panel again.

Player Name: Su Chen

Level: 2 (6130/10000)

Skills: Stir-fry (Max Level), Steam (Max Level), Stew (0/100), Braise (0/100)

’Seriously... Are you a damn EXP piñata or something?’