For instance...

"Thanks for the treat~ It’s getting late, and I have to go over my aptitude test questions this afternoon."

Bai Xiaobo waved his phone. "I’ll call a car for you!"

After Zhang Qing got into the Didi, she took out her phone and sent a WeChat message.

[Senior~ Studying must be tough lately, right? I found a really interesting and delicious restaurant. Want to have dinner together tonight and relax?]

[Tonight? Sure.]

Zhang Qing put her phone away with a smile, her mind already drifting to fantasies about the upcoming national civil service exam.

She and her senior would both pass, they would fall deeply in love, and their parents would be beaming with joy...

All of it, everything, even down to where their future children would go to kindergarten. But in all these fantasies, the person who had just treated her to lunch was nowhere to be found.

After seeing Zhang Qing off, Bai Xiaobo eagerly scurried back to the office.

"Stop daydreaming and help out! Those animals from Xinghui will be here any minute!" Liu Shengnan said, carrying a bundle of scallions into the kitchen.

Fresh from having lunch with his goddess, Bai Xiaobo was full of energy. "Sister Shengnan! I’ll do it, I’ll do it~"

"Look at you. Over the moon, are we?"

"Hehe! Just you wait for the wedding candy~"

"You big goof!" Liu Shengnan grumbled at Bai Xiaobo’s retreating back.

In the kitchen.

Su Chen pointed to a pot of broth that was about to boil. "The first batch is done. You make the second one. Zhang Li, you assist."

Ling Shuyu said "Oh," then trotted to the office and back. "I’m going to change first!"

When Su Chen watched her put on a white chef’s uniform...

No, not a uniform, a dress—the kind with a bit of lace trim.

And then, after she put on a chef’s hat...

"Who taught you to dress like that?"

"This is how they dress in anime!"

Her reasoning was weak, but her confidence was strong.

Su Chen brought a fist to his nose. ’She looks good, sure, but the icy beauty from my memories has suddenly turned into a little kitchen maid.’

’Is she going for the contrast?’

"Alright, you’re up for this batch."

Ling Shuyu stood before the stove, spatula in hand. She took a deep breath and began to recall every step Su Chen had explained.

After running through everything she remembered, she began to cook.

Su Chen stood to the side, watching.

’Her scallion-chopping is fine. A bit slow, but practice makes perfect. It’s just a matter of time.’

’The oil temperature for flash-frying the aromatics... isn’t quite right.’

’She’s too slow when scrambling the eggs, so the curds aren’t broken up enough...’

’She’s too slow turning up the heat after adding water, so the egg fat won’t emulsify properly. That will reduce the soup’s umami.’

Once the water boiled, Su Chen let out a soft sigh.

Based on his memory of making this thousands of times, this batch of noodles would at best be rated B Level—the flavor would be decent, but nothing more.

"Don’t bother cooking the noodles in that. Just pour out the broth. I’ve told you everything you need to know, so just watch me more carefully."

Su Chen took over the stove. "What’s the order for the Xinghui employees for lunch today?"

Liu Shengnan replied, "Seventy people are eating. Fifty orders of flash-fried noodles, and the other twenty said they’ll have whatever, as long as the budget doesn’t exceed 20 yuan."

"Those guys... Heh."

Fifty orders of flash-fried noodles were a piece of cake for Su Chen.

One large pot could yield more than ten servings, so he only needed to get three pots going.

By staggering the start times, steam was rising from the boiling water in all three pots in a mere ten minutes or so.

Ling Shuyu stood to the side, looking thoughtful. "Boss, I’ll practice more this afternoon."

Su Chen: "And next time, don’t bother with all this flashy getup. It’s like they say, a bad student has the fanciest stationery."

Ling Shuyu: Ծ‸Ծ

"It’s called, ’A craftsman must first sharpen his tools’!"

"I’m not arguing with you. Hurry up and cook the noodles. As for those other 20 orders..." Su Chen waved at He Shuting. "Weren’t you filming a video today? Get the best-looking screenshot of the finished stir-fried chicken, print it in color, and stick it on the door."

"Huh?"

"Just do as I say."

After giving the order, Su Chen went back to making the stir-fried chicken, a sense of anticipation growing in him for the arrival of the Xinghui army.

Everyone had overlooked one thing.

Several times, Zhang Li wanted to ask: ’Didn’t we agree we’d cook and then eat first? It’s already past lunchtime, aren’t you guys hungry?’

But seeing how energetic everyone was, she was too embarrassed to ask. It would make her seem like a huge glutton!

’But I’m so hungry... The employees at Delicious have some serious stamina, don’t they?’

’Even though I’m starving, I have to hold on! I can’t let them look down on me!’

But if you wanted to talk about a real foodie, that would have to be Wang Rui.

The second work ended, Wang Rui shot out like a bullet, leading the charge across the road. He was far ahead in this seventy-person marathon.

The moment he burst into Delicious, he started shouting at the top of his lungs, "Zhang Li! Assistant Zhang? Where are you? Hurry up and serve the food, Zhang Li!"

The short-legged girl ran out huffily. "What are you howling about? What did you order?"

Wang Rui was the first to claim a workstation. He didn’t really like eating at the big round table inside anymore; he always had the feeling he was being watched.

"I didn’t order anything today. I wanted to see if I’d get lucky, in case there was a new... Hey! There really is a new dish! Stir-fried chicken, eighty—HISS!!! Eighty-eight?"

"Well, are you eating it or not!" Zhang Li said, hands on her hips. "I’m telling you, this stir-fried chicken is amazing. Two groups of customers came in earlier and drank every last drop of the sauce."

"But eighty-eight..." Wang Rui mumbled, counting on his fingers.

’A monthly salary of three thousand, and lunch is eighty-eight. That’s basically a whole day’s work for nothing!’

But since Zhang Li said it was delicious...

Wang Rui stared thoughtfully at the photo of the dish posted on the door. The glistening chunks of chicken, the soft and fluffy pieces of potato, and all that sauce at the bottom. If only he could dip a bowl of noodles in it... Noodles?

"Noodles are free, extra portion for 5 yuan?"

"Yup!" Zhang Li chuckled. "Good deal, right?"

"Is it possible..." Wang Rui’s eyes lit up with an idea. He grabbed the finance lady next to him. "The two of us—no, the three of us!"

He pulled over another colleague. "The three of us can order one stir-fried chicken, which comes with one free portion of noodles, and then we add two more portions. That’s 98 yuan total, which is less than 33 yuan per person. That should be enough to fill us up!"

The finance lady didn’t seem to mind. "A change of pace would be nice."

The other colleague shrugged. "I’m curious to try it. Let’s see what’s so special about this stir-fried chicken that Assistant Zhang recommends so highly."

Wang Rui was thrilled. "You hear that? We’ll have one order of stir-fried chicken! Plus two extra portions of noodles! And don’t forget the free portion that comes with it, ’kay?"

Zhang Li: o((⊙﹏⊙))o

’That’s allowed?’