Chapter 334 - 144: Another Serving! One for Each

Chapter 334: Chapter 144: Another Serving! One for Each

Imagine this: you think you’re done with pastries for the day, and it’s time for the after-meal fruit.

But then you pop a strawberry into your mouth and take a bite.

Holy crap!

It’s another pastry!

How fun and shocking would that be!

Su Chen prepared the ingredients for several types of fruit-shaped pastries. These couldn’t be made too far in advance, or the various vegetable and fruit juices mixed into the dough would easily discolor.

To ensure the fruit-shaped pastries retained the flavor of the fruits they were imitating, he had to use natural colors. Absolutely no artificial food coloring!

Taking the chilled lotus flower crisp dough from the refrigerator, Su Chen picked up a fine blade, ready to carve the petals.

Wang Rui entered the kitchen carrying a tray. "Boss Su! Those customers say they have something urgent and absolutely have to see you!"

"Something urgent? Did they say what it is?" Su Chen asked.

"Nope, they didn’t say a thing. Just that it’s extremely urgent and they absolutely have to meet with you!"

Su Chen said, "Oh."

’Good thing Wang Rui isn’t one of my employees, or half his bonus would be gone by now.’

’Is this how you’re supposed to report things to the boss?’

’You’re supposed to find out what’s going on before you come running to the boss!’

"Hey, Old Ba, start on the ingredients for the fruit-shaped pastries. We can fry these lotus flower crisps later. I’m going to go see what this is about."

Chen Wenliang nodded.

The two of them had already gone over the process for the fruit-shaped pastries in detail the day before.

They had planned for four types of fruit-shaped pastries.

Walnut, peach, persimmon, and mangosteen.

The four types would be arranged on a small platter, one for each guest.

The fillings were already prepared. The task now was to properly mix the dough for the various naturally colored ’skins,’ which would be followed by the delicate handiwork.

Chen the Eighth wasn’t capable of that step; it had to be done by Su Chen himself.

He washed his hands and straightened his suit.

’Cooking in a suit has its perks,’ Su Chen thought. ’If a guest wants to see me, at least my clothes are plenty presentable.’

’If I actually had to meet people wearing one of those standard chef’s uniforms, the thought of it is actually kind of funny.’

After knocking and entering the private room, Su Chen’s nostrils twitched. At that moment, his Peak of Flavor ability fully kicked in.

’This fragrance... It must be the smell of at least a dozen different cosmetics.’

Seeing the boss arrive, Zhang Jiayi immediately sidled up to him, phone in hand. "Boss Su~"

That voice sent a shiver down the spine of He Shuting, who was waiting by the door.

"Boss Su! I’m in a TikTok food festival event right now, and I need to find someone to help me make pastries! Seeing as you’re already making some, how about you do me a favor and help me out?"

Su Chen glanced at Zhang Jiayi’s phone screen. The live comments were scrolling by so fast they were a complete blur. He quickly pushed the phone away.

"Don’t film me."

"A handsome guy like you is afraid of the camera? Hehe... Come on, Boss Su, just say yes to Jiayi, won’t you? Or else she’s going to be in real trouble." Duoduo had stood up at some point and was now clinging to Su Chen’s arm.

She even deliberately pressed herself against him.

’She can do that?’ Zhang Jiayi stared, stunned for a moment.

Although she and her girlfriends often went to clubs and called over a few cute guys for fun, wasn’t Sister Duoduo being a little too forward this time?

Su Chen silently extracted his arm from her clutches.

’The women at my company are all prettier than you. You think a honey trap is going to work on me?’

’Not a chance in hell.’

Su Chen opened his mouth to refuse. "According to our rules, customers are not allowed in the back kitchen. Plus, you’re live-streaming, and this part of my pastry-making process involves..."

"Boss Su, I understand you have your reasons. Look, how about I add another twenty thousand?"

Su Chen immediately changed his tune. "...this part of my pastry-making process involves a very aesthetically pleasing presentation, so of course I should invite customers to watch! Will you only be watching, or is there more?"

As he spoke, he turned Zhang Jiayi’s phone back toward him. "And of course, filming me is fine too."

’For crying out loud!’

’If you were gonna add more money, you should have just said so!’

’I wasn’t making much profit on this order to begin with, what with decorating this dessert room. An extra twenty thousand? I can absolutely accept that!’

To many people, that was a lot of money, perhaps even half a year’s salary.

But for a certain Miss Zhang...

What was twenty thousand yuan compared to her own reputation?

Even if her opponent had a top-100 streamer on her side, and even if she still lost in the end, she couldn’t afford to lose too badly, right?

"Yep, just watching will be fine!" Zhang Jiayi was all smiles.

A problem that could be solved with money wasn’t really a problem.

After saying this, she immediately unmuted her phone’s microphone, her voice now filled with a newfound confidence.

"Everyone, I’ve found my assistant! And what a coincidence, I just so happen to be having afternoon tea at a very special restaurant today. The head chef and owner is a good friend of mine, so I’m going to have him help me in this battle!"

With that, the young lady swayed her hips and, with her three girlfriends in tow, followed Su Chen to the company cafeteria and through it into the kitchen.

Now that she had chosen her assistant, Sweet unmuted her microphone as well.

Having some proper communication and banter during the creation process was also part of the show’s appeal.

"Oh, has Jiayi chosen her assistant? And who is this handsome fellow? Hehe, I don’t think I’ve seen him before?"

Zhang Jiayi forced a smile. "He’s a dear friend of mine! I’m just having afternoon tea at his company right now. So, shall we begin?"

"Teacher Tang, are we starting?"

Old Tang’s chubby face appeared on screen. "Let’s get started! There are way too many posers out there doing restaurant reviews, but today we’re not visiting a shop! Friends and fans, today Old Tang is going to make a very classic dessert for all of you!"

"It’s hailed as a symphony of coffee and cheese. Its rich flavor and distinct layers will make you feel like you’re immersed in the romantic atmosphere of Italy with every bite. If you know what it is, type the name of this dessert in the live comments!"

As soon as Old Tang finished, Sweet’s live chat exploded.

"Tiramisu!"

"Timirasu!"

"Crap, what kind of timi-su is it again?"

"Tiramisu!"

Sweet said, "What Teacher Tang is making right now is also one of my favorite desserts—it’s Tiramisu! Everyone pay close attention, so you can learn how to make it for your girlfriends!"

Their side of the introduction was over.

Zhang Jiayi froze.

’Aren’t I supposed to be doing an introduction, too?’

’But the problem is... I don’t know a damn thing!’

She shot Su Chen a pleading look, but Boss Su just smiled faintly and glanced over at Ling Shuyu.

President Ling brushed her bangs aside with her hand, glanced at the lines of poetry Wang Rui was holding, and then took charge of the live stream on Zhang Jiayi’s phone.

’It’s just presenting a design proposal off the cuff, right?’

’How hard could it be?’