Chapter 380 - 155: The Third Floor is Ready, a Frenzy of Home-Style Dishes

Chapter 380: Chapter 155: The Third Floor is Ready, a Frenzy of Home-Style Dishes

Wang Peixing was a bit curious and asked Su Chen through the window, "Boss, how much are you going to sell this Mapo Tofu for?"

Su Chen replied without hesitation, "88 yuan."

Wang Peixing: ???

’Can you read my mind?’

Su Chen explained, "You’ll understand once you follow the recipe. No one will say this Mapo Tofu is expensive at that price."

Wang Peixing nodded. He first read through the entire recipe, staring thoughtfully at the card for a long while before finally starting to prepare the ingredients as instructed.

’Trim the outer layer off the firm tofu, then cut it into cubes? That’s quite a bit of waste!’

’It uses half a pound of ground beef just for the stir-fry! Doesn’t half a pound cost over thirty yuan?’

’Hiss! And it even uses the clear stock from Lu Cuisine for flavoring? A single ladle of that must be twenty yuan, right?’

As he followed the steps one by one, Wang Peixing grew more and more astounded.

Was 88 fucking yuan expensive?

It wasn’t just *not* expensive; it was a total steal!

Time flies when you’re busy.

While the brothers were busy cooking, Su Chen gathered the employees who had trickled back to the company.

"Why isn’t Zhang Li here?"

Liu Shengnan rubbed her eyes. "A few of us just grabbed some rest on the second floor. Zhang Li was putting up murals for the company last night and must have been dead tired. She went home to rest."

"Alright then." Su Chen gestured for everyone to sit down. "The brothers will be done cooking soon. I just need to taste everything, and since none of you have eaten yet, you might as well have a meal."

A look of uncontrollable delight appeared on Zhang Jiayi’s face.

’Something this good is actually happening?’

’Getting to taste all kinds of home-style stir-fries, handmade by so many master chefs, on my very first day?’

’And from what the boss said, it sounds like it’s free!’

’Free food always tastes the best!’

’I get to earn money, eat delicious food, and I can even post videos and livestream to flex!’

In that moment, Zhang Jiayi was utterly convinced: she had found the perfect job!

’From now on, even if Boss Su tries to fire me, I’m absolutely not leaving!’

While cooking, Wang Peixing watched the tofu BUBBLE BUBBLE in the pot and said with a laugh, "Boss Su is really doing well for himself now. Using an Alphard for pickups. Even our hotel doesn’t have a car like that."

An Alphard?

Su Chen turned his head to look at Zhang Jiayi. "You took the Alphard to pick people up today?"

"Yep! That car fits a lot of people. It would’ve been too much trouble to make multiple trips otherwise," Zhang Jiayi said nonchalantly.

Su Chen clenched his fists. He felt as if Liu Shengnan had just stabbed his wallet in the back.

He silently turned around and opened a search engine on his phone.

"How much to rent an Alphard for a day? Urgent, waiting for answers online!"

The first dish to come out was Wang Peixing’s Mapo Tofu.

Su Chen took it from the pass-through and placed it on a dining table.

Because the third floor’s renovations had to follow government requirements, the overall style was rather corporate.

The surfaces of most fixtures were stainless steel.

Eight kitchens lined three sides of the dining hall. Along the outermost wall of the main hall was a wraparound buffet counter that took up nearly a hundred square meters.

The areas on either side of the buffet counter, as well as the space deeper inside, were designated as dining areas.

There were tables for six, four, and two people.

The tables and chairs were also made of the same very "institutional" stainless steel. Fortunately, the chairs had anti-slip cushions; otherwise, it would be easy to slide off them.

Su Chen placed the tofu on a six-person table.

The utensil of choice was a spoon!

He dipped a small spoon into the dish, deftly scooped up a piece of tofu, and first, observed it.

"The consistency of the sauce is perfect. It allows the bits of ground beef to cling to the tofu."

"The broad bean paste is cooked perfectly, and the color of the chili oil is gorgeous."

To the side, Wang Peixing’s ego began to swell from Su Chen’s praise.

"Brother Wang, did you forget something?"

"Huh?"

Su Chen pointed at the tofu on the plate. "Did you forget to sprinkle the peppercorn powder?"

"But I did sprinkle it!"

Su Chen shook his head, popped the piece of tofu into his mouth, tasted it, and said with complete certainty, "You added the peppercorn powder during the cooking process. You didn’t sprinkle any on top after plating!"

"You’re supposed to add more after plating?"

Damn!

Su Chen stared speechlessly at the head chef of Cuihua Building. ’So you didn’t even bother to read the recipe carefully, huh?’

Wang Peixing pulled out the card and read it over and over again, meticulously. "Oh, for crying out loud! I read it once and thought I had it memorized, so I just went ahead and made it. I didn’t think you had to add the peppercorn powder twice. I’ll remake it, I’ll remake it!"

Su Chen nodded and raised his voice slightly. "Everyone, make sure you follow the recipes to the letter! Don’t you dare skip a single step."

There was no doubt about the skills of these brothers, but they had a tendency to get careless.

They’d get cocky about their skills and end up being careless. They definitely needed a reminder.

Zhang Jiayi also grabbed a spoon, scooped up a piece of tofu, and popped it into her mouth. "This is amazing! This Mapo Tofu is so delicious, it makes me crave a bowl of rice!"

"I think it’s delicious too. I don’t get why the Boss isn’t happy with it, though."

"The boss has his reasons. Hey, Bai Xiaobo, have you no shame?"

In the time it took for them to talk, the plate of tofu disappeared, one spoonful at a time.

Who would have thought that at some point, that guy Bai Xiaobo had run down to the second floor to grab a bowl of rice. He picked up the serving plate and poured all the remaining sauce and bits of ground beef right on top.

He began shoveling it into his mouth.

The aroma was incredible!

With the first dish done, Second Brother’s dish was ready right after!

Shi Qi’s Sautéed Potato, Eggplant, and Green Pepper was also ready!

One delicious dish after another was brought to the table, and Su Chen took only a single bite of each.

Some dishes still had minor flaws in the areas requiring special attention. Su Chen pointed out each one, and after a moment of enlightenment, the brothers would immediately dive back into their kitchens to remake the dish.

The other employees, however, were in heaven.

"Holy shit, when have we ever eaten such a feast?!"

"You say that like the boss mistreats you. But... now that you mention it, I guess we really haven’t..."

"It’s a shame Zhang Li isn’t here! I wish we could save some for her."

There’s a strange phenomenon when it comes to serving food.

If twenty or thirty dishes are served all at once, six or seven people could never finish it all.

They’d be full after just a few bites.

But if the dishes are served one after another...

After a good while, Su Chen stared at the more than twenty plates on the table, all picked clean.

’Are you guys fucking pigs?’

If it weren’t for the fact that after over two hours of trial and error, all the brothers had finally managed to cook their assigned dishes to his standards, Su Chen really would have lost his temper looking at this pack of gluttonous employees.

The business on the third floor was mostly settled.

Only then did Su Chen turn to Ling Shuyu.

"One last thing."

Everyone else turned to look as well.

"On the 19th floor, we’re making Cthulhu Crab Soup Dumplings to order!"

"The elevators are off-limits. If you want to eat, you’ll have to get in line!"