Chapter 422 - 163: Dishes? I Only Need One.

Chapter 422: Chapter 163: Dishes? I Only Need One.

"Where’d the boss go? This is driving us crazy! He can’t speak the language. What if he went out and can’t find his way back?"

"So many people are looking for the boss, and he disappears at a time like this. Should we call the police?"

"It’s not time for that yet! What’s up with his phone? Why does it keep saying he’s out of the service area?"

At the hotel, the Delicious team was frantic.

After returning from the competition and having dinner at the hotel, Su Chen had said he was going to his room to rest. But when Ling Shuyu went to talk to him about something later, he was gone.

They had searched nearly the entire hotel but found no sign of him. His phone wouldn’t go through, either.

Zhang Jiayi thought for a moment. "Did you guys not turn on international roaming?"

"Is that something we had to activate?" Zhang Li pulled out her phone and saw she had no signal. "Oh, I think you’re right!"

The Delicious team members were left speechless. "Have you guys never traveled abroad before?" Zhang Jiayi asked, exasperated.

Everyone looked at her in unison and replied with shameless confidence, "Nope!"

Unbelievable.

Annoyed, Zhang Jiayi put her hands on her hips. "So it looks like the boss didn’t turn on his roaming either. No wonder we can’t reach him! But he’s a grown man. He’s not going to get lost, so you can all relax."

Bai Xiaobo, sweating with anxiety, cried out, "It’s not about him getting lost! It’s that a ton of people back home are trying to contact him! If we can’t find him, we can’t make a decision on anything!"

The group descended into another round of chaotic bickering. Just then, Ling Shuyu stepped forward.

"Didn’t the boss give us our assignments when we got back? Since we can’t find him, let’s just focus on doing our jobs."

"Your work needs to show results by the time he gets back. Especially you, Bai Xiaobo. You’re in charge of finalizing the menu. If you can’t decide on the dishes, everything else is a waste of time!"

"The same goes for everyone else—business as usual! As for all those people back home trying to reach the boss, ignore them for now."

’Besides, we never even planned on entering this competition when we came abroad. All these people are only showing up now because they see Su Chen has a shot at the championship and they want to get on his good side early.’

Ling Shuyu understood this much.

’Since Su Chen disappeared, he probably has his own business to attend to.’

After sending everyone back to their tasks, Ling Shuyu left the hotel by herself.

Before she left, she used the hotel’s WiFi to activate her international roaming and data plan. Truth be told, even though Ling Shuyu was a straight-A student, this was her first time traveling abroad.

’Since the theme is "caring for children with anorexia," I need to start with the children themselves. If I want to find them...’

Ling Shuyu found the nearest children’s hospital on her map.

She didn’t stay idle in the taxi.

For a moment, it felt just like being back at the office. Whenever a big order came in, the entire team would brainstorm, wracking their brains to fulfill it perfectly.

’And what was this competition, if not just another kind of order?’

Ling Shuyu kept busy in the taxi, looking up relevant information.

"’Anorexia is a multifactorial disorder. At present, there are no effective medical treatments...’"

"’The cause for most patients involves social factors or psychological illness.’"

"’Some develop the ’thin is beautiful’ mindset from a young age. Others have a physiological aversion to certain foods that gradually evolves into a disorder. But ultimately, most children with anorexia are perfectionists!’"

The more she read, the more shocked she was.

Finally, Ling Shuyu learned something she had never considered.

The department for treating anorexia was actually the Psychiatry Department!

’In other words,’ she thought, ’it can basically be classified as a mental illness!’

’This... How is a chef supposed to treat an illness?’ Ling Shuyu started to question the logic behind the competition’s theme.

Still, it was worth investigating regardless.

Hospitals are always packed, no matter the time of day, as if there’s no end to the illnesses people suffer from. After arriving at the children’s hospital, Ling Shuyu followed the signs to the Psychiatry Department.

Her spoken English might not have been fluent, but as a top student, Ling Shuyu had no trouble reading it.

The department’s waiting area was packed, filled almost entirely with adults waiting with their children. Ling Shuyu watched for a moment and noticed that many of the kids looked perfectly normal, except that they were a little on the thin side.

’Probably malnourished...’

The next step was figuring out how to approach them.

’I’ll never get access to their medical records, so I’ll have to...’ Ling Shuyu scanned the somewhat frail-looking children, searching for a friendly face she could talk to.

Just as her gaze swept toward the window...

The sun was setting, and the last rays of the evening glow cast a pale yellow haze over the hospital lawn. A man in a suit sat on a bench, the cuffs of his white shirt peeking out from his sleeves.

Who else could it be but Su Chen?

And there...

Su Chen had somehow gotten ahold of some Blast Ham and was happily munching on a stick in each hand. Next to him sat a little girl, no older than seven or eight, who was doing the exact same thing, holding two sticks of Blast Ham herself.

Their faces were smudged with chili powder.