The Gourmet Customizer

Chapter 95: Chapter 74: Preparing a New Breakfast, S Level Tea Eggs (Part 2)

Upon hearing Su Chen’s voice, He Shuting placed a finger on her lips. "Hush!" Then, she frantically blinked toward Bai Xiaobo’s spot.

This piqued Su Chen’s curiosity. He leaned against the cafeteria’s frosted glass just like them and whispered, "What are you guys up to?"

Liu Shengnan whispered conspiratorially, "Xiaobai’s goddess is here to eat, and she brought another guy with her."

He Shuting: "Xiaobai thought the meal his goddess ordered was for them to eat together, but as it turns out..."

Zhang Li: "Your com... no, *our* company, is so much fun!"

’There was never this kind of gossip back at Xinghui!’

’Not only do I get to eat delicious food every day, but I also get to gossip. Could this job get any better?’

’It’d be even more perfect if someone wasn’t stealing my food!’

Su Chen’s curiosity got the better of him. He peered intently through the door and saw the two servings of stir-fried chicken he had just made being served at a workstation.

A young woman was sitting there—the one Bai Xiaobo had brought over at noon. A young man sat beside her, and the two were feeding each other, bite for bite.

"Tsk."

Su Chen straightened up. "You guys can keep watching. I’m heading back. For the evening order, just prep the ingredients in advance and then you can all call it a day."

As the boss, Su Chen didn’t feel the need to be sneaky. He pushed the door open and walked nonchalantly toward his office.

As he passed by, he overheard their conversation.

"Senior, you’ve got this. The competition for that position isn’t too fierce. I believe in you!"

"You need to work hard too. I heard a lot of people are taking the court exam this year. If it really doesn’t work out, you could consider trying for a different position."

"Oh, right, Senior. My mom brought back some local specialties from our hometown a few days ago. I’ll go get some for you after we finish eating."

"..."

Su Chen let out a soft sigh. He suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Bai Xiaobo.

’Ah, forget it. I won’t dock his bonus this month after all.’

’I’m such a great boss...’

Back in his office, Su Chen drank a glass of water and began to think about the tea eggs.

The company currently had a regular supplier who delivered eggs every day, with the bill being settled monthly.

The consumption rate for them was quite high, and they were always needed for something, so he had never cut off the supply.

’But if they’re just ordinary tea eggs, how can I make them so good that people will keep coming back for more?’

He opened the system’s synthesis frame.

Su Chen had been clever during his previous syntheses. He had often input ingredients like [Liquid Egg] or [Egg White], so the core ingredient [Egg] hadn’t entered its cooldown period yet.

’Does this count as exploiting a bug?’

He input [Egg], and the synthesis frame turned white.

[Five Spices]

It remained white.

[Red Tea]

The synthesis frame turned green.

’It seems an ordinary tea egg recipe is green. It’s hard to get an S Class evaluation with this kind of recipe, but A Level should be doable.’

But that level wasn’t high enough.

[Green Tea]

The synthesis frame went back to white.

Su Chen wasn’t in a hurry. He leaned back in his chair and slowly tried adding every ingredient and seasoning he could think of that might pair with eggs.

’This isn’t working... No matter how many spices I add, the best I can get is a green recipe. Is A Level really the ceiling for tea eggs?’

There was a theory that some recipes could only ever reach A Level, no matter the preparation method, because the ingredients themselves had an inherent ceiling.

Simply changing the seasonings was unlikely to help it reach a new tier; sometimes, it could even be counterproductive.

’Still, it’s one of the Chinese Famous Snacks. I’ll keep trying.’

With his eyes closed, Su Chen continued to experiment frantically, as if he were playing a match-3 game.

Tea eggs basically boiled down to two preparation methods: braising and five-spice. The essentials remained the same despite any variations; these two techniques were always at the core.

...

「Outside.」

Zhang Qing and her senior had eaten six bowls of noodles between the two of them, which was about average for customers who ordered the stir-fried chicken.

One serving of stir-fried chicken plus three bowls of noodles per person, sopping up every last drop of sauce until the bowl was clean—only then was it truly satisfying.

"Well, we’re off now, Xiaobai~"

Bai Xiaobo forced a pained smile. "Okay, take care. Please come again."

The senior chuckled. "This is really good. I’ll hold my celebration banquet here when I pass my exam!"

Zhang Qing tilted her head, a lovely smile on her face in stark contrast to Bai Xiaobo’s pained expression. "We can celebrate together then."

After the pair left, Bai Xiaobo sank weakly back into his chair at his workstation.

’I’d imagined this happening before, but now that it’s real, right in front of my eyes... why does it hurt so much?’

’It hurts! It hurts so much!’

Sister Shengnan, in a rare departure from her usual big-picture attitude, commented, "He hasn’t even taken the exam and he’s already planning a celebration banquet. What a load of crap."

He Shuting was also quite annoyed. "That guy is so arrogant, acting like he’s hot stuff. To put it bluntly, isn’t he just an unemployed bum? What’s he got to be so cocky about?"

Xiaobin kept his head down, nervously scribbling formulas onto a worksheet.

’The adult world is so scary!’

’I don’t want to grow up! I don’t want love!’

Liu Shengnan shot a displeased glance at Ling Shuyu. "Looks like President Ling’s plan is nothing special. We treat one person to a meal and only bring in one new customer. By that math, we’re actually losing money."

Ling Shuyu frowned. "Word-of-mouth marketing needs time to take effect."

She didn’t think there was anything wrong with her plan. "It just means Bai Xiaobo brought the wrong person."

"How can you say that at a time like this! Are you doing it on purpose?" He Shuting snapped, her patience gone.

’It’s one thing to be outshined in looks, but she’s even overshadowing my presence! You may have been Director Ling before, but right now, you’re just a newbie!’

Ling Shuyu crossed her arms. "Didn’t the fan Liu Ahbao brought in already validate my plan? Of those two customers, one ordered two servings for tonight, and the other is in the process of booking an even larger order. Doesn’t that prove that as long as you choose the right person, the plan is highly effective?"