This feeling...

Liu Xia never considered herself a fan of scallions. In fact, when she was a child, she’d refuse to eat any dish if she saw scallions or ginger in it.

She only got a little better about it after growing up.

But this feeling...

A few strands of noodles entered her mouth, and it felt exactly as Wang Rui had described—like someone was wildly dancing on her taste buds with a giant bundle of scallions!

The key was that the flavor in her mouth wasn’t the unpleasant taste of ordinary scallions at all. The pungency was almost nonexistent, replaced by an aroma Liu Xia had never experienced before!

’Could this be the fragrance of scallions?’

As someone who would never willingly eat scallions, this was the first time Liu Xia truly understood their fragrance.

Compared to the aroma, the perfectly chewy texture of the noodles almost seemed insignificant.

Liu Xia picked up a piece of napa cabbage.

"Mmm..."

The tender stalk melted in her mouth with just a gentle press, while the leaves retained a pleasant crispness. The more she chewed, the richer the fresh flavor of the cabbage became, mingling with the savory soy and scallion notes of the broth.

Liu Xia no longer cared to wonder if she was now running around in Wang Rui’s mouth with a bundle of scallions.

She tied up her hair and lowered her head.

"SLURP~ SLURP~"

Evidently, her other colleagues were in a similar state, especially the few who were eating at Delicious for the first time.

Their mood had transformed from initial disappointment to a mix of thirty percent shock, thirty percent awe, and thirty percent bliss!

And the last ten percent?

That was regret.

Regret that they hadn’t discovered this hidden gem of a restaurant sooner!

"You think the people at this company don’t get enough to eat every day?" He Shuting asked, peeking at the scene through the glass on the kitchen door.

Even through the kitchen door, the sound of fifteen people frantically slurping their noodles was crystal clear.

"I think so too. The way they ate last night was bad enough, but today is even worse. Look at that guy with the glasses—damn, he’s licking the bottom of the bowl with his tongue, his whole face is buried in there. Isn’t that disgusting?" Bai Xiaobo was also shocked.

The way these fifteen people devoured a single bowl of noodles made it look like they were refugees eating relief rations.

Liu Shengnan should have been working out front, but since she had helped knead the dough for this meal, she was also hiding in the kitchen to watch. She couldn’t help but sigh. "Our boss’s skills are truly incredible. If it weren’t for the time constraint when he was cooking the noodles, I would’ve snagged a bowl for myself first."

"Don’t worry, there are still three catties of dough left. That’s enough for us," Aunt Fang said. She wasn’t fooling around with the young folks and was diligently rolling out dough at the counter.

Su Chen was only responsible for rolling out the dough for customers. As for the staff meal, he couldn’t be bothered to do it himself, as long as he managed the key steps.

"Shuting, Shuting!" Bai Xiaobo whispered. "Go see what the boss is doing. These people are almost done eating, it’s time for him to cook for us!"

"Why don’t you go yourself?" He Shuting shot him a look. "If the boss doesn’t cook, we can just do it ourselves. Xiaobai, you’re getting cocky, aren’t you? Daring to order the boss around."

"Hmph... The food we make ourselves is nowhere near as good as the boss’s," Bai Xiaobo grumbled, picking at his fingers.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

Before, when Su Chen had promised to cook for everyone to pay off his debt, Bai Xiaobo had joked around every day, feeling like he and the boss were good friends.

But ever since the round-table meeting ended today, Su Chen’s entire demeanor had suddenly changed.

Although he still joked with everyone in the kitchen from time to time, the feeling was hard to describe. In short, no one dared to act as presumptuously as they had before.

"Sigh. As the saying goes, you can’t talk back to the hand that feeds you," Liu Shengnan said, looking toward the dining area with a sigh full of emotion. "We’re eating the boss’s food and taking the boss’s money. We can’t act tough with him anymore."

"Well, in that case..." Bai Xiaobo said very seriously, "why don’t we place an order for ourselves and pay for it? That way, we can justifiably get the boss to cook for us, right?"

"Is that justifiable?" Liu Shengnan asked, turning her head to him.

He Shuting: "Justifiable, but not advisable."

"I think so too." Xiaobin hadn’t officially entered the workforce yet, but thinking about it from another angle, ’If I paid my homeroom teacher to give me private lessons at night, would that be justifiable?’

Justifiable, but really not advisable.

"Alright, alright. Xiaosu has been waking up early and staying up late these past few days, so let him rest for a bit. We all saw how he made it just now, so we can just cook it ourselves," Aunt Fang said with a smile.

Bai Xiaobo had no choice but to give up. He continued to watch the fifteen people in the dining area. "What’s that guy with the glasses doing now?"

In the dining area, Wang Rui, who had licked his bowl clean, was looking around everywhere.

He really wanted to ask if he could get another bowl of such delicious noodles.

When he came to eat the day before, there was a beautiful woman sitting in the dining area. Today, there was no one at all.

"Wang Rui, you really found a hidden gem for us! I’ve decided, I’m eating here every day for lunch from now on!" a male colleague from HR said, wiping his mouth. "If only we could get another bowl."

"My thoughts exactly!" Wang Rui gave him a thumbs-up.

Liu Xia didn’t have time to fuss over his earlier metaphor. "Wang Rui, aren’t you good friends with their product manager? Do another count, let’s place another order. It’s torture to stop eating when you’re not quite full."

"Yeah, Wang Rui, I feel like my stomach expanded today, like suddenly upgrading to a 512GB phone. Place another order for us."

The other colleagues chimed in with their agreement.

When it came to such exquisite delicacies, the only satisfying way to eat was until you were stuffed.

Eighty percent full?

What’s the difference between that and not eating at all?

A bead of sweat appeared on Wang Rui’s forehead. He wasn’t sure if it was from drinking the hot soup or something else.

’If I’d known, I wouldn’t have acted like such a big shot!’

’I’m not actually close with that product manager at all...’

But things had already come to this, so Wang Rui had no choice but to brace himself and take out his phone.

"Bro, bro! So, like, is it possible for us to place another order right now and get another bowl of noodles?"

After sending the message, Wang Rui wondered why he was being so damn subservient.

’I’m here to spend money and eat, yet I have to beg the product manager and be wary of the beautiful waitress’s mood. Why is this happening?’

Behind the glass door, Bai Xiaobo looked at his phone. "Damn it, last night they didn’t leave a single scrap for us, and now they’re back for more at lunch?"

TAP TAP TAP!

He typed back at lightning speed: "Time does not permit. Thank you."

Before he could hit send, Liu Shengnan stopped Bai Xiaobo’s hand. "Think of the bigger picture! Don’t forget our goal—one hundred and fifty thousand!"

"Sigh, I’ll go ask the boss. Looks like we’ll have to make do for lunch again today." He Shuting finally pushed the door open and walked out of the kitchen.

The moment she pushed the door open, several of the male employees in their seats whipped their heads around in unison.

When the male colleague from HR saw such a pretty girl suddenly appear, he immediately stood up with a smile, so confident that he didn’t even see Wang Rui’s frantic gesture to stop him.

"Miss, waitress... could we..."

"Who are you talking to! Who’s a waitress? Do I look like a waitress to you? If you don’t know, then don’t just spout nonsense, okay?"

He Shuting was baffled.

To avoid looking like a waitress, she had specifically changed her "skin" today: a short-sleeved top with cutouts, a short leather skirt, black pantyhose, and a pair of high heels.

’Have you ever seen a waitress wearing black pantyhose?’

Shooting a glare at the greasy-looking man, He Shuting’s heels went CLICK-CLACK-CLICK-CLACK as she stormed off toward Su Chen’s office.