I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

When Li Zhibai came out of the finance office, his face was very long.

Su Su was preparing food in the kitchen when she saw her master come in. She was about to greet him when she suddenly froze.

Huh? What's wrong with Master? Isn't he always happy when he makes money? Why has he suddenly reverted to that aloof and ascetic look he had when his face was twitching before?

It was as if someone owed him 500 million and hadn't paid it back.

"Master, are you... alright?" Su Su asked.

"It's nothing." Li Zhibai said expressionlessly, picking up his apron and tying it on. He then asked, "Are all the ingredients ready?"

"It's ready."

"Okay, I'll do it."

Li Zhibai walked to the cutting board, picked up the cleaver, and slashed down hard on a piece of winter melon with a loud bang.

The knife flashed swiftly, each cut precise, but Su Su always felt that her master wasn't chopping vegetables; he was clearly taking his anger out on the winter melon.

She guessed right.

For Li Zhibai, who loved money more than anything, suddenly having to hand over a large sum of money was no different from taking his life.

Especially since he's far from 500 million.

500 million!!!

"Taxes! Ingredient costs! And my five million..." Li Zhibai chopped vegetables while feeling heartbroken and unable to breathe.

Su Su really wanted to laugh when she saw her master's bitter and resentful expression, but she held it in.

We can't upset Master any further.

"Um, Master, would you like me to make you a cup of tea?"

"Need not."

"Would you like to eat something to tide you over?"

I'm not hungry.

"That……"

"Sister Su Su, go ahead and do your thing, don't worry about me, I'm fine!" Li Zhibai said.

"Okay, Master!" Su Su replied and obediently left.

The moment she turned around, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh so hard her shoulders were shaking.

My master is so adorable.

They're clearly just worried about the money, but they're pretending to be something they're not.

pat!

Li Zhibai threw a piece of winter melon that had been cut into pieces into the waste bin next to him.

I was so focused on wasting money that half of the winter melon pieces I cut were substandard and had to be completely wasted.

Li Zhibai took a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, and picked up another piece of winter melon to cut.

"If you lose money, you can always rip people off again."

"You absolutely must not let your mindset get in the way."

"Let's get started!"

.........

Meanwhile, in a private room on the third floor of the Suwei Restaurant.

Lin Qingyuan sat in the private room flipping through the menu, sighing inwardly.

The menu had quite a few dishes, mostly fusion dishes from the original Suwei cuisine, and they all tasted pretty good. But her goal for today was very clear: the menu-exclusive "Vegetarian Red Dust".

The price is 199 yuan per piece.

This dish only costs 139 yuan at Li Zhibai's Shaxian restaurant, but it becomes 199 yuan at Su Su's.

But she had no choice.

She can't really go to Shaxian to eat, can she?

In particular, the group members always thought she was the "King of Perseverance, the only one who has never been to Shaxian," and they all regarded her as the spiritual leader against Li Heizi. If she were to actually appear in Shaxian one day, her image as the "King of Perseverance" would completely collapse.

Lin Qingyuan is a very proud person.

She'd rather spend an extra 60 yuan to eat a piece of winter melon at Su Su's place than lose face in front of those people in the group.

Therefore, she could only secretly eat Li Zhibai's dishes through Su Su's restaurant.

The same goes for today.

During the long holiday, she received a message from Su Su that Li Zhibai would be cooking at [Suwei] today, so she booked a private room well in advance.

"well……"

Lin Qingyuan sighed again, picked up her pen and marked Su Hongchen on the menu, then ordered two new set meals from the [Chestnut Flavor] restaurant.

Actually, she wanted to eat something else, especially soup.

She had always wanted to taste what Li Heizi's stew tasted like, and to know just how delicious those soups that Su Su and the others had been raving about in the group were.

But she couldn't drink it.

Li Zhibai couldn't possibly cook all of his specialties at his apprentice's shop, otherwise it would definitely affect Su Su's business. Every time he came to cook, except for the Mid-Autumn Festival last time, he would only make Su Hongchen, which was an agreement the master and apprentice had made long ago.

Su Su's shop must have Su Su's own signboard.

Li Zhibai cannot and will not try to usurp the host's position.

Therefore, every time Lin Qingyuan came to Suwei, she could only eat Su Hongchen and could not eat other Shaxian dishes.

Lin Qingyuan had thought countless times about simply going to Shaxian snack shop. So what if she got laughed at by people in the group? So what if her "King of Perseverance" persona crumbled? What was the big deal?

And every time it came to the final moment, she forced herself to stay calm.

"I wish I had Li Heizi's thick skin," Lin Qingyuan thought to herself.

She truly felt that her pride had ruined her life.

...........

"Sister Qingyuan, have you ordered yet?"

The door to the private room was gently pushed open, and Su Su poked half her head in, her eyes crinkling with laughter, looking especially adorable.

"I've ordered: two servings of 'Vegetarian Dust' and two of your new set meals."

"Two set meals?" Su Su was about to ask if you could finish them by yourself when she suddenly noticed that there was a strange man sitting in the private room.

He was about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, dressed in a dark gray suit, with a refined and elegant demeanor and regular features. When he saw Su Su, he nodded to her and gave her a gentle smile.

That smile was like a gentle spring breeze, making it easy for people to feel good about her at first glance.

Judging from his appearance alone, this person seems to be the kind of person with a very good temper, making it easy for others to let their guard down and get along with him.

Seeing that there were outsiders present, Su Su asked Lin Qingyuan in a low voice, "Sister Qingyuan, who is this?"

Lin Qingyuan introduced, "This is our company's CEO, President Zheng. President Zheng, this is Su Su, the owner of Suwei Restaurant, and also my friend."

Zheng Keming stood up and politely extended his hand to Su Su: "Hello, Boss Su, I've heard so much about you! Qingyuan often mentions you to me, saying that you became the head chef of Black Pearl at such a young age. Meeting you today, I can see that you truly live up to your reputation and are very promising at such a young age."

Su Su blushed at the compliment and quickly reached out to shake his hand lightly: "President Zheng, you flatter me. I'm just a cook. It's all just flattery, no Black Pearl or anything like that."

"Boss Su is too modest. To be able to run such a large restaurant in Jiangcheng and make it so successful is something that not just anyone can do."

Su Su felt even more embarrassed by his words: "President Zheng, please have a seat. The dishes will be ready soon. Sister Qingyuan, I'll go and get busy now."

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Su Su left the private room, gently closed the door, and let out a long sigh of relief.

For some reason, even though President Zheng Keming was very polite and spoke very courteously, she still felt a little uncomfortable.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she instinctively didn't want to get too close to this kind of person.

Very strange.

...........

Inside the private room.

After Su Su left, Zheng Keming sat down again and smiled as he said to Lin Qingyuan, "Your best friend is quite adorable. It's rare to see such a young and talented chef."

"Yes, Su Su is very talented and hardworking," Lin Qingyuan echoed, but her mood grew heavier and heavier.

Because she knew that the real test was about to begin.

Actually, she had planned to eat lunch alone today, but she ran into Zheng Keming as soon as she left the office.

When the other person heard that she was going to eat, they decided to come along: "I haven't eaten either, let's come together and chat."

Lin Qingyuan felt in her heart that fear was probably not a good thing.

But she couldn't refuse.

He's the CEO, she's the HR director. Her boss took the initiative to invite her to dinner, she couldn't very well refuse, could she?

She had no choice but to agree.

All the way to the restaurant's private room, she kept wondering what kind of tricky task Zheng Keming was going to assign her.

Now, what was bound to happen has finally happened.