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

Su Su also came when the store opened in the afternoon.

After the long holiday, her own restaurant wasn't as busy, so she came over to help her master as usual.

"Master, I'm here!"

Su Su skipped and hopped into the door, and as soon as she entered, she saw a strange young man.

He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, tall and thin, and was wiping a table in the hall with his head down.

She froze for a moment.

Who is this?

She's been to her master's shop so many times, how come she's never seen this person before?

Ke Yi and Ding Ling knew each other; Ke Yi was her master's cousin and her cousin's classmate. She had come to help during the long holiday and had already returned to school a few days ago.

Where did this boy come from?

It's actually normal that she hadn't seen this boy before, because during the long holiday she either came to eat around mealtime or after mealtime, so she missed him. Today is indeed the first time she's seen him.

Su Su approached Li Zhibai and asked curiously, "Master, who is that boy?"

Li Zhibai glanced at A-Che and said, "Him? He's a volunteer who comes to the store to help out for free."

Su Su looked at her master suspiciously: "Master, you didn't just trick me into coming here, did you?"

Normally, no one would do work for free. It's more likely that the master is unwilling to spend money and is using psychological manipulation on the person.

This is something my master would do.

Li Zhibai said innocently, "Sister Su Su, how could someone as upright as your master do something like making someone work for free without paying them? I paid him, but he didn't want it."

Su Su was genuinely surprised to hear this. In this day and age, besides her, there were actually people so honest? They wouldn't even take money from her?

However, Master does need a helper. Otherwise, when she's not around, Master is too busy cooking and entertaining guests all by herself. Having this young man help out is a good thing.

But she still thought the boy was a bit foolish. His master was rarely willing to offer him wages, so why didn't he take them? And the other party didn't seem very wealthy either.

What she didn't know was that the boy didn't want a salary because he wasn't after the money at all; he wanted to be her junior apprentice.

"Then I'll go say hello to him!"

Su Su walked up to A Che excitedly and extended a hand enthusiastically: "Hello! My name is Su Su, I'm the boss's apprentice, so we'll be colleagues from now on."

A-Che had actually been secretly observing Su Su ever since she entered the room.

Honestly, this was the first time he had ever seen such a cute and beautiful older sister.

The other person has very fair skin, crescent-shaped eyes, and when they smile, two shallow dimples spread across their cheeks like two small flowers. Their voice is sweet and soft, with a slight Jiangcheng accent, making it particularly pleasant to listen to.

Her clothes were also very neat and clean; she was the kind of girl next door that made people feel easy to like.

So this is the boss's apprentice? No wonder the boss has always praised her so highly.

Although he hadn't been in the shop for long, he had heard a lot about Su Su from the customers' casual conversations.

A local from a wealthy family, he opened a Black Pearl One Diamond restaurant at a young age and has won several awards in the culinary field.

Compared to the other person, I do indeed have a big gap.

"Y-you... hello." A-Che hurriedly wiped his hands on his clothes a couple of times before extending them: "My name is A-Che."

"Little brother A-Che, how old are you?"

"Almost 17."

"You're not even 17 yet, you're several years younger than me, so you'll have to call me 'older sister' from now on. Since you're also working at my master's shop, we're colleagues now, so feel free to ask me for anything you need in the future."

"Hmm... okay."

"By the way, what kind of food do you usually like to eat?"

"Anything is fine."

"So, do you prefer milder or stronger flavors?"

"A little... a little heavier."

"So you like cooking too?"

"........."

A-Che was not good with words, and under Su Su's series of probing questions, he stammered a little and his face turned red.

Su Su smiled secretly. This younger brother was quite shy, even more so than she was.

However, she also felt that apart from being quiet, her younger brother was a good person, diligent and down-to-earth... It wouldn't be bad for her master to have such a helper to do the work.

Su Su didn't talk any further and turned to go back to the kitchen to find her master.

..........

A-Che continued working, and only after Su Su left did he breathe a slight sigh of relief. Then he looked into the kitchen through the food serving window.

Su Su was standing next to Li Zhibai, listening attentively to her master's words while nodding seriously, and occasionally asking a question about how the dishes were made.

Li Zhibai demonstrated and explained without reservation.

Ache watched this scene with envy, envying Su Su for having such a master.

Although Li Zhibai is particularly greedy, A'Che can see that he is genuinely good to his apprentices, teaching them very seriously, unlike some chefs who hide their skills and share everything without reservation.

He wanted to do that too.

He also wanted someone to teach him cooking, to tell him why each step was done this way and how to do it correctly.

He has been self-studying for so long, relying entirely on his own exploration, and has taken countless detours.

If only I could become Li Zhibai's apprentice!

But he was still short 30,000 yuan for the apprenticeship fee.

Fortunately, Liu Jie has already agreed to help him play solo queue. The two of them will duo queue, so it won't matter if he doesn't play well. Liu Jie, being a pro, can cover for him.

The condition was that he would cover the other party's late-night snacks for a month.

The boy's eyes gradually hardened as he gave himself a pep talk.

"Ah Che, you have to keep going."

"One day, you too will become Boss Li's apprentice."

"One day, you too will be able to stand in the kitchen and create delicious food that will make your guests want to come back again and again!"

............

Around 6 p.m., as soon as Shaxian Snacks opened, a large crowd poured into the store.

The guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes who was leading the group could only be Yang Chongwu.

He was followed by thirty or forty people, who, judging from their attire, were probably his company's employees.

"Boss Li, we're here!" Yang Chongwu shouted.

Li Zhibai came out of the kitchen and his eyes lit up when he saw the scene.

Hey!

Did they really call the entire company?

Not bad, not bad! Yang Chongwu is quite savvy; it was worth all those sleepless nights he spent researching the Black Gold Egg.

Once the pig is fattened up, it should voluntarily come to be slaughtered.

"Brother Yang, welcome, welcome!"

"Welcome everyone to Shaxian! Don't be shy! Order whatever you want, make yourself at home!"

Yang Chongwu broke out in a sweat after hearing just one sentence.

He cried out in his heart: "You guys better not treat this place like your own home!"

Several of these employees recognized Li Zhibai and took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, Mr. Li! Our General Manager Yang said we'd have our celebration banquet at your place today."

"We won't be polite with you."

"We've heard that Boss Li is a great cook, so we've been wanting to try his cooking for a while now."

"......."

The employees Yang Chongwu brought found seats one after another, and some even waved to A-Che familiarly: "Handsome young man, could you please pour me a glass of water?"

A-Che nodded and quietly went to pour water for everyone.

Everything seemed normal; the atmosphere was harmonious and joyful.

Until one of the female employees, having nothing to do, glanced up at the electronic menu on the wall, and her eyes almost popped out of their sockets at that one glance.

"Wait...wait a minute!"

She nudged her colleague next to her forcefully: "Can you help me see what's written on that? Am I seeing things?"

"What are you looking at?"

"How much is that fragrant mixed noodles?"

Her colleague looked in the direction she was pointing, muttering, "It's Shaxian snacks, a bowl of noodles can't cost much, it's just..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was dumbfounded.

Fragrant Mixed Noodles (Regular Version): NT$128 per serving

Fragrant Mixed Noodles (Deluxe Version): NT$588 per serving

"Holy crap!"

"What's wrong?"

"Look at the menu yourselves."

A group of people looked up at the electronic menu on the wall, then their eyes widened and their mouths gaped open.

Holy crap!!!

"What is this? 588 for a bowl of noodles?"

"No, don't shout yet! Look down, that 'Ink Glaze Dawn Egg' is 3999 each! One egg!"

"3999 per egg? Did a phoenix lay these? That's terrifying!"

"Look further down, there's Bodhi Jade Restaurant for 1288, Su Hongchen for 139 a piece! Braised pork for 99 a piece! My god, this isn't Shaxian snacks, this is outrageous..."

"Wasn't it said that this shop owner was a friend of Mr. Yang? Could they be ripping Mr. Yang off like a pig?!"

"This isn't friendship, this is taking advantage of someone you know!"

"