Chapter 370 - 154: Get Ready for a New Gourmet Storm

Chapter 370: Chapter 154: Get Ready for a New Gourmet Storm

’Are they actually taking this seriously?’

Su Chen certainly wasn’t, but Liu Shengnan, who was standing to the side, definitely was!

She lowered her voice. "Boss, I think this could actually work. It’s not that we wouldn’t pay the young lady a salary."

"Oh?"

Liu Shengnan quickly did the math in her head. "We can pay her a salary and also give her a vehicle stipend, based on a set daily rate. That would be like us renting a car, which is more cost-effective than buying one."

Cars depreciate. You start losing money the moment you buy one.

Plus, dealing with it as a fixed asset for accounting purposes is a hassle.

This is why many companies with off-site projects choose to hire a local driver who has their own vehicle. They pay a salary and, on top of that, compensate them for the use of their car at a fixed rate.

Su Chen looked down. "You think it’s a good deal?"

"Definitely! It’s basically like an interest-free loan. If she ever decides to quit, it won’t be too late for us to buy a car then."

Since Liu Shengnan had given her stamp of approval, Su Chen nodded silently. "Alright, you go talk to her about it. Let me know once you’ve settled on the salary and vehicle fee."

"Mhm!"

Liu Shengnan nodded in agreement, then trotted over to give Zhang Jiayi her contact information, which finally managed to quiet her down.

At the same time, the buns Zhang Jiayi had purchased by winning the competition were now ready.

The whole process was quite novel.

You pick your own crabs, compete against two mascots, and then Su Chen himself uses the roe and meat from your crabs to make the buns.

In other words, don’t let the price fool you—each bun was actually filled with the meat from three whole crabs!

"Miss, you should try dipping it in this vinegar this time."

Liu Shengnan nudged the bottle of Zhenjiang Fragrant Vinegar on the table toward her. "It tastes great with it."

"SLURP SLURP~ Mmmhmm~" Zhang Jiayi was too preoccupied to speak, her mouth already latched onto the bun as she began to slurp up the broth.

It was scalding hot, but so satisfying!

Meanwhile, the old man who had gotten his bun didn’t rush to take a bite. Instead, he held up the tall-footed plate and gently swirled it a few times.

"Well now! This is some bun—plenty of soup, a generous filling, and a thin wrapper. The young chef’s skills are impressive!"

Although Shen Guofu wasn’t a hotel head chef or a culinary expert, he had done his fair share of research on fine food.

It was a rather vexing story, actually. For some reason, after graduating from high school, his daughter had become obsessed with fitness.

Every day, Shen Guofu would look at the meager amount of food his daughter ate, and it would break his heart.

’Is it because I can’t afford to feed you?’

’Who are you trying to impress, eating that rabbit food every day?’

In an effort to get his daughter to return to a normal diet, Shen Guofu had spent every day trying new recipes, learning from various food bloggers online.

He wasn’t trying to achieve anything grand; he just wanted his daughter to take a single bite.

For three years since his retirement, he had spent every day thinking about what delicious food to make, yet his daughter stubbornly refused to eat even a single bite!

In a way, this had ignited Shen Guofu’s competitive spirit.

Today, Shen Guofu had gone out to buy groceries, and it was on his way back that he spotted the food truck at the entrance to his residential complex.

At first, he was a little curious.

The complex was in the suburbs, and in all the time he’d lived there, he’d never seen anyone set up a stall in this spot. Driven by curiosity, the old man had come over to see what was going on.

After a round of competing with the mascots to shell crabs, he had, as he’d hoped, won the right to buy two crab soup buns worth over two hundred yuan each. At first, the old man felt like a total sucker, but after watching the young woman devour her bun, he decided the money had been well spent!

As someone who bought groceries every day, Shen Guofu knew the going rates at the Jingzhou markets. The five crabs he had picked alone would have cost over three hundred yuan.

Add in the fact that the owner then made them into buns and steamed them, being charged a little over four hundred yuan for everything didn’t seem expensive at all.

After swirling it for a moment, Shen Guofu brought the bun to his mouth, tore a small hole in the wrapper, and immediately began to slurp. SLURP SLURP SLURP.

He let out a soft click of his tongue.

After a single small sip, he paused, closing his eyes slightly to carefully savor the flavor in his mouth.

It was a savory-sweet flavor. From just a small sip of the broth, an intense umami flavor flooded every corner of his mouth, not even sparing the gaps between his teeth!

This made Shen Guofu rather curious.

Normally, the broth in soup dumplings would be at least somewhat thick, but the broth in this bun wasn’t like that at all.

A sip went down smoothly, leaving behind nothing but pure umami flavor without the slightest hint of a heavy residue.

’How can the broth be so clean? This owner has some serious skill!’

Shen Guofu sighed in admiration. He quickly finished slurping up all the broth from the bun, then picked up the vinegar bottle and dripped a few drops through the small hole.

Just like the young woman, he opened his mouth wide, stuffed the whole bun inside, and began to chew heartily.

’Good heavens!’

That single bite mixed the crab roe from the center with the rest of the filling, all mingling with the pleasantly chewy wrapper.

The combination of ingredients created an unprecedented new experience for his taste buds!

Both the texture and the flavor were so good it felt like he could swallow his own tongue!

SMACK SMACK...

Shen Guofu threw all decorum to the wind, burying his head and chowing down furiously. He was eating this two-hundred-yuan bun with the same frantic energy as someone eating five-yuan soup dumplings, stuffing it into his mouth as if it were free.

"It’s not enough. Two is nowhere near enough!" Shen Guofu immediately pulled out his phone to message his daughter.