Chapter 313: "Next time you run your mouth, I’ll sew it shut!
Chapter 313: Chapter 313: "Next time you run your mouth, I’ll sew it shut!
Cai Su smiled. "It’s rare for Xin Yu to be this enthusiastic. Boss, just let him make it."
"Fine by me." The ingredients and proportions for the pizza sauce were fixed anyway. All he had to do was add everything and simmer it until it was thick. It wasn’t complicated.
Cai Su took Xiao Lang, Wu Jun, and Huo Qian to wash the ingredients they would need for the pizza toppings.
Once washed and chopped, the ingredients were arranged in two long rows on the prep table.
Wu Jun grinned from ear to ear. "No wonder Lin Zhou and Ye Fan didn’t want to leave. Now I truly get it."
Life at Boss Shen’s place was just too good. He hadn’t even been here for half a month, but he was already thinking about working here for the rest of his life.
Huo Qian shot him a look and snapped a few photos to send to Xue Can.
Huo Qian: Boss, Boss Shen is so generous. I’m not just getting free employee meals, I’m even learning how to cook. Look, these are the ingredients we’re using today.
Huo Qian: photo.jpg
Huo Qian: photo.jpg
Huo Qian: photo.jpg
Xue Can, who had only had a single tube of nutrient liquid for breakfast, saw Huo Qian’s message and nearly ground his back teeth to dust.
Mo Bei came in to bring Xue Can some water and was inexplicably frightened by the murderous look in Xue Can’s eyes.
"What’s wrong, Boss? Why the face? Did someone steal business from our corps?"
’The only thing that could put the boss in such a foul mood was something like this.’
"The next time you run your mouth, I’ll sew it shut!"
"Huh?" Mo Bei was even more confused. ’What did I do wrong this time? I haven’t been talking that much lately.’
Completely bewildered, Mo Bei put down the glass of water and left.
Xue Can sulked against the headboard. Not two seconds later, Mo Bei poked his head back in. "Oh, right, Boss. Did you delete Lei Li?"
Xue Can said impatiently, "Spit it out."
"She said she couldn’t send you messages, so she came and asked me about it. She’s coming back to the Imperial City soon."
"So what?"
"Uh... nothing. I was just letting you know. I didn’t mean anything by it."
’The boss is in a bad mood. Better not say too much.’
Mo Bei closed the door and scurried away.
In the Gale Mercenary Corps’ group chat, Wu Jun was being a total show-off, flaunting the large ham, chicken, and shrimp pizza he’d made with his own hands for his fellow corps members.
Wu Jun: photo.jpg
Wu Jun: See this? Your big bro can cook now. Just looking at this pizza, you can tell how delicious it is, right?
Wu Jun: I’m about to put it in the oven.
Wu Jun: Boss Shen said my pizza is pretty big, so it needs to bake a little longer.
Wu Jun: Sigh. It’s a real shame you guys can’t eat the pizza I made myself.
Wu Jun: Oh, and I also made honey-glazed wings.
Wu Jun: Honey-glazed wings, have you ever had them? They’re chicken wings brushed with honey water and then roasted. So fragrant and sweet.
Wu Jun: I feel like if I work at Boss Shen’s place for a month, I could become a semi-pro chef.
(You have been muted for 9999 minutes.)
"Fuck!" Wu Jun, whose showboating had been abruptly cut off, couldn’t help but curse.
Huo Qian, who had witnessed the entire thing, had one thought: ’Serves him right.’
"They’re going too far! I was just being nice and sharing with them, and they actually muted me!" Wu Jun complained to Huo Qian.
"You know they’re stuck at the stronghold with nothing but nutrient liquid, yet you still send this stuff to provoke them. Wu Jun, you really aren’t afraid of them holding a grudge."
"Hehe." Wu Jun had a smug, gloating look on his face. "Let them hold a grudge. I’m the one who’s benefiting, aren’t I? They were the ones who wouldn’t stop with the sarcastic remarks when they found out I was taking over for Ye Fan and Lin Zhou as security at Boss Shen’s. Who are the pathetic ones now?"
Huo Qian gave him a sidelong glance. "So you’re the type to hold a grudge?"
"No, not at all. I wouldn’t hold a grudge like some woman!"
"So, holding grudges is a woman’s thing?"
Wu Jun made a zipping-the-lips gesture. "Sis, just pretend I didn’t say anything, okay?"
’Sometimes Wu Jun felt that being Huo Qian’s partner was really stressful. But there weren’t many in the corps whose strength matched his and who didn’t find him annoying. Huo Qian was the best choice.’
While juicing the fruit, Cai Su hesitated for a moment before asking Shen Lu, "Boss, should we bake a couple of pizzas for the people in the backyard?"
"No need."
She had already said yesterday that she wouldn’t be giving them lunch today. Naturally, she wouldn’t go back on her word.
"Understood." Cai Su nodded and said no more.
’Shen Lu really appreciated this about Cai Su. Her sense of propriety was perfect.’
DING! The oven timer went off. A crowd gathered around, everyone eager to be the first to see the pizza they had made.
Shen Lu put on a pair of oven mitts and took the pizzas out one by one.
There were seven people, and they had made nine pizzas. Wu Jun’s was the largest, easily the size of two of the others.
The smallest pizza was made by Xiao Lang, but he had made two different flavors: a savory salted egg yolk, bacon, and pork floss pizza, and a yogurt and fruit pizza.
Fu Cheng also made one, almost perfectly replicating Shen Lu’s pizza. He made a half-and-half, with one side durian and the other mushroom and beef.
The honey-glazed chicken wings were also ready and were brought to the table along with the fruit juice.
Everyone was very happy with the meal.
For Wu Jun, Huo Qian, Xiao Lang, and Fu Cheng, who had never cooked before, the feeling of making decent food on their first try was wonderful.
They even felt like it was the most delicious food they had ever eaten.
For Xin Yu, who was a poor cook, it was an encouragement. It turned out there were times he could succeed too.
For Cai Su and Shen Lu, it was like a break. Otherwise, it was always the two of them working together to cook, which was quite a chore.
"Boss, will the shop sell this pizza in the future?" Xin Yu asked.
He felt like he’d found his career path. He might not be good at traditional stir-frying, but he seemed to pick up pizza-making pretty quickly.
Shen Lu asked, "You want to be in charge of it?"
Xin Yu puffed out his chest. "I’ll be in charge! Since we’re not open for business these next few days, I’ll practice like crazy and strive to reach a sellable standard by the time we reopen."
"Alright. We’ll see how your practice goes first."
’It was a good thing for an employee to take initiative. Shen Lu had no intention of squashing Xin Yu’s enthusiasm.’
’Besides, pizza didn’t have a strict role in her shop. It didn’t necessarily have to be a main course.’
’Making them smaller to be sold as snacks would be a good idea too.’
’But she’d wait until Xin Yu had mastered it, put it on the menu, and then see how customers reacted before making any adjustments.’
After a moment’s thought, Shen Lu added, "But you should be mentally prepared."
’Kneading dough every day wasn’t fun and games. If nothing else, Xin Yu’s hands would definitely get swollen.’
"I’m ready!" Xin Yu’s face was full of excitement, completely unaware of the torment that awaited him.
Two days later, any trace of happiness had vanished from Xin Yu’s face.
Mastering a skill was never easy. Shen Lu wasn’t going to teach him every little detail and give hands-on demonstrations like the first time.
Xin Yu had to be able to make excellent and consistent quality pizzas without any guidance from Shen Lu to be considered barely competent.
In those two days, everyone was about to vomit from eating so much pizza.
They had pizza made by Xin Yu for all three meals a day. Everyone went from being supportive at the beginning to politely refusing later on. Even Liu Yaozu in the backyard didn’t want to eat it anymore.