The man ran, twitching his nose as if sniffing for something. In no time, he was in front of Supervisor Su.
"Boss?" Supervisor Su was stunned when she saw the man.
She knew her boss well. He was a bona fide homebody, but with a strange choice of home: the kitchen.
Supervisor Su had worked at Lakefront House for over a year, but she had only seen her boss a handful of times. It would be stranger if she wasn't surprised to see him now.
The fat boss ignored Supervisor Su. He walked right up to her, took a deep sniff, and muttered to himself, 'That's right, the scent is coming from here. But why can't I see it?'
He turned his head and asked the dumbfounded Supervisor Su, "The ingredient? Where is the ingredient?"
Taken aback, Supervisor Su asked blankly, "What ingredient?"
The fat boss took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and seemed to be analyzing the components of the scent.
"A bit gamey, and a little fishy, like the scent of a snake… Yes, it's a snake!" The fat boss opened his eyes and demanded, "Where is the Snake Meat?"
"Snake… Snake Meat?" Supervisor Su suddenly remembered the snake tail Weiwei had brought her earlier.
'Could that disgusting snake tail actually be a rare ingredient?'
Supervisor Su was completely dumbfounded.
Seeing her silence, the fat boss frowned. Too impatient to wait, he started twitching his nose again, searching for the source of the scent.
Soon, his eyes locked onto the trash can beside her. "It's in here!"
The fat boss lunged forward, grabbed the trash can, and dumped everything out. He rummaged through the garbage and found the snake tail. He held it to his nose, took a delicate sniff, and said with a look of pure ecstasy, "What a snake! A snake that had nurtured Qi, just one step away from becoming a spirit. It can absolutely be called a second-rate ingredient. It's a shame. If the Hunter had waited until this snake truly became a spirit before killing it, the Snake Meat could have been classified as a first-rate ingredient! Hmm, no, that's not right. If it were a first-rate ingredient, I'm not confident I could handle it at my current skill level. So a second-rate ingredient is better. It will allow me to perform at my absolute best!"
Nearby, Supervisor Su listened in a complete daze, having no idea what her boss was talking about. 'At the same time, she was puzzled. If this Snake Meat was only a second-rate ingredient, why was the boss so excited? Besides, even though her boss wasn't old, his culinary skills were extraordinary and otherworldly, having impressed countless famous chefs. So why would he say he couldn't handle a first-rate ingredient and could only cook second-rate ones?'
Before she could figure any of this out, she heard the fat boss ask, "Where did this snake tail come from?"
A chill ran down Supervisor Su's spine, and she broke out in a cold sweat.
'If the boss found out she had taken matters into her own hands and driven away the person who brought the snake tail, she would definitely lose her job! The fat boss had drilled it into them time and time again: if anyone brought a rare ingredient, it had to be presented to him for his personal inspection and decision.'
Supervisor Su didn't want to lose her job, so after a moment's hesitation, she chose to lie. "I don't know…"
She hadn't even finished her sentence before the fat boss cut her off. "You're lying!"
"I'm not lying." Supervisor Su hurriedly tried to explain, but the fat boss gave her no chance. He said coldly, "You're trying to act calm, but your voice is trembling slightly, which means you're afraid. Your expression shows a hint of panic, which means you have a guilty conscience. And besides, you're giving off the scent of a lie."
Supervisor Su's jaw dropped.
'A trembling voice and a panicked expression she could understand, but what the hell was the 'scent of a lie'?'
Knowing she couldn't hide it, Supervisor Su quickly begged for mercy. "Boss, I was wrong. A person came looking for you earlier with this snake tail, but because so many people have been trying to trick you with fake rare ingredients lately, I was afraid he was one of them, so I threw the snake tail in the trash…"
The fat boss wasn't listening to her excuses at all. He just asked, "Where is he?"
"Huh?" Supervisor Su froze.
The fat boss shot her a glare and barked, "Huh, what?! I'm asking you, where is the person who brought the snake tail?"
Supervisor Su, who was usually so imperious in front of the staff, was now nervous and timid. With a miserable look on her face, she said, "I had Weiwei send him away…"
The fat boss spun around and bolted for the entrance of Lakefront House, shouting as he ran, "You're fired! I'll have accounting give you three months' extra salary as thanks for your hard work over the past year!"
Supervisor Su panicked. The salary and benefits at Lakefront House were much better than anywhere else. If she was fired, finding another job as good as this one would be nearly impossible.
She scrambled to chase after the fat boss to plead with him, but she was nowhere near as fast. All she could do was shout with a pale face, "Boss, I was wrong! Please, forgive me! Don't fire me…"
The answer he gave was two words: "No way!"
Supervisor Su was sick with regret, but unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world.
The fat boss sprinted all the way to the main entrance and asked anxiously, "Who's Weiwei?"
"That's me, Boss." Weiwei raised her hand.
The fat boss rushed up to her and demanded, "The person who brought the snake tail, where is he?"
"He left," Weiwei answered.
"What? He left? No, we can't let him get away! Quick, come with me and we'll go after him!" The fat boss was frantic, grabbing Weiwei and pulling her out the door.
Once outside, the fat boss was about to go get his car, but Weiwei's eyes lit up. She pointed at Zhao Yuan, who was waiting for a ride by the side of the road, and said excitedly, "Boss, the person who brought the snake tail is over there!"
It turned out Zhao Yuan didn't have a car and had to call for one using a phone app. Since Lakefront House was inside the Wetland Park, the nearest car was several kilometers away and needed time to arrive. That's why he still hadn't managed to leave by the time the fat boss came chasing after him.
The fat boss bounded over in a few long strides, rushing to Zhao Yuan's side. "Friend," he asked, "was it you who brought the snake tail?"
"You're the boss?" Zhao Yuan asked, sizing up the fat man.
He didn't look old, maybe in his early twenties, with a chubby, cherubic face that looked quite cute.
"That's right." The fat boss nodded. "Someone at my restaurant took it upon herself to throw your snake tail away as trash. Luckily, my nose is sharp enough that I smelled it, discovered what had happened, and came chasing after you. Whew… I almost ran myself to death."
"So that's what happened." Zhao Yuan finally understood the reason.
The fat boss was an impatient man. Without another word, he got straight to the point. "You came here wanting me to cook the Snake Meat for you, right? No problem! This Snake Meat would be perfect for a pot of snake soup. But according to the rules, once the soup is made, eighty percent of it goes to me! Oh, right, where's the rest of the Snake Meat? Where did you put it? Bring it out!"
Zhao Yuan shook his head. "An eighty-twenty split is fine. But I get eighty, you get twenty."
"What did you say?" The fat boss stared, dumbfounded, thinking he must have misheard.