When Shen Lingqing returned to Savory Alley the next Monday along with Fu Shuren, she was surprised to see that the staff she left over the weekend had already started working without her. Some were busy installing the new appliances that were delivered last week, while the others were replacing the lighting at the diner’s area.

“What happened to them?” Shen Lingqing asked her assistant. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Qiao Lian. “You didn’t promise them anything, right?”

“What? How could you accuse me of something like that, Qingqing?” Qiao Lian gasped and acted like she was being bullied by her boss. “How dare you, Qingqing. After all that we’ve been through…”

Shen Lingqing stared at her assistant and raised a brow.

“Continue acting like that, and I won’t share with you the food my mother asked me to bring today.”

Qiao Lian dropped her act and adjusted the glasses on her face.

“I was just joking, Boss. Please don’t take it seriously. Of course, I only made sure that our staff will be doing their best from now on.” She then gave Shen Lingqing a thumbs-up.

The Shen princess fought the urge to roll her eyes from her assistant’s behavior, but she had to admit that there couldn’t be anyone that could work as her assistant better than Qiao Lian. Not only did she trust Qiao Lian with her life, but Qiao Lian was very capable in her work.

“All right, let’s all go back to work. Please tell Chef Lin and Chef Liu to get their preparations ready. I like to see what they planned to do while I was away,” Shen Lingqing said before asking Fu Shuren to bring the food packs to the kitchen.

She then disappeared to her office upstairs to check the paperwork that had been waiting for her approval.

Qiao Lian found their two chefs busy helping with the others in the kitchen.

“Chef Lin, Chef Liu, Director Shen have just arrived, and she just asked me to tell you to prepare the menus you’ve come up with. Are you ready?” She asked them.

The two chefs looked at each other and nodded.

“En. Should we go up and meet her in her office, or…?” Chef Lin asked.

“Oh, no. She’ll go down by herself. As you know, she wanted to hear everyone’s opinion on it,” Qiao Lian said before following her boss upstairs to help sort out the papers Shen Lingqing had signed.

An hour later, Shen Lingqing came down with Qiao Lian next to her. Since the kitchen was still under renovation, they decided to host their meeting at the diner’s area.

The Savory Alley had nine employees, and all of them looked at Shen Lingqing with anticipation. She had only given them one month probation before knowing if she would renew their contract or fire them altogether.

“Director Shen, these are the menus Chef Lin and I made. Please see if it’s to your liking.” Liu Jinfei handed the two folders with the sample menus in them. Each item was neatly labeled with the name and a short description of the dish.

Qiao Lian accepted the folders from Liu Jinfei and passed them to Shen Lingqing who had taken a seat, while the rest remained standing around them.

Shen Lingqing took a good look at the contents of each folder and tapped her fingers lightly on the table out of habit. She wasn’t expecting too much from their new chefs.

“There are so many dishes you’ve listed here. Are you sure you would be able to cook everything on your own?” She clasped her hands together and regarded their two chefs.

Shen Lingqing was thinking of hiring two more chefs to join their team, but she hadn’t informed anyone of her plan yet—not even Qiao Lian.

The two chefs looked at each other and nodded in understanding.

“Well, eating food at the restaurant is generally social,” Liu Jin explained, “People sit around the table to share a selection of different dishes that are being shared with everyone. I think having a wide array of choices would make a good meal.”

“As for the dishes, Director Shen, I think Chef Liu and I could do some preparations ahead of time,” Chef Lin added, “We only need to make sure that the quality of the meat and poultry wouldn’t be ruined.”

Shen Lingqing didn’t respond, but she considered both menus. It wasn’t like this was the first time she had to redo a menu of one of the restaurants of their family, but each of their restaurants had a signature dish that could only be served by them.

“So what’s your signature dish?” She asked the two chefs with a straight face.

If she wanted to make Savory Alley a popular restaurant like Oriental Bliss, they should focus on having their signature dish being promoted to the customers.

“A signature dish?” Liu Jinfei rubbed his chin.

How come he never considered it before? Was his mind too preoccupied recently because of the threats he was receiving from the Liu family since his return to the capital?

“Is it really necessary, Miss Qiao?” Lin Xiaoyu whispered to Qiao Lian, but her question had been heard by everyone clearly.

“Why, of course. You could say having a signature dish is a good way for promoting the restaurant.”

Seeing the troubled expression between their chefs, Shen Lingqing turned her attention to her assistant.

“Lian, are the pantry and the freezer already replenished by our staff?” She asked.

“En, the company made a delivery yesterday, so most of the perishables and the crops are fresh.”

“Good.” Shen Lingqing was pleased to know that even if she wasn’t here, no problems arose during her absence.

“Chef Lin, Chef Liu, I would be troubling you today. I want the two of you to cook the best local cuisine dish you knew of,” She warned Liu Jinfei and Lin Xiao, “Please make sure that you do your best as I won’t spare a single mistake this time.”