Wu Huina felt rather uncomfortable inside.
A street vendor, who knows what connections she used to get a job as a chef at the Lu family's, and in just a few days she's already following Mrs. Lu to events, buying such expensive clothes and shoes, not to mention how much Mrs. Lu praises her...
I heard that in two weeks, the Lu family will be entertaining the He family, a prominent wealthy family from Jingbei, at their private club on East Lake, and Mrs. Lu still wants her to attend?
And now she's even being mistaken as CEO Lu's girlfriend?
How does this chef stir up so much trouble???
Her phone buzzed twice again. Wu Huina opened it and saw two more updates in the gossip group chat—
[Speaking of which, the chef at CEO Lu's place must get a pretty good salary, right? Does she live in?]
[Wow, a live-in chef? That's being close to the water gets the moon first! A chef and a CEO is actually a pretty cute ship!!!]
...
Ship what? Such a romantic fool!
Wu Huina muttered to herself quietly. Just as she was about to say something else, a new message appeared in the group—
[She's here, she's here, that girl is here again!]
[That girl? CEO Lu's chef? She's not here to deliver food again, is she?]
[Probably not, what time is it? Too early for food delivery.]
[Shouldn't be delivering food. She's not carrying anything, and today she's wearing a white blouse and a pencil skirt. Her figure looks great!]
[She just arrived in the lobby, and CEO Lu personally came to get her!!!]
[Get her? Where did the two of them go???]
[Their elevator seems to have stopped on the sixth floor.]
[Sixth floor, the cafeteria???]
...
That's right. At this moment, Lu Jingming, Wen Jiajun, and a group of company executives were following Xu Yanxia on an inspection of the cafeteria.
10:30 AM was precisely when the cafeteria was busy preparing lunch, making it the perfect time for a surprise inspection.
"This salt and pepper chicken is very typical of minced meat glued together. It's definitely not Fangda's product. This already involves counterfeit and substandard goods. The company can contact the manufacturer directly."
"This beef ball is the worst kind of imitation beef ball on the market. The content of beef, chicken, even duck meat is zero. The main ingredients are chicken and duck neck skin mixed with soy protein, starch, and flavorings—high in fat, salt, and additives. It's best avoided if possible."
"This pork belly shows obvious protein separation, meaning it's frozen product, probably with a production date around a year ago. There's no quality issue for now, but the purchase price should be 60% or even lower than that of fresh market meat. However, looking at its packaging labeled 'Jinhui,' it's probably counterfeit too, because Jinhui doesn't do frozen meat. You can verify that."
"Almost all these eggshells have spots or granules. They're substandard grade. No quality issues, but the purchase price is definitely lower than normal eggs."
"The white residue on these orange peels is a residue from fungicides, moderately toxic. They must be washed before cutting. Also, pregnant women are advised not to handle them."
"You can see the skin colors of these pumpkins are different. The lighter ones mean the growth cycle was too short; sugars haven't formed yet. The supplier probably used inferior products to cut costs."
...
Now, all the ingredients were laid out before everyone. The situation was almost exactly as Lu Jingming had heard the night before.
Western fast food and local snack stalls were the hardest hit by inferior ingredients. In comparison, both Chinese and Western main course sections were still using genuine materials, at most some frozen meats nearing their expiration dates, but without major quality problems.
Perhaps it was because company executives often patronized those two main course areas, so the relevant staff were afraid of getting caught.
In any case, after leaving the cafeteria, everyone except Xu Yanxia looked very grim.
It was almost lunch break, but no one was in the mood to rest.
The person in charge of cafeteria procurement had already been temporarily reassigned. Several executives immediately went back to meetings to formulate plans for rectification and accountability.
Wen Jiajun returned to his office on the 22nd floor and told his secretary, Xiao Hu, "CEO Lu wants you to send out a notice. There's a minor equipment malfunction in the cafeteria today. For lunch, everyone should arrange their own meals—eating out or ordering takeout. Finance will issue a subsidy in this month's payroll later."
"Understood."
Xiao Hu nodded, then asked him, "What about you and CEO Lu? Would you like me to order takeout for both of you?"
"...Not for now,"
Wen Jiajun forced a smile, "I'm not very hungry yet."
—Lu Jingming was right. After following the inspection around the cafeteria, he had almost felt sick. Now he had no appetite at all.
He wished he hadn't gone.
...
After leaving the cafeteria, everyone was busy. Only Lu Jingming escorted Xu Yanxia down to the first-floor lobby.
"I really owe you thanks this time. Otherwise, who knows how long over ten thousand people at the company headquarters would have been eating that junk."
CEO Lu gave a self-deprecating smile, his handsome face looking somewhat afflicted.
Having been in the food industry for two lifetimes and long since accustomed to such things, Xu Yanxia comforted him, "You're too kind. Actually, this is a relatively common phenomenon nowadays. Many large cafeterias might encounter it. Fortunately, it's not too late now that we've discovered it."
"True."
Lu Jingming nodded, then walked out of the lobby with her.
The midday sun spilled between the high-rises, and the streets were bustling with traffic.
Lu Jingming glanced at his wristwatch. "It's already noon. Let's grab something to eat before you head back."
However, after saying this, he seemed a bit lost. He looked around and said somewhat ruefully, "I just don't know where we can eat now, besides at home?"
Xu Yanxia couldn't help but laugh at his afflicted expression. "If you're not too hungry, I can go back, prepare a meal, and bring it over for you."
"No need for that trouble."
Lu Jingming also smiled and told her, "Sorry, I'm just a bit traumatized by what I saw earlier. I'm not being stingy."
"I understand."
Xu Yanxia smiled and nodded, then asked him, "Do you like potstickers? I know a small shop nearby that's pretty good."
Lu Jingming readily agreed. "Sure. Should we drive?"
"No need,"
Xu Yanxia pointed across the street. "It's just behind that building, only a few hundred meters away."
"Let's go then."
Lu Jingming walked over with her.
Behind them, from within the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Lu Corporation building, someone secretly aimed their phone camera at them, took a few photos, and sent them to the "Melon-Eating Squad No.1" group chat.
[Come quick! Latest live report on the ascetic CEO and the beautiful chef!]
[Wow, that girl has such a great figure! Such long legs! She looks at least 1.7 meters tall!!!]
[That height difference, such strong couple vibes. I'm shipping them already!!!]
[She really came to the company? Where are they going?]
[It's noon, must be going for lunch.]
[Wait, isn't she the chef? She doesn't need to cook? And the CEO is accompanying her to eat? So they really are dating!!!]
...
"Come on, Nana, let's go eat."
In the 10th-floor Marketing Department office, someone spoke to Wu Huina, who was looking down at her phone.
"Coming."
Wu Huina raised her head with a bright smile, responded, then quickly tapped to download the several photos from the chat group.
Then she exited the app, stood up, and walked out.
