Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

"Can’t go on usual days, but we can go on our day off, right?"

Zhao Shun’s brain was sharp, and he quickly found the hidden bug in a matter of seconds.

"The restaurant is closed on Mondays. We can all go there to have fun, no problem, right? Anyway, we don’t need to enter the Olympic Village, no one will stop us."

"Maybe we might even run into some familiar athletes. I’m just not sure if it’s okay to take photos, but if not, at least we can have the same food as the athletes."

"... Give me a break."

Lin Chen rolled his eyes dramatically. "Only providing food for the athletes, don’t even think about increasing my workload!"

"Trying to mess with me, huh? Think about the consequences yourself. We have only one day off, but six working days, you know?"

"Uh, just kidding, haha," Zhao Shun wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and laughed awkwardly, "Do I seem like that kind of person?"

"You do." Old Chen, who was beside them, nodded solemnly.

"Alright, that’s the situation. I could be leaving at any time. Wait for further notice. You new guys handle things yourselves. Practice for a few days following the previous pattern, then group yourselves based on your strengths."

"Contact me anytime if there’s any situation. Call me, I may not see texts."

Just coming out of the kitchen, Lin Chen paused as he watched the waitress girls cleaning the restaurant, contemplating whether to bring someone along to bolster the presence.

This time, he couldn’t take Lucas to shoot, considering the privacy of the athletes, so he needed to choose someone else.

Even if it was just to help carry ingredients or collect money, it would save them some workload.

"Dais, can you help me pick the right person?"

"Do we really need to choose? How about Nicole~."

"... Stop joking around."

"Then Elsa?"

"Elsa has Sakura ancestry. Although I trust her character, it wouldn’t be good if someone with ill intentions made up stories about this."

It was a significant matter, and he couldn’t be careless. Paparazzi wouldn’t miss any chance to slander Great Xia.

"I see... How about having someone from Great Xia? Choose either Sophie or Jenny?"

Sophie and Jenny were the English names of those two Great Xia girls, typical cliche names given by their childhood English teachers.

"That’s the only option then."

Lin Chen nodded, scanning the restaurant but not seeing them. He didn’t bother looking further and simply called them to come find him.

"What’s this about?"

"Go set up a stall at the Olympic Village entrance to cook for the athletes?"

Upon hearing this unexpected news, the two girls looked at each other in shock and confusion, with a hint of bewilderment.

Both were college students, one was twenty, the other nineteen. They came for a summer job, with only a few weeks left before school started. To put it plainly, they were here to beef up their resumes and experience a different work environment.

But if they could add an experience involving Olympic athletes to their resume in the limited time, it would certainly increase the value of their resumes by several levels.

"Why choose us?"

"Because we are all from Great Xia. It’s that simple."

Lin Chen explained the reasoning to them briefly. Everyone was quick to catch on.

"Alright, we don’t have any objections. The job there seems easier than here, and maybe we can even snag a few photos with champions."

"If I remember correctly, you both are from the same university, right? Working in Paris, it’s closer to home for you."

"Yes, Zilin is a year ahead of me, but we share the same electives and we both love eating, so we decided to work here together, hehe."

Zhang Yanni, also known as Jenny, laughed as she hooked her arm around Ye Zilin’s. The two started bouncing excitedly, their small feet tapping phantom traces on the ground, showing no restraint in their excitement.

Neither of them seemed to care about Lin Chen’s feelings.

The summer waitress uniform with a short skirt was already rather breezy, and the top was fitted, with a square neckline that dipped below their white collarbones, revealing teasing hints of skin.

Plus, those chosen by Dais for employment were all stunning beauties with great figures and looks. As they bounced, Lin Chen quickly turned his head aside.

"Stop, stop, no more bouncing, girls, mind your image!"

The two girls paused, instinctively looked down at their impressive figures, exchanged glances, and smiled with charming curves on their lips.

Rumor had it that this chef might not like women, and he’d indeed been quite aloof towards them before, unwilling even to share contacts, almost making them believe it.

But now, things seemed different~

"What’s wrong with our image? Our image is pretty good."

"Didn’t you and Sister Dais decide on these uniforms, chef? They’re quite nice indeed. Wearing them feels like the sexy version of a flight attendant’s uniform."

Posing seductively on either side, they showcased their feminine allure without reservation.

Lin Chen didn’t even turn around, only glancing with the corner of his eye to see what nonsense they were up to, and sighed inwardly.

After all, they were just around twenty, playful by nature, and what could he do?

If they were in their home country, they might restrain themselves a bit, but in the open-minded foreign lands, this uniform was already quite conservative, barely standing out.

Especially during meal times, nearly half of the guests are standing in line directly in their swimsuits. The more reserved ones might throw on a bathrobe, but the bold ones just flaunt around in sexy bikinis in front of everyone.

This restraint is only because the restaurant is a formal setting. By the afternoon, it’s common to see tourists sunbathing on the beach in the nude.

That’s nothing. Every year on the streets of Paris, there are all sorts of bizarre parades, among which are many nude events like nude running and nude cycling.

In such an environment, the two of them striking a sexy pose is really considered reserved.

Lin Chen didn’t want to delve too deeply into this topic. With a quick turn of the eyes, he had an idea.

"By the way, let me ask you two something."

He turned his head back, sneakily looked left and right for a moment, then lowered his voice and beckoned the two girls over with a finger.

The girls’ gossip antennae instantly perked up, their eyes lit up, and they giggled as they leaned in.

"Have you noticed any sneaky behavior between Zhao Shun and Lucas lately?"

"Yes, yes!!"

Zhang Yanni got all excited, her eyes sparkling: "Every afternoon when Zhao Shun is making bread and desserts, Lucas always shows up, claiming it’s for filming needs. He often gets the girls to go experience the process with Zhao Shun, and the people he chooses are different every day!"

"At first, we really thought it was for filming needs, didn’t think much of it," Ye Zilin nodded slightly, "but later on, somehow, maybe it’s a woman’s intuition, we felt something was off between them, so we watched closely and sure enough, found out they were secretly exchanging glances, there’s definitely something fishy!"

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by exchanging glances?"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes speechlessly, "That’s being sneaky! Choose your words more carefully, or people might think they’re in a love affair."

"Huh??"

The two girls were stunned, "Aren’t they a couple?"

"There’s no way they could be a couple!!!"

Lin Chen facepalmed and sighed deeply, "Your observational skills need some work. You’ve read too many novels, less of the boy-boy type, it’s no good."

"So what’s their deal? They can’t really be filming, right?"

"Are you dumb or what, haven’t you watched romance variety shows?"

"......"

The two girls were silent for a moment, as if realizing something, their eyes suddenly widened.

"Lucas is matchmaking someone for Zhao Shun??"

"Oh my God, you finally get it, it sure took a lot of effort."

Lin Chen waved his hand, "Forget it, you two small brains can’t get any useful information, I’ll send you to investigate further, but don’t give it away, got it?"

"Okay, okay, we’ll complete the mission!"

"Hehe, I like this task, last summer we even got to hear some juicy gossip. But chef, when are we heading to Paris?"

"Not sure yet, probably in the next couple of days, I’m waiting for notification too."

"So it could be any time?" Zhang Yanni’s face changed, she glanced at the time, grabbed Ye Zilin and turned around to run, "Hurry, let’s catch the gossip!"

"One day at a time!"

When the two girls returned to the kitchen, they saw Zhao Shun demonstrating how to make Great Xia bread to several beautiful waitress trainees, but the scene looked completely different in their eyes.

The girls just engaged in the experience for fun and a chance to learn, with an added benefit of being on camera, possibly gaining some followers if the footage was released.

The actual bread-making remained the responsibility of the chefs.

In the afternoons with nothing else to do, some service staff who enjoy baking practice for two or three hours in the kitchen daily, while others take afternoon naps.

Without an audience, no one notices the subtle interactions between Zhao Shun and Lucas.

"?"

Zhao Shun, who was patiently demonstrating how to make puff pastry, suddenly felt two intense gazes trained on him. He looked up in puzzlement to see the two Great Xia girls staring at him with their big, bright eyes.

"What’s up?"

He directly asked, anyway, Chinese is a secret language here, nobody can understand.

"Are you trying to woo girls?"

"Pfft!!! *cough cough... cough*"

"Don’t pretend anymore. Women’s intuition is sharp. You, and this guy, we’ve seen your antics over the days. At least make a decent cover, it’s too obvious!"

"Huh??" Lucas scratched the back of his head, "I thought everything was normal, where did we slip up?"

"Normal my ass, like a teacher spotting students’ tricks from the podium, thinking you’re being discreet?"

"Let me ask you, any progress? None, right?"

Ye Zilin and Zhang Yanni took turns firing remarks in rapid succession, leaving both Zhao Shun and Lucas thoroughly critiqued, even the self-assured Lucas felt uneasy.

His plan seemed perfect, so where did it go wrong?

"Honestly, there’s been no progress."

On this note, Zhao Shun also appeared a bit frustrated: "I thought it was a communication issue, but maybe that’s not it?"