"Why don't you give it a try?"
Jia Baolai hesitated.
He truly hadn't expected that just the aroma of these unfamiliar ingredients before him could stir such a great appetite within him.
He sniffed again.
And then he felt a refreshing fragrance directly permeate his lungs, making his whole body tremble. Even the hangover from drinking too much last night weakened a bit, and his hunger grew stronger.
Finally, he couldn't resist.
His eyes swept across the table, settling on one dish containing cucumber cut into small pieces. The smooth, vibrant green flesh, emitting a refreshing scent, was very eye-catching.
Jia Baolai looked around and found that the owner hadn't prepared any utensils, so he had no choice but to pick up a piece directly with his hand.
As the fruit flesh touched his skin, he immediately felt a cool sensation.
Upon closer inspection, he indeed saw thin wisps of cold mist still clinging to the fruit.
Jia Baolai put a piece into his mouth and bit down gently.
The bitten cucumber released a burst of juice, and the sweet, icy freshness of the flesh stimulated his taste buds, making him quicken his chewing speed.
The delicate and crisp texture made Jia Baolai feel refreshed and invigorated; his hangover completely vanished, and he felt incomparably comfortable.
"Delicious!"
"It's too delicious!"
Jia Baolai couldn't help but exclaim in praise, but at the same time, his hands didn't stop moving. He immediately grabbed piece after piece of cucumber from the dish and put them into his mouth.
"Crunch! Crunch!"
One bite after another, he simply couldn't stop.
Jia Baolai considered himself a person who had tasted many delicious dishes, so his palate was quite discerning.
Even with the current food shortage in the city, he would order ingredients through some private channels at extremely high prices.
But today, he felt he had gained new insight. He never imagined that he had never eaten such delicious ingredients before.
"Boss, what are these ingredients called?"
"Cucumber."
"Cucumber?"
Jia Baolai pondered for a moment and indeed realized that he had never even heard of it, let alone eaten it. He instantly felt as if he had lived in vain before.
The portion in the small dish wasn't much, so Jia Baolai quickly finished it, but he was still unsatisfied, so his gaze unconsciously shifted to the other dishes.
Since this ingredient called cucumber was so delicious, the others should not be bad either.
Thinking this, Jia Baolai couldn't help but swallow his saliva again. Unable to wait any longer, he reached out for another dish of ingredients.
"I'm sorry, you can only try one dish!"
However, he was suddenly stopped by Su Ran.
"Huh?"
Jia Baolai was bewildered, his expression falling as he cried out in sorrow: "No way, Boss, how can one dish be enough? I've only just tasted it. Let me eat more, you still have so much here!"
Su Ran blinked and smiled meaningfully: "But there are also many players in the Internet Cafe!"
...
Afternoon.
At this time, some of the players in the Internet Cafe were still fully immersed in their games, but some had taken off their virtualizers.
However, they didn't exit the game, nor did they leave their seats.
Instead, they all took out the lunchboxes they had brought, preparing to eat something.
Speaking of which, this trend didn't initially catch on.
It only gradually became popular after some players, feeling hungry while gaming, left the Internet Cafe to eat and found their seats taken upon returning.
"Huh?"
But just then, some players noticed a small dish placed on their tables, while others initially didn't have one, but soon saw Su Ran bringing them over.
"Boss, what is this?"
The players asked curiously.
"Aren't you all curious if the ingredients I grew this morning are edible?"
Su Ran said with a light chuckle: "So, I brought them for you to try!"
Upon hearing this, and then looking at the ingredients in these small dishes, the players found them somewhat familiar.
However, as soon as they heard the boss wanted them to eat these ingredients, they immediately began to refuse without a second thought.
"Uh… that's not necessary, right!"
"Yes, we all brought our own food, so no need for the boss to worry."
"Boss, I'm not bragging, but the dishes I brought are our mansion chef's specialties. How about you try mine?"
It wasn't that they necessarily thought these ingredients were bad.
But they also considered themselves to have eaten many good things, so how much better could these be?
Moreover, the food they brought themselves was carefully prepared, completely different from raw ingredients.
So they were about to pick up the dishes and return them to Su Ran.
However, when they came into close contact with those enticing ingredients, their noses twitched slightly, their bodies trembled gently, and they all stood frozen in place.
…
At the same time.
"Damn it, we got wiped out again. I don't believe it!"
"Let's take a break, eat something, and then continue. Since Wu Lei can beat it, we definitely can too!"
After Ouyang Qing took off her virtualizer with a frustrated expression, she immediately picked up the exquisite bento box placed on the computer desk.
This bento box was specially insulated. As soon as it was opened, a steaming aroma wafted out, and the variety of dishes inside was extremely rich and diverse.
But at this moment, Ouyang Qing wasn't thinking about anything else. She just wanted to quickly finish eating and continue playing the game. After all, Wu Lei's victory over the Steel Dragon yesterday had made her feel a sense of urgency again.
So she was about to start eating.
"Hmm?"
But just then, a highly enticing sweet and sour aroma suddenly dispersed the steam from the food in the bento box and entered Ouyang Qing's nose.
Ouyang Qing froze, unconsciously pursing her lips and swallowing her saliva.
Her gaze involuntarily shifted to the tempting red fruit on the table. She sniffed again, and after that sniff, she couldn't tear her eyes away.
She picked up a piece of fruit and put it into her mouth.
As the sweet and sour taste filled her entire mouth, her eyes involuntarily narrowed into slits, her face showing an expression of pure enjoyment.
It wasn't until she opened her eyes that Ouyang Qing, unable to resist, was just about to express her thoughts.
However, a series of exclamations rang out one after another throughout the Internet Cafe, speaking her mind for her.
"My heavens, these ingredients are too delicious!"
"This taste is simply incredible!"
"How can there be such a delicacy in this world!"
The players who had just righteously refused Su Ran earlier seemed to have already tasted many of these ingredients, while others were still eating, continuously praising them. Each of them was astonished by the incredible deliciousness of these ingredients.