"What are you planning to do now? We still have hours to find a sous-chef." Shen Yi asked Lu Xinyi as they walked back to Grace Palace. It was late afternoon; the unforgiving heat from the sun dramatically lessened as it set.
Lu Xinyi had been thinking about it since they left the town's pavilion. "I'm not sure. Do you think we can call someone who had worked at Grace Palace before?"
Shen Yi thought for a while before shaking his head.
"No, I don't think that's possible. The Chu family ran Grace Palace from kitchen to backend office. Out of the six children, only one is able to follow Chef Chu's profession; but no one knows where he is right now. Might as well as have Yang Jian as your sous-chef tomorrow."
His wife didn't answer. There must be some other way.
"Why don't you try to be my sous-chef tomorrow?" she blurted out after the long silence between them.
Shen Yi suddenly halted and looked at his wife with a deep frown in his face.
What was she talking about? Had she forgotten the disaster he did in her kitchen the last time he attempted to cook something for her?
"Lu Xinyi! This isn't funny. Is this your way to punish me for ruining your kitchen?"
Lu Xinyi stopped and laughed. Her hair slightly bounced on her shoulders as she tried to suppress her laughter.
"Nope. This isn't enough for your punishment." She then tapped her chin, "Now that you mentioned it, I should think of a better way to punish you."
"Definitely not in the doghouse again!" Shen Yi hissed, which earned another burst of laughter from his wife.
---
Hours before the competition, Lu Xinyi was teaching Shen Yi how to hold a knife properly since morning. Now they moved to the main hall of Grace Palace to check if it could be used soon.
As soon as she looked down at the tables, she realized that there was a thin layer of dust on it. Yang Jian's sister, Yang Liqing, followed their mistress' eyes. She smiled awkwardly before pulling out a dust cloth to wipe away the dirt.
"I apologize for this, Madam Shen. Rest assured, I will send someone to tidy up and clean up this place."
"I heard that Grace Palace had been opened for years. Aside from dumplings, what are the signature dishes of this restaurant?" she asked Yang Liqing.
"Young Madam, Grace Palace was known to serve dumpling and teas only. They didn't offer meals like lunch and dinner, unlike the others."
The three were busy preparing for the afternoon event when a servant from Blue Haven Restaurant came in front of Grace Palace to meet Shen Yi.
Yang Jian arrived to inform Lu Xinyi about the sudden visit. Both couples shared a confused look. They had no idea why a servant from Blue Haven wanted to talk to the Young Master. She came to send a gift for Shen Yi, but he refused to accept it and had his wife deal with the maid.
Yang Liqing followed behind Lu Xinyi and warned her not to make acquaintance with this servant. She had a bad reputation for being a gossip monger.
"Ah, is this a welcome gift or a congratulatory one?" Lu Xinyi asked.
With a quick look, one could tell that this servant and her master had bad intentions against Grace Palace. Since Lu Xinyi and Shen Yi arrived, they were busy checking the account books of the restaurant and hadn't really pay attention to the grand re-opening of Grace Palace. They had no time to waste on their competitors like Blue Haven.
"Miss Lu, my mistress personally prepared this gift. You actually have the nerve to be arrogant? If it isn't for my mistress' kindness, I wouldn't have gone to this nasty place! We all know that you have no chance against my mistress. Just take this gift and leave this town."
Mistress? Lu Xinyi blinked. Did she mean that woman who was staring blatantly at her husband?
"Why don't you go back to wherever you came from? Who are you anyway? You think you're something important that can decline my mistress's compassion to a loser like you?" The servant harrumphed.
Lu Xinyi narrowed her eyes and stared blankly at the servant's face. She didn't look like she was young but certainly hadn't reached her thirty yet. She didn't expect that someone would tolerate such rudeness from a servant like her.
Could this woman have the same feathers as her mistress?
"Are you done?" Lu Xinyi's voice was extremely cold. Shen Yi was aware that she had enough of this bullshit.
It was the first time Yang Liqing saw her Young Madam in a bad mood. She didn't know Lu Xinyi shared the same temperament as Shen Yi. Both were known to be polite, but when faced with troubles and rudeness like this, they could easily snap and destroy anyone who dared to contradict them.
"W-what?" The servant didn't expect Lu Xinyi to retaliate, but she was quick to recover from her surprise. "Am I not allowed to say the truth? Or are you angry to accept that you can never win against my mistress."
She hadn't noticed Shen Yi's deadly glare and Yang Liqing moving to stand in front of her Young Madam. Her hand was itching to slap this servant's face!
How dare she mock her Young Madam in her own place? Did she even know the gravity of her words against Lu Xinyi?
"Young Madam, your order please."
Yang Liqing chanted inwardly to let Lu Xinyi hit this woman's face. It might not be enough to put some sense on this servant's face, but she had to know no one could walk away after mocking and disrespecting a member of the Shen family!
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