Chef Hua

"Isn’t this settled then?" Hua Xiaomai narrowed her eyes, "You’ve already made up your mind and you’re not planning to leave, so what’s the big deal? Is it really worth your bursting into my house to rage at me like this? You’re even older than Yuhuai by a few years. By rights, Little Walnut should be calling you ’Uncle,’ yet look at how scared you’ve made him!"

Wang Zhanrui was unable to refute her and said with a sulky voice, "I didn’t consider everything thoroughly. At worst, during his hundred-day feast, I’ll prepare a generous gift to soothe him. Is that alright? Song Jingxi came to find me, you wouldn’t ask proactively, but today I just felt like hashing things out with you, to clear the air, so we can both eliminate any doubts and avoid future unpleasantness."

"You may speak." Hua Xiaomai nodded slightly.

"I know you all have been guessing in your hearts, not knowing what relationship I have with her, but the truth is quite simple," he said.

Unable to wait, Wang Zhanrui immediately blurted out, "She wasn’t originally from Tong’an Prefecture. In earlier years, she was an old acquaintance of my family, and we often interacted. Later, when my father took our family to move deep into the mountains of Lingquan Prefecture, a long time passed without us meeting. A few years ago, when I first came out of the mountains, because I was bad-tempered, I couldn’t stay long in any eatery and had to move every two or three months. I wandered to Tong’an Prefecture and found out that Song Jingxi had opened Taoyuan House. I figured since we were acquaintances, conversing and dealing with matters would be much easier, so I settled down at her establishment."

"At first, things went well enough. She cared for me quite a bit, but less than two months later, I realized she had some cunning intentions. You know my father is currently growing tea in Lingquan Prefecture, and I’ve also focused most of my energy on developing tea dishes. In my free time, I enjoy pondering over them. If I think of any new dishes, I like to jot them down on paper to carry with me, which gradually accumulated into a thick stack."

"Don’t tell me... she took them?" Hua Xiaomai couldn’t wait to interject.

Actually, that wasn’t surprising, right? People who rolled in the culinary world, upon seeing a good recipe, clutched onto it like a cat smelling meat, unable to let go. Song Jingxi always liked to pull little tricks; taking Wang Zhanrui’s hard-earned creations without asking—in a way that seemed within her character to do.

Wang Zhanrui gave her a deep look: "Correct, she did send someone to fetch them, but I noticed and ultimately prevented them from succeeding. I had a big quarrel with her, and left Taoyuan House that night, never to see her again since—between us, I found it quite unexpected that she would come to find me this time."

As expected...

Hua Xiaomai sighed a bit helplessly: "There’s nothing surprising. I have some minor conflicts with her as well, yet look at her, still bold enough to come and poach my corner?"

So Song Jingxi and Wang Zhanrui were old acquaintances. Then she should have known long ago that Wang Tonghe had a rule against accepting apprentices, nevertheless, she used this as an opportunity to write to Hua Xiaomai and reconnect—didn’t this mean that even that Mr. Wang had been used by her?

This woman, how could she be like this...