“Oh?” Shen Lingqing crossed her legs and rested her chin at the back of her right hand. Was there a drama that was about to unfold? She wondered.
If there was such a customer that could find faults at The Savory Alley’s dishes, then they were in deep trouble. She couldn’t help but look in the man’s direction, wondering what kind of person it was to dare voice out his opinion in front of everyone.
Zhang Yan excused himself nervously from Shen Lingqing’s group and stalked towards the man who dared to verbally insult their restaurant’ dishes.
The man looked like he was a local, but there was something about him that made Shen Lingqing seem familiar. She was sure this was the first time she’d seen him, but there’s something about him that she couldn’t point out.
He was dressed casually, and Shen Lingqing spotted a luggage bag next to him. It seemed like he just returned from his long trip, considering his passport was peeking from the pocket of his backpack.
“What did you just say? Do you have any qualifications to criticize our restaurant?” Zhang Yan questioned him.
The man stood up from his seat, and Shen Lingqing immediately noticed how tall the man was. If she was already considered tall at 179 centimeters, this man was around 188 based on her estimation that even his straight posture looked impressive.
Shen Lingqing stroked her chin and thought that the man’s face wasn’t bad at all. Qiao Lian noticed her checking out the man and leaned forward to tease her boss.
“Qing, are you finally interested in men?” She gave the demon princess a teasing wink.
Shen Lingqing turned her head and looked at her assistant as if Qiao Lian had grown another head over her shoulder.
“What nonsense are you talking about, Lian?” she questioned back.
“It’s clearly deceptive and bold of you to claim that, because SY Holding’s acquired this restaurant, your dishes are now on par with the Oriental Bliss,” the man retorted at Zhang Yan.
“You might be able to deceive some of your patrons, but you are in no place to deceive chefs like me,” the man added as he glared down at Zhang Yan with the same intensity the latter was giving him.
Qiao Lian gasped as she hit her left hand on her open right hand as recognition dawned upon her.
“Miss Qing, I know who he is!” she said in a low voice.
Shen Lingqing arched a slender brow at her assistant. “You do?” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Qiao Lian glanced at the man and then to her boss, leaning forward toward Shen Lingqing to whisper once again.
“Do you remember that time when your parents agreed to sponsor another student at Silver Leaf? I think we are around fifteen at that time, and we’re still busy with school.”
Shen Lingqing slightly nodded her head. Indeed, she briefly remembered her family sponsoring a student in Silver Leaf Academy eight years ago. After her mother graduated from that school before she turned one year old, the Shen family didn’t bother to join and sponsor another student after her mother.
“Miss Qing, that’s him!” Qiao Lian insisted. “I can’t be wrong. His name is Liu Jinfei. He might have matured due to his age, but I’m certain he was the one who visited your parents for sponsorship!”
Qiao Lian had gone home that early from school while Shen Lingqing was left behind due to her extracurricular activities. She remembered hearing from her mother that the ShenLu couple had an unusual guest that day. It only then did she hear that the same young man—who came that day—was the first sponsored student the Shen family supported after such a long time.
Shen Lingqing turned her head to look once more at the man who turned out to be the sponsored student her family supported years ago. She had heard about him, but this was the first time she’d seen the man in the flesh.
Liu Jinfei. Wasn’t he the exiled prince of the Liu family? Did her parents agree to support his studies at Silver Leaf Academy because of their association with his father? She wondered.
Sending and sponsoring a student in Silver Leaf wasn’t a walk in the park anyway. From what she heard, families like hers spent over a million for their tuition fee and their stay at the academy.
The head chef of The Savory Alley had enough and stepped out of the kitchen after he heard Liu Jinfei proclaimed himself as a chef? Did he just think that because he was a chef, he could easily stir trouble in his territory?
“Just because you are a chef does not mean you can just throw false accusations here! Do you know where you are, huh? This is The Savory Alley, one of the turfs of the Shen family. You should be careful not to spout nonsense!” the older chef arrogantly told Liu Jinfei.
Shen Lingqing snorted—which was so unladylike for her status as the second miss of the Shen family. Fu Shuren coughed awkwardly behind his hand as he knew that their miss wouldn’t be able to keep her silence any longer.
“What a hypocrite. Can you please stop using the Shen family? I don’t need to taste the dishes to know that it’s subpar and incomparable to what the Oriental Bliss has,” she announced proudly.
The head chef turned around, his eyes widening when he realized it was the same woman who refused to touch and taste the dishes they presented today. He recovered from his shock and crossed his arms.
“What do you know? Don’t tell me you are a chef, too?” He sneered back at Shen Lingqing.
The demon princess c.o.c.ked her head to one side and hummed.
“Well, I’m not a chef like him, but I do know how to discern the quality of these dishes. Too bad though that I don’t want my palate to be ruined by your subpar cooking abilities.”
