When Shen Lingqing left to start working on her first day at Savory Alley, Liu Jinfei released a breath he didn’t know he was holding the moment the demon princess disappeared along with her bodyguards, leaving him behind with the other staff of the restaurant.
He wasn’t officially part of Savory Alley for now as he had yet to sign a contract with Shen Lingqing for his employment. He would need to wait for the next day to make his position at the restaurant official.
Still, the Shen princess allowed him to stay at the dormitory that was solely prepared for the employees of the restaurant. Since some of them had come from provinces, rendering them incapable of traveling back and forth for work; SY Holdings catered to their basic needs in the city, giving them a decent place to stay.
“The dishes look amazing, Chef Liu. No wonder Director Shen approves of you.” Lin Xiao said as he helped Liu Jinfei clean after the mess made in the kitchen while preparing three dishes under such short notice.
“I was actually hoping Director Shen would point out my mistakes, but I’m glad she allowed me to work here with you,” the younger man replied with a slight smile on his handsome face.
Unlike the other young master that was born to a wealthy family, Liu Jinfei didn’t have the familiar arrogance and prideful air around him, which made him more appealing and amiable enough to get along well with common people.
“I think you impressed her well, Chef Liu. If anything, she had pointed out your mistakes on the spot and corrected you if those mistakes were grave in her opinion,” Chef Lin commented as he dried his hands with a clean towel.
Liu Jinfei blinked twice. “You think so?”
‘Why, of course. You heard her yourself, right? I think Director Shen has a good eye to see whether a person is capable or not. Moreover, to think that a graduate of Silver Leaf would come here and work with us, no wonder everyone’s morale was lifted.” The older chef shook his head as he remembered how happy his friends were when the announcement was made.
“By the way, were you in the ranking during your stay at Silver Leaf? It’s alright if you aren’t. The mere fact that you were able to finish your studies there is already amazing.” Lin Xiao asked Liu Jinfei. He’d heard how competitive the students were at the Silver Leaf and how hard it was for them to finish their studies at the academy. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Ahh… that…” Liu Jinfei hesitated to answer and scratched his cheek with his forefinger. He wasn’t really as competitive as his schoolmates, and if he could, he would rather not fight them in a cooking battle. He only agreed to attend the academy because Chef He and Lu Xinyi asked him to.
“I finished in second place,” he admitted truthfully.
“Second place? That’s even more impressive, Chef Liu!” Chef Lin couldn’t understand why Liu Jinfei looked as if he wasn’t comfortable talking about his experience in a cooking battle with the others at Silver Leaf. “I don’t think I would be able to enter the top ranking if I attend Silver Leaf.”
“I’m not as good as you think I am, Chef Lin.” Liu Jinfei had a complex expression on his face that the older chef couldn’t quantify. He then sighed dejectedly. “While I enjoyed my stay at Silver Leaf, accepting challenges one after another almost depleted my time to focus on our lessons.”
In fact, the only reason he reached second place in the ranking was that the higher ranks kept on challenging him to cooking battles, and as a fellow chef, he could not step on their pride by not taking their battles seriously.
“So how come you didn’t get to be number one? Were you afraid to challenge the top contender?”
“I’m not aiming to become number one. In fact, I joined Silver Leaf because I want to hone my cooking skills. It’s just that…” Liu Jinfei’s words trailed off as he remembered the person none of his schoolmates could beat during their stay at Silver Leaf.
The image of a man with ash-blonde hair and a pair of cold eyes flashed in his mind. No one was able to beat that man, no matter how many times they attempted to do so. His skills were once compared to that of Tian Lingyu by the mentors, a prodigy that was revered by so many people—a once-in-a-lifetime rare find.
“…I’m perfectly aware of what I could do and not do,” he said softly.
It wasn’t like Liu Jinfei was afraid of him, but Liu Jinfei was aware that—with his skills back then—challenging the first placer would be a waste of time and resources for both parties. That man was a sponsored student of the Li family, and while there was no beef between the Shens and the Lis, it was clear that the Li family wanted nothing but the best.
Liu Jinfei was lucky that Madam Shen didn’t pressure him to participate and do well in his cooking battles. In fact, Lu Xinyi had made it clear to him that she was only fulfilling her part as his sponsor and wouldn’t want to get involved with other families’ affairs when it came to cooking battles.
Lin Xiao stared at Liu Jinfei for a few moments and wondered why he was too calm like this. If other chefs were in his position, Chef Lin had no doubt that they already bragged how impressive they were for being able to secure the second spot at Silver Leaf and gaining the Shen family’s support.
He briefly thought that Liu Jinfei was a person who disliked competitions and confrontations against other people. Not that Lin Xiao thought that it was a bad thing, but he thought that perhaps… something happened to Liu Jinfei in the past for him to act like this.
