The second and the third days weren’t spent with food tasting and replicating the dishes Shen Lingqing presented. Instead, both Liu Jinfei and Lin Xiao found themselves working at Blue Haven and Grace Palace at the same time. Liu Jinfei was working together at the newly renovated kitchen of Blue Haven Restaurant as Huang Shenghao’s sous chef, while Lin Xiao was at Grace Palace, assisting Chef He.
Because the annual festival was just around the corner, many tourists had come to visit the town and stop by to see and taste the popular dumplings both restaurants offered to their customers.
By the end of the day, both chefs wanted to pass out from exhaustion. This was way harder than the ones they experienced before. The customers seemed to arrive non-stop, and they needed to cater and keep up with everyone’s speed in the kitchen, in fear that they would cause trouble to both chefs they were working with.
Their day started at eight in the morning, and they also clocked out at twelve midnight, just like everyone else in the restaurant. Thinking about it, the two thought that they were both lucky Savory Alley wasn’t as busy as these two restaurants here, or else they wouldn’t even notice the time and the day if these continued.
However, Liu Jinfei had to admit that it was totally a nice experience in his opinion. He had also learned some useful techniques from Huang Shenghao and couldn’t wait to apply them to his own cooking.
By the end of the third day, Liu Jinfei already had the feeling of crawling back to his bed to sleep. However, he didn’t want to bring shame to Shen Lingqing who was also busy doing her job on her own without relying on her assistant that didn’t come with them on this short trip.
It was already enough that Director Shen was doing them a favor of helping them improve the quality of their cooking and techniques.
As he lay on his bed after another taxing day and taking a quick shower, Liu Jinfei tried to remember what he had done for the past forty-eight hours of his life. If Shen Lingqing was giving them a glimpse of what kind of hardships they should expect to see in the future when Savory Alley reached the pinnacle and the same status the two restaurants have, then she was successful.
Whether they should worry or get excited from this experience, Liu Jinfei wasn’t sure. However, one thing for certain was that… this experience was surely eye-opening, not only for him but also for Lin Xiao.
A sudden knock on his door pulled Liu Jinfei from his deep thoughts. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand and sighed. It was already one in the morning. Who would dare to disturb him at this ungodly hour? ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
When he opened the door to see who it was, he found the same butler who greeted them the first time they arrived here at Peach Blossom resort. The man handed him an envelope. His name was written on it by the familiar handwriting of Shen Lingqing.
“Miss Shen asked me to deliver this as soon as you got back from Grace Palace,” the butler said.
“Is Director Shen still awake? Can I have a word with her?” Liu Jinfei asked. He hadn’t seen the Shen princess these whole forty-eight hours, and neither he nor Lin Xiao had any idea where she was or what she was doing. He also didn’t know what was waiting for them today as Shen Lingqing hadn’t informed them of their next activity yet.
“Ah, Director Shen had already retired to bed at nine. She apologized for not being able to be with you these past days, and she wouldn’t be here as well today,” the butler replied “She said that you and Chef Lin are free to use the kitchen for some practice if you want while she isn’t around. Either that or you can just take a day off from cooking if you are too tired to do anything.”
“I see…” Liu Jinfei thought that it was a good thing that Shen Lingqing was giving them some time to rest. He would be able to use this time to clear his mind and sort out the thoughts that had been bugging him lately.
“Then, would she be with us tomorrow?” He asked. Since neither he nor Lin Xiao had seen Shen Lingqing these forty-eight hours, would that mean that she was dealing with a problem back at the capital?
“…”
He then thanked the butler, closed the door, and sat on his bed. As he pulled out the paper inside the envelope and read its contents, he read that he and Lin Xiao were to participate in the festival’s dumpling competition tomorrow. He groaned and flopped back to the bed once he realized what it meant.
What day-off? Shen Lingqing had just signed him and Lin Xiao into a competition without asking for their opinion over the matter. Surely, she had been planning this from the start of their trip and wasn’t truly giving him and Lin Xiao a break.
He didn’t have any choice but to practice later. Since it’s been a while since he participated in a competition, Liu Jinfei didn’t know what to expect this time. It was only by then did he realize that Shen Lingqing was using this competition to see if he and Lin Xiao were able to improve their skills and taste-testing for the past three days.
No doubt Lin Xiao was already informed about the competition by now. If Liu Jinfei was right about the older man’s personality, Lin Xiao would join him in the kitchen to train for the upcoming event.
“Ah, Director Shen, you really don’t want to show mercy, do you?” Liu Jinfei muttered before dropping the envelope on the nightstand and switched the lights off in his room. It didn’t take long before he entered the world of slumber peacefully.
