“Lingtian, you aren’t the one who should decide what’s off-limits. Mom made those for a reason and not just for us.” Her eyes then s.h.i.+fted to the mischievous twins. “And you two, do you want me to tell Auntie Xiulan you were the ones who ruined her camera last year?”
The three lowered their heads like puppies being chastised by their owner.
“Oh, Qing Jie, please don’t tell Mom. We really didn’t mean to break her camera.” Shen Liyue begged his cousin. How were they supposed to know that the week’s worth of work their mother did was on that camera, and they accidentally broke it when he and Shen Liyuan decided to ‘borrow’ it for a moment.
“Aha! So the two of you were the ones who broke it!” A familiar voice rang out within the room, sending cold s.h.i.+vers down the Shen twins’ spine.
All of them turn their heads and saw Lu Xiulan stalking towards her son and pulled one of their ears.
“Oww! Mom, that hurts!” Shen Liyuan shrieked in pain.
“Mom, not here! Not here!” Shen Liyue couldn’t believe that they were being chastised like children by their mother.
“You could have just told me. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to do everything again from scratch?!” Liu Xiulan narrowed her eyes to her twins. Sometimes, she wondered where these two got their mischievous streak. She certainly wasn’t as unruly as these two when she was younger.
“Ah, how lively.” Lu Xinyi said as she cupped her chin. The known ‘Food G.o.ddess’ had certainly aged well. The long hair she had sported years ago were now reduced to a shoulder-length
“Qingqing, you didn’t come home with your father?” she asked her daughter.
“Dad said he still needs to finish some work before he comes home,” Shen Lingqing said in response. She had seen how much work was laid on her father’s desk before she left. If it was the usual thing for him, then no wonder he always had overtime and would always come home late when she was younger.
“What about your mother, Jiewen? Xingchen?” she asked, but she already knew the answer. Knowing Sun Feiyan’s personality, she would rather stay at home than join social events like this. Ah, perhaps she should give her hard-headed cousin a surprise visit one of these days.
“Mom said she’ll pa.s.s, Auntie Xin,” Ye Xingchen replied.
It was at that moment when the front door opened again, revealing Shen Yuyan and Shen Zichen. Shen Yuyan immediately gave her mother a hug and kissed her cheek.
“Ohh, I hope we aren’t too late.” Shen Yuyan clapped her hands together in glee. This was the first reunion they had in a long time. Since she and her brother had already moved out of Imperial Residences, their parents were left with their youngest sibling while Shen Lingqing was overseas.
“See? I told you they haven’t started yet. You are worrying too much.” Shen Zichen shed his outer coat and hung it to the coat rack. Although he and Shen Yuyan were twins, the difference in their heights was outstanding, with Shen Yuyan barely reaching her brother’s shoulders.
Shen Zichen was now a surgeon in one of the largest hospitals within the city while Shen Yuyan was pursuing her pa.s.sion for arts and paintings. She would also join her Aunt Xiulan on photography sessions once in a while.
Since most of them were here, they moved from the lounge to the huge dining area. Several dishes were served at once, and the place was instantly filled with lively conversations between the cousins.
Lu Xinyi smiled as she looked after her children. Her four children had grown up so well, so fast that there were times she felt like it only had been yesterday when the four of them were staying by her side. She also loved the idea of how big her family turned out to be. She, who had grown up alone with only her Grandma Lu’s company, had earned a family she could call her own.
“So Director Shen, I heard that Uncle Yi gave you a challenge? You know it’s not too late to change career paths,” Ye Xingchen asked Shen Lingqing.
Upon hearing his words, Shen Lingqing was once again reminded of how troublesome her next days would be. If it was up to her, she would have terminated all the idiots who were managing The Savory Alley, but her father wanted proper doc.u.mentation of it.
“Dad wants me to oversee a restaurant and asked me to help it achieve the status Oriental Bliss has right now. He gave me two years to make it possible,” she said in response.
Lu Xiulan furrowed her brows and looked at her cousin. Had she heard her niece right?
“But Xinxin, Oriental Bliss took over five years before they managed to secure their position and got their first Michelin star. Your brother and Chef He had worked so hard for it, but Qingqing to only have two years? This…”
Right now, Oriental Bliss had earned their three Michelin stars and had become one of the most lucrative businesses of the Shen family. Many people held high regard for the restaurant because not only were their dishes spectacular… but they also upheld the local culture and kept it alive through their cooking techniques.
Lu Xinyi clasped her hands together and sighed. She and her husband had already discussed this even before their daughter’s return a few months ago. While it’s true that it hadn’t been easy for Oriental Bliss to reach the status and glory they had right now, it was different with Shen Lingqing’s case.
Both of them knew how compet.i.tive their daughter could be. She and Shen Yi weren’t truly pus.h.i.+ng her to make the impossible possible. However, they both wanted to see how the inexperienced daughter of theirs would reach her goal on her own—without relying on the two of them.
If Shen Lingqing truly wanted to succeed after Shen Yi, she would need to garner enough experience and understanding on how the company and the industry worked. Being their daughter didn’t mean they would make it easy for her.
“It’s fine, Xiulan. I trust Qingqing and my husband,” she told Lu Xiulan with a smile. It was time for their daughter to step out of her comfort zone and venture to the unknown. There was a bigger world out there that she needed to understand first before taking her father’s place at the company.
She had been pampered and spoiled—not only by her parents and elder siblings—so with this, Lu Xinyi and Shen Yi hoped that their young daughter would learn. Not only would she master managerial skills, but she could also gain life experience and understanding towards other people.
It wasn’t lost to the couple how their daughter was emotionally detached from other people that weren’t part of their family. While it was good to be wary of what other’s intentions were, the couple hoped that Shen Lingqing would eventually learn about sympathy and empathy.
“It’s fine, Auntie Xiulan. If I couldn’t save one d.a.m.n bankrupt restaurant, then how am I supposed to deal with the company?” She then turned and faced her mother. “Don’t worry, Mom. Like what I told Dad earlier, two years is more than enough for me to fix the restaurant.”
Shen Lingqing was confident that she wouldn’t break a sweat fixing the said company… or so she thought…