While Liu Jinfei and Lin Xiao’s skills were being tested by He Haotian at Grace Palace, Shen Lingqing decided to check out their other restaurant, Blue Haven. As she left Grace Palace, she noticed that there were no lines of waiting customers outside anymore as the lunch service was already done.
Unlike Oriental Bliss that needed an appointment, their customers here could drop by anytime they like since two restaurants could cater to them at the same time.
When she entered Blue Haven, a new face greeted her. Shen Lingqing thought that perhaps Blue Haven hired more staff to accommodate their growing patrons. She gave the young waitress a curt nod before she decided to go straight to the kitchen.
“Uncle Huang, are you here?” She called out.
Thank goodness the season wasn’t summer, or else she would die from too much heat that was coming from the kitchen.
“Here! Give me a moment, my Little Princess!” A masculine voice answered her call.
Shen Lingqing’s eyes twitched in annoyance. She really didn’t like it when people called her a princess, but it was hard for Huang Shenghao to stop the habit he had long been accustomed to. Ever since the man met her when she was younger, she had earned this endearment she could not shed away.
A moment later, Huang Shenghao stepped out of the kitchen and wiped off the sweat on his face with a clean towel. His shoulder-length hair was tied in a low ponytail behind his head. There were a few silver streaks of hair on his thick mane, but it only added to his natural charisma.
“I haven’t seen you for a while, but I heard from your Uncle Lingyu that you’ve just returned from abroad. Have you eaten yet?” He asked Shen Lingqing.
“I did.” She nodded before following him to the empty dining area and took a seat across from him. “Grandpa He made sure to feed me before he allowed me to go here.”
“Ha. Such a cheating old man! I told him yesterday that I would feed you first, but he still did it before me.” Huang Shenghao huffed in annoyance. “He really doesn’t know how to play fair, right, Qingqing?”
The Shen princess pinched the bridge of her nose. What was with their obsession with feeding her so much food? Were they trying to make her a fatty woman?
“You should have brought your Uncle Lingyu with you,” Huang Shenghao added with some complaints, “He hasn’t visited me for some time now.”
“Well, Uncle Huang, according to Uncle Lingyu, you sound like a nagging wife whenever he comes here for a visit.”
Huang Shenghao gasped and looked at her in disbelief.
“Your Uncle Lingyu said that?” He exclaimed.
Shen Lingqing nodded in affirmation.
“The audacity of that man!” Her Uncle Huang hit the table with his clenched hand. “Who is he calling a nagging wife?! After all we’ve been through, he still looks down on me, Qingqing? Your Uncle Lingyu is really mean to me!”
The Shen Princess sighed inwardly and tried to tune out her Uncle Huang’s complaints. Really, it made sense to her why her Uncle Lingyu said he sounded like a nagging wife… because he really was!
If only she could fold her ears, so she wouldn’t hear his incessant complaints. However, she knew well that her two uncles had been like this since the beginning, according to her mother.
“Is there something wrong with the kitchen? I heard from Grandpa He that it’s currently under renovation,” Shen Lingqing asked, trying to divert her Uncle Huang’s attention away from the other uncle.
“Ah, that? There was an issue with the ventilation, so we decided to fix it before the festival starts,” he paused as he remembered something, “Are you planning to join this year’s compet.i.tion, Little Princess?”
Shen Lingqing raised a brow and then shook her head. Of course, she knew what he was about.
“Uncle, in case you are forgetting, I’m not a professional chef, but I do plan to allow Liu Jinfei and Lin Xiao to join the compet.i.tion before we return to the capital.”
It was the same compet.i.tion her mother partic.i.p.ated in before, along with her father as her sous chef. Shen Lingqing also thought that it would be the perfect chance for her to see if the two chefs she brought along were able to improve under such a short time of practice.
Huang Shenghao rubbed his chin and nodded at her plan. He also thought that it was the perfect place to test the two because the judges would surely not be partial with them.
“You haven’t told them, have you?”
Shen Lingqing shook her head and eyed the teacup that was placed in front of her.
“No. It’s better for them not to be aware of it yet, or else their mind would be too occupied with nervousness and pressure to perform well during the compet.i.tion rather than focusing on cultivating their skills in the kitchen.”
The same new waitress came to their table and served drinks with shaky hands. Her name was Xu Yingying, and she just recently started working at Blue Haven. She glanced at Shen Lingqing’s beautiful face with nervousness, not wanting to make a mistake in front of her.
When she greeted Shen Lingqing earlier, she thought that Shen Lingqing was just a career woman who came here to see the festival. It was only after that when the other staff of the restaurant told her that the young woman talking to their executive chef was none other than the heir of SY Holdings. She was practically the owner of several restaurant chains across the country, including Blue Haven and Grace Palace.
Xu Yingying stepped back and watched as Shen Lingqing took a sip from her drink.
“Thank you.” She heard the Shen princess say, which made Xu Yingying flushed from embarra.s.sment. She didn’t know why, but hearing Shen Lingqing’s cold voice felt like spring water had just washed through her entirety in a good way.