Chapter 10

（Thank you, Shark, for your generous donation of 10,000起点coins! You requested "Sweet and Sour Pork," and I will bring it to life as soon as possible. Stay tuned…）

Under a clear sky with the sun blazing overhead, the ripples on the water of the Jishuitan Lake were shimmering.

Sunlight filtered through the ancient locust tree, casting a warm glow through the window, making the room feel cozy rather than hot.

In the elegantly decorated private room, Yang Hongli gazed out the window at the lake of Jishuitan, where a pair of mandarin ducks played in the water, creating a picturesque scene.

Holding a pair of chopsticks in her hand, her eyes were fixed on the scenery outside, but her face was filled with deep worry, not a trace of ease.

"Hey! Miss, can you please order something? It's rare to get you out for a meal, but you look like you're worrying about the state of the nation. Are you going to let me enjoy my meal or not?" A girl sitting across from Yang Hongli chattered.

Yang Hongli retracted her gaze and looked at the girl in front of her. Her short hair and bangs made her look adorable, but she was dressed in a traditional ink-wash qipao. As she spoke, her chest trembled slightly, exuding a seductive charm.

If there were a man dining with the two of them, he might not even need to eat, just looking at the two girls would be enough. After all, the phrase "beauty is a feast for the eyes" seemed to hold some truth.

Yang Hongli gave her a faint smile, tinged with bitterness.

"Alright, it's just tomorrow's competition, right? You're just too competitive, Hongli. What if you lose to Yang Fubo? Isn't there a saying that 'the meat is still in the pot, who cares who cooks it?' Whether it's the Culinary King Competition or not, aren't they all members of the Yang family?" Before she could finish, Yang Hongli sighed and interrupted, "Mozhu, you might not understand our family's situation. Your family has only one daughter, but our Yang family…"

Yan Mozhu huffed, "Yang Hongli, can we still be sisters? Your family is a prestigious dynasty, and mine is just a nouveau riche?"

"I didn't mean it that way. Running a two-star Michelin restaurant in the capital, nouveau riche? Ha ha…" Yang Hongli smiled at Yan Mozhu, somewhat helplessly.

"Having been sisters for so long, don't I know your temper? You're just too competitive! If you really want to win against Yang Fubo tomorrow, I can ask my dad to send a chef from the restaurant to help you…" Yan Mozhu asked, her face now serious, as if she was ready to call her father if Yang Hongli nodded.

"No need. It's our family's competition, so it should be our family's restaurant staff who participate. Even if I take a step back, if you help me this time, what about the Culinary King Competition? I believe your Yan family is also participating in the Chu King Competition, right?" Yang Hongli smiled at Yan Mozhu, and the 108 garnet beads on her wrist were now clutched in her fingertips, which she lightly twirled as she spoke.

Yan Mozhu sighed and picked up the menu, placing it in front of Yang Hongli. "Fine, Miss, I can't argue with you. We're here to eat, right? Order something…"

Yang Hongli picked up the menu and ordered a few signature dishes from the restaurant. As she flipped through it, she suddenly saw the dish "garlic broccoli."

Soon, a few exquisite dishes were presented to the sisters, Yang Hongli and Yan Mozhu.

"The West Lake Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce tastes so strange…" Yan Mozhu commented, picking up a piece.

Yang Hongli smiled but didn't touch the dish that Yan Mozhu found strange. Instead, she looked at the garlic broccoli in front of her, shook her head, and took a bite. Her expression turned even more grim as she looked out the window at Jishuitan Lake, where Li Gengxin's shadow seemed to float on the glass.

"Achoo…"

Li Gengxin pressed his knife against the cutting board and turned to sneeze.

"Idiot" Yang Sanwu, with a silly smile, was carrying a large basin of snails and happened to pass by Li Gengxin. He paused, turned to Li Gengxin, and asked, "Ha ha, brother, are you catching a cold?"

Li Gengxin looked up at Yang Sanwu and chuckled, "No, I think that beauty is thinking of me!"

Yang Sanwu smiled at Li Gengxin and turned to carry the snails to his station.

"Li Gengxin…"

Li Gengxin instinctively turned to see Teng Tangyue standing at the kitchen door, looking at him with a strange expression.

"Is she thinking of me?" Li Gengxin felt a bitter and helpless feeling. Looking at Teng Tangyue, he no longer felt the initial intense affection, only disgust.

"Go find Lao Guo, he's in the office!" Li Gengxin pointed to Guo Kujun's office.

Teng Tangyue waved and said to Li Gengxin, "The Miss ordered a garlic broccoli."

The other chefs nearby murmured, "Brother Gengxin, your garlic broccoli has won the Miss's heart. It's just like the saying, 'a blessing in disguise.'"

Their eyes were filled with a look that any man would understand.

"Go away, stop speculating!" Li Gengshuo waved his hand, picked up the ingredient tray, grabbed some ingredients, and walked to the wok.

The kitchen was chaotic, and some heard Teng Tangyue's words, but many did not.

The tail chef standing at the back did not hear Teng Tangyue's words.

Seeing Li Gengxin holding the ingredients for garlic broccoli, he was momentarily stunned, then asked excitedly, "Brother Gengxin? What's going on?"

"The Miss ordered another one, I'll make it." Li Gengxin walked to the wok.

The tail chef nodded eagerly and said warmly, "Last time I missed many details, I can't miss this time."

Li Gengxin chuckled, "It's just a vegetable dish, no big deal."

"How can it not be a big deal? Why did the Miss specifically ask you to make it and not me? It's because of the difference, ha ha ha." His self-deprecating words were natural, showing his eagerness to learn.

...

"So crisp!"

"The taste is so bold, there's hardly any salt, but it's so comforting!"

The people around Li Gengxin once again witnessed the birth of a masterpiece!

Teng Tangyue watched as the server quickly took the dish away, then turned to look at Li Gengxin, surrounded by the chefs, her eyes filled with an indescribable emotion.

"Brother Gengxin, teach us, how did you do it? Why is such a simple dish so..."

Listening to the chefs' questions, Li Gengxin felt that the dish was already imprinted in his bones. This time, he didn't have the same first-person perspective, but he made it with even more fluidity, as if he had mastered the essence of the dish long ago.

In the private room at Dejuquan,

"Why am I crying?" Yan Mozhu picked up her silk handkerchief and gently wiped the tears from her eyes, looking at the garlic broccoli in front of her, speechless.

Yang Hongli chuckled, picked up a blue-and-white porcelain bowl, and took a bite of white rice, followed by a piece of emerald-green broccoli. Her elegant face showed deep appreciation.

"Onions! It must be onions!" Yan Mozhu seemed to have an idea, picked up her ivory chopsticks, and poked around the dish. Disappointed, she put down her chopsticks and looked at the garlic broccoli, speechless.

After a while, Yan Mozhu looked at Yang Hongli, who had already finished a small bowl of rice and left only a few pieces of broccoli. She suddenly picked up her bowl and started eating, saying, "Great! Miss, I wondered why you didn't eat at Qinghua Porcelain and insisted on coming back to Dejuquan. You wanted me to know you have a hidden master here. You were worried about tomorrow's competition just now. Humph… You're teasing me?"

Yang Hongli smiled and said, "What hidden master? You know my small restaurant is barely breaking even. Do you think a master would come to work for me?"

"Humph! Your small restaurant? If it's a small restaurant, it's a small temple with big demons and a pond full of turtles. No… I want the chef who made this dish to come over, I need to talk to him."

"Are you trying to poach my staff?" Yang Hongli joked half-seriously.

"Didn't you hear, 'beware of fire, theft, and friends'? I'm determined to poach your staff! Ha ha ha…" Yan Mozhu laughed, charmingly.

Yang Hongli turned to the door and called, "Hey…"

Beside her, Yan Mozhu, who had seen Yang Hongli give the order, smiled and said, "With such a great chef, are you afraid of losing to Yang Fubo tomorrow? I was really going to send two chefs from my place to support you!"

When Teng Tangyue entered the kitchen for the second time, she saw it was empty and quiet, with only two chefs on duty. She instinctively reached for her phone in her handbag but quickly withdrew her hand.

In the private room, Teng Tangyue said to Yang Hongli, "Miss, the kitchen has closed. Li Gengxin is not here…"

When Teng Tangyue mentioned Li Gengxin, Yan Mozhu's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she was deliberately imprinting the name in her mind.

The general manager, Lao He, quickly asked Yang Hongli, "Miss, should I call Li Gengxin to come back?"

Yang Hongli didn't speak, but Yan Mozhu quickly nodded, "Sure, sure! I really want to meet your wok chef, who can make such an art-like dish. I want to see what kind of person he is and ask if he added onion juice to the dish."

Lao He, hearing Yan Mozhu, kept his eyes on Yang Hongli, as he was paid by her. Whether to call Li Gengxin back was up to her.

"Achoo…" In the changing room, Li Gengxin sneezed again, holding his shirt and muttering, "Am I really catching a cold?" He closed the locker and walked out the back door of Dejuquan.