Xia Yongen smiled and nodded. “Yes. Isn’t it delicious?”
He Yuqiang gave the salted egg yolk lava bun this time a glowing review, but she remembered that the one she had eaten on Monday had tasted completely different from this one.
In just two days, Xia’s cooking skills had actually improved by leaps and bounds. How was that possible? Even an immortal couldn’t accomplish something like that!
Although the salted egg yolk lava bun in her hands was piping hot, He Yuqiang’s heart gradually grew cold, and more and more questions arose in her mind.
This bun… was it really made by Xia?
If Xia hadn’t made it, why would she lie to her? She had no reason to lie about something so trivial, right?
He Yuqiang asked again, “Are you serious? The ones you made before weren’t like this.”
Xia Yongen rubbed her nose. There was no way she could tell her about the system, so she could only bite the bullet and say, “I messed up that time. This is what I’m normally capable of.”
After living with Xia Yongen for four years, He Yuqiang knew her fairly well. Seeing how unnatural her expression was now, even more doubts surfaced in her mind.
Xia really is lying! This salted egg yolk lava bun absolutely wasn’t made by her.
But why would she do that?
He Yuqiang quickly figured it out.
Xia must really want her to believe that the pastries she made were genuinely delicious and that there wouldn’t be any problems with running the teahouse.
In the end, Xia simply didn’t want her help, so she had deliberately told this lie.
If that was the case, then she couldn’t openly help her either. After all, everyone had their pride.
He Yuqiang knew very well that Xia Yongen was a strong-willed girl. That was why, back in college, her roommates had always secretly helped her with various little things, taking care not to let Xia find out.
She threw her arms around Xia Yongen and hugged her tightly.
“If you run into any difficulties, you really have to tell me, okay? Don’t keep everything bottled up inside. Understand?”
Faced with her best friend’s sudden hug and heartfelt declaration, Xia Yongen was extremely surprised.
“Okay, okay! If anything happens, you’ll definitely be the first person I call. After all, you’re rich. I need to cling to your coattails!”
She had absolutely no idea how many thoughts He Yuqiang had gone through in her mind because of a single salted egg yolk lava bun.
After returning to the hotel, He Yuqiang immediately contacted a real estate agent and looked for a suitable place near Rongxing House.
The next day, Xia Yongen was kneading dough while talking on the phone.
“What? You’re not staying at the hotel anymore?”
“That’s right. You have no idea how rough the sheets at this hotel are. They’ve rubbed my back until I got a rash. The pillow material isn’t good either. I really can’t stay there anymore, so I found a place near your teahouse.”
When Xia Yongen saw the details of the house He Yuqiang had sent her, she was utterly stunned.
Wait, what? The place she found is a Xiguan mansion?!
And not just any Xiguan mansion—it was a three-courtyard Xiguan mansion. There were ten rooms alone, not even counting the servants’ quarters, guest rooms, and study.
The three courtyards were connected by open-air courtyards, while a ring of Qingyun lanes separated the walls from neighboring homes, providing both fire protection and security against theft.
In the past, these were residences that only wealthy or influential families could afford.
Xia Yongen was still shocked.
“Don’t you live alone? Why did you rent such a huge house?”
He Yuqiang crossed one leg over the other as she talked on the phone.
“Oh, I’m not used to living in small places. Besides, aren’t you going to keep me company?”
She repeatedly reminded her, “I really can’t sleep alone. You have to come stay with me, okay?”
Naturally, He Yuqiang had rented the place for the sake of making things more convenient for Xia Yongen, but asking Xia to come keep her company wasn’t entirely an excuse either.
After all, the residence was quite old, and it was still somewhat frightening to spend the night there alone.
Xia Yongen naturally understood He Yuqiang’s intentions and was deeply touched. She could only obediently agree.
“Then I’ll come keep you company when I have some free time. If I’m too busy, though, I won’t be able to come.”
It was now the second week since the breakfast stall had opened, and business was considerably better than during the first week. Apart from the adjustments Xia Yongen had made to the appearance of the breakfast stall, the launch of the salted egg yolk lava buns had also played a major role.
Meanwhile, as soon as Xu Meng returned to the company, she saw that Mi Lai was already waiting by the elevator.
When Mi Lai saw Xu Meng arrive, she hurried over. The two linked arms and quickly walked to the pantry, where they found an empty spot and sat down.
In front of them was an incredibly sumptuous bag of breakfast: four salted egg yolk lava buns, two savory water chestnut pastries, one savory pancake, two eggs, and two cups of soy milk.
At first, Mi Lai had only asked Xu Meng to bring her one salted egg yolk lava bun.
But then she thought about it and decided that she might as well eat to her heart’s content this one time. Perhaps after eating a lot, she wouldn’t like them as much anymore and wouldn’t crave them every day.
And so, Xu Meng had brought back a huge amount of breakfast today.
A blissful smile appeared on Mi Lai’s face. Yesterday, she’d only gotten to eat a tiny bite, which had been nowhere near enough. Today, she was determined to savor everything properly.
The moment the salty, savory, soft and chewy water chestnut pastry entered her mouth, her eyes involuntarily widened.
So fragrant! So delicious!
And the savory pancake—how could it be made so crispy and so fragrant?
Not to mention the salted egg yolk lava buns, with their perfect combination of salty and sweet flavors. She could eat two in one go without getting tired of them!
In the past, whenever she ate salad and yogurt, she felt like a robot running a preset program. The spoon would reach her mouth, and she’d take a bite, chew, and swallow.
But today, a genuine smile appeared on her face.
Mi Lai was in an excellent mood. When she returned to the office from the pantry and turned on her computer, she immediately saw an email from her supervisor.
She hurriedly called Chen Chen and Xu Meng in from outside, then turned the computer screen toward them.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but one of Liu Zhaokang’s clients specifically requested to work with Liang Xiuwen too. This is going to be a big problem.”
Xu Meng had just finished breakfast and was still in a carb-induced daze, her mind somewhat hazy. It wasn’t until Chen Chen slammed his palm onto Mi Lai’s desk that she finally snapped back to reality.
“Liu Zhaokang did that on purpose, didn’t he? He just had to compete with us for him!”
Mi Lai sighed. If Liu Zhaokang and his team hadn’t muddied the waters, then even if the collaboration fell through, there wouldn’t have been much of a loss. At most, they would have had to put some effort into explaining the situation to the client, since Liang Xiuwen had never collaborated with a food channel before.
But now that there was someone else trying to interfere, things were different.
For “Xiaomi Eats,” it was no longer enough to simply secure a collaboration with Liang Xiuwen. They also had to beat Liu Zhaokang’s team to it and release their collaboration video first.
In other words, what everyone was fighting for now was the buzz surrounding Liang Xiuwen’s first appearance in an online video.
Once they fell even half a step behind the other side, the client would definitely be dissatisfied, even if they ultimately managed to collaborate with Liang Xiuwen.
This opportunity was extremely rare. The attention they could gain through Liang Xiuwen was crucial to both channels.
Precisely because of this, the company leadership had even set up an incentive program to motivate the employees of both teams.
Whichever channel managed to secure a collaboration with Liang Xiuwen first would receive all of the Food Department’s commercial opportunities for the next six months.
Xu Meng was already under enormous pressure because she was about to meet Liang Xiuwen. After hearing this news, she became even more worried, sighing repeatedly.
Although she wasn’t the only person on the team, what was at stake now was the commercial resources for the next six months.
She wanted to go to the restroom and have some time alone. However, before she even reached the restroom, she heard two male voices coming from around the corner.
One of them said, “Brother Liu, looks like we’re definitely going to win this time. How could Mi Lai’s team possibly compete with us?”
The other man snorted.
“Of course. Have you even looked at the kinds of restaurants their channel chooses? Have they ever been to a proper Michelin-starred restaurant? They only go to those little hole-in-the-wall places in the middle of nowhere.”
“Liang Xiuwen is famous for knowing his food. How could he possibly favor an internet celebrity like Mi Lai, who only relies on her looks to attract followers?”
Xu Meng couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She stormed right up to Liu Zhaokang and launched into a furious tirade.
“Liu, just because you’ve eaten at a few Michelin-starred restaurants, you think you’re so impressive? You spend all day gossiping behind people’s backs. Anyone who didn’t know better would think your collaboration with Liang Xiuwen had already been finalized!”
Liu Zhaokang visibly trembled, completely startled by her. He had never expected this normally quiet-looking young woman to come out swinging with such harsh words the moment she opened her mouth.
He put on an affected smile.
“Xiao Xu, there’s no need to get so worked up. I was only telling the truth. Our team will most likely win this collaboration.”
Xu Meng glared at him.
“It isn’t over yet. How do you know we won’t be able to secure the collaboration? If you’ve got the guts, let’s wait and see!”
Liu Zhaokang chuckled.
“It’s good for young people to have ambition. But you should also know your own limits!”
Their argument in the pantry quickly attracted the attention of their other colleagues, and news of the Food Department’s competition to collaborate with Liang Xiuwen soon spread throughout the entire company.
When Xu Meng returned to her desk, she could feel her coworkers casting curious glances at her. Every now and then, she could also hear people whispering among themselves.
Meanwhile, quite a few colleagues had already gathered around Liu Zhaokang in the office next door, one after another showering him with flattering remarks. Liu Zhaokang looked extremely pleased with himself, as though victory were already assured.
Xu Meng quietly sighed.
Things have come this far. I can only give it everything I’ve got!
…
Early Friday morning, Xu Meng dragged her extremely heavy footsteps out of her home.
As usual, she arrived in front of Rongxing House. Xia Yongen smiled and greeted her.
“Hello! We have a new kind of bun today. Would you like to try it?”
Xia Yongen lifted the lid of the steamer. Behind the billowing white steam, twelve plump fresh meat buns were neatly arranged inside the steamer basket.
Each one was white and chubby, with numerous clearly defined pleats pinched into the dough, all gathered together at the top of the bun.
Standing only a couple of arm’s lengths away from the steamer, Xu Meng caught a faint aroma of meat mixed with the fragrance of wheat.
Then she noticed that someone in front was holding a fresh meat bun that had been torn open. Inside was a pork filling almost the size of half a fist, garnished with water chestnut and scallions. There was even some savory juice glistening inside the meat filling.
Looking at the incredibly tempting fresh meat bun, Xu Meng couldn’t help swallowing. Her heavy mood instantly became a little lighter.
She stuffed two piping-hot fresh meat buns into her pocket, clenched her fists, and gave herself a little pep talk before heading toward the café where she was supposed to meet Liang Xiuwen.
After taking the subway for more than a dozen stops, she finally arrived at the café where she had arranged to meet Liang Xiuwen.
Author’s Note:
I’m late today. I’ve been editing the chapter this whole time, but no matter how much I revised it, it just didn’t feel right.