As soon as Xu Meng walked in, she saw a man sitting at a table by the window.
He was in his twenties and wearing a very simple white T-shirt. Yet he had a refined, scholarly air about him, and he was quite handsome.
For some reason, she immediately had a feeling that this was the person she had come to meet.
Liang Xiuwen looked up toward the entrance of the café. Their eyes met, and he spoke first.
“Are you Editor Xu?”
There were still fifteen minutes before their agreed meeting time. Xu Meng hadn’t expected Liang Xiuwen to arrive so early. On the way there, she had been thinking that as soon as she got to the café, she would eat the two fresh meat buns in her pocket before quietly waiting for Liang Xiuwen to arrive.
But now the two of them were already seated inside the café. On the marble plate in front of her sat two exquisite, flaky croissants, their surfaces golden-brown beneath the lights.
The familiar sweet aroma of Western pastries filled Xu Meng’s nose. After taking a few more breaths, she also detected a faint meaty fragrance coming from the two fresh meat buns in her pocket.
As they drank their coffee, they naturally began discussing the commercial collaboration with the pigeon restaurant.
Xu Meng took out the materials she had prepared beforehand from her shoulder bag and arranged them one by one in front of Liang Xiuwen.
“These are the project’s collaboration plans. We intend to use the history of roast pigeon as the main theme, weaving in the efforts made by chefs throughout the different eras to improve the dish. From there, we’ll introduce the various ways of preparing pigeon, before ultimately focusing on this restaurant’s new signature pigeon set menu.”
“These are some of the projects we’ve previously done with other restaurants. Actually, the overall theme of our channel has quite a lot in common with the food essays you write…”
Three folders were stacked in front of Liang Xiuwen. He lowered his head and carefully flipped through them without saying a word.
Xu Meng cautiously glanced at his expression. Everything she had just said had been recited word for word from the script she had prepared beforehand. She had no idea whether he had noticed.
Seeing that he continued reading the documents, Xu Meng took a deep breath, licked her lips, and prepared to deliver her final blow.
“Actually, I’ve been a fan of your books for a long time. So I’m truly very happy that I got the chance to meet you this time. It would be wonderful if we could have the opportunity to work with you more closely.”
Over the past few days, she had constantly been thinking about what kind of identity she should use to establish a closer connection with Liang Xiuwen.
After much consideration, she had decided that being his reader and fan was the most suitable approach.
For one thing, she really had read quite a few of his books. For another, it might also improve his impression of her.
Liang Xiuwen, who had been keeping his head lowered, finally looked up and smiled gently.
“Looks like I’m quite famous now. Everyone at your company is apparently a fan of mine.”
Xu Meng froze on the spot.
Only after hearing more did she learn that Liu Zhaokang’s team had also claimed to be longtime fans of Liang Xiuwen—fans of more than ten years.
But when Liang Xiuwen asked them a few more questions, Liu Zhaokang had become rather evasive and could barely say anything.
“No, I really am! I really am a fan of yours!” Xu Meng became anxious, her voice rising several notches. “Back when you were writing short food essays for Yiya magazine, I started following you…”
Liang Xiuwen’s hands stopped turning the pages.
“Yiya magazine? That was when I was in high school, when I tried submitting some pieces. I didn’t expect Editor Xu to still remember them to this day.”
His eyes seemed to light up slightly.
Xu Meng’s heart leaped with joy.
There might actually be hope!
So she once again racked her brain, digging up memories of Liang Xiuwen’s older articles, and began enthusiastically discussing her impressions after reading them.
She talked so animatedly that she was practically spraying saliva across the table. The more she spoke, the more excited and emotional she became. By the end, she even wiped away a tear.
“I know you probably won’t agree to collaborate with us, but just being able to meet you today means my wish has already been fulfilled.”
After saying this, Xu Meng herself got goosebumps all over.
Liang Xiuwen took a sip of coffee and closed the folder in front of him.
“I’ve carefully looked over your proposal. I need to go back and think about it.”
Xu Meng had been mentally preparing what to say next, but when she heard those words, a chill spread through her heart.
Mi Lai and Chen Chen had mentioned before that whenever Liang Xiuwen said he needed to go back and think about it, he never contacted them again afterward.
In other words, after preparing for an entire week, she had still been rejected.
Xu Meng felt completely cold all over.
Just a few days ago, she had confidently told Liu Zhaokang, Let’s wait and see.
But now…
If I can’t secure Liang Xiuwen, we’ll lose all of the channel’s commercial opportunities for the next six months!
Xu Meng no longer remembered what Liang Xiuwen said afterward.
She sat alone in the café, staring blankly downward, a small metal spoon in her hand as she continuously stirred the black coffee in front of her.
Then, her vision suddenly began to blur.
Gradually, cool droplets began falling onto the bridge of her nose.
“Editor Xu? Editor Xu? Are you all right?”
Xu Meng came back to her senses and looked up, only to discover Liang Xiuwen standing in front of her, holding out a tissue.
She panicked slightly and hurriedly took the tissue, lowering her head to wipe away her tears.
“I-I’m fine. Thank you.”
Liang Xiuwen sat back down across from her. After thinking for a moment, he said,
“How about this? I’d like to ask you a question.”
“What is the best thing you’ve eaten in the past two weeks?”
……
Three hours later, Xu Meng returned to the office looking completely dejected. Facing the looks from Mi Lai and Chen Chen, her eyes reddened and the tip of her nose stung. She lowered her head and said,
“I-I’m sorry. I messed everything up!”
Mi Lai hurried over and put an arm around her.
“What happened? It’s okay. How about we go out and have a big lunch?”
But who could have expected that hearing this would make Xu Meng cry even harder? Tears and snot flowed uncontrollably down her face.
“It’s all my fault! Why am I so stupid? Xiaomi, why don’t you just deduct my bonus!”
Seeing Xu Meng crying her heart out, Chen Chen and Mi Lai exchanged glances, both seeing the confusion in each other’s eyes.
Xu Meng had only gone to meet Liang Xiuwen. How had she come back this heartbroken?
“Mengmeng, what exactly happened? Don’t be scared. Did Liang Xiuwen bully you?”
Chen Chen also anxiously asked, “Yeah. If he bullied you, I’ll definitely help you get even.”
“No, no.” Xu Meng quickly waved her hands and wiped her face. With tears still in her eyes, she said, “I completely offended Liang Xiuwen!”
“What?!”
Mi Lai and Chen Chen were both stunned. Only after listening to Xu Meng’s account did they learn what had happened that morning.
When the two of them heard about the question Liang Xiuwen had asked, they became anxious, scratching their heads in frustration.
“So what did you answer?”
Xu Meng bit her lip, unwilling to say. Finally, she spoke in a small voice.
“I gave him the fresh meat buns in my pocket.”
Mi Lai and Chen Chen stared at her in utter disbelief.
“…Huh?”
Seeing their expressions, the tears Xu Meng had managed to stop began flowing again.
When she heard Liang Xiuwen ask that question, her mind had gone completely blank. But she knew that this was clearly a test he had deliberately set for her. If she answered well, perhaps there would still be a chance.
But at that moment, she was simply far too nervous. Her brain was like a rusty machine that had completely stopped working. She couldn’t think at all, and her entire body had stiffened.
Only her hungry stomach was still contracting over and over, sending dull pangs of hunger through her.
Just then, Xu Meng remembered the bag of breakfast she’d brought with her.
Her mind was completely blank, and she couldn’t think of anything at all. Somehow, she started talking about the breakfast shop near her residential complex.
It was as if she’d suddenly opened the floodgates. She went from the pan-fried corn cakes to the savory water chestnut pastries, then talked about the savory pancakes and salted egg yolk lava buns, and finally mentioned the fresh meat buns she’d just bought that morning.
Xu Meng’s voice grew quieter and quieter.
“He seemed pretty interested in what I was saying. Then he asked me what the fresh meat buns tasted like, so I simply gave them to him.”
Thinking about it now, Xu Meng suddenly became worried.
She hadn’t even tasted those two fresh meat buns herself, yet she’d handed them directly to Liang Xiuwen.
What if they aren’t delicious?
Liang Xiuwen would definitely think that she had terrible taste, and his impression of “Xiaomi Eats” would become even worse.
But the food from that breakfast shop had always been quite good. It shouldn’t possibly be that bad, right?
After Chen Chen heard the whole story from beginning to end, the tiny bit of hope he’d been holding onto was ultimately shattered.
A single fresh meat bun—what could possibly be special about it? How could it impress Liang Xiuwen?
Even if the fresh meat bun tasted good, it was still just an ordinary fresh meat bun. It wasn’t king crab or lobster. No matter how you made it, you couldn’t turn it into something extraordinary.
Mi Lai, on the other hand, felt that Xu Meng had actually done a good job.
Liang Xiuwen had probably eaten all kinds of rare delicacies long ago. Perhaps they no longer felt novel to him. Besides, many of his food essays had mentioned the humble street foods and everyday snacks filled with the warmth of ordinary life.
Maybe taking a different approach and giving him a fresh meat bun really could move him?
Regardless of what they thought inside, both of them continued comforting the crying Xu Meng and took her downstairs to eat at a newly opened upscale Western restaurant.
Meanwhile, news of Xu Meng giving away the buns quickly spread throughout Steam Media.
In the pantry, everyone was discussing it animatedly. Most of the comments were mocking and sarcastic, while a small number of people were beginning to worry that this incident might cause the company’s commercial collaborations to decrease significantly in the future.
The fact that they had offended Liang Xiuwen was already a reality, and there was no way to undo it now.
For Steam Media, the actual loss wasn’t particularly significant. After all, Liang Xiuwen was only moderately famous. Besides, food writers and self-media creators were still two different fields, so there wasn’t much overlap in terms of influence.
But what would the clients think if they found out about this?
Such an absurd incident had actually happened during such an important project.
If word got out, would companies that had originally been interested in collaborating begin to think that everyone at Steam Media, from top to bottom, was just like Mi Lai’s team—completely unreliable?
For a time, the entire company was discussing what had happened with Mi Lai’s channel.
Some people were deeply worried, while even more were simply watching the drama unfold. They mocked Mi Lai and Xu Meng while simultaneously rushing to curry favor with Liu Zhaokang.
After all, Mi Lai’s team had now offended Liang Xiuwen.
Didn’t that mean the chances of “Kang’s Restaurant Reviews” securing a collaboration with Liang Xiuwen had increased dramatically?
If “Kang’s Restaurant Reviews” really managed to secure the collaboration, then all the Food Department’s commercial opportunities for the next six months would be Liu Zhaokang’s for the taking!
Author’s Note:
While editing this chapter, I saw the word “croissant” and was reminded of a really delicious bakery I visited in Ningbo. Their croissants were topped with almonds and a thin layer of icing. They were both flaky and tender, with an intense buttery flavor.
They also had another variety with a molten filling. The moment you bit into it, there was this incredibly fragrant molten cheese filling inside!
I think Ningbo’s baking scene is really excellent. It’s practically a bread battleground there. It feels even more competitive than Shanghai!