The Encounter (The End)

The sun was setting in the west, and it was still early. Mi really didn't know what to say to this nobleman who only knew how to eat and drink. Ailian looked quite old, definitely over twenty. She wore a silver crown, indicating that she was an adult nobleman who had inherited the title. The servant followed behind her every day to pay the bills, like a thoughtful butler.

For the first time, Mi began to doubt her own skills. Had her skills evolved as she became a witch? People were complaining every day that they couldn't get a set meal at her small restaurant because they were late. Now, even nobles couldn't resist her skills?

Mi rubbed her fingers smugly. She even imagined that when she returned to Earth, she could open a private restaurant, serving only one table a day and accepting reservations only. The more Mi thought about it, the more excited she became, and her smile grew wider and wider. Lian sat opposite her, resting her chin on her hands as she watched Mi daydream. Her smile also grew wider, and she became more and more radiant.

Mi, snapping out of her daze, was stunned by Lian's radiant smile. Lian was truly beautiful, possessing a childlike innocence and an obsession with food. When she ate something delicious, her eyes would squint, revealing a satisfied smile like a kitten, accompanied by soft purring sounds—utterly adorable. Mi suppressed her worry for her; how could this child be so easily captivated by a few bites of food? The food in the Flower Kingdom wasn't bad, and the dishes in Lincheng 17 were particularly outstanding. Mi had eaten at many restaurants in Taiyang City, and if it weren't for Doug To's truly terrible cooking skills, she wouldn't have become the head chef. After the small restaurant's business improved, a few restaurants tried to poach her, but only a few.

Lian stared at Mi, smiling like a kitten that had just stolen some cream. Did this child think I was edible too? She didn't say a word, just sat there. Didn't the nobles of Taiyang City have anything to do? Mi thought about how this noble had been following her for two days, just eating non-stop.

"Uh, I need to rest for a while." Mina had no choice but to slip away from the beautiful nobleman in front of her.

"Okay." Lian stood up and followed Mi into the room, climbing onto Mi's bed.

“Your room is next door.” Mi thought this child was really silly; how did she grow up to be so big?

"Can't I sleep here?" Lian asked groggily. "I want to sleep here too."

Mi opened the door and asked her maid to take Lian back. Lian grumbled to the maid, "I want to sleep there too."

Mi closed the door, thinking she definitely needed to change rooms. Lying in bed, still not asleep, she noticed Lian staring at her from the balcony. Mi pulled the covers over her head, thinking perhaps she should talk to the servant; at least he was reasonable.

The next day, Mi was once again blocked by Miss Lian and her servant at the entrance of the Flower Fate Inn. The servant opened the car door and respectfully invited Mi to get in. Lian sat in the car and looked at her with a smile.

The carriage stopped at the restaurant, where Doug Tor, along with Philip and April, waited at the door. Mi looked at the newly renovated shop, the street in front of which had been swept clean with water, and the restaurant floor gleamed. Each table showed the original color of the wood, covered with brand-new checkered tablecloths. All that was missing was a crystal chandelier.

"You guys?" Mi looked at Doug Toh's excited expression. All three of them had dark circles under their eyes, bloodshot eyes, and pale, chapped lips. Mi swallowed hard. "Didn't you guys sleep a wink last night?"

Doug Toh pushed the rice toward Lian and whispered, "Quick, please invite the lady in and have a seat."

Lian stepped into the restaurant with a smile. She turned to Mi and asked, "Can I still have noodles? I'll have three bowls today."

Mi looked up and noticed that the owner had changed the shop's menu; the Doug To set meal had been replaced with the Noble Set Meal. He thought that once the dumplings were fried, he would definitely have Mi deliver a portion to this beautiful noble lady. If she ate them, he would order a "Noble Dumplings" signboard the next day, and then sell a portion of dumplings for five copper coins, with no discounts.

Xiao Wei placed three gold coins on the counter. The shopkeeper, with trembling hands, took one gold coin and returned the other two. Mi watched as the shopkeeper put the gold coins into her profit box. This unscrupulous merchant still had a little conscience, but not much.

Mi went back to the kitchen to cook noodles. She didn't serve Ailian three bowls; she only served two, each much smaller than usual. After serving them, Mi said to little April, "You two should eat these quickly." As long as the kitchen had them, this noble lady could eat as much as she wanted. Mi missed Fried again and felt she needed to prepare some digestive medicine. If this noble lady continued to eat like this, she would definitely have problems.

Mi brought out two bowls of noodles, and Lian placed one bowl in front of Mi: "You eat too." At that moment, Mi felt tears welling up in her eyes, as if the child she had been raising had grown up and knew how to care for her.

Mi sat opposite Lian, eating noodles. She regretted slightly reducing the portion size for Lian today; the child had finished the soup and was staring at her bowl, licking her lips—she definitely wasn't full. Mi picked some noodles from her own bowl and gave them to Lian. Lian held up her fork, staring wide-eyed at the noodles Mi had given her. After feeding her the noodles, Mi said, "Not full?"

Lian nodded and then shook her head. She seemed to know that Mi didn't want her to eat too much. After Mi finished her noodles, she said, "Shall I cook you some sweet soup?" Lian took Mi's chopsticks and played with them. Hearing Mi's words, she nodded repeatedly. Mi felt like she was raising a big child.

Back in the kitchen, Mi took out an egg and boiled a pot of egg tea. Ailian drinks so much water; although this was a bit of a sham, at least it wouldn't make anyone sick. Mi added a little honey to the bowl to give the egg tea a touch of sweetness.

Lian sipped her egg tea slowly, even gently swinging her legs, looking genuinely happy. If only everyone were so easily satisfied. Little did Mi know that one day she would regret thinking this; Miss Lian would never be content.

Mi thought Lian hadn't eaten enough for breakfast, so she made small pies, pan-fried them until golden brown on both sides, steamed potatoes, mashed them, and topped them with the prepared meat sauce. She also tossed a vegetable with vinegar sauce and finally made a sweet and sour fruit soup. "Vinegar helps with digestion," Mi wondered uncertainly. Lian continued sitting in the restaurant, a little worried that customers wouldn't dare come in and the food wouldn't sell; Lian would just keep eating.

Little April was cutting noodles. Today's set meal was cold noodles, pancakes as a snack, steak as the main course, served with roasted cabbage and fruit soup. Mi deliberately reduced the portion of cold noodles and gave her more fruit soup.

Mi took the set meal she had prepared for Lian out of the restaurant. She noticed two more customers had entered; they were adventurers, tall and with stern faces, their leather armor imposing and handsome. These two had been here before, always ordering several set meals—true gluttons. They tossed aside two silver dris and pointed at the set meal in Mi's hand, saying, "Ten servings, please." The owner happily took the silver dris and turned to the kitchen to prepare the meal for the two adventurers himself.

Okay, now there's no need to worry about leftovers. Mi breathed a sigh of relief and placed the plate in front of Lian. Lian held up her chopsticks and said to Mi, "You eat too."

"I'm done eating." Mi took the fork and replaced the chopsticks in Lian's hand. This was only the portion of one set meal. Mi saw that the two adventurers quickly finished two sets of meals and started on the third. She now knew that the people of the Flower Kingdom could really eat, especially the adventurers, who could eat two or three pounds in one meal.

After Ailian finished her first meal, Mi brought her a bowl of noodles. She sniffed it, shook her head, and refused to eat. "Why are you eating so little today?" Mi asked. "Are you full?"

Ailian shook her head and pointed to the snack plate, saying, "I want this." This child is a picky eater, so Mi still gave Lian an extra small plate of pancakes and told her, "Don't eat anymore after you finish this." After lunch, Lian was still waiting in the shop when Mi came out and said, "I have to prepare the meals today, Ms. Lian, you can go home now."

"I want to eat!" Lian said with wide, surprised eyes.

Mi made cookies with little April, butter cookies, as the weather was getting hotter. Mi wanted to make some desserts that could be stored so that April could prepare them a day in advance, saving them a lot of trouble. Mi saw the old women's sweaty backs and tried her best to reduce everyone's workload.

The cookies were baking in the oven when Dougto brought in another piece of gossip: "Sir, look! We're in the newspaper again!" It turned out the gossip was harshly criticizing Dougto's restaurant for having a nobleman dine there, causing everyone to avoid it. At the same time, it praised the restaurant's new checkered tablecloths, saying they were not only elegant but also complemented the green walls better than the dark tabletops. Of course, the restaurant still lacked a few crystal chandeliers. The presence of a nobleman had once again put Dougto's restaurant on the gossip list. Mi had to admire this gossipmonger's excellent news-gathering skills; he even reminded Dougto to install more upscale crystal chandeliers.

Two batches of cookies were baked. Mi put hers and April's cookies on a plate for Philip and the shopkeeper to taste. They both said they tasted equally good, and April couldn't tell which one was hers. Mi took the plate of cookies out, and Eileen took a deep breath at the cookie plate. Suddenly, she frowned in confusion, picked up a cookie and ate it, then picked up another and ate it. Finally, there were three cookies left on the plate. Now Mi was puzzled. She picked up a cookie; it was fragrant and soft, with a strong buttery flavor—delicious!

“I want to eat this too,” Lian said, pointing to the half-empty plate.

"Which one do you want?" Mi didn't understand what Lian wanted, but she still went back and brought out another plate of cookies. This time, she only ate one cookie and didn't eat any more. Mi watched as Lian pushed the plate towards her and had no choice but to let her have it. Lian took Mi back to the Flower Fate Inn again. She followed Mi all the way, and Mi, carrying the milk tea brewed by the innkeeper, asked her, "Would you like some tea?"

Lian stared at Mi, nodding and then shaking her head. Mi ignored her and went back to her room to pour herself a cup of tea. Lian stood on the balcony watching her, so she had no choice but to open the door and invite Lian in, pouring her a cup of tea.

Mi didn't know what to say to this nobleman who only wanted to eat and drink. She opened the Tuoshan Stone and started playing music. Lian curiously looked through the phonographs in the small box, then took one out and said, "Mine." She put the phonograph in, and the room was filled with Ailian's voice. Ailian looked at Mi triumphantly.

Mi suddenly realized: "You are Ailian?"

Ailian nodded, tilting her head to listen to the sounds coming from the phonograph stone. She tapped one foot lightly to the beat, humming a cheerful tune as she flipped through the manuscript beneath the stone. She picked up a piece of paper and looked at Mi: "Are you Lihua, the music critic?"

Mi looked at what was written on it: "Ailian has the richest mid-range voice, and her low register is also very stable. It's a pity that she doesn't use such obvious advantages, but instead repeatedly exposes her technical deficiencies in the high register. Every high note is cracked, making the whole piece sound harsh and noisy. Ailian's singing suffers from a double mismatch between technical choices and emotional expression. She completely fails to understand the emotions that the lyrics are trying to express. The whole piece is devoid of emotional fluctuations, as flat as a glass of plain water, with nothing appealing about it."

Caught red-faced from talking behind someone's back, Mi quickly grabbed the manuscript and pushed Ailian out the door: "I need to rest."