The next day was Saturday, and Bai Shao took Xiao Luzi out early in the morning, driven by the Yan family's driver.
When young master Zizai learned of this from Uncle Hai, he blamed Bai Xiaolu for not taking him along when he went out to play, and for not even informing him.
The young master was very unhappy and sullenly sat on the sofa.
Then, he was surprised to find that although Xiao Luzi had gone out to play, he had been very busy lately and had not had time to spend with his mother-in-law. Today, he was actually at home, sitting on the terrace with his grandmother and mother, enjoying tea and snacks.
The young master, who had been holding back his anger and feeling quite unhappy, immediately perked up when he saw his mother and mother-in-law were there. He scrambled up from the sofa, jumped to the ground with a thud, and then ran out onto the terrace.
"Mother-in-law, aren't you going to a restaurant today?"
The young master was completely unaware that his grandmother was in very poor mental health.
Chen Jing reached out and pulled him into her arms, patting his head and saying, "Isn't it good for Grandma to stay home with Zizai?"
She cried all the way in the car yesterday, and then fell asleep in a daze after returning home.
When she woke up, it was already past nine o'clock, which meant that she had slept for more than ten hours.
When I called back to the shop, my two apprentices said, "Master, Brother Wang delivered the fresh ingredients early this morning. We'll be watching the shop, so you can rest at home!"
Chen Jing thought about it and realized that she was indeed not suitable to go out and meet people in her current state, so she agreed. When she was about to hang up, her apprentice asked her, "Master, Boss Luo came over yesterday but didn't wait for you. He seemed quite disappointed. Did he call you later?"
"Did he come over today? If so, please tell him that I'm not going back until tomorrow."
"Okay, but I haven't seen him yet. He probably knows you're not coming back, so he'll come back tomorrow."
After finishing her call with her apprentice, Chen Jing checked her call log and found no missed calls from Luo Yifan.
There were two calls, from that little guy Zizai, at exactly 9 PM.
It seems that the little guy didn't see her come home, so he called to urge her to close up shop and come home.
This little guy is indeed quite kind-hearted.
After all, it was a child she raised herself.
Thinking of this, Chen Jing suddenly felt inexplicably sad again. She was also a child raised with great difficulty by her parents, but...
Zhu Qianying saw that her mother had finally managed to smile because of Zizai's arrival, but before she could even feel happy, her mother's face was filled with deep sadness again.
"Mom, I haven't had your cooking for days. Would you like to cook lunch today?"
Zhu Qianying didn't really want to make her mother work hard; rather, she thought it was better to keep her busy and distract her than to let her sit there and overthink things.
Before Chen Jing could answer, the young master clapped his hands and said, "Yay! Zizai can have something good to eat again!"
The sadness on Chen Jing's face faded, replaced by a faint smile as she looked down at the little guy's increasingly chubby face.
"Zizai, you need to be careful, you'll become a little fat boy soon!"
The young master has always had a mysterious confidence in his physique and appearance. He waved his chubby little hands and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Isn't it said that fat people are potential stocks?"
Zhu Qianying really wanted to tell her precious son that the key point was that he was originally a blue-chip stock, but because he became fat, he turned into a potential stock.
However, it's really not a big deal for kids to be a little chubby.
Whether it was Zhu Qianying or the elders like Madam Yan, they all thought that Zizai was cute when he was a little chubby, so they indulged his overeating.
With Zizai around, Chen Jing's mood was noticeably higher. Seeing that it was almost time, she got up to cook.
Zhu Qianying wanted to get up to help, but she waved her hand and refused.
"You stay with Sister Huai and Zizai for a bit, I'll be done soon!"
Chen Jing worked in the kitchen with remarkable efficiency and skill. While it would take Ruozhu Qianying half an hour to prepare a meal, Chen Jing could do it in just twenty minutes.
Soon, she prepared a four-dish meal with a soup. As the maid took the dishes out, Chen Jing remembered that she still had something to do.
He picked up the phone, dialed Luo Yifan's number, and made the call.
Actually, after hanging up with her apprentice, she immediately called Luo Yifan to apologize for keeping him waiting yesterday.
But after several attempts, the phone was always busy, so Chen Jing had no choice but to give up.
The call went through, but it rang for a long time without anyone answering.
Just when Chen Jing thought the call was about to end, the call was answered.
Hello!
It was a familiar voice, yet it carried a hint of estrangement.
Chen Jing was stunned for a moment, thinking she had dialed the wrong number. She subconsciously held the phone up to her eyes to check, and the display showed that it was indeed "Boss Luo".
"Hey, Brother Luo, this is Jing."
Faced with such a distant attitude, she had no choice but to introduce herself.
Actually, this was the first time she had taken the initiative to call Luo Yifan after knowing him for so long.
"Oh, it's you. What's up?"
At first, Chen Jing thought it was just her imagination, but after hearing this sentence again, she was certain that Luo Yifan was indeed very cold at this moment.
Chen Jing took a deep breath and said, "It's nothing. I had something urgent to attend to yesterday and didn't go back to the store. I was so busy that I forgot to tell you, making you come all this way for nothing."
"Oh, it's okay. Anyway, I live nearby. It's only a ten or eight minute walk to the hotel and back."
This consolation did nothing to make Chen Jing feel better.
"Well, anyway, I'm still sorry to have made you go through all that trouble. I'll be going back tomorrow, Brother Luo, do you want to come over?"
Although Chen Jing was in a bad mood, she was still very concerned about the food exhibition. As the food exhibition drew closer, only the specific production process of one of the two vegetarian dishes was confirmed. As for the other one, she and Luo Yifan were still at an impasse.
She wasn't sure if further major revisions were needed, so if possible, she hoped to finalize the decision as soon as possible.
"I'm sorry, I'm not in L City anymore. I probably won't be for a while. As for the other dish, I'll have the chef who competed with you come over tomorrow to talk to you. The three of you can have a friendly competition, and the final decision will be up to you three."
The implication is that they will no longer participate in the discussion about this dish.
In truth, this decision is not unreasonable.
Chen Jing and Luo Yifan were at an impasse. Often, Chen Jing felt that Luo Yifan wasn't even a proper chef and that his advice was completely unprofessional.
In other words, sending a chef over to discuss the matter with her is the best course of action.
But now that things have turned out this way, Chen Jing feels inexplicably uncomfortable.
Or rather, it's dissatisfaction! Displeasure!
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