The day of the cooking battle arrived. Hours before the main event, the cooking arena was already filled with students and spectators waiting for Han Yixin and Lu Xinyi to show up. At the backstage, people were busy preparing the stage while Han Yixin and Lu Xinyi were on their own dressing rooms, waiting for the time to arrive.

“Yixin, you shouldn’t give Lu Xinyi a chance to win,” Wen Shufen whispered to Han Yixin while she combed the latter’s hair and tied it on a high ponytail.

“Shufen, don’t know what you did to offend Lu Xinyi, but don’t you think you owe me an explanation?” Han Yixin looked at Wen Shufen’s reflection in the mirror and saw how she faltered.

“I told you, it was Lu Xinyi who started it. She must have been jealous of you and couldn’t wait to take your spot.” Wen Shufen swallowed down the lump on her throat.

Why was Han Yixin asking her questions now? Previously, this naive girl was so easy to sway to do what she wanted. Had someone tipped Han Yixin off about the rumors she spread around?

“Really?” Han Yixin asked suspiciously. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Wen Shufen’s reaction.

“En, you should have heard how students made fun of you. They said you were afraid of Lu Xinyi.” Wen Shufen couldn’t understand Han Yixin’s mood today.

“So how do you want to deal with Lu Xinyi after this?” Han Yixin’s usual question sent relief to Wen Shufen. This was her way to reassure her that her plans were working.

“I don’t know, Yixin; but if you can blacklist Lu Xinyi from the academy, that would be nice,”

Han Yixin chuckled before standing up to take her chef’s uniform.

“Shufen, you need to behave now. I cannot clean every mess you’d left. Next time, don’t go offending people using my name.”

“Alright. I’m sorry for troubling you, Yixin. I promise this will never happen again.”

Wen Shufen lowered her head, hiding the devious smile on her lips.

So what if Han Yixin knew? As long as she could beat Lu Xinyi, did it matter? Either way—even if Han Yixin loses today, Wen Shufen will be in a win-win situation.

—

Meanwhile, at Lu Xinyi’s dressing room…

Tian Lingyu and Huang Shenghao paid a visit to check if Lu Xinyi was ready. Only an hour left before the cooking battle starts. They thought that this being Lu Xinyi’s first one-on-one battle, she’d be nervous.

How wrong they were when Qiao He opened his mistress’ door only for them to see Lu Xinyi lying on the couch, a lollipop in her mouth and her head resting on Shen Yi’s leg while busy playing her online games on her phone. The man himself was busy reading documents on one hand while the other busy playing with Lu Xinyi’s hair.

“Xinxin, are you ready?” Tian Lingyu thought he needed to comfort his sister at this time, but it seemed he wasn’t needed at all. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

“Hmmm… I still have an hour to laze around, Yu Gege,” Lu Xinyi reminded him.

Tian Lingyu pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to rein his irritation towards his little sister. Why was his sister not taking this seriously? Anyway, with Shen Yi around, would he dare to bully Lu Xinyi?

“Just to give you a recap, this cooking battle is divided into three rounds. The theme will be snacks and pastries. Don’t think that the academy is giving Han Yixin an advantage. Her relation to Headmistress has nothing to do with your cooking battle. Xinxin, if you lost today, Han Yixin wants you out of the academy and blacklisted.”

Hearing her brother’s explanation, Lu Xinyi chuckled. Her eyes were still on the screen on her phone.

“Yu Gege, between me and Han Yixin, who do you think will win?”

“You,” Tian Lingyu said without batting an eyelid, “I know your expertise and skills just don’t know how much you know by now; but Xinxin, you can’t underestimate Han Yixin. She is called ‘Queen of Patisserie’ for a reason.”

Lu Xinyi hummed. Actually, she wasn’t nervous but excited to see Han Yixin. She wondered how good she was to earn that title. Was Han Yixin better than her dad? For Lu Xinyi, her father had reached the pinnacle of cooking and baking. It was too bad that the world never acknowledged his talent even before his death.

When Tian Lingyu and Huang Shenghao left, Lu Xinyi turned off her phone and stared at the ceiling of her dressing room.

“Your brother is right. You cannot underestimate Han Yixin,” Shen Yi said breaking the silence.

“Who said I’m underestimating her? I have never felt this excited since I entered Silver Leaf. Han Yixin might be the first worthy opponent I will encounter within the academy,” Lu Xinyi replied.

Her classmates didn’t pose as too much challenge in her opinion. The senior year students were the ones she wanted to fight head-on. How satisfying it would be if she could challenge each of the cream of the crop?

As she stared at the blank white wall in front of her and tried to review her notes in her mind. Lu Xinyi felt the tension and anxiety build up in her as she stared blankly. Her mind was full of emptiness. Before the panic could eat her alive, she managed to catch up on subtle breathing exercises to help her relax and think of nothing else.

Just as she regained her steady heartbeat by breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, Lu Xinyi could hear the familiar continual tap of a heel against the floor outside the door; and her pulse rate shot up once again, upon realizing what was nearing.

While she desperately tried to regain her normal state, she saw a woman opened the door, eyes sweeping around the room to find her. The woman gasped when she saw Lu Xinyi on the couch with President Shen.

“Miss Lu, are you ready? It’s time to go up the stage.”

Lu Xinyi sat up at once and took the black coat of her chef’s uniform. Shen Yi followed her movements and passed the documents he was reading to his assistant. He helped her button up her coat properly.

The staff sent by the academy could only watch on the side while the couple forced down some dog food down her throat. Ah, watching these two, couldn’t they be considerate to every single dog that sees them?

“I’ll wait for you outside,” the staff excused herself to give the couple some privacy.

“Go and let everyone see how amazing Madam Shen could be.” Shen Yi kissed the side of her neck as Lu Xinyi checked her reflection in the mirror for the last time.

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