Chapter 86: The Head Chef’s Specially Crafted Ice-cream
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
That man was wearing a dark black suit and sat down at the table diagonally opposite them. The dim lighting from the chandelier reflected the outline of his god-like, majestic appearance. He had a cold expression and appeared down-cast as he gave his orders to the waiter.
He brought a female partner, Xia Yu.
In that short moment, Xia Ling felt as though her heart had been squeezed by something, hurting her. In the previous life, no matter how coquettishly she acted and how many tantrums she threw, he refused to bring her to this restaurant. However, he brought Xia Yu there today.
However, she quickly suppressed her surging emotions. Since she had already decided to cut ties with her past, she felt that she shouldn’t be nostalgic about it. She turned to Li Lei and fixated her gaze on him. The man before her was the one that had showered her with care in her current lifetime. He took her in, risked his life to save her from danger, would think of ways to make her happy, and would also attempt to pacify her patiently…
She wasn’t sure what place she had in Li Lei’s heart, but she could feel his sincerity.
“Why are you staring at me?” He smiled widely as he pushed the first dish to her. “This Cabbage salad with caviar is excellent. This restaurant has a unique way of modulating their sauce, making it more tasty and refreshing compared to others. You will definitely like it.”
It was always his specialty when it came to food.
Xia Ling took a bite, realized it was exactly like he said and beamed at him.
The soup, main course, hot appetizers, cold appetizers and so on were served, and they were all meticulously cooked and prepared. Li Lei chatted with her while he passed her the salt and other condiments. Her voice had yet to recover, so it was her listening to him speak the whole time. He was good at steering the topic of conversation, choosing the anecdotes that could spark her interest, lightening the mood and creating a friendly atmosphere.
The gentle lighting set off her fair and exquisite features, making her appear gentle and refined.
Pei Ziheng and Xia Yu’s dishes arrived as well. As Pei Ziheng picked up his utensils and was about to start eating, he coincidentally caught sight of the couple not far away who was diagonally opposite him. He hand shook slightly and his fork knocked into the edge of the ceramic plate, creating a sharp noise.
For a man like him, who was brought up by a rich and powerful family with a long history, it was considered a gaffe to do that.
Xia Yu was clearly shocked, but he was not in the least aware.
His gaze was coldly fixated on Xia Ling, observing her radiant cheeks, fair and delicate neck, and her round and fine shoulders… Her dark black hair glowed with a beautiful shine under the lighting and every casual movement of hers was captivating, making it extremely difficult for people to stop staring.
Damn it, isn’t she just a slut, but why whenever she smiled at Lei Li he could feel his blood boil?
“Brother Ziheng…” Xia Yu carefully stole a glance at his expression and was madly filled with jealousy when she saw that he couldn’t remove his gaze from Xia Ling. Why is that slut here too? Who’s that handsome and rich-looking man beside her? How did she snag such a fine man? How is she worthy?!
On second thought… it may as well be that way.
Xia Yu’s nails dug into her palm. Then, she wouldn’t try to snatch Brother Ziheng from me.
Xia Yu barely suppressed her hatred and revealed an innocent and delicate smile on the surface. “Brother Ziheng, isn’t that Ye Xingling over there? Who’s that next to her, her boyfriend?”
Pei Ziheng suddenly turned around and darted a cold glare at her.
Xia Yu was almost frozen with shock from his glare and shut up immediately.
What made her rejoice was that her words seemed to have taken the intended effect. Pei Ziheng retracted his gaze and stared at his own table instead. He started to cut his steak with a cold look but was extremely careful in doing so.
Xia Yu stared at him with adoration and said, “Brother Ziheng, you cut your steak really fast. I can’t even cut my steak properly as I don’t have enough strength.”
Pei Ziheng finished cutting up the steak into small pieces, meticulously added some sauce and lifted the plate up.
Xia Yu looked at him eagerly.
The square table was small and she was sitting on Pei Ziheng’s left, which was within arm’s reach.
However, Pei Ziheng’s hand stretched across from her and placed the plate on her other side, which was the opposite of him. At the opposite of him, there were a set of clean utensils neatly arranged, a little less than a half cup of red wine and the mini pieces of steak he had just cut.
“Your sister was very lazy,” he said with his deep and strong voice. Although he was speaking to Xia Yu, his gaze never left the empty seat opposite of him. “When she ate steak, she usually needed me to cut it up for her and she was really picky about the sauce. I should have brought her to this restaurant earlier, most of the dishes here are really suited to her tastes. She would be… very pleased.”
His voice gradually grew deeper.
Xia Yu hung her head and pretended to mourn, but she concealed her jealousy when she was out of his sight. She had pestered and begged him to come to this restaurant today, using the excuse of “fulfilling her sister’s unrealized wish” as a front. If not for this reason, Pei Ziheng would never come to the restaurant with her.
When he agreed to bring her there, she thought that they could finally have a date together on their own and was thrilled.
However, she did not expect that he would disallow her from taking the seat opposite him and order the waiter to set the table with empty utensils. He even ordered Xia Ling’s favorite dishes in memory of her!
He even took it a step further by cutting small pieces of steak then putting them on the dead woman’s plate rather than paying attention to her!
Xia Yu could not take that lying down! She was indignant!
What did that dead woman do to deserve such a strong hold over Brother Ziheng’s heart?!
Xia Yu was so indignant that she gritted her teeth until they almost broke. However, there was nothing she could do, as it would not be possible for her to be sitting next to him and having dinner together if it was not for that dead woman.
Others envied her for being loved and doted on by Boss Pei.
She was the only person who knew the truth. She had only gained his favor by relying on another woman.
To him, she would always be “Xia Ling’s” sister.
Xia Yu bit her lip with extreme force, almost causing it to bleed.
“Dear esteemed guests, good evening.” A gentle female voice could be heard. “It’s an honor to have you here with us, to attend Four Season’s annual celebration for the beginning of summer. Once again, the moment which excites everyone has arrived. Our head chef has meticulously prepared a type of ice-cream, which will be served to a lucky lady present here tonight.”
All the diners turned to look at the stage.
An emcee in formal attire retained her smile and said, “In that case, according to the old rules, the auction will begin — the head chef’s specially crafted ice-cream for this year will have a starting price of three thousand yuan, with a one thousand yuan increase per bid. Good luck to all.”
Every year, an auction would be held to decide who would get the ice-cream. Even though the starting price of three thousand yuan was already an insanely exorbitant price compared to its cost price, it could not deter the numerous rich and powerful men from trying to pick up girls with it. How could a mere three thousand yuan be compared to gaining the favor of their girl?
“I’ll pay four thousand!” Almost immediately, someone had started to bid.
“I’ll pay five thousand!”
“Six thousand!”
“Ten thousand!”