CHAPTER 628: EPISODE 334: DEALING WITH WHOM

Wang Zhanrui stood stiff-necked in the center of the courtyard, his eyebrows furrowed and his entire body seemed wrapped in a giant fireball, burning fiercely as if he might explode at any moment and reduce the newly repaired Meng Family mansion to ashes.

Hua Xiaomai had originally held a grudge against him for frightening little Hetao to tears, but seeing him like this, she couldn’t help but laugh, coaxing him to sit by the table. Then she went to the kitchen to bring three kinds of tea snacks to him.

"You deal with tea leaves all day long, and shouldn’t you be the most concerned with maintaining a calm mind? I really don’t understand, how someone with such a fiery temperament could possibly brew such good tea?"

As she spoke, she placed a brass kettle on the small red clay stove in the courtyard and pursed her lips: "The tea you brought back from Lingquan Prefecture last time tasted quite good, but we don’t understand tea in our family, I’m afraid we haven’t brought out its true flavor. You also don’t often visit my house, so would you mind brewing some for us to try today?"

Wang Zhanrui, remembering she was the owner of Daoxiang Garden, had just lost his temper and shouted at her, but now that he sat down and his emotions had somewhat stabilized, he also felt a bit improper. Although he wasn’t in the mood to make tea, he still took the tea caddy she handed over.

"My home doesn’t have the complete set of tea-making tools, you’ll have to make do with what we have." Hua Xiaomai exhaled a long breath and also moved a stool to sit across from him.

The process of tea brewing requires a calm and steady mind. For a moment, no one spoke in the front yard, and the crying of little Hetao in the backyard subsided, gradually quieting the surroundings.

The water boiled and the tea steeped, Wang Zhanrui silently poured the jade-green tea into a bowl and passed it over, Hua Xiaomai smiled and then pushed a plate of Tubomi flower cakes towards him.

"Try these? Not only have they dried Tubomi petals added, but there’s also squeezed Tubomi juice in them; quite fragrant."

Wang Zhanrui brewed the tea, having calmed down considerably and indeed took a piece of cake to taste. His mind wasn’t really on it, and he ate a piece reluctantly, then frowned and said somewhat displeased, "Was Song Jingxi driven away by you? You knew she had been looking for me, yet why did you ignore it? Perhaps you think your culinary skills are so good that even if you lose a chef or two in your shop, there’s no need to worry?"

"Are you planning to leave?" Hua Xiaomai smiled and glanced at him.

"...I am not that kind of ungrateful person," Wang Zhanrui slightly choked, "Besides, no one knows better than me that changing places every three to five months, never settling down, is definitely not good for a chef."

"Since that’s the case, why should I bother asking?" Hua Xiaomai widened her smile a bit, "Well, I admit I was indeed worried when I first learned about it, but... I did drive Song away, it’s true, but I did so because I detested her using the excuse of visiting to blatantly poach my staff. As for you, if you had really been persuaded by her and decided to leave, could I have forced you to stay? This decision should be yours to make, what I say is irrelevant, think about it, isn’t that right?"

Wang Zhanrui said nothing, his fingers unconsciously fidgeting with the rim of the tea bowl.

"When you say I don’t care about whether or not you stay at Daoxiang Garden, not only do you wrong me, but you also treat me like a fool. Since we reopened last August and you and Chef Tan took over the cooking at the shop, you have no idea how much trouble you’ve saved me. Such a good thing is hard to find; how could I not treasure it? But... how can I expect someone whose heart is no longer here to help me wholeheartedly?"

Hua Xiaomai leaned back in her chair as she spoke, her gaze sweeping over his face as if casually: "Besides, Song asked you to help her at Taoyuan House, and you didn’t tell me about that either, did you?"

"I..."

Wang Zhanrui was momentarily at a loss for words and awkwardly opened and reclosed the lid of his tea bowl, letting a hint of tea aroma escape and diffuse around.

"I didn’t mean to hide it from you." He furrowed his brow tighter, "Just... I couldn’t figure out exactly what the relationship between you and Song Jingxi was. If you were originally close friends but fell out because of this, wouldn’t it make everyone unhappy?"

"Ha, if we were really friends, how could she do something like poaching staff? She’s out of my league."

Hua Xiaomai shook her head smilingly.

The courtyard quieted down again.

After a long while, Wang Zhanrui finally said quietly, "She did indeed find me and asked me to head the kitchen at her Taoyuan House. I didn’t refuse her immediately because I was afraid of hurting her feelings, but I never really considered it. Daoxiang Garden, though located in a village, is, in my eyes, no worse than her restaurant in Provincial City. Why would I rush to follow her? I’ve said before, I too wish to settle down in one restaurant for a few more years, and at least for now, Daoxiang Garden seems quite suitable for me."