Chapter 73 - 73 Xu Ying, You’ve Made Me Look for You

His eyebrows perked up, his eyes brimming with smiles, “Xu Ying, do you work here?”

The county was quite large, with several restaurants around, and following Wu Qingsong to this familiar place, he never expected to bump into Xu Ying.

Xu Ying hadn’t expected to meet him either, and as she watched Huo Chen approaching, Sun Lifang eyed this tall and handsome man with a sense of gossip.

Her little glances wandered back and forth between the two of them.

“Mm, it’s my second day at work.”

“How’s it going? Are you getting used to it?” Huo Chen asked.

At that question, Chef Ge rolled his eyes, “What are you talking about, kid? Of course she’s getting used to it!

The way you’re speaking, it’s like we’ve been bullying Xu Ying or something. Are we those kinds of people?”

Chef Ge’s words aroused everyone’s indignation.

“That’s right. We at the State-owned Restaurant are united. Xu Ying must be fitting in well, no question about it. On her first day, she was in the kitchen already, everyone likes her a lot,” Gao Guihua chimed in.

Huo Chen had only asked casually, but he hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from everyone.

If she’s adapting well, that’s good.

“Huo Chen, wait here, I’ll get you some pickles.”

Pickles were also charged for in the restaurant, but for just a penny you got a big plate full.

As an internal employee, Xu Ying had this little benefit.

The others, seeing this, didn’t say anything. After all, when their own relatives visited, they would do the same thing.

Wu Qingsong, munching on a bun, watched this scene closely. He definitely hadn’t seen wrong; Brother Chen was actually talking to a young lady.

He felt she looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen her.

When Huo Chen got back, Wu Qingsong couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Chen, was that girl your girlfriend?”

Huo Chen gave him a killer look, “Shut it, stop spreading rumors. That’s the village chief’s daughter.

We only started to get to know each other slowly after she saved me and Old Hui on the mountain.”

“Oh—so she’s your lifesaver. They say that you owe a life, you give your life in return. Why don’t you marry that girl!” Wu Qingsong teased with a smirk on his face.

Hearing this, Huo Chen’s handsome profile instantly flushed red, and he raised his chopsticks to thump Wu Qingsong on the head, “Can’t you even keep your mouth shut while eating?”

Wu Qingsong grinned with his mouth agape, sensing that Brother Chen seemed to have some feelings for this girl; otherwise, his reaction wouldn’t be like this.

But Wu Qingsong didn’t want to tease Huo Chen anymore, so he just found another topic. The first two buns he had eaten were vegetarian, but as soon as he bit into the third bun, he tasted the full flavor of fish.

Surprised, he looked up and said to Huo Chen, “How come there are buns with fish filling? They taste really good. Why hasn’t Chef Ge made them before?”

Huo Chen’s lips parted slightly, “These were made by Xu Ying.”

“What, you could taste that?” Wu Qingsong was curious.

Huo Chen nodded, “Having tasted her cooking before, I knew at once whether these were made by her or not.”

“Yo, you’ve even gotten to eat her cooking, that sounds like good news is on the way,” Wu Qingsong said, head lowered.

Huo Chen gobbled his bun, feeling extremely happy inside.

The unpleasantness of being set up earlier had instantly evaporated.

Xu Ying was busy in the back kitchen preparing side dishes, and Chef Ge shook his head as he watched her skilled movements.

“Excuse me, does Xu Ying work here?” Gu Fuying panting heavily, arrived at the service window to ask.

All she had known was that Xu Ying had started working at a restaurant, but she hadn’t found out which one Xu Ying was assigned to.

Yesterday, she had run to three different restaurants and hadn’t found her. After work today, she had gone to two more, and this was the third. If she didn’t find Xu Ying here, she’d have to continue searching tomorrow.

Xu Ying paused her potato peeling and stood up in surprise, hurrying over to the windowsill, “Fuying.”

“Fuying,” exclaimed Xu Ying, “you’re really here! I’ve been looking for you for two days, and I finally found you.” Gu Fuying’s legs went numb with relief.

Seeing her like this, Xu Ying felt a bit pained and said, “Have you eaten yet? Today we have fish-stuffed buns—they’re really delicious. Let me get you a couple!”

Gu Fuying nodded; as long as it was something Xu Ying made, she didn’t care what the filling was—she would be happy to eat it.

Sun Lifang saw Gu Fuying and instantly put her guard up—this was the woman here to snatch Xu Ying away.

Seeing Xu Ying personally fetching buns for her, Sun Lifang felt even more jealous. Their relationship seemed so close, unlike with her—she could only catch Xu Ying’s attention when this girl wasn’t around.

Sun Lifang didn’t bother to place an order either. She just followed behind Xu Ying, surreptitiously watching their every move.

Since the restaurant was packed, there were no free tables available. Xu Ying looked toward Huo Chen, who was sitting at a four-seater, and thought they could probably make some room, “Fuying, how about we share a table with them?”

Gu Fying nodded, she had no issues with it.

Xu Ying approached Huo Chen, asking the two, “Would you mind if my friend and I shared your table?”

Wu Qingsong had no objections and looked over at Huo Chen.

Huo Chen nodded, “Sure.”

Finally, Gu Fuying had a place to sit down.

As soon as she settled, Xu Ying asked, “Are you in a hurry? What time do you finish work? We’re about to start preparing stir-fry dishes for lunch.”

Cooking stir-fry didn’t involve making individual servings, but rather preparing a large batch at once, and it was done quickly.

Gu Fuying’s eyes lit up at this, “I’m not in a rush; I don’t have to go to work until two.”

Huo Chen chimed in from the side, “I’ll have some stir-fried dishes as well.”

Seeing this, Xu Ying’s eyes curved into a smile as she playfully said, “Okay, okay, I’ll go and make it right away.”

Thinking of the fifteen-point increase in goodwill value, Xu Ying felt like she could fly from joy.

Gu Fuying bit into her bun, her gaze wandering between the two with perplexity; why did Xu Ying seem even happier when she heard this man also wanted stir-fry?

Feeling displeased, Gu Fuying silently cursed Huo Chen—what an attention grabber.

Xu Ying ran to the kitchen and looked toward Chef Ge, “Master Ge, let’s start the stir-fry now! I’ll handle the vegetarian dishes, and you can do the meat dishes.”

Chef Ge felt slightly uncomfortable being bossed around by the young lady. He lifted his head and sniffed, “You do the meat dishes, and I’ll handle the vegetarian ones.”

This was the perfect opportunity to assess whether the girl knew how to cook meat dishes or not. If she didn’t, it would be the perfect chance to offer to take her as an apprentice and teach her the culinary arts.

Xu Ying responded straightforwardly, “Alright, you’re the chef. Whatever you say goes.”

Chef Ge was quite pleased to hear this.

Zhang Youquan stood by and overheard that Xu Ying was going to cook meat dishes, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Could this girl really know how to cook everything?

Fortunately, they had just received a lot of fish that day, and there were also several dozen pounds of pork.

Xu Ying looked over at Zhang Youquan and blinked, “Brother Zhang, you’re not busy right now, how about you help me process these fish?”

Why not put labor to use when it’s available? Moreover, Zhang Youquan had always been hostile toward her, and even Sun Lifang’s targeting her was because Zhang Youquan had encouraged it from behind.

Why show mercy to an enemy!

Hearing this, Zhang Youquan’s face showed embarrassment. Why should he take orders from a newbie? After all, he had been studying here for so many years, and yet, he’s being commanded by a young girl.

He came here to be a chef, not a prep cook.@@novelbin@@

Chef Ge glanced at him and said, “Youquan, help out with the fish, will you?”

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