Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots-Chapter 1361 - 195, Hatred to the Bone (second update)

Lu Chong gave a self-deprecating smile. His brows, which hadn’t relaxed for many years, were faintly marked with signs of worry. "Indeed, Madam Cheng, you are no longer the Pan Zhen I once knew, just as I am no longer the spirited Lu Chong of those days."

Those simple sentences transported Madam Cheng and Lu Chong back twenty years, to when they were the best of friends—not just the two of them, but there was also a man Madam Cheng would never forget. The man who used to call her "Zhen’er" with such tenderness every time they met.

Unfortunately, they could never return to the past, and that man would never be seen again.

Madam Cheng snapped back to the present, and from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the Embroidery ladies of Red Smoke Pavilion, not focusing on their work, all peering over curiously.

"Is there something you need? If not, I’ll be going back. The store is very busy." Madam Cheng straightened her back and with her left hand subtly hooked the sleeve of her right.

This subconscious little gesture caught Lu Chong’s attention, and a raspy chuckle escaped his throat. "After all these years, you’re still the same as when you were younger. When you’re nervous, you like to hook your sleeve."

Madam Cheng’s hands stiffened, and she abruptly returned her hands in front of her abdomen, but this motion made her uncomfortable, so she eventually let her arms hang by her sides.

"Lu Chong, what is it that you want from me?"

Before he could speak, Madam Cheng cut in. "Enough, there’s no need to say more. I know you’re here because of Xuan’er, right? Don’t think I don’t know that these past few years he’s been secretly learning culinary arts with you. Thanks to you, my well-taught son now does nothing but talk back to me all day. Happy, are you?"

Indeed, Lu Chong was Cheng Haoxuan’s master and also an Imperial Chef from the Imperial Kitchen. He had left the palace to seek out Madam Cheng today at the request of Cheng Haoxuan.

Moreover, he felt that after so many years, it was time to clear the resentment in Madam Cheng’s heart.

"Pan Zhen, I know you don’t want Xuan’er to learn culinary arts, but he truly has a talent for it. Don’t be so hard on him anymore. I’m aware of your grievances against me, and I don’t expect your forgiveness. However, Xuan is innocent. Why must you treat him so harshly?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"Harshly?"

At these words, Madam Cheng’s reaction was like that of an infuriated cat, looking at Lu Chong as if he were an enemy from a past life. "Cheng Haoxuan is my son. Do you think I, his mother, would be harsh on him? Lu Chong, don’t you think just because you are... Enough, I don’t want to waste words with you. From now on, you need not meddle in Xuan’er’s affairs anymore. I turned a blind eye to you secretly teaching him culinary arts before, but from now on, he must have nothing to do with the kitchen. I am keeping Red Smoke Pavilion for him!"

"Pan Zhen..."

"Mr. Lu, you may leave. There’s no need to see you out!"

Without a shred of mercy, Madam Cheng left him with those words and turned to enter Red Smoke Pavilion, heading straight upstairs to her room without looking back.

Watching Madam Cheng’s determined departure, Lu Chong’s heart was filled with regret and sighs. All these years later, could she truly not let go of the past?

Shaking his head, Lu Chong composed himself and slowly began to walk towards the street.

Embroiderers Ru and Rui quietly followed out, eying his slender and slightly hunched figure, filled with curiosity yet also suddenly suffuse with a sense of melancholic desolation.

They exchanged a look and seemed to guess the man’s identity.

Just then, a loud thud from an object falling to the ground came from the second-floor room, startling the young embroidery ladies, who looked up worriedly, fearing Madam Cheng was in a rage.

But after that noise, the room remained silent for a long time, as if it were empty.

Embroiderers Ru and Rui were shocked and hurried upstairs, calling for the young embroidery ladies to fetch a doctor as they ran.

Upon opening the door, they found that Madam Cheng had indeed fainted and was now unconscious on the floor...

As for Lu Chong, after leaving Red Smoke Pavilion, he didn’t head back to the palace directly but instead took a detour to the recently renowned Dong Tian. Since he had the time that day, Lu Chong decided to order a few of Dong Tian’s signature dishes for a taste test. Indeed, as Cheng Haoxuan had said, the food here was truly special and delicious.

Nodding silently, Lu Chong’s interest in Lin Yuan, mentioned by Cheng Haoxuan, grew.

As he pondered, he heard a young waiter at the entrance call out, "Boss."