Chapter 40: Sweet & Spicy Events.
Hao Ren was busy in the kitchen and did not care about the effect of his actions on the other people. He was making ten dishes, and the entire kitchen seemed to be his battlefield, yet, the head chef could only gawk at the finesse displayed by this young man.
After a few minutes, the two old men walked away. After half an hour, the entire mansion was filled with the faint aroma emitting from the kitchen. Han Lingshi was talking to her grandma in her room on the first floor of the mansion when she sensed a little aroma.
Her grandma was enjoying the foot massage from her beautiful grand daughter, when she sensed her stop. The lady opened her eyes and found her princess smiling at the void. She raised her brow and said, "Ling, are you thinking about him?"
Han Lingshi subconsciously nodded, and then she froze. She raised her grandma looking at her with a smile. She hurriedly shook her head and asked, "Grandma what are you talking about?"
Old Madam smiled even brighter and said, "Sweetie, if you want to lie, then why don't you first do something about the blush on your cheeks?"
Han Lingshi reached out to touch her face and hurriedly turned to look at the mirror on the side. She froze as she realized that she was not blushing at all. She turned to look at the old lady and said, "Grandma, you are bullying me."
The old lady chuckled and asked, "Tell me, who is the boy and I will stop bullying you."
Han Lingshi shook her head and said, "It is not like that."
The smile on the old ladies face vanished and she spoke sternly, "Lingshi, do you think that I, Gao Yue, is dumb?"
Han Lingshi instinctively sat upright, and replied, "No, Grandma."
She was scared, even her grandfather was scared when the old lady used her full name, let alone, her. Old Madam Han asked, "Tell me who is the boy?"
Han Lingshi stood up from the stool and then she walked over to close the door. She even closed the windows and looked at many things before she said, "You really want to know?"
Old Madam Han nodded and said, "What can I be afraid of?"
Han Lingshi took a deep breath and said, "I married a random guy I met in front of the marriage registration office, and these past few days we have been getting to know each other, and I do sort of like him."
When she looked at Gao Yue, the old lady was gawking at her. She came back to her senses and said, "Tell me, who is this guy, what does he do? Who are his parents? Are you sure that person is not brown nosing you for money and stuff?"
Han Lingshi sat down before her and began to tell the old lady about a lot of things that happened these days with Hao Ren. She even told her about his family background and other things. Old Madam Han was calm, but still she was not convinced completely. She said, "I will pass on my decision after meeting the boy."
Han Lingshi nodded and said, "You can meet him today, he is in the kitchen."
Old Madam Han took a deep breath and said, "You sure have guts of steel."
Han Lingshi shook her head and said, "I dared him to come, and he did."
...
Hao Ren stirred a soup and sprinkled some dried herbs on it before he said, "Aunty Emma, please call everyone, the food is ready."
Emma nodded and walked out of the kitchen. A few minutes later, Old Master Han sat on the head position of the dining table, with Old Madam beside him. Han Lingshi sat next to her grandfather and across the old madam. Followed by the second lady and the first lady.
Emma waved her hands and a few servants came over with dishes. Old Master Han looked at Emma and said, "Where is the Chef? Since this is his first time cooking for us, call him over."
Emma nodded and called Hao Ren over. The young man appeared before the Han Family dressed in a pink apron. Han Lingshi had an urge to hold her forehead, but she found it funny as well. She looked at Hao Ren and said, "Introduce yourself to everyone and the dishes too."
He nodded and replied, "Greetings elders, I am Hao Ren. I have prepared the dishes according to what Miss Han told me. Old Master Han is old and has to be mindful about his oil intake, so I have brewed a medicinal soup that promotes good digestion and blood circulation. Old Madam likes to have fried vegetables so I have made a batch of tofu and stir fried vegetables with rice flour noodles.
Lady Yu prefers to have a balanced diet, much similar to Miss Han, so I have made a salad, a bowl of rice and curry. Lady Xia likes a higher meat content so the ingredients of the curry has been replaced with tangerine chicken. The main dishes of the menu is Peking Duck and lastly, monk jumping over the wall."
The elders were surprised by how much food Hao Ren mentioned. The Old Master joked, "Young man, if you treat us so much food on a normal day, what would you do on your wedding banquet?"
Han Lingshi almost choked but the gaze of her grand mother made her freeze, Hao Ren replied with a smile, "I don't think I would be able to cook so much food for all the guests, but yes, I would personally make the most delicious cake for the event."
Old Master Han looked at the brown soup before him and took a sip. He opened his eyes wide and said, "Brilliant."
The rest of the people began to eat and they all rained him with compliments. At this moment, Old Madam Han asked, "Young Man, you are very impressive with your skills in the kitchen. What do you think? Should I find a match for you? I guarantee that she would be a great wife for you."
Hao Ren was stunned and so were the others, but before anyone could say anything Hao Ren replied, "I am already married, Old Madam, I apologize."
The lady was surprised, and so was everyone else. They did not expect Hao Ren to be so open. Han Lingshi was the most shocked person of them all. Her heart beat picked up the pace. The old lady asked, "Oh, I did not expect a young man like yourself to be married off so soon. What does your wife do?"
Hao Ren replied with a smile and said, "She works in Empress International."
Han Lingshi's mother was surprised and asked, "Oh, who might she be?"
Hao Ren bowed his head and replied, "I apologize but I cannot yet tell you all the identity of my wife."
Old Master Han was surprised and asked in a deep voice, "Why so, Young man?"
Hao Ren replied, "Old Master, I am not good enough to stand by her side just yet. However, the day when I can hold her hand and claim my spot beside her is not that far either."
Old Madam Han frowned and asked, "How do you intend to do that?"
Everyone nodded, and looked at Hao Ren, yet their hands and mouths did not stop. Hao Ren smiled and said, "I have opened a small tech company a few days ago, our first product is out and the result is good. We have over three million users and the count is still growing. Also, I have an intention to explore the chances in the stock market."
Old Master Han nodded, and said, "It is good to have ambition. Young people these days are not very career orientated."
Old Madam Han wanted to say something when Hao Ren's cell phone rang. He excused himself and picked up the call. He was still standing in the sight of the five people. They were looking at him, and saw him check the time with a watch on his wrist, and he coldly said, "Miss Carter, you can refuse to all those who come over with the intention to buy us out. We have already made the amount of money they are offering us. Yes, thank you."
He disconnected the phone and his aura returned back to the sunny young man that he was. Han Lingshi asked, "Is everything alright?"
Hao Ren nodded and stood at the side calmly. Old Master Han finished eating his meal and said, "I wonder if you have thought about becoming a chef full time? I will give you five hundred thousand a month. What do you think? It should be enough for you to reach your goal."
Han Lingshi was taken aback, because she felt that her grandfather was insulting Hao Ren, but the young man replied, "I seek your forgiveness Old Master, but I have some dreams of my own. The reason I cook is just to calm myself and stay humble."
Old Master Han gazed at him, and if it was anyone else, they would have been intimidated, Old Master Han was a strong personality to face after all. He has seen a lot of the world, been through life and death in the battlefield, so the intimidation was not joke. However, Hao Ren had a faint smile on his face throughout the time. It was as if the young man had no impact of such a thing happening to him.
After a while Old Madam cleared her throat and asked, "Young man have you not made any dessert?"
Hao Ren smiled and replied, "I have, old madam."
Emma bought over five dishes with exquisite desert placed in the center. Hao Ren said, "This is Tres leches. I hope you all enjoy it."
The five people had a few spoons of the dessert and they sighed. Then began the round of praising the chef.
...
A young man stood before the french windows in his villa looking at the pool outside. He was smoking a cigarette, suddenly the phone rang, and he picked it up. The person on the other side replied, "Everything is in place, as soon as she crosses the signal, we will handle it."
The young man said in a cold voice, "I hope you do what you say, otherwise, for your sake, death would be a delight."
The person on the other side chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Young Master Han, I will handle it."
...
Hao Ren was getting inside his car when he spotted Han Lingshi walking over. He stopped and asked, "What is it?"
Han Lingshi shook her head and said, "Thank you for today."
Hao Ren gazed around and then said, "Do you want me to kiss you right here?"
Han Lingshi was shocked and took a step back, the young man said, "If not, then please stop acting so adorable all the time."
Han Lingshi glared at him, the young man opened the car, and ignited the engine but it did not start. He frowned and then slapped his forehead. Han Lingshi asked, "What happened?"
The young man replied, "I forgot to fill in the tank, it won't last till the station."
Han Lingshi smiled and said, "Leave it here, take my car, I will bring it back later."
Hao Ren nodded and gave her the keys. Han Lingshi went back in to bring her own keys, and handed them to Hao Ren.
The young man quickly left the Han Mansion with a smile on his face. His phone rang, and he accepted the call, "Hello, what is it Lingshi?"
However, a wizened voice greeted him, "Hmmm, she lets you call her Lingshi, seems like your relationship is not bad at all."
Hao Ren sat up straight in the seat and said, "Greetings, Old Madam."
Gao Yue snorted and said, "I know about your situation with Ling, you might want to correct your address."
Hao Ren was surprised and said, "Greetings, Grandma."
The old lady hummed and said, "Next time you should not come in the disguise of a chef. Okay?"
Hao Ren agreed to her while taking a turn, when suddenly his body received a massive impact and the car was sent flying for a few meters before it tipped over its ceiling and Hao Ren was overwhelmed by pain. Hao Ren turned to look at the side and saw an unfamiliar person gazing at him from the side. However, the person exclaimed, "Shit! It's not her. Run."