Chapter 315
The drive towards Shen Yi’s new place wasn’t uncomfortable. After his short talk with his mother, he found his wife sitting at the passenger seat with a familiar jewelry box on her lap.
It was bordering ten of the evening, and Shen Yi regretted that his dinner appointment finished too late. He could see that the long day had started to strain his wife.
Lu Xinyi felt that the brim of her eyes burned with her chest constricting to fight the yawn that she was about to do. She tried to fight her sleepiness when all she wanted to do was to lean her head against the soft leather seat and closed her eyes.
Looking over at her husband, she watched the play of the street lights that hit his stoic face. His eyes were trained on the road ahead of him, and yet she knew that he was perfectly aware of her staring.
She then looked at herself, noting all the lines and curves of her own body. Her clothes came from hundreds of pieces stored in her walk-in closet. Something she knew she wouldn’t be able to afford. If she hadn’t married him, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy this lifestyle and get a chance to attend Silver Leaf.
To be honest, she wasn’t anything exceptional. Her hair was long but not as lustrous like other women. Her eyes were large and expressive, but they looked ordinary. Her body… wasn’t what the opposite sex would find attractive.
She looked ahead of the road and heaved a sigh. Quickly, Shen Yi glanced at her, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
“Something’s bothering you? Are you afraid that Han Yixin will seek after you soon?”
Lu Xinyi tilted her head on one side, surprised that Shen Yi knew about her impending battle with the Queen of Patisserie.
“I don’t think she could challenge me at this time. The academy wouldn’t allow it not until we both managed to pass the midterm exams.”
“But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t give you troubles,” Shen Yi countered.
—
Another week has started. Back at the campus of Silver Leaf, Lu Xinyi had an indescribable feeling. Was it just her, or people are staring at her blatantly today?
“Oh? She looks familiar? Is she one of those students for special class? Why I haven’t seen her before? She looks so cool?” A teenage girl was talking with her friends and asked when she noticed Lu Xinyi with Ye Xieren and Surya Rathore arguing behind her.
These two just wouldn’t leave her alone! She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore both men who were arguing on the steamed buns they let to fall in the ground without tasting it.
“You dimwit! This is all your fault! If you haven’t such a stomach as big as a cow, we wouldn’t lose those steamed buns!” Ye Xieren yelled to the foreign student.
“Me? How was it my fault when you were the one who was trying to take it from me? Those steamed buns were the first recipe Sister Lu taught me! We were supposed to share those buns, but you let them go to waste! ” Surya Rathore hissed back.
One of Lu Xinyi’s eyes twitched in annoyance. She first met Surya Rathore on her way from Lunar Residence when the foreign man blocked her way and asked her to give a taste to his another attempt to make steamed buns. She beamed with excitement since she hadn’t had her breakfast, and Surya Rathore just came at the right time.
Just as she was about to take a steamed bun, Ye Xieren came out from nowhere hitting the food container as he sped up on his bicycle that lost control. All the buns fell down, which started the argument between the two men.
Lu Xinyi’s patience cracked, and she couldn’t help hitting their heads to shut up before stepping inside the classroom. Just as they were about to go inside, a woman came rushing to Ye Xieren’s side with a box of macarons on her hand.
She was gasping for air as she tried to compose herself in front of him. Ye Xieren furrowed his brows. He had no idea who this woman was. He was oblivious of his growing popularity within the academy as well as the number of girls that admire him.
“Brother Ye, please try these macarons I made for you.” The girl was named Lan Xiaoli. She blushed hard as Ye Xieren stared down at her. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
He checked on the different colored macarons within the box and frowned. They had excessive colorings, and the cookie shells had almost separated from the cookie itself. Their sizes were too big which throw off proportions, leaving the center cookie gummy and the outermost ring overbaked and crunchy.
Even Lu Xinyi couldn’t help but cringe at the visual appearance of the macarons. She gave it a pity glance before waiting for Ye Xieren’s reaction.
“No thanks. I don’t like sweets,” Ye Xieren turned the Lan Xiaoli down. Her eyes brimmed with tears as he turned his back on her. “And I don’t eat someone’s garbage.”
“Brother Ye!” Surya Rathore exclaimed. “Don’t make a girl cry. Maybe you should try it first who knows it tastes better than it looks.”
He then took the box from the woman’s hands and offered it to Ye Xieren.
“I said I don’t like it!” Ye Xieren slapped Surya Rathore’s hands. The box fell down beside his feet. The macaron rolled on the floor, some even crushed by the impact.
“What have you done?!” Lu Xinyi roared. Even if the macarons didn’t look good, she assumed that Lan Xiaoli did her best to make it.
“It’s okay.” Lan Xiaoli sniffed as she played the hem of her pink apron. “Brother Ye is right. It didn’t look good. It’s okay. It was messed up already before it fell.”
“Calm down. It’s only a macaron. It’s not like you couldn’t make one again.” Ye Xieren said to Surya Rathore who looked like he was about to murder him.
A loud laugh at the hallway caught their attention. They spotted Wen Shufen with her friends, watching Lan Xiaoli get humiliated by Ye Xieren. She sauntered towards them and crushed a macaron that was nearest to her feet.
“Of course, that would be Lan Xiaoli’s last attempt to perfect her macarons. If she couldn’t make a perfect batch tomorrow morning in our class. She’ll have to say goodbye.” Wen Shufen snickered. Her eyes then moved to Lu Xinyi, “Don’t worry, Lan Xiaoli, I’m pretty sure Miss Lu here will be joining you outside soon.”
Her friends laughed at her words.
“Hey, don’t say that. Maybe they’re good at something else but not cooking.” One of them suggested wickedly.
Lan Xiaoli lowered her head in shame. What Wen Shufen said was true. She was the lowest on their class, and their proctor had given her the last warning that if she couldn’t make a perfect batch of macarons, she’d have to remove her apron and leave Silver Leaf for good.
She wasn’t planning to drag Ye Xieren and Lu Xinyi into her problem. Maybe she shouldn’t have given those macarons to Ye Xieren in the first place. She was nothing but a normal girl that couldn’t pass her test anyway while he was considered the best of their batch and with a promising future waiting ahead of him.
“For a pig like you, you sure do know how to talk too much,” Lu Xinyi said nonchalantly, getting the attention of Wen Shufen as she planned.
“An exiled member of the Sun family?” Wen Shufen scoffed. “You have some nerve, Lu Xinyi. Just go back to the sewer tunnel you came from. I’m sure your fellow rats would love to see you again.”
Lu Xinyi crossed her arms and leaned her back at the door frame of their classroom. The hallways were filled with students gossiping about her and Wen Shufen. The scene on the cafeteria between them spread like wildfire, making the others anticipating their next encounter.
“Ya, sure. We’re just some normal people you think you can trample? I wonder why Miss Wen still refusing to recognize my cooking abilities and still talk bad about me. I didn’t cheat. I competed fair and square. I’m sure everyone who took the exam knows how hard it is to get in.”
She paused. Her eyes gave Wen Shufen and her friends a good look.
“You are so judgmental and critical of me. I think I shouldn’t the one who needs to leave Silver Leaf. A woman who has failed the main entrance exam thrice had no say if I should stay or not.” Lu Xinyi taunted Wen Shufen.
The sudden change on Wen Shufen’s face was instantaneous. The little devil was too cruel and hit her sore spot!
“Why you…! A trash like you will never win against me.”
“What?” Lu Xinyi chuckled, “You girls should leave this academy and go home. Tell your mommies to teach you some manners before challenging me to a battle.”