Chapter 352: Brother Jie’s Might
After nearly an hour of hustling, Xia Yu finally finished dealing with all the fish in the tank.
Though a bit slower, the chefs in the kitchen weren’t impatient with Xia Yu—one look at him and you’d understand. You see, Xia Yu had the power of cuteness on his side, and even if the guests were few, others were also handling part of the fish preparation. Therefore, they didn’t really worry about the ingredients running out.
And there was another point worth mentioning, one that they rarely got such an adorable girl in the kitchen—on top of being Sifu Chen’s apprentice, how could they not be charmed? In fact, some of them were even thinking about latching onto Xia Yu’s ‘big leg’.
Unfortunately, Xia Yu seemed to be ungraspable.
After finishing with the fish, Xia Yu wiped off the sweat on his shoulders with his shirt and immediately approached Sifu Chen, “Master, I’ve taken care of the fish. So now, what’s next?”
Sifu Chen looked at Xia Yu’s delicate arms and sighed deeply, “Follow me, time to practice slicing vegetables.”
Soon, Sifu Chen took Xia Yu to a chopping board, “See these scallions? Cut them into pieces the size of two millimeters. Do you know how long two millimeters are?”
“I know.”
“Alright. Figure it out yourself. This takes practice. Once you’re a bit more experienced with it, I’ll teach you about the flip kn*fe technique in half an hour,” Sifu Chen said, then left…
Watching Sifu Chen like this, Xia Yu couldn’t help but doubt his teaching ability. But since he decided to learn cooking, he resolved to stick with it. Thus, Xia Yu started chopping those scallions.
To achieve the two-millimeter measurement Sifu Chen required, Xia Yu chopped very carefully. It took her several minutes just to cut one bundle of scallions.
This drew the attention of the other chefs waiting for diced scallions. However, they didn’t interrupt Xia Yu; everyone had gone through the same struggle.
But when Xia Yu saw the chefs slice their scallions effortlessly within minutes, she felt extremely frustrated. How could they be so much better?
However, there wasn’t much she could do—everyone here wasn’t an ordinary chef, and Xia Yu knew she was pushing beyond her current limits. So, she continued chopping her scallions.
Half an hour passed, and Xia Yu, now covered in the lingering scent of scallions, found Sifu Chen again, “Master, it’s time, what do I do next?”
“Practice your strength.”
Sifu Chen led Xia Yu to an iron pot, pointing it out, “Even though girls have a disadvantage in physical strength, suffering is the path to excellence. I won’t go easy on you. From now on, practice flipping the pot with only one hand until I’m satisfied, then you can start cooking.”
With that, Sifu Chen splashed water into the pot to practice the skill without spilling it—an essential skill before tackling the real deal.
Xia Yu: “….”
Facing the pot and water, Xia Yu was quite conflicted—it was only noon and her muscles were still developing, did he have to push her so hard?
Seeing the stern look on Master Chen’s face, Xia Yu didn’t dare to complain either; she rolled up her sleeves and threw herself into the task. She recalled seeing others practicing flips on their phones, but they used sand instead of water… why was she the one assigned water? Xia Yu simply couldn’t comprehend it.
Before long, Xia Yu managed to shake the water in the pot away with her flip.
Two hours later, exhausted, Xia Yu held her aching right hand and retreated from the hot kitchen. Finally, she had weathered the storm.
Breathing in the fresh air, Xia Yu retrieved her phone and contacted Xiao Ning Jie, “Xiao Ning Jie, where are you? We should head back home.”
“I heard you. Wait by the kitchen door. Don’t wander around.”
Shortly after, carrying a laptop, Xiao Ning Jie appeared. Seeing Xia Yu’s disheveled state, she couldn’t help but frown. “Xiao Ning Jie~”
Out of habit, Xia Yu approached Xiao Ning Jie, who usually wouldn’t reject such spontaneous displays of affection. Yet, this time, Xiao Ning Jie agilely sidestepped away, avoiding Xia Yu’s embrace.
To Xia Yu, this was unexpected. Instantly, she felt less connected: “Xiao Ning Jie, what’s going on?”
“Really, asking?” Xiao Ning Jie gently tapped Xia Yu on the head, “Look at your clothes, they’re fishy and smelly, go clean up as soon as possible.”
Xia Yu: “..…”
True enough, Xiao Ning Jie hadn’t noticed it until Xia Yu mentioned it. But why did it happen? Could she possibly avoid it?
Realizing Xiao Ning Jie’s preference for cleanliness, Xia Yu felt somewhat helpless. With no choice, she decided to head back, bathe, and make things right with Xiao Ning Jie.
Back home, Xia Ling and Xiao Hanhang, two clueless loli sisters, were still glued to the sofa playing video games with great joy.
Unexpectedly, Xia Hanhang and Xia Ling were taken aback at Xia Yu’s appearance—clean and tidy in the morning and messy upon return: “Older Sister, Xiao Yu, were you kidnapped?”
Xiao Ning Jie: “… Dead girl, cursing your sister?”
“What are you saying?” Xiao Hanhang’s body slowly leaned against Xia Ling, using Xia Ling’s thigh as a pillow as she teased, “Aren’t you always getting kidnapped? If you haven’t been in ages, it’s a little abnormal.”
Xiao Ning Jie: “.……”
Knowing Xiao Hanhang’s ways, Xiao Ning Jie didn’t want to argue anymore. Her work wasn’t done.
Before that, however, she made sure to remind Xiao Yu, “Go take a bath immediately, wash yourself thoroughly. I don’t want any weird scents later.”
“Yes.”
Xiao Yu was obedient. Whatever Xiao Ning Jie said, she followed without question. It was truly a child-like behavior from someone her age.
Elsewhere, Lin Jie and Xia Le were enjoying themselves at the amusement park.
Actually, Lin Jie had invited Xia Le to bring Xia Yu, Xia Ling, and the two daughters of the Jiang family to deepen their relationships. But surprisingly, no one accepted his invitation except Xia Le.
Yang Jie didn’t mind much. He understood the complexities and difficulties of making progress with those people. Therefore, while riding the Ferris wheel, Lin Jie seriously told Xia Le something important, “We’re being followed.”
Pointing to the figures below them, Lin Jie marked four individuals, “It’s them—they’ve been following us since we entered. ”
Xia Le looked around and thought Lin Jie might be overthinking it: “Who would bother following us? Besides, I don’t have much money, so probably…”
Lin Jie suddenly smiled, “Remember last night? Our mole in the Jiang family has been exposed. Now, they’re likely seeking revenge. Are you scared?”
Hearing that, Xia Le froze, “Didn’t you reconcile with the Jiang family already? Why are things getting heated up again?”
“You might not know yet. The Jiang family is currently split into two factions—the one led by Jiang Bin, Xiao Ning Jie’s father, and another led by her uncle, Jiang Tao.”
“So you placed people in Jiang Tao’s camp?”
“Yes,” Lin Jie continued with a bitter smile, “Since others are also involved, why waste potential resources? Anyway, our guy managed to run away, and he told both Dad and me.”
Looking down at the four individuals and then at Lin Jie’s composed demeanor, Xia Le surmised, “You seemed like you already knew this?”
“No, I didn’t expect them to retaliate like this, but their actions are definitely stirring things up.”
Turning to Xia Le, Lin Jie asked, “Xiao Le, have you ever seen a dead body?”
“Dead body?”
“Right, a person killed by gunfire.”
Just as Lin Jie finished speaking, four gunshots echoed: Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The four individuals trailing Xia Le and Lin Jie fell to the ground instantly, and the amusement park was thrown into chaos. Xia Le: “…..”
Looking at Lin Jie across from her, Xia Le suddenly felt a strange dread. At that moment, Lin Jie was a stranger and a cruel individual in Xia Le’s eyes.
Indeed, this was the deed of the Lin family, who had arranged multiple bodyguards since learning this information to prevent a recurrence of past incidents.
There was absolutely no need to spare these ‘small fries.’ Thus, dealing with them was simple.
Xia Le noticed the gunmen disguised as tourists initially, but they quickly disappeared among the crowd once the shots were fired.
After witnessing the tragic deaths below, Xia Le turned back to Lin Jie in disbelief, “Their targets were you, right? Are you afraid they’ll sh**t you with sniper rifles?”
“Are you scared?”
“Somewhat.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t k*ll me—they will likely kidnap me.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad only has me. If anything happens to me, Dad will go mad, and Jiang Tao wouldn’t dare do something that foolish.”
“Then you killed them?”
“The mercy towards enemies is self-harm. I must teach Jiang Tao a lesson, and those people were Dad’s orders—get used to it?”
Xia Le: “….. You’re really calm.”
“Learned from Xiao Ning Jie. My skills still fall short compared to her. After all, surviving multiple kidnappings is quite remarkable.”
Finishing the round of the Ferris wheel, everyone else was already dispersing, as were the surrounding observers. Lin Jie checked the area and then took Xia Le to the bodies nearby.
Reluctantly, Xia Le was tugged along by Lin Jie—despite Xia Le’s unwillingness to approach the deceased.
Staring at the lifeless eyes of those individuals, Xia Le felt increasingly scared, even somewhat angry, questioning Lin Jie, “What’s there to look at? Let’s leave,”
“No, look closely, it’s good practice for your heart,”
Xia Le: “..…”
Suddenly, Xia Le regretted coming. Brother Jie was acting way too strange.
