The two brothers exchanged a look before they finally processed a very shocking truth.
Boss Huo purposefully waited till the chef was gone before he sent Butler Lin to fetch the stock, bypassing even Siyi.
And the stock was the same as the one that Siyi had tested, made by Miss Gu.
Meaning, their boss stealthily drank the soup made by Miss Gu.
The two brothers looked at each other and their mouths dropped open.
“That means, Miss Gu asked you instead of the boss to try her soup and the boss saw it and was unhappy about it,” Sier concluded.
“Which was why he sent someone to fetch it quietly after you and Miss Gu had departed.”
Siyi rolled his eyes, “Boy, oh, boy. Our boss... is such a tsundere...”
Sier patted him on his shoulder. “Good luck, bro.”
Siyi, “Huh?”
“Miss Gu seems pretty nice to you. Teheehee.” Sier laughed.
Siyi, “!!!”
The boss was jealous of him.... ?!
***
Inside the study at the same time.
Huo Sishen’s cold eyes landed on the bowl of soup.
The glow from the computer screen made his handsome face seem warmer than usual, but it also made the darkness and coldness in his eyes stand out even more.
After a long while, he finally picked up a spoon and scooped out a spoonful of thick and aromatic soup.
And placed it in his mouth.
He pursed his lips. His eyes brightened for a bit before the light quickly died down again.
This soup... tasted like the ones made by the aunty who had taken care of him when he was a child.
Without formal culinary training and used to normal home cooking, even the Western style mushroom soup that she made has a slight touch of the taste of Chinese broth in it.
Very indescribably.
But... not bad to the taste.
It even has a slight warmth to it that slipped into his mouth and rolled into his stomach. All of his limbs and down to every hair was washed over by a sense of comfort...
Nothing professional about it, but filled with warmth.
But she gave her first bowl to Siyi.
Huo Sishen squinted.
His grip on the spoon tightened.
To think that she had been sending him red packets everyday and shamelessly asked him to “send her daily gifts and red packets as her husband”... and then?
That woman! That brainless woman!
Why did she ask Siyi to try her cooking instead of him?
Did Siyi and him like the same thing?
Huo Sishen tossed down the spoon heavily.
Disgruntledness was written all over his face.
He stood up, then stopped.
He looked at the bowl of soup with displeasure. But then, he downed the entire bowl of soup in two to three gulps!
***
[Ding! Fondness from Huo Sishen increased!]
[Ding! Fondness form Huo Sishen decreased!]
[Ding! ... Increased!]
[Ding! ... Decreased!]
......
Gu Shishi noticed that her system message mailbox had exploded when she woke up the next morning.
There were rows of rows of notifications.
She almost thought the system had glitched.
She pulled up the system log.
At around midnight last night, the boss’s fondness toward her went up 1%, then down 2%, then up 3%, then down 1%.... back and forth for dozens of times at the very minimum.
“What was going on?”
The boss... what was he doing in the middle of the night?
Gu Shishi laid her palm over her forehead and couldn’t figure it out.
Did she do anything yesterday that would make him think about her in the middle of the night?
“Did he hang the ‘Red Mountains’ up in his room and that he was appreciating it last night?”
That idea merely flashed through her mind before she shook her head and dismissed it.
That didn’t make sense. If he was looking at her painting, wouldn’t his fondness increase steadily instead? It wouldn’t explain how it went up and down and up and down.
Gu Shishi had a very confused look. Before she had the system, she felt that being genuine to others was sufficient.
She never knew how complicated people could be, especially the boss that she needed to take down!
Luckily, Gu Shishi was able to let out a sigh of relief after she did the calculation.
The boss was nice to her after all. After all the ups and down for over an hour, her net gain was +3% last night.
[Progress to the LV3 of Fondness from the Male Lead: 84%]
If this happened every day, she could advance to the next level in her sleep!
Gu Shishi’s mouth cracked open right away.
She was, however, stunned when she walked into the kitchen.
“The stock that I made... why was there only so little left?!”
Gu Shishi’s eyes almost popped out after she looked inside the pot.
It had shrunk drastically!!
The pot was ¾ full last night but had now lowered visibly to ½ way point!
She was about to scratch her head when a cold voice came from behind her.
“There’s no need to shout.”
She turned around and saw Huo Sishen standing coldly at the dining room entrance.
He had on a light-grey suit. It was crisp with no crease at all. Even his hair was impeccable and his entire body exuded the feel of solemnness.
“All I could hear was your chattering all morning long.”
Huo Sishen’s lips were shut tightly. It was all coldness between his brows.
“Eh, I’m sorry...” Gu Shishi blinked. She lowered her voice and gave the boss with an appeasing look. “I was too emotional.”
Huo Sishen nodded and a hint of awkwardness flashed past his eyes.
“It was just some soup. There was no need to shout.”
Gu Shishi nodded but still turned and looked at the pot, perplexed. “But I made that specifically for...”
She made that so she could get feedback from Mr. Chef. And she had planned to use the stock to test cook a few other dishes. But how was she going to do that with that much soup gone? Aye.
But she didn’t finish what she was saying. She covered up her mouth and didn’t want to irritate the boss again with her rambling.
She failed to notice the fact that the man in front of her blushed all the way to the tip of his ears because of her nervousness.
Huo Sishen turned around and froze awkwardly by the entrance.
Specifically, said the girl. He didn’t fail to catch that.
She had made that soup specifically... for him.
His rhythmic breathing was interrupted and became heavy.
She didn’t finish her sentence because she was shy in front of him?
His cold lips curved a little upward.
Finally, the girl felt some shyness today.
He turned back around, forced himself to calm down, and said, “There’s no need to tell me what it is for.”
Gu Shishi pouted a bit and acknowledged him weakly.
But just when she was about to put the cover back onto the pot, she heard another “Ding!” sound in her ears.
[Received fondness from Huo Sishen!]
Gu Shishi, “!?”
QAQ. Exactly what was going through the boss’s mind?!
***
“Eh? Uncle, you will be taking off sooner for your vacation?”
Gu Shishi received the sudden notification half an hour later.
Chef Chen Qi wasn’t scheduled to to take off for another three days according to the original plan. Why was he going to start his vacation today?
“I’m sorry, Miss Gu. My family is...” Chen Qi couldn’t go on.
Next to him, Butler Lin gave him a look.
“I’m sorry. Please take care of Young Master’s meals, Miss Gu.” Chen Qi could only lower his head in distress.
Gu Shishi quickly shook her hand at him and said, “Oh, don’t apologize. It’s alright.”
“Don’t worry, Miss Gu,” said Butler right away. “Young Master always has lunch at the office. You only need to prepare dinner.
“In addition, you can just let me know what to buy and what needs to be chopped up. I will have a couple people helping you out.”
Upon hearing that, Gu Shishi’s mood improved instantly.
Rinsing and chopping were both time-consuming tasks. It’d be much easier with someone to help her out. Otherwise, she’d need to have everything prepared the night before as she’d still need to go to work.
“Thank you, Butler. I will send you the list later. I am going to head to work now.”
“Okay.” Butler Lin quickly bowed to her. He finally let out a sigh of relief after seeing her off.
Butler Lin turned and looked at Chef Chen. Wiping away his sweat, he asked, “Old Chen, what are you fretting about? Just remember what Young Master has said to you. You are just starting your paid vacation early.”
Chen Qi gave him a wry smile, “Do you think Young Master is tired of my cooking?”
When he came over to make breakfast this morning, he was told by Butler Lin that he was being put on paid leave effective today.
“You are overthinking this. Young Master did not have me look for a new chef. Just enjoy your time off and work hard when you return.” Butler Lin tried to comfort him.
Chen Qi was still frowning with worries. “Will Young Master still need me by the time I return? Or that Young Master will want Miss Gu to take over cooking from now on?”
He was truly worried. Even though his employer was cold and distant and had a poor reputation, the benefits here were top-notched. Plus, work here was much cushier than at a restaurant and he was well-respected and not ill-treated.
“Old Chen, what are you talking about? You think Young Master will have Miss Gu cook from now on?” Butler Lin had an odd look on him. “Do I need to remind you of the role of Miss Gu?”
She was the Young Master’s fiancée!
“How do you think she was being treated compared to the last two?” Butler Lin added.
Chef Chen was enlightened. Sticking his thumb up, he said, “Miss Gu is this!”
Not even on the same caliber as the last two! Young Master had never paid the last two any attention at all, let alone asking the kitchen to prepare special meals for her.
“So, do you get it now?” Having said that, Butler Lin walked out of the dining room with his hands behind his back. He stopped again when he reached the entrance.
“Have your apprentices be on the lookout and have a grasp on the situation. Don’t try to boss Miss Gu around. Anything of the dicing and chopping that are high risk, they better be taking them over. If she cut herself or burn herself, I wouldn’t be able to defend you.”
Chef Chen smacked himself on his forehead like he had just been shown the ways!
Why did he bother giving Miss Gu any recipes? Was he an idiot? All Miss Gu needed to do was the scoop the food out from the pan and that was that!
Young Master did not kick Miss Gu out. At the rate things go, she would be the future Madam of the house!
He couldn’t be more wrong before. If they truly tried to have her as a cook, things certainly would not end well!
Chef Chen quickly rushed over to warn his apprentices.
Gu Shishi, who was already labeled as “the future Madam” and “the one in control of their salaries”, had no idea what had transpired in the kitchen.
She was still making notes on the recipes as she sat in the bus.
She did, however, receive system notifications before she arrived at the art studio.
[Received fondness from Chen Qi, Zhao Dandan, and Liu Mengdi.]
“Eh?”
Gu Shishi paused in her tracks.
Chen Qi was the name of the master chef. But who were the other two?
She flipped through the system and found out that they were the cooks at the mansion.
Were they Chef Chen’s assistants? Perhaps because she was doing the master chef a favor this time?
Gu Shishi quickly arrived at a conclusion and put the thought aside.
Before she got inside the elevator, she waved at a girl who was pacing back and forth with a mask on.
“This way, MeowMeow.”
“Shhhhh.... Don’t be so loud. And don’t call me MeowMeow.”
Chen Kexin noticed that everybody around them were looking at her. She regretted picking that as her alias online.
“Kexin? Xiao Ke? Xinxin?”
Gu Shishi raised her brows.
Chen Kexin’s lips twitched. All of those sounded even more intimate!
“You... are you aware that you are the common enemy among all my girlfriends?” Chen Kexin was dripping sweat.
“Oh? So, you hate me too?” Gu Shishi pulled back her hand that was reaching for the fans.
Chen Kexin had been staring intently at her hand ever since she had opened up her bag. She felt even more impatient when she saw the dark green, delicate-looking paper box. But then she saw Gu Shishi put the box back to where it was.
Chen Kexin, “....” She and her big mouth!!