Chapter 150: Decision to Participate

Lu Yuxi did not stop what she was doing. She nimbly braided Tiantian’s hair and said, “Let’s go to school. Do you want to go with Teacher Li?”

“I want Brother to send me.”

Xu Tian tilted her head and acted coquettishly. As expected, Xu Le nodded in agreement.

After Li Qing brushed his teeth, he placed his hand on the door frame and whistled. “I drove here. I can send you guys there. Let’s go together.”

A child’s mind was very active. After asking, she remembered that Lu Yuxi had yet to answer her question. She turned around and looked at her in anticipation.

“Sister Lu, you’ll always live with us, right?”

Lu Yuxi smiled and did not say anything. She was not lying to the child, but she did not answer either. She only said, “But Sister also has a husband.”

Early in the morning, two thunderclaps exploded in Li Qing’s ears. He said with a horrified expression, “You have a husband?”

Lu Yuxi had just graduated. She was so young. How could she have a husband?

Xu Le’s expression darkened. Compared to surprise, he was filled with indescribable emotions. He urged, “Let’s go, Tiantian.”

“Then Sister Lu, ask your boyfriend to stay at my house.”

Xu Tian had an innocent look on her face. Xu Le grabbed her collar in time and took her away.

Li Qing rolled his eyes and felt embarrassed. He muttered softly, “I’m afraid that’s not appropriate.”

After getting into the car, Xu Tian sat in the front passenger seat while Xu Le and Lu Yuxi sat side by side.

Xu Le took a long time before saying, “You never said that you had a husband.”

As if she was still drunk, Lu Yuxi said, “Well, it can be considered one but also not really.”

Xu Le couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush with her. He joked with an unhappy expression, “You hid it quite well.”

Lu Yuxi sighed and turned to look out of the window. “Now that your business has stabilized, shall I accompany you to the competition before leaving?”

She had originally planned to leave after settling matters at Xu Le’s branch store. Seeing that he was participating in a tough competition, she planned to stay for a while longer.

Xu Le said ungratefully, “You’re not my sous-chef and can’t even cook well. You’re a complete amateur. It doesn’t matter much to me if you stay or not.”

Lu Yuxi did not quarrel with him and said, “I want to eat fried chop rice cake tonight.”

This time, Xu Le did not agree directly like usual. Instead, he said, “Let’s talk about it tonight.”

As the driver, Li Qing drove to the kindergarten first before going to the branch store. When Lu Yuxi got out of the car to start work, he went to the garage and parked the car. “Why does my car smell?”

Xu Le knew what Li Qing wanted to say and rolled his eyes without saying anything.

“It smells sour. I wonder who’s being jealous?” Li Qing turned his head and looked at him as if he was watching a show. “Master, Lu Yuxi is already married. You don’t have a chance anymore. Your plan is ruined… Eh, right, why haven’t I seen her husband before?”

Xu Le got out of the car and said with a cold expression, “Do you believe that the producer of Master Chef competition is already waiting in the restaurant upstairs?”

“Hmm?”

Li Qing’s eyes lit up. He had wanted to be aparticipant for a long time, but he had been rejected, so he pretended not to care to save face. “What does it have to do with me?”

Meanwhile, he quickened his pace as he sped toward the restaurant.

As Xu Le had expected, Chen Yeqi was already waiting there. When he saw Xu Le, his eyes lit up like a wolf seeing a lamb. He quickly walked over and said, “Hello, we’ve met before. I received a reply from your email last night and rushed over immediately today. When can you participate in the competition?”

This question was strange. Xu Le deliberately said, “Will tomorrow do? I’m available anytime.”

Chen Yeqi nodded seriously and said, “The competition location will be set up here. You can reach in an hour.”

Xu Le raised his eyebrows and reminded him of the loophole in his words. “He just finished a live broadcast in France last night, yet he can participate in the competition tomorrow?”

Chen Yeqi’s expression froze for a moment before he smiled dejectedly. He probably didn’t expect to show his cowardice in front of an eight-year-old child. He said, “Isn’t it still up to you? Why don’t we set it in three days? Let’s sign a contract.”

Chen Yeqi came prepared. He asked his assistant to take out the contract from his bag and said, “Please take a look. As long as you participate in the competition three days later, you will receive a reward of 50,000 yuan.”

Suddenly, a hand took the contract from behind Chen Yeqi and threw it on the table as the person said hatefully, “The condition for breaking the contract is one million yuan. You guys are very shrewd.”

It was Zhang Tong. When he heard the commotion in the kitchen, he immediately came out to defend Xu Le. In fact, it was also for himself.

He had started learning how to cook when he was in his teens. It had not been easy for him to become the head chef of the Heavenly Restaurant, one of the top restaurants in the country. He had been proud of his life, but it was all ruined because of a competition.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Chen Yeqi pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and smiled. “What’s the matter?”

Zhang Tong said angrily, “Ask your chef to come out if you dare. Let’s see how many chefs are secretly cooking for him. You’re the ones who cheated!”

Chen Yeqi’s smile deepened. He was not afraid and said, “When all the competitions are over, our program team will make the entire competition process public from the Master Chef’s perspective. By that time, please wait and see.”

When he said this, his expression was extremely confident and even smug. He did not look like he was faking it.

Zhang Tong choked. Xu Le, who was standing behind him, couldn’t help but say, “My parents also lost in the competition. I’m very curious and want to compete with the legendary Master Chef, so please forgive me.”

Zhang Tong could accept this reason, but after being hit with reality, he looked at Xu Le worriedly.

Of course, Xu Le knew what was behind his gaze. If he lost in the competition, he would lose the “Little Master Chef” title that others had given him and it would affect his business.

But he didn’t care. 60 to 70 percent of the customers who came to eat in the shop were regular customers. There were even some of them who would come every day.

Chen Yeqi watched as Xu Le signed the contract that he would participate in the competition and hurriedly kept it. He smiled and said, “This is the admission ticket. Please familiarize yourself with the competition process a day in advance. We will be awaiting the Little Master Chef.”

“Okay.”

Xu Le agreed. When Chen Yeqi had walked far away, Li Qing still couldn’t shift his envious gaze away. He muttered, “Sooner or later, I’ll be able to participate too.”

He turned around and saw four or five admission tickets in Xu Le’s hand. He said in excitement, “Give me one. I want to go too. I’ll vote for you then.”

“How stupid.” Lu Yuxi stepped forward and took away an admission ticket. She said to Li Qing, “Of course they are going to vote anonymously. How could they tell you who the chef is?”

“It’s not like I can’t taste it. You eat Xu Le’s food every day. Can’t you tell his cooking style?”

Xu Le asked, “My cooking style?”

Li Qing commented seriously, “It’s perfect. Super perfect. Even the most exquisite programming system in the world can’t imitate your culinary skills.”