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墨書 Inktalez
At nine o'clock in the morning, Ziyan accompanied Xiang Wang Lingfeng to the grand opening of the new store on time.
By this time, people had already started to line up outside. As Ziyan helped Ling Feng into the lobby, she asked him, "Can you hold on? If you get tired or can't manage, just go up to the third floor to rest. I'll have someone let you know if anything comes up."
After giving her instructions to Ling Feng, Ziyan quickly made her way to the kitchen. The kitchen was filled with enticing aromas, shrouded in white mist and steaming with heat.
She saw the two chefs she had personally trained, wearing the white coats she designed, busily directing a group of clerks who were carrying out trays of various marinated dishes they had just prepared that morning.
Watching them work calmly and efficiently, Ziyan's tense heart finally felt at ease.
It seemed that her choices for chefs and her management philosophy were indeed correct!
With this thought in mind, the cautious and meticulous Ziyan stepped inside to take another good look and taste some of the assorted Marinated Dishes. She even made sure not to miss the red oil sesame spicy sauce.
Sure enough, they all had the flavor she desired.
Ziyan happily patted one of the chefs named Wu Jiu and encouraged everyone present with her brightest voice, "Everyone, keep it up! Spread the word to all the brothers outside—if business goes well, your lives will get better too! When we open more branches in the future, we will select Shopkeepers and other management personnel from among you. Everyone has an equal opportunity here."
Her words inspired all the employees present, and they responded in unison, "Alright!"
Seeing everyone's enthusiasm ignited by her words, Ziyan felt gratified and was about to leave the kitchen.
As she turned around, she saw Xiang Wang Lingfeng standing with his arms crossed over his chest, gazing at her with a warm smile in his eyes.
"Since everyone has an equal opportunity here, I wonder if the boss could also give This King an equal chance?"
Understanding his implication from the enthusiasm and expectation in his eyes, Ziyan rolled her eyes at him.
She reminded him, "It's almost time; we should go cut the ribbon." With that, she walked towards the entrance without looking back.
"Uh? Oh, hey! You're just leaving like that? At least help the Wood King walk together, right? Hey—hey—heartless girl—" At this moment, Xiang Wang Lingfeng was acting completely like a rogue.
Ziyan felt a mix of amusement and frustration, but she simply raised her right hand and waved it back at him without looking back, then walked away.
Is he in such good spirits? With that smug look on his face, I don't need to help him anymore. I’d rather not listen to his incessant chatter that only adds to my worries.
However, Mo Ziyu's medical skills are truly remarkable; after being poisoned by an arrow yesterday, he can walk today. Ziyan silently marveled at Mo Ziyu's medical expertise!
"Hi! Miss Zi." When Ziyan reached the door, she heard someone calling her.
She turned in the direction of the voice and saw Prince Ning along with three other noble young men who had previously crossed paths with her.
But today, he had brought along an unfamiliar face.
Ziyan glanced over and noticed that this person was a girl disguised as a boy, about the same age as her older sister.
Ziyan nodded lightly as she approached them and asked gently, "You all came too?"
"Of course! We had to come. This place was opened by Brother Xiang Wang. I heard that all these delicious dishes are made by Miss Zi herself? We're here to indulge!"
"No, this place is a collaboration between me and Miss Zi. To be more precise—Miss Zi is the main owner of this establishment."
"Oh—" Everyone turned to Ziyan with envious eyes.
"Ahem! Since you're here to taste the food, please go over there and line up," Ziyan said, changing the subject directly.
"Uh? Miss Zi! Do we really need to line up given our friendship?" Prince Ning looked at Ziyan in confusion and discontent.
"This lady prioritizes customers; everyone is equal," Ziyan replied without any intention of negotiating.
"What is this? Brother Xiang Wang!" The girl disguised as a boy complained to Xiang Wang Lingfeng while glancing at the long line that had already formed, then turned back to plead with Ling Feng.
"Shh—go ahead! You all go wait in line."
"What? How ridiculous, I—"
The girl wanted to continue pestering Ling Feng, but she was dragged away by Prince Ning towards the back of the 'long queue.'
The ribbon-cutting ceremony began, without much fanfare.
This was Ziyan's request, and Ling Feng had gladly accepted it long ago.
As a prince, he could have attracted many royal nobles to support him with his identity and status.
However, Ziyan had made a verbal gentleman's agreement with him from the very beginning: that the opening period must be low-key, and at the very least, it should go with the flow. She did not want him to attract a bunch of difficult-to-serve so-called 'VIPs.'
She especially didn't want her shop to be cleared out for them, which would make ordinary citizens hesitant to visit her establishment.
She hoped everyone would willingly fall in love with her food. Only then could her culinary creations truly dominate the food scene—
This was why she had asked him to have those important people wait in line. She didn't want their arrival to disrupt the enjoyment of ordinary citizens tasting her food!
Smart as he was, Xiang Wang Ye naturally understood her intentions and admired Ziyan deeply. At the same time, his infatuation with her grew stronger day by day.
Unfortunately, Ziyan had not fully realized this yet, nor did she wish to dwell on it too much, as her heart was only for Ling Yuxuan—the Demonically Charming Man—who had once shared both companionship and mentorship with her.
As soon as the ribbon-cutting ceremony concluded, Ziyan decided to quickly disappear from the front door. Having already experienced a mysterious assassination attempt yesterday, she knew she could not draw too much attention to herself anymore.
Just as Ling Feng intended to follow her upstairs, a magnetic voice came from outside: "So it's indeed my sixth brother's shop?"
When Ziyan curiously turned around to look, she saw a slightly older man than Ling Feng standing at the entrance, equally handsome and charming.
The man exuded an air of nobility and had an almost flawless face; the only flaw was his pair of peach blossom eyes that seemed to sparkle with mischief.
Ziyan looked at the newcomer dressed in a light yellow robe embroidered with golden four-clawed dragons, and immediately recognized his identity.
The current Crown Prince—Ling Xianjun, a name that Ling Yuxuan had told her about.
He wore an expectant expression, his peach blossom eyes holding a hint of teasing and a touch of feigned reproach as he asked, “Why didn’t you inform your brother when you opened your restaurant? That’s rather inconsiderate.”
“Of course not, it’s just that my royal brother is busy with state affairs and has many responsibilities. I wouldn’t dare disturb you! It also saves our father from scolding me,” Ling Feng squinted his eyes, seemingly explaining sincerely and aggrieved.
“Haha, no worries! No matter how busy you are, you should still support your younger brother,” said Crown Prince Ling Xianjun, immediately raising both hands to clap, the applause neither too loud nor too soft, just right.
The servants behind him immediately brought in an enormous jade sculpture of mountains and rivers, which almost blinded Ziyan.
Wow! This is truly extravagant! Such a large jade sculpture would be worth billions in the Twenty-First Century.
“This is too generous of you, royal brother.” At this point, what else could Ling Feng say? He could only quickly step aside and gesture for them to enter.
Thus, Crown Prince Ling Xianjun strode confidently into the restaurant named Zi Family Spiced Braise.
At that moment, the girl who had been disguised as a boy rushed towards Ling Xianjun and Ling Feng, disregarding everything. “Elder Brother, wait for us!”
Ling Xianjun turned around, surprised as he looked up and down at the girl disguised as a boy—Princess Ling Yuer. He then asked, “Yuer? Why are you dressed like this?”
“Uh? Oh, reporting to Elder Brother, Yuer heard from Prince Ning that Sixth Brother’s restaurant is opening today. So, so—” Princess Ling Yuer stammered.
“So you sneaked out?” Ling Xianjun shook his head in reproach.
“Mmhm!” Ling Yuer nodded vigorously like a garlic pounder.
Seeing that their arrival was blocking ordinary customers from entering the restaurant, Ling Feng quickly made another gesture for them to enter while urging, “Since you’re here, let’s hurry upstairs to the private room. We wouldn’t want too many eyes on us.”
Thus, everyone quickly followed Ling Feng upstairs to the second floor, arriving at the entrance of the largest and most exquisitely decorated private room.
Ziyan originally intended to keep her distance from this group, so she decided to sneak up to the third floor to rest and adjust.
However, just as she was quietly trying to minimize her presence and stealthily leave the crowd, heading in another direction, her foot had already stepped onto the stairs leading to the third floor. Just as she was about to lift her foot to go higher,
"Is that young lady the partner of Sixth Brother?" unexpectedly, Ling Xianjun shifted his gaze to Ziyan.
Ling Feng was momentarily taken aback; she had already noticed that Ziyan did not want to associate with them. So she had planned to socialize on her own first and then go find her on the third floor afterward.
Understanding the situation clearly, he could only brace himself and respond to Crown Prince Ling Xianjun's invitation.
How could he not know that Ling Xianjun was coming with ulterior motives? And they had quickly set their sights on Ziyan.
"Ah—yes, yes," Ling Feng replied while glancing at Ziyan, who was still standing there without turning around.
"Since she is Sixth Brother's partner, Sixth Brother should introduce her to me," Ling Xianjun stated matter-of-factly.
"Uh? Heh heh, yes! Your Highness, please wait a moment." After Ling Feng finished speaking with Ling Xianjun, she strode towards Ziyan.
"Yan'er, let me introduce you to someone. Come," Ling Feng said as she reached out and took hold of one of Ziyan's hands, directly leading her toward Ling Xianjun.
Phew—Ziyan let out a quiet sigh; it seemed there was no escaping this social engagement today. Well then, she decided to face it head-on!
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