Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The First Daughter

After numerous historians and culinary families confirmed the existence of those ancient dishes, the official Weibo of the Chinese Restaurant finally spoke up, acknowledging the existence of the "Lin Family Cookbook."

Just as the internet was bombarded with news about the "Lin Family Cookbook," the Chinese Restaurant dropped another bombshell—

The Chinese Restaurant was going to close.

The decision to close the Chinese Restaurant was made after discussions between Lin Le and Jiang Su. Xu Rui had agreed to take Lin Le as his disciple, and given Xu Rui's status and influence in the culinary world, Lin Le's future learning and development were expected to be abroad.

Lin Le shared her plans with Jiang Su, who agreed with her decision. Jiang Su now understood that Lin Le was a completely independent individual with her own thoughts and plans. Though still gentle in nature, she was not without her own opinions.

Thus, she chose to let her make her own decisions.

The announcement of the Chinese Restaurant's closure, following the certification of the "Lin Family Cookbook," was personally written by Lin Le, word by word.

She thought a lot about their initial hurried escape to Haicheng, their hard work setting up a stall, and then the opening of the Chinese Restaurant... Scenes flashed through her mind like colorful slides, feeling like years had passed though it was only a few months.

Her heart felt slightly bitter.

Lin Le's hands trembled uncontrollably as she typed, her reluctance evident—she loved Haicheng, loved the Chinese Restaurant, and loved all the patrons who smiled and asked for another bowl; yet, she had to let go, just like when she had no choice but to leave City A.

It seemed she had lost to Qin Yan once again.

Qin Yan was like an inescapable doom in her life, always appearing just when she thought she had a new beginning. How much more did she have to strive to completely free herself from him? Lin Le wondered.

This must be the last time, she silently vowed.

She swore never to experience this sense of helplessness again.

A simple "goodbye" was hard for Lin Le to write, as she revised the message again and again, ending with just a few words and a "goodbye."

Her announcement caused a stir online, with countless people pleading for her not to close the Chinese Restaurant. Since its rise to fame, the restaurant had seen an influx of patrons. However, many who enjoyed the food did not engage in controversies, maintaining a detached stance during the plagiarism accusations.

But now, things were different.

The Chinese Restaurant is going to be closed.

What does that mean?

It means they won’t be able to taste its dishes and experience those flavors anymore!

For many, this news was like a bolt from the blue. With its reasonably priced but high-quality dishes, the restaurant’s closure meant they would no longer know where to find such delicious yet affordable food.

Consequently, many people exploded with anger.

Not to mention the wailing comments under the official Weibo and public accounts of the Chinese Restaurant, numerous staunch patrons began targeting Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou for smear. In their view, had these shameless establishments not slandered the Chinese Restaurant, its owner wouldn’t have been so disheartened as to close the shop.

They treated it as a venting outlet, launching relentless attacks on Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou.

Initially, Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou had been put in a disadvantageous position by the historians’ interventions. The subsequent revelation of the cookbook by the Chinese Restaurant, followed by its closure, further proved that their actions were out of jealousy towards the new establishment, tarnishing their reputation significantly.

“The backlash online is unanimous against us. Our sales have plummeted these past few days. Mr. Qin, you must think of a solution for us. We only targeted the Chinese Restaurant because we heeded your advice. Now that things have turned out this way, you can’t just abandon us,” the CEO of Yuehua Zhai pleaded with a frosty-faced Qin Yan, his tone full of resentment.

Due to the closure of the Chinese Restaurant, Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou had become the punching bags for all fans of the Chinese Restaurant and netizens, leading to a rapid and still increasing drop in their sales. This forced the CEOs of both establishments to seek Qin Yan’s help.

Initially, they had agreed to Qin Yan’s request hoping to curry favor with the Qin family, thinking it was a simple matter. However, this minor issue led to a major setback for them, causing them immense regret.

They had no choice but to incessantly pester Qin Yan for a solution.

But Qin Yan had no interest in dealing with their problems at the moment.

Lin Le’s decisive move to close the Chinese Restaurant had removed his leverage over her, and to his frustration, his spies reported she was now associating with the Xu family!

The thought of the photos of Lin Le and Xu Rui together made Qin Yan’s eyes burn with rage.

While the CEOs of Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou were still eagerly voicing their grievances, Qin Yan was too distracted by his own fury to pay them any heed, feeling as if two flies were buzzing annoyingly around his head.

“Damn it!”

He kicked the tea table in front of him violently.

The CEOs of Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou were startled, halting their complaints as Qin Yan's phone suddenly rang.

Qin Yan answered with an irritated tone, "What is it?"

"Boss, we're currently following Mr. Xu Rui's car. It seems like they're heading to the airport! Miss Lin and Mr. Xu might be leaving!"

Stunned, Qin Yan roared like a furious beast, "Stop them! I want you to stop them immediately, do you hear me?"

The response came from the other end.

Qin Yan, clutching his phone, rushed out. The CEOs of Yuehua Zhai and Yingke Lou, puzzled and concerned for their businesses, followed him, saying, "Mr. Qin, our companies..."

"Get lost!" Qin Yan didn't let them finish, brushing them off aggressively.

His mind was consumed with thoughts of Lin Le running away again, this time with another man, leaving no room for other concerns. Thus, he ignored the two CEOs, rushing out of the office to get his car ready.

In his haste, he overlooked the resentful looks from the two men behind him.

Qin Yan sped towards the airport, breaking traffic laws along the way. He stayed on the phone with his people who were tracking Lin Le, ordering them to intercept Xu Rui's car. They managed to corner the car and force it to stop on the road.

Unexpectedly, the two individuals who emerged from the car were not who they expected.

"Boss, we made a mistake, we were wrong..." The men Qin Yan had sent were dumbfounded, staring at the young man before them with a smile.

"What?" Confused and angry, Qin Yan barked, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Before the person on the phone could reply, the smiling young man snatched his headset, leisurely saying, "He means—you've got the wrong people."

Struck as if by lightning, knowing the Xu family's respectable status and their connections in the capital, Qin Yan panicked, "How is it you? Where's Xu Rui? No, where's Lin Le? Put her on the phone!"

Xu Dong offered a slight smile, his eyes mocking yet pleased, "Miss Lin can't take your call right now. Let me see, ah—at this time, she should be on her way to the airport with my uncle."

A scoff was heard,

Followed by a loud bang,

From the other end of the phone came Qin Yan's furious curse, "Fuck you!"

"You have no say!" With his heart sinking, Xu Dong ended the call fiercely and tossed the headset away before getting into his car.

In the car, Chen Yun removed her mask and sunglasses, glanced at Xu Dong with a stern voice, and asked, "Can we go back now?"

Xu Dong replied with a nod, "Sure. The twenty pieces of Warm Jade Crisp and ten Red Cloud Rolls that Lin Le prepared are ready, I'll give them to you when we get back."

"Who, who would want those?!" Chen Yun retorted with a scowl.

Xu Dong: "Then, I'll just give them to my mom."

Chen Yun immediately backtracked: "Don’t you even think about it! Those were made for me by Lin Le!!"

Xu Dong scoffed: "Tch, women~~"

……

After hanging up the call with Xu Dong, Qin Yan clenched his teeth, speeding through red lights all the way to the airport.

But upon arrival, he was at a loss, clueless about Lin Le's location, which flight she was on, or whether the plane had already departed.

Haicheng Airport, vast and magnificent, was bustling with hurried travelers. Standing in the lobby, Qin Yan felt utterly soulless, frantically calling out Lin Le’s name like a madman.

All the passersby in the airport stared at him in astonishment, not just because of his frantic search but also due to the blood on his forehead and the disheveled, blood-stained appearance.

"Lin Le!"

He shouted.

"Lin Le!"

He called out.

"Lin Le!"

He cried.

As he blindly searched the airport, his mind was flooded with many words—threats, sincerity, earnestness... many, many words, but perhaps only the name Lin Le and his teary, hoarse utterance could be vocalized.

"…don’t leave."

The airport was in chaos, with staff surrounding Qin Yan to try to calm him down, and the traffic police who had been following him also arrived.

This entire spectacle was witnessed from a corner on the second floor by Xu Rui and Lin Le.

Xu Rui put down his coffee cup and softly said, "Let's go, the farce is over."

Lin Le glanced at Qin Yan being forcibly removed from the airport by the police, her hand trembling slightly as she held her coffee cup, but she quickly smiled calmly and agreed, "Okay."