Counterattack Strategies

Mr. Hong’s eyes contained happiness as he spoke to Lu Jingqian, “You’ve worked hard today, take this red envelope, count it as additional reward.”

“Thank you, Grandpa.” Before Lu Jingqian came, Hong Boxiao had instructed him not to refuse whatever his grandfather gave him. He was advised not to reject it in front of so many people, as it would be considered disrespectful.

Grandpa Hong was very happy, not only because Lu Jingqian had earned him face today but also because Lu Jingqian was now part of their family.

“Here, you should accept this red envelope too.” Old Man Wu also took out a red envelope.

“Thank you, Grandpa Wu.” Lu Jingqian went over and accepted the red envelope from Old Man Wu.

“Mine too.” Old Man Li also handed out a red envelope.

“Thank you, Grandpa Li.” Lu Jingqian walked up to Old Man Li and thanked him.

All the old men handed their prepared red envelopes to Lu Jingqian.

It was customary to give red envelopes to the chefs during wedding banquets and birthday celebrations, but usually, it was the host who did so. Rarely did guests give red envelopes unless they were extremely satisfied with the food and wanted to praise the chef.

Each red envelope received by Lu Jingqian was thin and light, so it definitely did not contain money. Given the status and satisfaction of these old men towards Lu Jingqian, the contents were surely extraordinary.

If the dishes Lu Jingqian prepared today were just okay, whether the strict Old Master Yan would give him a red envelope would depend on his mood. However, Lu Jingqian’s cooking not only exceeded their expectations but also left them unable to truthfully criticize it. Therefore, Old Master Yan had to represent the others and give Lu Jingqian a red envelope to show his appreciation.

“Thank you, Grandpa Yan.” Lu Jingqian accepted the red envelope from him.

Grandpa Yan looked at him and said, “Your grandfather and I have been friends for decades. Seeing how well you are cooking the Lan Family’s Kung Fu cuisine now, I feel relieved for your grandfather. He has always been an elder in our culinary association, and I believe he wouldn’t want to see the Lan Family’s Kung Fu cuisine leave the association. We welcome you back anytime.”

Grandpa Yan’s words might sound like he was trying to win Lu Jingqian over, but in reality, he also wanted to sow discord between Lu Jingqian and the Rainbow Garden Villa.

Lu Jingqian remained composed and calmly responded, “I have been learning to cook under my grandfather’s guidance since I was young. The most frequent phrase he told me was that the essence of the Lan Family’s Kung Fu cuisine does not lie in the restaurant’s signboard or any written records. It is the instinctive reaction that comes from rigorous practice through the mind and body. Therefore, Lan Family’s Kung Fu cuisine only exists in the hands of its masters and nowhere else, nor do they belong to any specific place.”

“Well said.” Mr. Hong said, “The only ones who can represent a dish are the ones who cook it, not a restaurant or some unofficial association.”

“Isn’t there already a successor of Lan Family’s Kung fu cuisine in your culinary association?” Grandpa Wu said, “If that’s the person you value, it shows that the Lan Family’s Kung fu cuisine you recognize has never left your culinary association.”

“To be honest, I’ve never really understood the purpose of the culinary association all these years.” Old Man Xu who was always straightforward raised a critical point.

“Yeah, why do we even need a culinary association?” Old Man Zhang deliberately appeared puzzled and asked.

“Who knows?” Old Man Li had an indifferent attitude, “Anyway, we are now enjoying the best food and the finest life. Why bother so much else?”

The members of the culinary association heard their sarcasm and their faces turned rather unsightly. Previously, they could have countered with the excuse that they had never tasted truly excellent food, claiming ignorance of the purpose of the culinary association. They could also use pitiful looks to attack others. But now, these people were eating even better food than them, and if they wanted to taste it, they might have to request it from them. The culinary association, however, didn’t have the best food. So, they had no grounds to retaliate.

Hong Boxiao seemed to see invisible conflicts in the air. These old men were quite old, but their fighting spirit was still strong, engaging in verbal duels. This showdown was obviously due to Lu Jingqian’s outstanding performance, making Mr. Hong’s and the other’s arguments sharper. So the winner was very obvious.

“Grandpa, I’ll take Shaoxuan to rest.” Hong Boxiao decided to leave the battlefield to the old men. It would be better for the young ones not to get involved.

“Go ahead, go ahead.” Grandpa Hong nodded, “He must be tired today, take him to rest properly, and don’t bother him.”

“I understand, Grandpa.” Hong Boxiao agreed, and then he held Lu Jingqian’s hand and left.

As the saying goes, ‘When words get sour, adding words is useless.’ For the ones showing off, like Mr. Hong and his group, they naturally didn’t care whether their words were pleasing or not. But for the ones being shown off to, like Old Master Yan and his group, they had already become restless.

Old Master Yan took the lead in standing up and said, “Thank you for the generous hospitality. We’ll take our leave now.”

Mr. Hong and his group also stood up to see their guests off. “You coming to the banquet is giving me face. There’s no need to thank me. Next year, I’ll hold another birthday celebration, and I’ll send you all invitations then. Make sure to come, all right?”

On the way back in the car, Old Master Yan was still reminiscing about the dishes at the birthday banquet. Such a banquet would make anyone feel extraordinarily honored. He had spent his entire life striving to taste the best dishes, and he never expected that in his old age, he would be shown off by others in terms of culinary delights.

Old Master Yan let out a long sigh. He really didn’t expect that his good friend’s grandson, who was so carefully taught, could cook such excellent dishes without giving any hint of it. Now, no matter how he thought about it, it seemed almost impossible for Old Lan to hand over the Lan Family’s recipes to Lan Mingze, and it was unlikely that he had left such a will.

Hearing his grandpa sigh, Yan Bin sat beside him, not daring to speak. He had embarrassed himself greatly today, and his grandpa was definitely angry. He believed that someone from the Hong family deliberately wanted to make him lose face, and he was determined to find a way to avenge this.

Old Master Yan’s mind was in turmoil, and he had no intention of scolding Yan Bin for his embarrassing behavior today. Instead, he was thinking about how to approach Lu Jingqian and bring him over to their side.

“You find a way to get in touch with Lan Shaoxuan. Ask him what it would take for him to leave the Rainbow Garden Villa and join us. As long as he presents conditions, it shows there’s hope, and then we can negotiate everything.” Grandpa Yan said with a serious expression to Yan Bin, “I know about what you did to him in secret before. Don’t think I’m unaware. I just didn’t understand his abilities back then, so I turned a blind eye to your actions. You’d better start by testing his response and see if he knows about what you did to him. If he does, apologize immediately and make sure your attitude is sincere enough for him to forgive you.”

“Apologize to him? Grandpa…” Yan Bin protested, not fully convinced, “He bullied Mingze so much before, and I only scolded him because he was in the wrong. He deserved to be reprimanded.”

“I don’t care about why you scolded him before. If Lan Mingze were better than him, I could continue pretending not to know.” Old Master Yan said, “But Lan Mingze can never surpass Lan Shaoxuan in his lifetime, so Lan Shaoxuan must be on our side. Otherwise, I will never be at peace until I die.”

“He… is he really that skilled?” Yan Bin questioned verbally, but in reality, just by observing the reactions of the elderly, he couldn’t deny in his heart that Lu Jingqian was indeed more skilled than Lan Mingze.

“Even if you haven’t tasted the dishes he personally cooked, can’t you use your eyes to see? You must find a way to persuade him to participate in the annual best culinary competition after joining our culinary association. If the winner of the competition is not from our culinary association, it will be a disgrace for us, and the existence of our culinary association will become a joke!”

“I understand. I’ll try to get in touch with him.” Yan Bin replied in a low voice.

The annual best culinary competition was a contest in which renowned restaurants sent their chefs to participate. Winning the competition not only brought honor to the individual chef but also to the restaurant they represented. It also attracted more customers and popularity to the restaurant.

Since its establishment, every winner of the competition had been a chef who joined their culinary association. Sometimes, only chefs from the culinary association participated. If the winner of this year’s best chef competition or any subsequent year was not from their culinary association, then OldMaster Yan would lose face as the president of the culinary association.

This year, Lan Mingze was also representing the Lan Family’s cuisine in the competition. So during this time, he had been diligently practicing his culinary skills. Of course, it was not aimed to have extraordinary knife skills like Lu Jingqian but constantly adjust the flavors when cooking, aiming for the best taste. Even if he wanted to practice knife skills like Lu Jingqian, there wasn’t enough time now, so he focused on refining his culinary techniques.

In their love nest, Lan Mingze was practicing cooking while waiting for Yan Bin to return from the birthday banquet. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he immediately turned off the stove and walked out of the kitchen.

“You’re back?” Lan Mingze approached Yan Bin and hugged him, saying, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Yan Bin patted his back and then pushed him away gently, leading him inside.

Lan Mingze hesitated for a moment but followed him inside, asking, “How was the birthday banquet today?”

“The birthday banquet…” Yan Bin sighed, sitting on the sofa, “It was arranged exceptionally well, to the point that even my grandfather and the others were envious. My grandfather even said that if we can’t win over Lan Shaoxuan, he will never be at peace until he dies.”

Lan Mingze clenched his fist tightly and lowered his gaze, asking, “Is his cooking really that good? Are you sure it was him who cooked the dishes?”

“He cooked the dishes in front of everyone. Although I didn’t personally taste the dishes he made, my grandfather and the others have spent decades studying cuisine, and they were all impressed by his culinary skills. So, it’s evident how good he is.”

“Your grandfather wants you to win him over?” Lan Mingze said, “He probably has a contract with the Rainbow Garden Villa. Can he be persuaded to leave?”

“My grandfather is determined this time. No matter what conditions he puts forward, my grandfather will agree as long as he’s willing to leave the Rainbow Garden Villa. The penalty for breaking the contract is insignificant to us,” Yan Bin looked at him and said, “Even if he’s not motivated by money, we have the Lan Family’s recipes. It’s impossible for him not to be tempted.”

“The Lan Family’s recipe?” Lan Mingze was taken aback, widening his eyes, “The Lan Family’s recipe is mine! I will never give the Lan Family’s recipes to anyone, especially not to Lan Shaoxuan!”

Yan Bin pulled him to sit down and held his hand, persuading him, “If Lan Shaoxuan didn’t possess such exceptional culinary skills right now, then your grandfather passing the Lan Family’s recipes to you would make sense. But as more and more people find out that Lan Shaoxuan is the true heir your grandfather has carefully cultivated, everyone will think it’s impossible for your grandfather to pass the Lan Family’s recipes to you. While there are still only a few questioning it, let’s quickly win Lan Shaoxuan over. We can say that your grandfather did it to ensure peace between you brothers, so he handed over the Lan Family’s recipes to you, hoping you would take the initiative to reconcile with Lan Shaoxuan. Then, the two of you can work together to carry on and promote the Lan Family’s recipes.”

Lan Mingze’s expression turned grim as he said, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I mean…” Yan Bin paused for a moment and then spoke more straightforwardly, “You could give half of the Lan Family’s recipes to Lan Shaoxuan, saying it was your grandfather’s wish, and then we can come up with a reason to win him over.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Lan Mingze asked, “What if I don’t want to give any part of the Lan Family’s recipes to Lan Shaoxuan?”

“Then we won’t be able to hide what we’ve done.” Yan Bin said sternly! “My grandfather must have felt that something was off about your grandfather’s will from the beginning, but he didn’t investigate further because he believed you were more capable than Lan Shaoxuan. Now the situation is different. My grandfather won’t just protect you. He might even reveal the issue with the will in order to win over Lan Shaoxuan. So, instead of passively handing over all the Lan Family’s recipes and restaurants, it’s better for us to take the initiative to salvage the situation and avoid having our actions exposed. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I understand.” Lan Mingze choked back his emotions, suppressing his unwillingness, and said with closed eyes, “Let’s do it your way.”

Seeing his distressed face, Yan Bin embraced him and said, “Don’t be sad. This is just a temporary plan. Let’s first stabilize the situation with my grandfather, and then we can plan the rest gradually. Trust me, as long as I’m here, I won’t let you suffer.”

At this moment, Lan Mingze felt deeply aggrieved, but he couldn’t complain to Yan Bin because Yan Bin was his only reliance, and he couldn’t risk making him feel annoyed.