The sky, dark and heavy, was illuminated by a flash of lightning, turning everything momentarily white. Seconds later, a deafening thunderclap arrived, and a torrential downpour poured down, blurring everyone's vision.
Ever since the proprietress of Lan Gong Zi had given him a low score, Ou Yunchen had been squatting outside the villa every day, patiently waiting for her to finish work, hoping to get her answer.
However, three days passed, and Ou Yunchen still hadn't seen the proprietress.
The sudden downpour arrived, and Lan Gong Zi’s guests also began to postpone their appointments. It seemed like a good day to get off work early.
The proprietress looked out the window and said, "The weather outside is bad. Everyone can leave early."
The servers started to worry, "Oh no, why is it suddenly raining so hard? I didn't bring an umbrella."
A few employees looked at the situation outside the window and began to complain.
The proprietress smiled and said, "You can take the umbrellas prepared for guests at the entrance. Just bring them back tomorrow."
"That's great, thank you, boss." The employees who hadn't brought umbrellas were overjoyed.
"By the way, boss, Mr. Ou is still waiting outside for you to finish work. He's been waiting there for three consecutive days."
The proprietress looked towards the main entrance with a hint of confusion, "Didn't you refuse him for me?"
"I told him, as you instructed, that our boss is very busy and has no time for guests without appointments. But he said it's fine, he'll wait for you to finish work no matter how late it is," the server said, shrugging.
"Understood. You all can go first."
Ou Yunchen sat in his car, watching all the employees from Lan Gong Zi leave the villa one after another. Yet, no matter how he looked, he didn't see the proprietress come out.
The kitchen lights in the villa remained on. He waited until nine in the evening.
Ou Yunchen got out of the car with his umbrella and walked to the entrance. The door wasn't locked. The lights in the first-floor hall were off, leaving only the dim glow of the guidance lights in the corridor.
With a "bang," a woman's scream came from the kitchen.
Ou Yunchen rushed over, wondering if something had happened.
But when he abruptly pushed open the kitchen door and quickly scanned the area, he found no one else in the kitchen. Only the proprietress was squatting on the floor, tidying something up.
Ou Yunchen walked over to check. The proprietress didn't seem surprised by Ou Yunchen's intrusion.
The proprietress clutched her right wrist, "Hiss..."
It appeared the proprietress had scalded herself.
Ou Yunchen stepped forward and asked, "Do you have any burn ointment?"
The proprietress pointed to the distance, "There's a medicine box in that cabinet. Please look for it."
Ou Yunchen skillfully turned on the tap, tested the water temperature – it wasn't too cold – and then asked the proprietress to place her hand under the running water to reduce the pain from the burn.
Then he found the medicine box and searched for a while, spotting a tube of burn cream. But upon checking the date, he saw it had expired a year ago.
The proprietress asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
Ou Yunchen casually tossed the expired ointment into the trash.
Ou Yunchen turned back and continued, "Where is the sesame oil?"
"Check the condiment cabinet. I'm not sure," the proprietress said, leaning against the central island and watching Ou Yunchen move around.
"Tell me if it hurts."
Ou Yunchen gently applied some sesame oil to the proprietress's burned wrist. Fortunately, the burn hadn't broken the skin, but it was already red and swollen.
The proprietress withdrew her hand, softly said "Thank you," and was about to squat down to clean up the baking pan she had knocked over. Ou Yunchen quickly stepped forward, pulled the proprietress up, and made her sit on a chair.
Ou Yunchen squatted down and said, "I'll do it."
This time, the proprietress didn't say thank you. She silently watched him clean the floor.
As Ou Yunchen carefully picked up the debris from the floor, the proprietress, sitting on the chair, showed a hint of fierceness. She slowly moved her body backward towards the counter. A sharp knife was placed on the table. She raised her arm and pushed the knife towards the edge of the table!
Perhaps it was a reflex. Although Ou Yunchen was squatting on the ground with his side facing the counter, just as the knife was about to fall, Ou Yunchen swiftly swung his hand back and expertly caught the knife!
As Ou Yunchen gripped the handle, the proprietress's suspicions were completely confirmed!
Seeing the knife held steadily in his hand, Ou Yunchen immediately realized that an ordinary person couldn't possibly do that. He quickly let go, and the tip of the knife landed on the floor.
The proprietress said calmly, "I'm so sorry. Are you hurt? I was going to grab a tissue to wipe my hands, but I accidentally touched this knife."
Ou Yunchen looked up into the proprietress's eyes, "No, I didn't catch it. This knife will probably need to be re-sharpened."
The proprietress smiled, "Then we don't need it. After all, when you run a restaurant, you can be short of anything, but never knives."
Ou Yunchen adjusted his mindset. He didn't know if the proprietress had noticed his abnormality, but he had to change the subject immediately.
Ou Yunchen glanced at the items he had thrown into the trash, "What were you making? A cake?"
"Soufflé," the proprietress said.
Ou Yunchen found it hard to imagine that this utterly burnt item was that springy dessert. He looked up and stared blankly at the proprietress.
The proprietress smiled. That smile seemed to ease the awkward atmosphere considerably.
The proprietress explained, "Soufflé, a type of French dessert."
Ou Yunchen pinched the remaining soufflé in the oven. It was hard and stuck to the oven wall. Even an amateur could tell it was burnt. It looked no different from a burnt cake covered up outside.
The proprietress shook her head regretfully, "It seems that after so many years, I still can't bake a decent dessert."
Ou Yunchen asked, puzzled, "The restaurant has pastry chefs. Why don't you have them teach you?"
The proprietress sighed, "Desserts are not like cooking. Every dessert actually has a metaphor. Some are for confessions, some are for telling a story. I just want to explore the secrets behind these desserts through my own efforts."
"I never follow a fixed recipe. I make them based on my mood, so how much to add or subtract, I can only gain experience after many failures."
The proprietress stood up, untied her apron, and hung it on the wall.
"Alright, tell me why you came to see me."
Ou Yunchen was about to say that he wanted the proprietress to personally tell him why she had only given him three points, and what aspects had resulted in deductions.
But after learning about the proprietress's dedication to making desserts herself, he suddenly felt that this was a hint not to ask directly. Even though he had visited three times, he couldn't move this woman of character.
Ou Yunchen changed his approach, "I want to be friends with Sister Lan."
This time, the proprietress burst into hearty laughter. Perhaps this was the answer she wanted to hear, or perhaps she was intentionally using a trick to guide this young man on how to communicate with a woman of higher social standing.
The proprietress pulled over a chair and gestured for Ou Yunchen to sit down and chat, "The day you started following Sister Hong, I noticed you. You are a smart man, adept at using material possessions to build the identity you want others to perceive, thereby concealing your true identity."
Ou Yunchen hadn't expected Sister Lan to hit the nail on the head. He was indeed putting on an act.
"Sister Lan is truly amazing."
The proprietress suddenly whispered something in Ou Yunchen's ear that made him tremble. He never expected that a small detail at the dining table would expose his past.
"A business elite from Swartz, how could you have Italian dining habits? So I guess you must have stayed in Italy for a long time, or perhaps your education from childhood was all from there."
The proprietress's seemingly playful teasing made Ou Yunchen's head buzz. He remembered his days as an adopted son, where the instructors spoke Italian, just as Sister Lan said, his demeanor had been irrevocably marked by his past service to Tang.
The proprietress walked to the window, pulled it open, and stretched her hand outside.
"The rain seems to have stopped. Let's go."
Ou Yunchen stood up, "I'll give you a ride."
The proprietress looked out the window and said, "No need for that. Will you come to see me again tomorrow?"
Ou Yunchen paused for a moment.
The proprietress then turned back and looked at Ou Yunchen with a smile, "Don't be nervous. It's just a bit boring to make desserts alone. I happen to need a taste tester."
"Happy to oblige."
***
And so, Ou Yunchen seemed to have gained Sister Lan's tacit approval. He became her on-call assistant, and obtaining this job was also part of Ou Yunchen's plan.
Although he couldn't figure out what extraordinary abilities this woman possessed, based on what he had learned while working alongside Sister Hong for so long, he had a gut feeling that Sister Lan would definitely help him someday.
Perhaps in his career, perhaps in his life, whatever it was, Ou Yunchen had to make Sister Lan his friend!
From that day on, Ou Yunchen would often give Sister Lan some of the original works of top pastry masters. Several of them were even limited editions, no longer available on the market. For Sister Lan, who was passionate about studying sweets, these were like secret manuals!
After spending so much time as a taste tester for Sister Lan, Ou Yunchen also became half a dessert connoisseur. From a clueless little assistant who couldn't tell the difference at first, he transformed into an amateur dessert enthusiast.
Ou Yunchen invested a considerable amount of time and effort in this woman who was difficult to understand, with the goal of achieving highly sticky social engagement at the lowest cost.
Rather than saying Ou Yunchen was meticulously planning to make friends in high circles, it would be more accurate to say he was subtly selling himself. Because he believed that, one day, this woman would find her most trustworthy friend out of mutual benefit.