Outside, Ye Baiqing, who had been stopped by the Hidden Banquet restaurant manager due to Jin Yaotiao’s orders and couldn’t leave, sat at her seat, turning her head to look out the window.

Her eyes were empty, and there was no expression on her face.

She really had no energy left. Laughing, cursing—those things all required strength and emotion.

She didn’t even have the desire to eat anything.

She didn’t even have the impulse to cry now.

She was like a tree that had finally withered, leaning at an angle, easily toppled by a slight gust of wind.

Suddenly, there was commotion behind her from the customers of Hidden Banquet. They were speaking excitedly:

“Whoa!”

“What’s that smell?”

She wasn’t interested in what they were saying, but soon, the strong scent of sour and spicy food wafted over.

Ye Baiqing froze for a moment.

Her first reaction was discomfort in her stomach, but then she realized it smelled pretty good.

She even instinctively turned her head toward the source of the scent.

The restaurant manager from Hidden Banquet approached with a bowl, followed by a waiter holding a tray with a dish that was clearly food.

Some customers around her even stood up to see what dish it was.

With a clink, a bowl, about the size of a small rice bowl, was placed in front of her.

The aroma of rice was faintly covered by the sour and spicy scent.

The manager said to her, “You just threw up, so you shouldn’t eat anything too stimulating yet. Have a sip of this first. Director Jin specially had someone strain rice soup for you.”

Ye Baiqing looked at the bowl of rice soup. It was plain, with no visible rice grains, yet it was thick, and a layer of film had formed on the surface.

She had just been stunned, and then the dish everyone had been eyeing was also placed in front of her.

The moment she saw the meat, she instinctively felt uncomfortable, but the manager handed her chopsticks. “Director Jin said you shouldn’t eat the meat. Have the ginger slices and radishes instead. The duck is just for seasoning.”

The old lady beside her was both surprised and touched by the restaurant’s enthusiasm and hurried her: “Try it, it might work!”

There wasn’t much to hope for.

Ye Baiqing sighed inwardly but was still moved by the kindness of strangers.

After a brief hesitation, she slowly scooped up a spoonful of rice soup.

The moment the soup entered her mouth, the thick rice fragrance filled her nose. Ye Baiqing had eaten similar light soups recently, but her body still had difficulty accepting it. As the hot soup entered her stomach, the familiar nausea surged up.

She couldn’t help but furrow her brows, but the old lady had already picked out a piece of ginger that had the same color as the duck stew.

She felt extremely uncomfortable, but still had no choice but to pick it up, forcing herself to take a bite.

The first taste was sour.

Then came the spiciness.

The ginger’s spiciness had been mellowed by marinating, and the main flavor was the tangy sourness. It carried the aroma of the soup, and after stewing, it remained crunchy, making a crispy sound as it broke between her teeth.

Ye Baiqing chewed and froze for a moment.

She actually didn’t dislike the taste in her mouth.

The soup was rich but not greasy, with the deep flavor of the duck that had been stir-fried and stewed. The taste seeped into the sour ginger, which was supposed to be a side ingredient, and she slowly chewed. Before she knew it, a small piece of sour ginger had been swallowed.

The nausea from earlier had mostly faded.

Ye Baiqing looked at the empty tips of her chopsticks, stunned.

The old lady, seeing that she didn’t immediately spit it out, beamed with joy. “You ate it! You ate it!”

A spoon of soup, a bite of dish, finishing the ginger, then switching to sour radishes. They were just as crunchy, but the sour radishes were even juicier.

The pickled peppers gave them a slight spiciness, and the juice spread across her tongue. It was really…

Ye Baiqing felt an appetite she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

She ended up drinking more than half of the rice soup.

Footsteps came from the side, and she looked up. The beautiful girl from earlier stood beside her, wiping her hands and leaning over to ask, “Is it okay?”

Her long, dark hair cascaded over her shoulder.

Her voice was slightly husky, and her delicate features carried a commanding aura, but in her black-and-white eyes, Ye Baiqing caught a glimpse of warmth and concern.

Ye Baiqing found herself unable to speak and could only nod.

Jin Yaotiao saw that her bowl of soup was half empty and smiled. “That’s good, but don’t eat too much. Be careful not to strain your stomach. Once you start, it’ll get easier. I’ll have someone bring some sour radish from the restaurant for you to take home and make soup. Just don’t put too much oil, and you probably won’t reject it so strongly.”

Ye Baiqing held the spoon, feeling a thousand emotions, and could only say, “Thank you.”

Jin Yaotiao smiled. “You’re welcome.”

The old lady, who was already deeply moved, repeatedly thanked her. “Thank you so much, you even specially made us a dish.”

Jin Yaotiao handed the towel back to a nearby staff member and smiled at the elderly woman. “Once you enter Mingde’s restaurant, you trust Mingde. How could we let you leave disappointed?”

After checking the time, she nodded and turned to leave, needing to return to Shencheng to handle some business before dark.

As she walked out, other customers in the restaurant, seeing that the emaciated pregnant woman had finally eaten, were also happy.

Some social media-obsessed ones had already taken out their phones to post about it.

The old lady looked at her back and clicked her tongue in admiration. “This girl, beautiful and kind-hearted. Your company is really something.”

The manager was beaming with pride. “We also welcome you to visit more often in the future.”

The old lady clapped her hands. “We’re here on a trip to Linjiang. It takes at least three or four hours to get here. What a pity. Why don’t you open a branch in Shencheng?”

The manager smiled even more. “You’re from Shencheng? What a coincidence! Our Mingde Hidden Banquet’s first Shencheng branch is already in preparation!”

The two continued chatting, while Ye Baiqing buried herself in the steaming bowl of rice soup. She couldn’t help but place her hand on her barely noticeable belly.

She suddenly felt like crying.

How could she have been so cruel earlier, wanting to take the child away from this beautiful world?

---

Shencheng.

An article titled “A Pregnant Woman on Day 72 of Her Pregnancy Decides to Live Instead of Die” quietly appeared and quickly gained immense popularity.

The article was posted by a pretty famous model in Shencheng. Although she wasn’t very well-known domestically, she had walked many international shows. With her slim figure and photogenic face, she had many fans who admired her glamorous lifestyle, believing she was a life winner.

Only after reading this article did many of her fans realize that beneath her glamorous surface, she was secretly suffering, to the point of contemplating death.

Fans showed concern, and her celebrity friends also joined in comforting her. The article’s eye-catching title and content quickly brought in high views. Some local media outlets also joined in discussing the topic, raising awareness about the mental health of pregnant women. Many people who had never cared about the model industry now recognized the author’s name and face—Ye Baiqing.

At the same time, a company called “Mingde” and its affiliated restaurant quietly entered the public eye in Shencheng.

After all, it was a restaurant that had saved two lives with its food. The restaurant’s food was so good that it could make someone decide not to die.

How delicious must it be to achieve that?

As Shencheng residents discussed the importance of mental health for pregnant women, they drooled over the dish described in the article that helped the author regain the will to live. Some even said they would go to Linjiang to visit the restaurant. The people who couldn’t get away from work expressed their regrets:

“Us 996 workers can only sigh.”

“Yeah, Linjiang isn’t far, but I really don’t have time to go. Boohoo.”

“If only this company had a branch in Shencheng! I could just grab a number after work, take the subway, and eat before bed.”

As these discussions grew, news of Mingde’s new store in Shencheng naturally spread. The article had become so popular that even people who had no interest in the restaurant industry were eagerly anticipating it. Of course, some conspiratorial thinkers also appeared:

“So coincidental? The article just went viral, and now this restaurant is opening in Shencheng? It must be a marketing stunt!”

“Paid promotion, I knew it. What good food could come from Linjiang? That place is a culinary desert.”

At this point, the netizens from Linjiang couldn’t sit still anymore:

“Who told you Linjiang has no good food? Ask any local here—they’ve heard of Mingde! That restaurant’s been popular in Linjiang for over 800 years and is far better than your Shencheng restaurants!”

“Please don’t come. The restaurant’s already packed, and I can’t even afford to eat at Hidden Banquet or the VIP rooms. When will the outsiders stop taking up all the spots?”

“Marketing my foot! This news was already spreading on the local forums before the article was even published. We knew it was coming.”

“Mingde is the pride of Linjiang!”

“Linjiang’s pride!!”

---

Mingde’s marketing team was stunned.

What happened? Did the branch buy some big marketing campaign?

They had already been turned down by several major promotion companies in Shencheng.

Now, the news about Hidden Banquet opening in Shencheng was everywhere, even appearing in local social media circles. The employees could only imagine how much money the branch had spent to get this much attention.

Linjiang.

Cheng Chen was furious.

He had been planning how to compete with Jin Yaotiao for the top spot in the Linjiang market, and yet, she didn’t even consider him a competitor—she was targeting Shencheng directly!

It felt a bit insulting.

He pushed up his glasses, took a breath, then continued arguing with the Shencheng netizens:

“Linjiang a culinary desert? Haha, I think your brain is more of a desert. It’s got no vegetation left.”

After a while, seeing someone loudly declaring Mingde to be Linjiang’s pride, he was even more furious, quickly reporting the post.

His days were just so busy.

---

Before this, Jin Yaotiao, returning to Shencheng, had already mentioned the marketing team’s difficulties to her father.

Though she didn’t want to delve too much into the things her father didn’t want to talk about, it was related to Mingde, so she had to approach it with caution.

After all, her father was someone who considered the bigger picture.

When Jin’s father heard about the problem, he froze for a moment and then sighed, understanding immediately.

Before he could answer, Jin Yaotiao had already guessed. “Dad, is it the Shang family?”

Jin’s father fell silent for a long time. “It should be. Besides them, no one else in Shencheng would be watching us.”

Jin Yaotiao was confused. “Dad, weren’t you Master Shang’s top disciple? The Shang family and Mingde have ties, why would they target Mingde?”

Jin’s father smiled wryly. “My Master Shang passed away a long time ago, and now the Shang family is run by his son. There’s no real connection between us anymore.”

Jin Yaotiao: “?”

Her father had spent over ten years with the Shang family before returning.

Jin’s father looked at his daughter and shook his head after a long pause. “Actually, I didn’t want to tell you all this—it’s old history. Yaotiao, your grandfather sent me to the Shang family when I was only five or six years old. That was too early to start learning. Do you know why?”

Jin Yaotiao shook her head.

Jin’s father’s gaze seemed distant, and a mixed emotion flickered in his eyes—whether resentment or longing, she couldn’t tell. “Your grandfather wanted to adopt me as his son for Master Shang. But Master Shang, when he was young, had been injured and couldn’t have children. The Jin family already had your second and third uncles, so your grandfather… sent me away, hoping that after Master Shang passed away, I could become his son and carry on the family.”

Jin’s father paused for a moment, lost in thought. “At that time, I was just a small child, unfamiliar with the world, still unable to speak well. I followed my master every day, learning his craft.”

“Master Shang was quite imposing, very strict. If you didn’t learn well, he’d hit you with willow branches. But he treated me well. After the punishment, he’d sneak in at night to give me medicine, help me clean the wounds, and tuck me in.”

“I didn’t call him master back then. I called him Dad.”

Jin Yaotiao: “So why did you return to Linjiang?”

Her father answered naturally, “Because your Master Shang passed away, and his son grew up. He didn’t want me to stay with the Shang family.”

“???” Jin Yaotiao was silent for a moment and then felt something was wrong. “Wait, he couldn’t have children, so how did he have a son, then?”

Was the history of a family of imperial chefs so fascinating?