When Father Jin saw Ma Le’s expression, which looked like he was about to say, “Do you believe I’ll die for you right now?”, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy since he was the son of his second disciple.

He reluctantly intervened, trying to ease the tension, “Alright, alright, no more talk about whatever nonsense, Ma Le, hurry up and put the recipe away, take it back home.”

Ma Le scoffed and turned his head, “No.”

Father Jin: “…Does your dad know about this?”

Ma Le’s expression darkened slightly, “If they’ve already been bullied to this extent, who cares if he knows or not?”

Father Jin didn’t understand, and helplessly dialed his second brother’s number to have him come to Lingjiang to pick up Ma Le.

Ma Le, feeling a bit anxious, didn’t expect his father to be so calm when he answered the phone. “Big Brother, just let that brat stay with you for a while. Don’t send him away.”

Father Jin was stunned: “Old Two, does you know your son brought the family recipe over here? That’s something Master left behind! I’m telling you, come quickly and take both him and the recipe back!”

Second Brother interrupted him, “Huh? What? Brother, the signal here isn’t good, I can’t hear you very clearly, I’ll talk to you later!”

Father Jin: “…”

Jin Yaotiao: “…”

Ma Le: “…”

Ma Le’s eyes flashed with a hint of amusement. He shrugged his shoulders, “My dad’s phone is broken.”

Jin Yaotiao closed her eyes briefly, then handed him the box, “You go back yourself.”

Ma Le: “I didn’t bring any money.”

Jin Yaotiao: “Dad! Give him some money!”

Ma Le: “I don’t know how to take the bus.”

Jin Yaotiao: “…Then how did you come here from Shenzhen?”

Ma Le: “I walked.”

Everyone else: “…”

What a load of nonsense.

Father Jin, feeling helpless, saw that it was almost time to leave, so he compromised, “Fine, fine, let’s talk later, we need to head out now. Ma Le, you…”

He stared at Ma Le for a while and sighed, “Forget it, don’t wander off. Come help us, we actually need an extra hand today.”

—

This year, due to the large number of people wanting to join in the fun, Mingde rented a bus, which was filled with company chefs, documentary crew members like Rachel and Jia Bingyang, and some Mingde employees like the elegant receptionist Xu Wan and Jin Yaotiao’s new assistant Luna…

Luna had stayed at Mingde to avoid a matchmaking meeting.

Xu Wan, who was in Lingjiang handling some investment work, heard about Mingde’s annual event and offered to stay to lend a hand.

On the bus, she frequently looked back toward the rear, her expression difficult to describe.

Jin Yaotiao sat in the back, resting her eyes. Mahler, determined to give her the recipe book, continued to disturb her from time to time—

“Hey, since we’re at this point, do me a favor.”

“You won’t lose anything, just take it.”

“A little courtesy, can you at least say something?”

Jin Yaotiao continued to ignore him.

Mingde’s employees whispered in the corners—

“Who is that? Are they an employee of our company?”

“I’ve never seen them before, no way, no employee of the company would talk to the princess like that.”

“Could they be a new favorite?”

Xu Wan: “…”

Xu Wan felt a deep sense of melancholy.

—

Mingde’s charity event this year was held at a children’s welfare home in Lingjiang.

A long table was set up, and the chefs and employees immediately got to work.

Lingjiang’s social welfare efforts had always been strong, and the children’s welfare home was not in bad condition.

However, the children were a bit shy, appearing much more obedient than children from typical families.

Today, five children were celebrating their birthdays, each with a disability.

The disabled children were even more timid; while other children bravely gathered by the table to watch, they only dared to sneak peeks from a distance.

Seeing these children, Ma Le finally quieted down and stopped pestering her.

Jin Yaotiao, too, had no time to pay attention to him, as she focused all her attention on the children around her.

The five birthday children, hiding at a distance, hesitated for a long time before slowly approaching when she gently waved at them, “Happy birthday, let’s make longevity noodles together!”

Perhaps because she was so gentle, the children hesitated but finally gathered the courage to come closer.

Jin Yaotiao sighed internally but didn’t show any special treatment for their physical disabilities. She assigned each of them fun little tasks.

Ma Le was also put to work, kneading dough and serving hot soup.

The soup, a rich broth from Mingde’s restaurant, quickly simmered into a fragrant, delicious aroma once exposed to the home’s stove.

It was the Winter Solstice, so dumplings and rice balls were a must, but these were left to others to make. Jin Yaotiao, however, was carefully adjusting a pot, checking the braised meat topping.

With noodles, the most important factor in making them tasty was the soup and the topping sauce.

The meat had to be prepared well in advance, chopped into small pieces, stir-fried, then braised with spices until the fat melted in the mouth, rich but not greasy, while the lean meat was juicy and tender. Only when it absorbed the rich salty and savory flavors of the broth could it be considered complete.

As Ma Le worked, he started to grumble: “Anyone can make dumplings, rice balls, or noodles. With my skills, why not focus on the recipes I gave you and make something special instead of this basic stuff?”

Jin Yaotiao, slicing a tender bamboo shoot, didn’t even look up as she said, “No matter how simple, it’s made for people to eat. As long as they enjoy it, dumplings and noodles can be more popular than top-tier dishes.”

The oil sizzled as dried fish roe and shrimp heads were stir-fried, followed by ginger and garlic.

When the bamboo shoots hit the pot, the aroma became rich and intense. Mingde’s hand-pickled bamboo shoots were both sour and fragrant, stimulating the taste buds. Stir-frying them enhanced their appetite-boosting effect.

Before she arrived, she had heard that one of the birthday children, due to physical reasons, had a rather gloomy personality and usually didn’t eat much.

Ma Le, noticing the rising fragrance, fell silent, his eyes sneaking glances at the bamboo shoots on the counter.

There was a dish in the recipe that seemed to require pickled bamboo shoots, but over the years, he had tried various types of pickled bamboo shoots and still couldn’t get the flavor just right.

Pickled bamboo shoots had a strong taste and easily overpowered other ingredients, but in Jin Yaotiao’s hands, the sour fragrance became much more balanced.

The dumplings were the first to be served.

A few reporters had arrived on-site; this time, Jin Yaotiao hadn’t invited them, but they came on their own.

As they worked, the reporters, who had originally come to film, began making dumplings too.

Surrounded by so many tiny children, they could have just filmed, but seeing Mingde’s team so focused and indifferent to the cameras, they were moved and wanted to do something for the children.

The Mingde staff were gentle, and the reporters didn’t carry cameras like usual.

The children, sensitive to kindness, became more lively, starting to chat and laugh.

Everything here felt like the warm sunlight of a rising sun—different from the warm atmosphere of a nursing home, this was a different kind of tenderness.

The children held small bowls and ate dumplings. Ma Le, who had originally shown no interest, was surrounded by people enjoying the food.

He, too, suddenly felt hungry and tried one himself.

As soon as he ate, his expression turned to one of surprise.

Mother Jin fed Jin Yaotiao a dumpling while she worked.

She nodded and said, “This year’s filling is really good, it tastes even better than last year.”

Before this year’s Winter Solstice arrived, the seasonal menus at all the restaurants under Mingde were already selling out quickly.

Last year’s dumpling and rice ball soups became extremely popular, and with Mingde’s recent resurgence, the daily customer traffic at the restaurants was hitting new highs.

As a result, customers were already suggesting that Mingde sell raw dumplings and rice balls for takeout so those who couldn’t get a seat could still enjoy the food at home.

Jin Yaoqiao was someone who listened well to suggestions, and since this was a good one, she decided to include some ingredients in the takeout plan that could be processed outside the restaurant.

This year’s seasonal menu was an experiment.

Since the price of the seasonal menu followed that of the Yin Yan and Xun Xiang menus, she thought it would only be a modest success.

To her surprise, the results were far better than expected.

In just a few days, the income from selling the seasonal menu alone at each restaurant almost matched the total daily revenue from dine-in customers.

The 88-yuan portion of the three-flavor dumplings was so popular that some customers even bought 10 or 20 portions, fearing they wouldn’t have another chance.

They bought extra to share with their family or friends, either at home or out of town.

As a result, the three-flavor filling sold out early, and to ease the sales pressure, Jin Yaoqiao quickly created new fillings for the dumplings.

“Mackerel, yellow croaker, cuttlefish, bamboo fungus…” Ma Le scrutinized the ingredients, still feeling that the fragrance of these ingredients wasn’t rich enough. He couldn’t help but ask Jin Yaoqiao, “Is there anything else in it? Matsutake? Truffles?”

Jin Yaoqiao had someone put the noodles into the pot, and while guiding a few young apprentices to wash their hands, she glanced back at him. “It’s powdered pork lard that has been stir-fried and ground.”

When Ma Le heard “pork lard,” he was speechless. Such an unrefined ingredient…

Jin Yaoqiao chuckled softly. “Even the simplest ingredients can make a delicious dish, as long as you’re willing to put your heart into it.”

Ma Le fell silent, quietly taking a bite of the dumplings.

The fresh, sweet fish filling mixed with the crunchy bamboo fungus and the powder made from pork lard elevated the high-quality flavors to a new level. When he bit into the dumpling, it was filled with rich, fresh juices.

He looked at the menu he had brought.

Jin Yaoqiao refused to take it, and Ma Le, slightly caught off guard by her firm attitude, wasn’t sure what to do. He had intended to leave if it didn’t work out.

However, after hearing just a few brief words from her, he felt he didn’t want to leave anymore.

He was certain that he could learn a lot of things here that he had never been able to figure out on his own.

Ma Le thoughtfully returned to the table, starting to ponder how he could stay longer.

One of the Mingde chefs, who had no idea where Ma Le came from, had worked with him for a while and had gotten to know him better. Seeing Ma Le enjoying his food, the chef proudly chatted with him, “Tastes good, huh? Our CEO Jin has been studying this for a long time.”

Ma Le absent-mindedly hummed in agreement.

The chef beamed with pride, then sighed. “I heard you’re from Shenzhen? If we hadn’t been short-staffed here at Mingde, the seasonal menu could have been offered in Shenzhen as well this year.”

Ma Le paused. “Mingde is short-staffed?”

The restaurant looked pretty busy to him.

The chef shook his head. “Not just short-staffed, it’s a real shortage. We’re about to open a new branch in Shenzhen, but we don’t know if we can send enough chefs there. You know, training a good chef isn’t something you can do in a couple of days. I’ve been with Mingde for almost eight years.”

Ma Le looked at him, deep in thought.

At Shangjia, he too had a group of apprentices, around the same age as this chef. They all learned under his father and a few other senior mentors.

But… even though he was sick of Shangjia, those apprentices still had to make a living and couldn’t be as carefree as him.

The Mingde chef, sensing that Ma Le was from the same industry, quietly asked him, “Where are you from?”

Ma Le replied, “Zhenlong.”

People in the industry had heard of Shangjia’s Zhenlong, and the Mingde chef showed a surprised expression. “Wow, impressive. You guys must get a lot of dividends every year, right?”

Ma Le was stunned. “Dividends?”

The chef replied, “Yeah, I heard that several of your big chefs have won awards, and they’re direct disciples of Old Master Shang. The company must give them shares.”

Ma Le was confused. “Why would the company give shares to the chefs?”

His father and a few uncles had worked at Shangjia for so many years, but he had never heard of anything like that.

The chef also looked puzzled. “What? Doesn’t Shangjia give shares to the chefs? My master is a disciple of CEO Jin, and he gave him company shares. Not only him, but even we can earn a 5% stake in the new store once it opens, if we’re selected as head chefs. That’s why we work so hard.”

Ma Le: “…”

This was something he had never heard of.

The chef looked at him with a hint of sympathy.

Wow, even though Shangjia’s chefs seemed to live large, they were actually living like this behind the scenes.

Mingde was definitely better. Mingde was definitely better.

Ma Le stared at him and suddenly turned to look at Jin Yaotiao.

Jin Yaotiao was directing another chef to prepare noodles with minced meat. Sensing his gaze, she turned to look at him suspiciously.

Ma Le pulled out his phone and began looking for the numbers of his closest apprentices.

---

Outside the welfare center, distant voices could be heard. The director had answered a phone call and was heading out to meet someone.

Xu Wan was placing candles on a birthday cake when she turned around and was surprised to see her son’s face.

She froze for a moment, then felt a sense of joy.

She put down what she was doing and hurried toward Shen Qiming. “Qiming, what are you doing here?”

Shen Qiming didn’t speak, but one of his assistants quietly explained, “Mr. Shen had some business nearby today.”

Xu Wan quickly glanced at Ma Le and Luna.

When her son arrived, she felt relieved. Jin Yaotiao also noticed Shen Qiming’s arrival and froze for a moment.

Shen Qiming looked at her from a distance, his lips seeming to curl up slightly. Jin Yaotiao paused, then put down what she was doing and approached him to greet him. “Mr. Shen.”

Shen Qiming nodded, then explained without her asking, “I happened to be nearby, heard you were here, so I came by to visit.”

Jin Yaotiao responded with an “Oh.”

He certainly had become more talkative.

The fragrance of noodles drifted from inside, and the sound of children laughing echoed. Shen Qiming glanced behind him, noticing the candles and the longevity noodles, and quietly asked, “Is there a birthday today?”

Jin Yaotiao was silent for a moment.

Winter Solstice was Shen Qiming’s birthday, which she still remembered.

She had always prepared a gift for him long in advance.

But it had been many years since they celebrated it.

Xu Wan’s laughter came from the side. “Yes, five children are celebrating their birthdays together. Would you like to join us in blowing out the candles?”

Shen Qiming didn’t respond, just looked at Jin Yaotiao.

She sighed, then spoke, “Happy birthday.”

Shen Qiming’s smile became even more apparent.

Xu Wan, standing nearby, froze, glancing between her son and Jin Yaotiao.

“Qiming…” Her voice grew hoarse. “Is today your birthday?”

Jin Yaotiao was startled.

How could Xu Wan not know Shen Qiming’s birthday?

She had assumed that after today’s welfare event, she would go back and celebrate his birthday with him.

Xu Wan seemed somewhat at a loss, holding a candle in her hand.

She had just been decorating the cake and hadn’t even remembered that her son’s birthday was also today.

Shen Qiming showed little reaction, merely nodding calmly.

Jin Yaotiao’s brows furrowed as she thought for a moment, then spoke, “Mr. Shen, please stay and have some longevity noodles with us.”

Shen Qiming smiled, his gaze soft. “I have another meeting to attend. I just came to see you.”

Jin Yaotiao fell silent for a moment. “I didn’t prepare a gift for you this year.”

“That’s not important,” Shen Qiming shook his head. “Just remembering is enough.”