Lin Heng quietly stepped back, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.

Shang Xinglu continued her “cruel” cooking method.

She had finished making the sauce, then put the pasta in to stir.

Halfway through, the oven beeped, and Shang Xinglu quickly took the roast chicken out.

With two dishes on the go, Shang Xinglu suddenly felt a strange sense of pride: “Am I a cooking genius?”

She lifted the foil and took a look.

The color… barely acceptable. But why didn’t it look as golden and crispy as in the video?

She cut a small piece.

Emmmm…

Something doesn’t seem right…

Shang Xinglu actually had a pretty good memory.

She carefully recalled the steps she had just followed but couldn’t find any mistakes.

She rewound the video again.

Shang Xinglu: “!!!”

Damn! It was supposed to be an hour and a half, not thirty minutes!

An hour and a half? Lin Heng might have been killed by her cooking before he even ate the chicken!

Shang Xinglu rested her chin in thought: “…Well, I guess just eating the pasta is fine?”

A burnt smell wafted through the air.

Shang Xinglu turned around, looked closely, and: “!!!”

In an instant, her pasta was on fire!!!

“Ahhhh!!!” Shang Xinglu quickly turned off the heat and tried to cover it with a lid.

But the heat triggered the fire alarm, and soon the whole kitchen was filled with the loud sound of the alarm and water pouring from the ceiling.

The commotion was so loud that not only Lin Heng, but even the bodyguards rushed in.

The small fire had long been extinguished.

Shang Xinglu stood there, drenched.

Shang Xinglu: “……..”

Her roast chicken wasn’t cooked through and had been drenched by the fire-fighting water; the pasta was burnt; the salad hadn’t even been started.

She only had the salad left…

Shang Xinglu: “…………”

She coughed awkwardly and said, “It’s no big deal, no need for such a commotion.”

When the bodyguards left and the housekeeper took over, Shang Xinglu took a tomato out of the fridge and said, “Maybe we should just order takeout… But the salad is raw, so how about we nibble on some tomatoes while waiting for the takeout?”

The housekeeper couldn’t help but glance at her.

With a look full of disbelief and disdain.

Shang Xinglu: “…”

Auntie, sorry, I’ve greatly disrespected the salad…

Lin Heng let out a sigh of relief.

Because he had just heard someone say that she had ordered takeout.

That meant, finally, he didn’t have to eat the burnt mess in the pot.

Compared to eating charred food, what was a ruined kitchen?

As long as he didn’t have to eat that thing, Lin Heng thought, as long as it didn’t threaten his safety, Louise could burn the kitchen as much as she wanted.

Shang Xinglu, feeling guilty, ran out of the kitchen.

This incident was a reminder to everyone: kids shouldn’t play with fire.

Oh no, wait, it’s a reminder to everyone not to overestimate your abilities.

Shang Xinglu said: “…I’ll go change clothes.”

Lin Heng asked sincerely, “What made you suddenly think of cooking?”

Shang Xinglu thought about the playful behavior she had under the rare influence of love…

Shang Xinglu, expressionless, pulled up the viral cooking video. In the video, the chef moved swiftly, cooking cleanly, and the food looked great on camera. Shang Xinglu played it while saying, “I thought I would cook like this…”

Then, she pointed at the mess in the kitchen, “But, as you can see, I cook like this…”

Lin Heng was at a loss for words.

Shang Xinglu, drenched and downcast, looked like a little dog that didn’t want to bathe but had to.

She said, “I really can cook a bit, and it’s actually kind of romantic to cook for myself… I just wanted you to praise me.”

Lin Heng suddenly sighed.

Although Louise had caused a mess just now, hearing her say this made him feel a soft emotion rise in his heart.

Lin Heng pulled her into an embrace, kissed her forehead, and said, “Try again next time, it’s just cooking. You can do it anytime.”

Shang Xinglu was initially feeling down.

But after hearing him say that, she couldn’t help but smile slightly.

…Maybe, it wasn’t so bad after all.

When she finished drying her hair and changed clothes, the housekeeper had efficiently cleaned up the kitchen.

Lin Heng’s gaze swept over the ingredients that survived the disaster.

Lin Heng had studied abroad for his middle and high school years, in a strict private school. Back in the dorm, some boys would cook for fun and to change things up.

He probably still remembered how to cook simple dishes. Since Louise wanted to try, he thought he could help…

Lin Heng rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing his muscular arms, and walked into the kitchen.

Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but stare in awe.

Oh, oh, oh! The aura! This scene! It’s like a character from a shoujo manga who can’t cook but is a genius—just follow the recipe and the food will taste like a professional chef’s!

It was supposed to be just her ex-husband, who was afraid of furry things…

But in this moment, he looked like a chef, so much more professional than she had just been.

Shang Xinglu’s heart raced with anticipation.

Then she went closer to take a look.

Lin Heng was chopping tomatoes with the aura of a top chef, but the tomatoes were chopped unevenly.

Then he started to scoop out an avocado.

Shang Xinglu watched in horror.

The slices were off… this would make it hard to remove the pit…

“Ah!”

Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but exclaim.

The avocado… had rolled under the kitchen counter.

Shang Xinglu: “…”

Lin Heng silently continued preparing the food.

Shang Xinglu: “……”

No, can you stop pretending?

At this moment, the cleaning maid suddenly spoke up, “Mr. Lin, Miss Shang, may I help?”

Shang Xinglu didn’t quite understand but simply said, “Please.”

The maid washed her hands, tied on an apron, and skillfully salvaged the ingredients that Lin Heng had ruined. Then, using the ingredients available in the kitchen, she quickly prepared two dishes and a soup within ten minutes.

She served the food.

And it was actually delicious.

Shang Xinglu glanced at the maid.

The woman had an expression of deep mystery.

As if silently saying, Please don’t waste food, okay?

Shang Xinglu immediately averted her gaze and focused on eating.

True masters exist among the people…

Her emotions were complicated, but Lin Heng’s “attempt at showing off” had failed, and yet he didn’t seem to mind much.

People have things they’re good at and things they aren’t. Not being good at cooking wasn’t something shameful.

Lin Heng quietly ate his meal.

At the same time, he secretly felt relieved—at least he didn’t have to eat that pile of charcoal.

After the meal, a servant quietly entered the room and placed some stomach medicine on the table.

Shang Xinglu happened to see this, and she frowned, sensing that something was off.

She asked, “What’s going on? Does he have a stomachache?”

The servant hesitated before replying, “Mr. Lin was just worried that he might have a stomachache, so… just in case?”

Why would he be worried about a stomachache?

She was the one who cooked today.

Shang Xinglu: “…”

Lin! Heng!

She was furious.

And then, “just-in-case” Mr. Lin received retribution from Miss Shang.

---

The next day, Shang Xinglu arrived at the company still fuming, determined to erase the humiliation she had suffered in the kitchen.

She was in a bad mood all morning, snapping at everyone she saw, making her colleagues curious about what had happened to her.

But when the meeting started, she suddenly wasn’t mad anymore.

Because today’s meeting was all about looking at photos of beautiful women.

In the wake of the trending news, Bichen (the company) decided to seize the opportunity and launch a marketing campaign.

Besides planning events, it was also time to create a new brand advertisement.

Bichen had made ads before.

But much like their outdated urea cream packaging, their previous ads had been ugly.

This time, the advertising company had been recommended by designer Xiao Wu, who assured them that their aesthetics were “on point.”

After all, cosmetics were meant to make women more beautiful, so the ad needed to be fresh and visually appealing.

The original plan was to shoot one ad with different versions of varying lengths.

For this, they needed three models representing different age groups of women.

Ideally, they would get a popular actress with a strong following, as this would bring in the best exposure.

But there was a problem.

For major brands, young actresses fought for a chance to appear in their ads because it boosted their credibility and influence.

But for a smaller brand like Bichen, these actresses might not be willing to make time unless they were paid a lot.

With their limited budget, Bichen faced a dilemma.

They could afford to hire one moderately famous young actress, and some were available based on their schedules.

So now, the question was:

Should they stick with their original plan and hire three relatively unknown models?

Or should they change the plan and hire one actress instead?

That was the main topic of today’s meeting.

The atmosphere was lively, with everyone expressing their opinions. The votes were split nearly 50/50 between the two options.

It was a tough decision.

Designer Xiao Wu sighed, “If only we could hire three celebrities and still keep the original plan. Yao, can we adjust the budget?”

The accounting team quickly ran the numbers and replied, “If we lower the standards for celebrity selection, we might be able to afford two, but three is impossible—it wouldn’t be cost-effective.”

Xiao Wu: “If we only hire two, it’ll turn into a competition. What if we accidentally hire rivals and their fanbases start fighting? That would be interesting.”

Someone laughed, “Do you think we’re a major brand that celebrities are scrambling to work with? Rival actresses won’t be fighting over our commercial.”

“Can’t I just imagine it?” Xiao Wu pouted. “A person should have dreams! I still dream of the day we launch a men’s skincare line and my idol becomes our brand ambassador. Imagine him holding the bottle I designed—four times five equals twenty, that’s basically marriage!”

The meeting room erupted in laughter.

Suddenly, Yin Yao, the project lead, carefully rechecked the details and said, “Louise, how about you be the third model?”

“Huh?” Shang Xinglu snapped out of her daydream, where she had been fantasizing about celebrities filming the ad.

Yin Yao explained, “If you do it, we won’t have to spend extra money. And since you have past filming experience, I think you’d be just as good as the candidates on our list. What do you think?”

Xiao Wu took a closer look at Shang Xinglu.

“Yeah, yeah! Boss Shang used to be in Hollywood! Boss Shang, you’re amazing!”

Shang Xinglu: “…???”