The Reviled God of Cooking Tries to Slack Off - Chapter 36

“Forget it. I didn’t care what you were doing right then. I was going to see Tingzhou and tell him that Secretary Song had already left. I’d explain that a lot of things were just misunderstandings. Then I was bringing him back,” Lu Baiyu said as he walked past. “You’re coming with me.”

Lu Jiahe said, “…Me?”

He and Jiang Tingzhou were getting along even worse now.

“In the past, the family didn’t ask much of you. Aunt Qin spoiled you. I was your brother, not your father—so it wasn’t my place to interfere too much. But before this, Aunt Qin and I repeatedly reminded you not to start trouble with Tingzhou again. You didn’t listen,” Lu Baiyu said. “You’re coming with me. This time, you must apologize to Tingzhou properly.”

He already anticipated that Lu Jiahe wouldn’t agree—just like last time with the Xu family incident, one phone call and he was already kicking up a fuss. Even after Qin Rushuang stepped in, he still refused to admit he had done anything wrong to provoke Jiang Tingzhou.

But Lu Jiahe wasn’t a child anymore.

If he still didn’t learn to rein himself in, sooner or later something serious was going to happen. And if Lu Jiahe didn’t agree this time, he’d drag him there if he had to.

Yet for some reason, Lu Jiahe didn’t throw a tantrum like before. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was something else. When he heard Lu Baiyu say “bring him back,” he stayed silent for a long time, then turned to follow.

By the time the two of them arrived at Jiang Tingzhou’s courtyard from the Lu Group, Lu Jiahe nearly thought they’d gone to the wrong place.

He had never been there before. The ground near the entrance had just been watered—it was muddy and slippery.

A middle-aged man stood in the yard holding a chicken. He turned and asked, “What are you here for?”

“Is Tingzhou home?” Lu Baiyu asked.

“Oh, you’re looking for Xiao Jiang? He went out to buy a wooden trellis. I called him earlier, and he said he left the gate unlocked and told me to wait inside. He’ll be back in ten minutes,” Master Zhu explained enthusiastically. “You guys made plans with Xiao Jiang too?”

No. 

Both Lu Baiyu and Lu Jiahe had been blacklisted. They couldn’t get in touch with him at all.

The two of them stood there, both tall, both silent like statues.

Master Zhu, ever friendly, tried to make small talk. “I was working on Xiao Jiang’s yard before. Yesterday he gave me a jar of ham sauce—my wife loved it. She told me to thank him and bring a free-range chicken as a return gift,” he said, smiling warmly. He lifted the chicken. “I raised it myself in the countryside. A little courtesy between neighbors.”

The chicken: “Cluck cluck.”

The chicken clucked approvingly, unaware of its grim fate.

The neighborhood was like that. Everyone knew each other, and it wasn’t unusual for people to leave their gates open, visit one another freely, and share good food.

Seeing someone bring a chicken as a gift, Lu Jiahe suddenly realized he had come empty-handed. Panicking a little, he instinctively looked at Lu Baiyu.

Lu Baiyu had brought something, of course.

He had a habit—every time he visited Jiang Tingzhou, he brought gifts. The various items in that room at Brilliant Star had all been given by him.

Their relationship had never been made public. Jiang Tingzhou was proud and insisted on building his career independently, but his day-to-day life had long been taken care of by Lu Baiyu.

When Jiang Tingzhou didn’t like the last ring, he simply picked something else.

He remembered Tingzhou liked the watch he once gave him, and over time he brought many valuable items.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Jiang Tingzhou came back carrying a wooden trellis.

He had become quite good at gardening. He was planning to grow peas and wintermelon. The old cucumber and pumpkin vines had been cut down, and new leaves were sprouting. He needed the trellis to support them. A few tomato plants had also grown tall—they needed support too.

He saw Master Zhu first and greeted him with a smile.

Master Zhu chatted briefly with him, handed over the chicken, and left.

Jiang Tingzhou seemed in a good mood that day. His eyes curved with his smile as he talked.

Lu Jiahe had watched all the videos An Xiaoping filmed. Every single one.

At the time, he assumed they used beauty filters. Because the old Jiang Tingzhou didn’t look like that. He often looked tired and rarely smiled like this. But now that he saw him in person—the footage hadn’t lied. He looked even more vivid than in the video—natural, even better-looking.

Lu Baiyu was the first to speak. “Tingzhou, I—”

He had just taken a step forward when the chicken walked over and pecked at him.

Jiang Tingzhou passed him, tied the chicken to the gate rail, leaned the wooden trellis against the wall, and started putting it together.

“What are you doing here again?”

“I come to tell you that Secretary Song has been reassigned. That was my negligence,” Lu Baiyu said simply. “Tingzhou, what she said to you before—that wasn’t my intention. You’ve always been important to me.”

He thought that would elicit some kind of reaction. But Jiang Tingzhou only had eyes for his pumpkin and cucumber vines. He didn’t even reply.

Lu Baiyu continued, “Jiahe was also in the wrong. He wants to apologize.”

Lu Jiahe stepped forward, opened his mouth, but didn’t know where to begin.

Even without being forced to come, there were so many things he wanted to say to Jiang Tingzhou. He just didn’t know where to start. From the kidnapping in childhood, to high school, to every encounter since—until the day Jiang Tingzhou left—he was only beginning to understand what he had been doing.

“I…” he began. “Actually, I…”

What he wanted to say was: I don’t think I ever truly hated you. But his emotions were still a mess.

Jiang Tingzhou interrupted him. “Lu Jiahe, I don’t need your apology.”

Maybe back in high school it would’ve meant something. But not anymore. If he had done wrong, then the only thing that mattered was the cost.

“You’ve tried every trick you have and still can’t get A Bite of China off the ground. I have only one thing to say to you: recognize your limits.” Then he turned to Lu Baiyu. “As for you, Young Master Lu, you don’t need to explain. You’ve always been too busy. I could only get messages to you through Secretary Song. I don’t care what she might have distorted. But you know as well as I do—she wasn’t the only problem.”

Lu Baiyu was always late to arrive. Perhaps compared to his treatment of others, he was already fast—most people needed to schedule an appointment weeks in advance just to see him.

Because Lu Baiyu was abroad, Jiang Tingzhou stayed in the detention center for two days.

Because Lu Baiyu was busy, Jiang Tingzhou had to be hospitalized alone.

Because Lu Baiyu was on another business trip, Secretary Song dared to scheme behind his back.

A personal secretary knew the boss’s style best.

Jiang Tingzhou had never expected him to be some kind of hero who’d descend from the sky at every moment of need. He knew that wasn’t realistic.

So he learned to handle things on his own.

After the detention center incident, he slowly learned how to manage situations, to be less impulsive, to toughen up, to master his skills.

In his past life, when he was sick and hospitalized, he told himself, Lu Baiyu isn’t a doctor anyway. In this life, when Manager Yang caused trouble, he had already prepared his public response even before Lu Baiyu deleted the posts.

And there were many more times like that.

He often waited for a comforting embrace that never came in the moments he needed it most.

Because he was never Lu Baiyu’s top priority.

Not to mention being an unacknowledged lover—he could dream as big as he wanted, but even if they were married, it would still be natural for Mr. Lu to put business first.

In the beginning, he was overwhelmed by the happiness of being with Lu Baiyu. He could endure it all and even lie to himself. But Jiang Tingzhou was no golden boy. His path was always filled with setbacks.

When it happened enough, even the sweetest joy got worn away.

“Secretary Song has always treated me this way. You delegate everything. You’re used to it. I’m just another task. But I never dared offend her, and you never noticed. So we just muddled through,” Jiang Tingzhou said calmly. “Mr. Lu, we really aren’t suited for each other. You’ll realize that eventually.”

They had fought about this in their last life. Jiang Tingzhou moved out of Brilliant Star. That was when he learned how the sweet-talking always came after the damage.

He tested it over and over. Two people from different worlds getting entangled—it only ever ended in disaster.

Lu Baiyu looked at him, but Jiang Tingzhou had already turned his gaze away.

His decision to leave wasn’t just impulsive.

Only now did Lu Baiyu truly realize that. But he still couldn’t bring himself to accept it—he didn’t want to give up yet.

It was still early. There was still time to change things. Wasn’t there?

For a moment, Lu Baiyu lost control. He reached out and grabbed Jiang Tingzhou’s hand, even though Lu Jiahe stood right there.

But Lu Jiahe’s mind had gone blank from Jiang Tingzhou’s earlier words. He didn’t even hear the rest of what was said.

As Jiang Tingzhou spoke, his hands didn’t stop. He quickly assembled the wooden trellis.

It was pre-made—he just had to set it up and plant the vines. There weren’t many of them. He finished quickly.

At that moment, a voice suddenly called from over the courtyard wall.

“Xiao Jiang!” It was Aunt Deng, poking her head over from a ladder. Beside her was another head—Aunt Tian, Tian Hui’s mom. “Xiao Jiang, good afternoon! Do you have guests today?”

And then a third voice—Zhou Lifen—who hadn’t made it over the wall: “Boss Jiang!”

“They’re not guests. They’ll be leaving soon,” Jiang Tingzhou replied. “What’s up?”

Aunt Deng said, “Are you free now? We were planning to go check out some storefronts at the morning market.”

Aunt Deng and Aunt Tian were both warm and sociable. Jiang Tingzhou figured they must be old friends.

Sure enough, when Aunt Tian came to get ham sauce, she brought dumplings too. They bumped into Aunt Deng and started chatting—hadn’t left since.

Zhou Lifen was making ham sauce at Aunt Deng’s place. She was used to stir-frying sauces. Jiang Tingzhou taught her his method, and she picked it up quickly. She had since taken orders from An Xiaoping’s school and from Aunt Tian’s office.

But she didn’t have the right kind of wok. Aunt Deng bought a ham and asked her to fry the sauce in exchange for letting her borrow the kitchen for the afternoon.

But that wasn’t a long-term solution. They’d need a proper storefront eventually.

“I know just the place that’s empty,” Aunt Deng said. “And Xiao Jiang, there’s a new pastry flavor I want you to try. You cook so well—if you like it, I’m sure this product will sell.”

Jiang Tingzhou finished setting up the trellis and watering the vegetables. With no other plans for the day, he said, “Sure.”

He was a little hungry anyway. He washed his hands and got ready to head out.

Lu Baiyu tried again. “Tingzhou, I…”

“Mr. Lu,” Jiang Tingzhou cut in, “I respect your career. Please respect me. I have things I need to do too. Gentlemen, please leave my home now.”

Right then, what mattered most to him was tasting the new pastry.

Lu Baiyu stood in his way, but eventually stepped aside. Rationality told him—there was no point forcing it.

“Tingzhou, this can still be fixed,” he said, just loud enough for the two of them to hear. “You have to believe me. I will never agree to breaking up.”