Chapter 6: Thank You, Mr. Hollandaise

TheDarkPriestess: Hey, Xinyi. Can you pick me up this weekend? Lu Xinyi forgot that her cousin, Lu Xiulan, would be back from Country D soon. Thinking about it, she might as well ask her cousin if she could crash at her apartment after this cruise vacation. She didn’t have any plans to stay with Gong Yijun after what he and Meng Jiao did to her. Her fingers hurriedly typed a reply to Lu Xiulan, the pancake woman, not noticing the weird look that Shen Yi was giving her at that moment. CerealKiller: Sure, sis. Don’t forget my souvenir! And hey, do you think I can stay at your place for a few weeks? TheDarkPriestess: Eh? What’s wrong? Did you two have another fight? Lu Xiulan had been telling her that something was wrong with Gong Yijun. Even when they started dating, her cousin didn’t approve of their relationship. She even told Lu Xinyi not to befriend Meng Jiao since that woman had a bad reputation during their college days. Lu Xinyi regretted not listening to Lu Xiulan. If only she weren’t naive and stupid, she could have avoided being played and hurt by those two. CerealKiller: We broke up. I need a place to stay for a while. TheDarkPriestess: .... CerealKiller: I’m serious, sis. TheDarkPriestess: Omg! Finally! You should’ve gotten rid of him long ago. He wasn’t good enough for you, Xinyi! You deserve so much better than him. Lu Xinyi wondered what Xiulan meant. Did she already know about Gong Yijun and Meng Jiao? CerealKiller: Xiulan, thank you for always being there for me... She could still remember those hard times that started after her father died. She was just five and had no idea what was happening around her. But when her mom told her that Daddy won’t be coming home anymore, her life started to get hard and hopeless. Shen Yi stared intensely at his pancake woman. It was those unusual dark eyes that were shimmering with amusement that no one had seen before. If his family were with him today, they would probably think he was sick, or might as well be crazy. His eyes were filled with an emotion that couldn’t be explained. This woman was surely a one-of-a-kind that he’d never encountered in his thirty years of existence. He lifted his fork and started eating silently while Lu Xinyi kept her attention on her phone. He preferred a light breakfast, unlike the woman across from him, who ordered a hearty one. He always thought that women were conscious about their figures, but as he saw her eating alone earlier, enjoying and savoring her breakfast, Shen Yi thought that it didn’t matter to her. When Lu Xinyi ended her chat with her cousin, she noticed that Shen Yi was already eating. She still didn’t have an idea what he wanted from her. Her eyes landed on the dish on his plate. She’d never seen anything like that before. Her knowledge about culinary dishes and techniques was limited. While her father was a chef and had taught her basic techniques and methods of cooking, there were still a lot of things she didn’t know. His breakfast consisted of a piece of bread topped with a poached egg, bacon, and an unknown yellow, thick, creamy sauce with some chopped parsley as a garnish. "What’s that?" she couldn’t resist asking. Shen Yi lifted his gaze and saw her staring down at his breakfast like a curious cat waiting for a chance to snatch it. "You mean this?" he poked the side of his food. Lu Xinyi nodded. ’Maybe this dish is common for rich people like him,’ she thought as she rubbed her chin. Shen Yi hesitated to answer. What’s up with this woman? It seemed like she was more interested in his food than in "This is what you call Eggs Benedict." "What’s that creamy sauce on top of it?" Lu Xinyi pointed at the thick yellow cream on his food. "Ah, that’s hollandaise." "Hollandaise?" Her round brown eyes blinked, and her mouth formed an "oh," making her lower lip stick out a little. Her expression sent him into a daze as he stared at her pouty lips. "What is a hollandaise?" Shen Yi mentally slapped himself and tilted his head in her direction, wondering why she was so curious about it. "It’s a sauce made with egg yolks and lemon juice. Wanna try some?" Before Lu Xinyi could decline his offer, a piece of Eggs Benedict on a fork was already waiting for her mouth to open. She looked at his eyes with a quirk of a brow, but opened her mouth to accept his offering. She chewed slowly to savor and scrutinize the foreign taste on her mouth. The taste tickled her taste buds. It wasn’t overwhelming, but the flavors burst in her mouth, which made her close her eyes in excitement. She could taste the muffin, the bacon, and the egg, but what surprised her the most was the taste of the sauce. It had a creamy egg taste, also buttery, and a little tangy. Never did I taste something like that before. The feel of it on her mouth was like a regular mayonnaise she had in her pantry, but this hollandaise had a rich texture and a buttery lemon taste that complemented well with the egg yolks well. She could also taste a hint of pepper that added a nice kick to the sauce. "Do you like it?" "Very. Thank you, Mr. Hollandaise," Lu Xinyi replied, keeping her eyes close. Shen Yi cleared his throat and forced himself to look away as Lu Xinyi, with her eyes closed, continued to savor the flavor of his Eggs Benedict. He always thought that Eggs Benedict was a simple and regular dish, but if Lu Xinyi enjoyed it, maybe it wasn’t that bad. ’Maybe she’s a foodie,’ he thought. On the other side of the dining hall, a woman was seething in anger as she stalked the couple. She saw them arguing earlier, then the woman took out her phone and ignored Shen Yi. Xia Yuhan huffed in exasperation. Her hands clenched on top of her table with her eyes fixated on Shen Yi and his so-called girlfriend. She had never seen any sane woman who could ignore Shen Yi’s presence. Before their vacation ends, she has to get rid of Shen Yi’s woman, or else she will never get a chance to get her family’s approval.