TheDarkPriestess: Hey, Xinyi. Can you pick me up this weekend?
Lu Xinyi forgot that her cousin Lu Xiulan will be back from Country D soon. Thinking about it, she might as well ask her cousin if she could crash on her apartment after this cruise vacation. She didn’t have any plans staying with Gong Yijun after what he and Meng Jiao did to her.
Her fingers hurriedly replied to Lu Xiulan 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 in your place for a few weeks?
TheDarkPriestess: Eh? What’s wrong? Did you two had another fight again?
Lu Xiulan had been telling her that something was wrong with Gong Yijun. Even when they started dating, her cousin didn’t really approve their relationship. She even told Lu Xinyi not to befriended Meng Jiao since that woman has a bad reputation during their college days.
Lu Xinyi regretted not listening to Lu Xiulan. If only she wasn’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 that 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 being crazy. His eyes were filled with emotion that couldn’t be explained.
This woman is surely a one of a kind that he’d encounter in his thirty years of existence.
He lifted his fork and started eating silently while Lu Xinyi kept her attention on her phone. He prefers light breakfast unlike the woman across him who ordered a hearty one. He always thought that women are 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 were limited. While her father was a chef and had taught her basic techniques and methods of cooking, there was still a lot of things she didn’t know.
His breakfast consists of a piece of bread topped with a poached egg, bacon and an unknown yellow thick creamy sauce with some chopped parsley as toppings.
“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 that was 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 rubs her chin.
Shen Yi hesitated to answer. What’s up with this woman? It seemed like she was more interested in his food than him.
“This is what you call an Eggs Benedict.”
“What’s that creamy sauce on top on it?” Lu Xinyi pointed at the thick yellow cream on his food.
“Ah, that’s a hollandaise.”
“Hollandaise?” Her round brown eyes blinked and her mouth form an “oh” making her lower lip stick out a little. Her expression sent him in a daze as he stared at her pouty lips. “What is 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 with lemon. Wanna try some?”
Before Lu Xinyi could decline his offer, a piece of egg benedict on a fork was already waiting for her mouth to open. She looked at his eyes with a quirk of a brow but nevertheless opened her mouth to accept his offering.
She chewed slowly to savor and to scrutinize the foreign taste on her mouth. The taste tickled her taste buds. It wasn’t overwhelming but the flavors burst in her mouth that 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 has a creamy egg taste, buttery and a little tangy. Never did she tasted something like that before. The feel of it on her mouth was like a regular mayonnaise she had on her pantry but this hollandaise has a rich texture and a buttery lemon taste that compliments well with the egg yolks. She could also taste a hint of pepper that added a nice kick on 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 Egg Benedict. He always thought that Egg Benedict is 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 at the couple. She saw them arguing earlier, then the woman took her phone and ignored Shen Yi.
Xia Yuhan huffed in exasperation. Her hands clenched on top of her table with her eyes fixated to 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 had to get rid of Shen Yi’s woman or else she will never get a chance to get her family’s approval.