She answered with a "Hello?" and heard Lu Jingming ask, "Where have you been lately? It sounds a bit noisy on your end."
"I'm at Jiu Shan."
Xu Yanxia walked out of the kitchen with her phone and added, "I came over for a meeting with colleagues today and checked on the kitchen. I was just in the kitchen."
Lu Jingming asked again, "When did you get there?"
"I came at ten."
As she spoke, Xu Yanxia glanced up at the wall clock in the dining hall and couldn't help but sound surprised, "It's already 5:30 in the afternoon? That was fast."
"So, you've been there for over seven hours?"
Lu Jingming asked her, "How are your feet? Are they swollen again?"
"I'm alright."
Xu Yanxia grew a little anxious, "But I don't know if Madam and the Chairman are home early. I should head back now."
"No need."
Lu Jingming quickly stopped her, saying, "My parents have a dinner engagement tonight, so there's no hurry for you to return. However, my mother gave me a task, and you should be about done there, right? I'll come pick you up now."
Huh?
From the sound of it, Mrs. Lu's task involved her too?
Xu Yanxia quickly nodded, "I'm all set here. You can come anytime."
"See you in a bit then."
Lu Jingming hung up.
A little over twenty minutes later, he drove into the Jiu Shan parking lot.
When he entered, Xu Yanxia was still in the kitchen explaining key cooking points to the chefs—
"After the beef brisket is steamed, remember to dry the surface oil thoroughly before coating it with batter. Otherwise, the batter won't stick, and it'll look terrible after frying."
"The sauce for the 'Zao Liu' dish is all about getting the proportions right. Add the fermented rice wine in two stages—most of it when you first stir-fry the sauce base, and just a few drops right before serving to enhance the aroma.
...
It wasn't until others in the kitchen noticed him and called out "President Lu" that she turned to look at him.
She was wearing the same dress she had on when she first went out with his mother, Mrs. Shen, for a social engagement, which made her appear poised and confident.
"I'm finished here."
She smiled at him, a smile so bright it seemed to make her whole person glow.
Then she picked up her bag from nearby and turned to address the group, "For today, let's focus on perfecting these eight dishes. I'll find time to come by again tomorrow."
"Understood."
Everyone bid farewell to the pair, "Take care, President Lu, Director Xu."
Lu Jingming nodded to everyone and followed Xu Yanxia out of the kitchen.
Manager Cui, along with several supervisors, escorted them all the way to the parking lot.
Once they were in the car, Lu Jingming couldn't help but remark, "My judgment was spot on. Such a responsible director definitely can't be found elsewhere."
Xu Yanxia also joked with him, "Then remember to make the year-end bonus envelope a bit thicker."
"No problem."
Lu Jingming agreed with a laugh.
Seeing that she had fastened her seatbelt, he started the car and pulled onto the road.
Curious, Xu Yanxia asked him, "By the way, what task did Madam assign you that requires me to come along?"
To her surprise, he just smiled and said, "You'll know when we get there."
"So mysterious?"
Xu Yanxia paused, then simply proceeded to brief him on the day's work.
"I think other aspects at Jiu Shan are currently quite good. We finalized the pricing adjustments today. They'll probably send the report to the company tomorrow."
"The most critical area right now is still the kitchen. Their performance today was acceptable. If they can maintain this standard, reopening for National Day should be no issue. Moreover, before that, we could have a soft opening for two or three days, run some promotions to build hype. That should set things up nicely for the official opening."
"Sounds good,"
Lu Jingming nodded and said, "Have them prepare the proposal and contact the company directly. As long as it's reasonable, the company will definitely support them. This year, National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival happen to coincide. With thorough preparation, we should see impressive sales figures."
"Mm-hmm."
Xu Yanxia nodded, "I'll let them know right away."
As she was typing a message to Manager Yang from the Marketing Department, she heard Lu Jingming ask her, "Oh, by the way, any plans for the holiday? Going home?"
This made Xu Yanxia pause, "I haven't really thought about it yet."
—She remembered Aunt Zhang mentioning during onboarding that live-in chefs normally had one day off per week, and for long holidays like May Day and National Day, they could arrange two to four days off, but it depended on the Lu family's actual schedule.
Rong City was at least half a day away from her hometown by the fastest high-speed train.
Although three or four days would be enough for a round trip, her energy lately had been focused on the night market stall, family banquets, and today's matters at Jiu Shan. She simply hadn't had time to consider holiday plans.
"There are still seven days till National Day,"
Lu Jingming continued, "With Mid-Autumn Festival added, the company will have an eight-day break. My parents will probably visit friends and relatives in various places. Jingxi is usually busy, and Jingyao has a competition coming up, so he'll likely be in closed training. You should be able to have several extra days off then. If you want to go back and visit your family, that's completely fine."
After he finished speaking, he saw Xu Yanxia ask him, "What about you?"
Lu Jingming was momentarily stunned, feeling a sudden warmth in his heart.
Was she asking to spend it with him?
But the next second, he heard her say, "Will you be working overtime in Rong City, or do you have plans to travel?"
"..."
Lu Jingming understood; she was concerned about whether she needed to cook for him.
So he quickly said, "Don't worry about me. My schedule is very flexible. Anything works."
Only then did Xu Yanxia nod in relief, saying, "Then I might actually consider going home. My brother and Sister Jiajia were discussing going back for their engagement ceremony during Mid-Autumn Festival. If possible, I should probably attend."
"An engagement is indeed important."
Lu Jingming said, "Important family and friends should all be present, right?"
"Yes."
Xu Yanxia was already making plans, "My grandparents should have gotten their apartment by then too. It's a furnished unit, and it's been built for over half a year. I might as well help them move in altogether."
"That's a good idea."
Lu Jingming nodded and added, "Moving probably requires quite a few hands."
Xu Yanxia laughed, "It's not too bad nowadays. There are moving companies, so you don't have to do the heavy lifting yourself. It's just that packing things up is a hassle."
As she spoke, she took out her phone to check train tickets, "I'll ask Aunt Zhang about my specific days off when I get back. I probably need to start scrambling for tickets already."
Lu Jingming made an acknowledging sound, "Let me know once you've secured the tickets."
Xu Yanxia found it a bit strange, "Why?"
"...So I can arrange my own itinerary."
He smiled.
Xu Yanxia thought to herself, maybe he wanted to go on a trip during her time off?
So she simply said, "Oh."
As her voice faded, she noticed he had driven the car into the parking lot of a storefront.
She looked outside the window and couldn't help but feel surprised.
"A 4S dealership? Is Madam buying a car?"
But then she heard Lu Jingming say, "To be precise, it's for you."
