Chapter 956 - 953:

Chapter 956: Chapter 953:

Wow, this is so delicious!

Wow, this is so delicious! Under the lights, Ling Yu sat on the sofa, his arms braced... he’d just eaten a bit too much.

He directed Gu Xiaoning, "No, not this one... that one..."

Gu Xiaoning put one down and picked up another. "Like this?"

"Mm." Ling Yu nodded. "Right... this is before the main course."

"...Oh." Gu Xiaoning took note, smiling with squinted eyes. "You’re really particular!"

"Hmph." Ling Yu snorted. "Just being pretentiously particular!"

Even with these top-grade tableware, if the people eating together aren’t right... it all tastes like chewing wax, you can’t get anything down.

Gu Xiaoning lowered her head, carefully arranging everything.

When she lowered her head, a section of her neck was exposed... her neck was long and slender, a textbook swan neck, plus her skin was fair, delicate and small, very pretty. Wisps of hair lightly covered part of it, and it somehow looked very warm.

"..." Ling Yu watched, his Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbing.

"Uh." Ling Yu started looking for something to say. "Just now, why did you curse... Young Master Ling?"

"Hm?" Gu Xiaoning lifted her head, dazed for a second. "Ah! Young Master Ling..."

She laughed. "Haha, I don’t even know. Actually, he’s innocent too... I don’t even know him at all, and I don’t know why the manager suddenly promoted me. You get it? It’s just some nasty rumors..."

"Oh?" Ling Yu curled his lips and raised his brows. "Rumors, huh? Maybe that Young Master Ling really has his eye on you?"

"..." Gu Xiaoning froze. "Tch, how’s that possible? We’ve never even met."

Ling Yu leaned forward slightly. "Maybe you have met, or... he’s seen you before?"

"Mm..." Gu Xiaoning thought very seriously about it. "That’s still impossible."

"Why?" Ling Yu frowned, unable to understand.

Gu Xiaoning smiled. "Unless he’s blind! Otherwise, he’s an idiot."

"Ah?" Ling Yu felt defeated. How’d he become blind? How’d he become an idiot?

Gu Xiaoning’s eyelids drooped, her expression a bit desolate. "I... I’m not someone anyone would like. In this life, no one ever will."

"..." Ling Yu was stunned. Why? Why would she say that?

Gu Xiaoning didn’t want to continue this topic, and focused on arranging the tableware.

Ling Yu quietly watched her. "Just lay everything out the way it should be... Tomorrow the butler will have the staff follow your setup."

"Hm?" Gu Xiaoning looked up. "That’s how it works?"

"Mm." Ling Yu looked into her clear eyes and unexpectedly felt a twinge of pity.

This girl wasn’t that old, but... she seemed to carry a lot of stories on her shoulders. A girl just over twenty, how could she be so quiet? That flash of sorrow on her face looked as if she’d lived through some unforgettable, painful past.

Gu Xiaoning looked at Ling Yu. "I can handle the rest on my own, thank you for helping... Aren’t you tired? Go get some rest!"

"Mm."

Ling Yu stood up, hands in the pockets of his suit pants, and turned to walk upstairs.

But after two steps, he turned back again and looked at Gu Xiaoning.

"Um..."

Gu Xiaoning was puzzled. "Hm?"

Ling Yu hesitated, then dropped it—forget it, better not ask.

If he asked if she had a boyfriend, she’d definitely sense something... What if she turned him down outright? From the way she was talking just now, she’d very likely reject him!

Even though he really wanted to know, he’d... better find the answer himself.

Ling Yu shook his head. "It’s nothing, go to bed early."

...

Gu Xiaoning didn’t get back to the room until very late; her coworkers had long since gone to sleep.

Gu Xiaoning checked her phone. Five minutes to midnight...

After showering and lying down, she still couldn’t sleep. She took a bag out of the purse she always carried with her.

Inside was a ball of yarn.

A bright red color, very lively.

Gu Xiaoning pressed her lips together and smiled faintly; only at times like this did her smile look truly happy. The weather was slowly turning cold, and she wanted to knit a sweater for Jiujiu... She had no money and couldn’t buy Jiujiu anything expensive.

Knitting sweaters was something she’d learned back when she was with Yu Sangwan.

Gu Xiaoning might not have been smart in school, but she was very deft with her hands.

She remembered Yu Sangwan once praising her... saying that for someone whose brain wasn’t exactly sharp, she picked up all the "women’s work" the moment she was taught, born with the makings of a virtuous wife and good mother, destined to be cherished by her husband.

"..."

Thinking of this, Gu Xiaoning’s eyes grew wet.

She could have been cherished by her husband all her life, she really... could have.

...

Ling Yu got up early; today, he was just as busy as ever.

In the dining room, the butler and the cooks were getting his breakfast ready.

"Young Master, please have a taste." The butler carefully brought the breakfast over.

Ling Yu gave a slight nod, sat down, and tasted a bite. His brows furrowed at once—how... could it be like this?

"What’s wrong?" The butler was worried. "Young Master, does it... taste bad? Did you taste anything?"

"Tsk." Ling Yu smacked his lips and shook his head. "No."

"..." The butler was terribly disappointed, shaking his head with a sigh. "Ai... I thought you’d finally be able to taste something."

In truth, all the cooks in the Ling Family household were basically just for show.

Young Master Ling couldn’t taste anything at all, so what they cooked, and how good it was—what difference did it make?

As Ling Yu chewed on tasteless food, he thought of the bowl of lump noodle soup Gu Xiaoning had made last night...

Strange—last night, he clearly could taste it! That bowl of lump noodle soup used the most ordinary ingredients, and while Gu Xiaoning’s cooking was decent, compared to a master chef she was still some distance away. So how had he managed to taste anything?

Finishing breakfast hastily, Ling Yu wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Butler."

"Yes, sir." The butler replied in a fluster. "Young Master, your orders."

Ling Yu frowned, thinking it over. "Go speak with their manager about Gu Xiaoning, have them dismiss her!"

"..." The butler was stunned for a moment before he finally remembered who Gu Xiaoning was.

And was even more surprised. "Young Master, that Miss Gu... seemed quite good."

Ling Yu curled his lips in a light smile. "If they fire her, she can become my exclusive chef. Got it?"

"..." The butler’s jaw dropped even lower. After a long while he finally nodded. "Ah! Yes... yes."

An exclusive chef!

That was something from a long time ago...

Ever since Young Master’s mother passed away, he’d completely lost his sense of taste... Over all these years, they’d changed countless chefs and seen countless doctors, but it was still useless. In the end, Young Master just gave up.

So how come he suddenly took a liking to Gu Xiaoning?

Tsk... The butler pondered privately—Gu Xiaoning worked at a hotel, could she be a hidden folk cooking master?

Mm! Yes, that must be it!

..."..." Gu Xiaoning’s mouth hung wide open.

She simply couldn’t believe it—how had she gotten fired again? Was she cursed this year or what?