Chapter 8:The Homemade Breakfast

Chapter 8: Chapter 8:The Homemade Breakfast

The bus finally began to slow down.

Xi Yunxui, who had spent most of the journey trying to understand why everyone seemed so comfortable inside a giant moving metal box, looked out the window.

The scenery outside suddenly became familiar.

She recognized the street.

According to the memories she had inherited from the original Xi Yunxui, this was where she was supposed to get off.

This is it.

She quickly stood with the other passengers.

When the doors opened, she stepped down carefully and watched the bus drive away.

She stared after it.

"So people really just enter that thing every day?"

She shook her head.

"Modern people are quite brave."

She turned around.

The street before her was familiar.

The original Xi Yunxui had walked this route countless times.

She followed the memories in her mind, walking through a narrow lane lined with small shops and trees.

Before long, a brightly colored building appeared ahead.

The daycare.

Xi Yunxui stopped.

She looked at the building for a moment.

"So this is where you worked..."

The memories belonging to the original Xi Yunxui surfaced again.

The classroom.

The teachers.

The children.

The daily routine.

Everything slowly became clearer.

Xi Yunxui smiled faintly.

"Alright. Let’s see what kind of place this is."

She walked toward the daycare.

---

Meanwhile, at the Huo Residence

Huo Jingchen descended the stairs.

He had already changed into a dark suit, his expression as composed as usual.

He had originally intended to leave without breakfast.

He rarely ate in the morning anyway.

His schedule was usually too packed, and he had long grown accustomed to simply drinking coffee and heading to work.

But halfway down the stairs, he stopped.

A familiar fragrance drifted through the air.

His brows moved slightly.

It was the smell of freshly prepared food.

Not the usual breakfast served at the Huo residence.

This was warmer.

More homely.

Almost comforting.

Huo Jingchen changed direction.

Instead of heading toward the entrance, he walked into the dining room.

His mother was already seated at the table.

"Good morning, Mother."

Su Meilan looked up.

"Jingchen? You’re eating breakfast today?"

He pulled out a chair.

"I smelled something."

Su Meilan smiled.

"Then sit down."

Huo Jingchen sat opposite her.

His father was currently away on a business trip.

His younger brother, Huo Jinyan, was twenty-nine and a doctor. He was currently away because of work.

His younger sister, Huo Yuning, twenty-seven, was a popular actress and was also away filming.

So, for the moment, only he and his mother were at the residence.

Auntie Zhang brought out another portion of breakfast.

Huo Jingchen picked up his chopsticks.

He took a bite.

His hand paused.

His eyes lowered toward the food.

The taste was...

Different.

It was delicious.

But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

There was something familiar about it.

It wasn’t the usual refined taste produced by professional chefs.

It tasted homemade.

Warm.

Simple.

The kind of food that made one feel as though they were eating in their own home rather than at a wealthy family’s dining table.

Huo Jingchen took another bite.

Then another.

Without realizing it, he was eating more than he normally did.

Su Meilan noticed.

She glanced at him.

"You seem to like it."

Huo Jingchen didn’t answer immediately.

His mind flashed back to the previous night.

Xi Yunxui.

The fish.

Her strange fragrance.

Her calm manner.

Then the breakfast in front of him.

The taste reminded him of her for some reason.

He frowned slightly.

Why?

He couldn’t understand it.

After another bite, he finally asked,

"Auntie Zhang."

"Yes, Young Master?"

"Who prepared breakfast today?"

Auntie Zhang’s expression immediately became nervous.

She looked at him carefully.

"Is... is there something wrong with the food?"

Huo Jingchen looked up.

"No."

Auntie Zhang visibly relaxed.

"Then..."

"I just want to know who made it."

Auntie Zhang hesitated.

Then she answered honestly.

"It was Xi Yunxui."

Huo Jingchen’s chopsticks stopped.

His eyes lifted.

"Xi Yunxui?"

"Yes."

For some reason, he was stunned.

He had been thinking that the food felt like her.

And it really was her.

He lowered his gaze again.

So she made this.

He took another bite.

The thought became even stranger.

He had heard about the fish from last night.

Then the breakfast.

Her culinary skills were clearly much better than those of an ordinary maid.

Huo Jingchen remained silent for several seconds.

Finally, he simply said,

"Hmm."

Auntie Zhang waited.

Nothing else came.

She quietly walked away.

Huo Jingchen continued eating.

---

By the time he finished breakfast, there was almost nothing left on his plate.

Su Meilan looked at him with amusement.

"You usually don’t eat this much."

Huo Jingchen picked up his napkin.

"The food was good."

"That much is obvious."

He said nothing.

He stood and left the dining room.

But as he walked toward the entrance, a thought suddenly appeared.

Why was someone with culinary skills like that working as a maid?

He stopped briefly.

It didn’t make sense.

She could prepare dishes that even professional chefs would have difficulty making.

She had helped with the fish yesterday.

She had prepared breakfast this morning.

And judging from the taste, she clearly had considerable experience.

Huo Jingchen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Perhaps she had been trained somewhere.

Or perhaps she simply had a natural talent.

Either way...

She should be a chef.

He walked outside.

Then another thought came.

Perhaps I should hire her as my personal chef.

He paused.

The thought actually sounded reasonable.

He rarely ate properly.

His work schedule was chaotic.

He often skipped meals and occasionally suffered stomach discomfort because of it.

Having someone who could prepare proper meals for him would be convenient.

Very convenient.

Huo Jingchen entered the car.

The moment the door closed, his assistant, Zhou Rui, handed him a tablet.

"President Huo, your schedule for today is as follows."

Huo Jingchen leaned back.

"Go ahead."

"You have a meeting with the finance department at nine-thirty. At eleven, you have a conference call with the overseas branch. Lunch is scheduled with the Wang Corporation’s representatives at one. At three, you have the contract review meeting, and at five—"

Zhou Rui continued listing the day’s schedule.

Huo Jingchen listened quietly.

But for some reason, his thoughts drifted back.

Personal chef...

Then he remembered Xi Yunxui standing in the corridor.

Her startled face.

That strange fragrance.

The feeling of calm that had come over him when he caught her.

His fingers unconsciously touched his temple.

Why was he thinking about a maid so much?

He frowned.

Zhou Rui paused.

"President Huo?"

Huo Jingchen looked at him.

"Continue."

"Yes."

The assistant continued with the itinerary.

As the car approached the Huo Corporation building, Huo Jingchen’s thoughts gradually returned to business.

By the time he stepped out of the car, the matter had already been pushed to the back of his mind.

There were meetings waiting.

Contracts to review.

Decisions to make.

And an entire company that required his attention.

The thought of hiring Xi Yunxui as his personal chef disappeared completely.

For the moment.

He had no idea that the woman he had just been thinking about was currently standing in front of a daycare, preparing to face a classroom full of energetic children.