In the morning, before seven o’clock, the doorbell of his room rang. He thought it was room service, so he ignored it, covered his head with a quilt, and continued to sleep. After a while, however, the landline in his room rang again.
Wen Yuan scratched his hair irritably, stuck his head out of the quilt, and answered the phone, “Who?
“Get up and run, don’t fall asleep!” On the other side, Zhang Huaite had already changed into sportswears and was warming up in the room.
“Brother, it’s not even seven o’clock. The game doesn’t start until half past ten. What are you anxious about?”
“This is the plan this morning. If you don’t come out to exercise, how can you have the energy to compete? Hurry up and stop dawdling.”
Wen Yuan reluctantly hung up the phone, turned over, and sat up to get dressed. Who made Zhang Huaite half a teacher now? As an assistant and student, he has to unconditionally meet any requirements Zhang Huaite puts forward, and make this great god happy, so the great god can show the best state to compete.
Wen Yuan also changed into his sports clothes and followed Zhang Huaite to the riverside for a run. The weather in S City is gloomy, and the temperature in the morning is low, with rumbling dark clouds. After running by the river for a while, Wen Yuan’s shoes were wet.
“Look at you, you don’t come out to run very often.” During the break, Zhang Huaite teased him. “You live in such a big mansion, don’t you even have a place to run?”
Wen Yuan opened his backpack and took out a water bottle. After taking a sip of water, he looked at the river wrinkled by the wind in the distance, and said indifferently. “It’s inconvenient for Jinran. I usually walk with him instead of running.”
“Yes, after all, Qi Jinran’s legs…” After thinking of something, he didn’t say any more, and laughed to himself. “It seems that you like him quite a bit, and consider his feelings in everything.”
“After all, we are partners. This is normal.” Wen Yuan tossed the empty water bottle into the trash, glanced at his watch, and raised his eyes with a smile. “It’s almost time, let’s go get breakfast and discuss today’s game strategy.”
“This kind of small qualifier is nothing. The strategy is just four words – play on the spot.” Zhang Huaite pulled up the hood of his sweater and walked forward confidently.
Wen Yuan shook his head and smiled helplessly, and jogged to catch up with him.
At 10:30, the first round of qualifiers for the International Baking Competition began. There are ten groups of bakers participating in the competition, and each group is a combination of a chef and an assistant. In the first round, the contestants are required to make the most basic fruit cake, in whatever shape, with a time limit of two hours. As soon as the countdown started, all the players quickly got busy.
On the field, Wen Yuan was not so nervous. He briefly discussed with Zhang Huaite and decided that he would prepare the materials for decorating the outer layer of the cake, while Zhang Huaite concentrated on making the batter and filling inside.
He glanced aside as he melted the dark chocolate in a small pot. Zhang Huaite was whisking the egg whites with an egg beater. His movements were brisk and meticulous, showing his confidence and calmness, without the slightest panic. On the other hand, some players were so nervous that they overturned the batter pot. There was also a pair of contestants who had a disagreement, and the chef and the assistant chef quarreled directly in front of many judges.
“Don’t look at other people, just focus on your own business.” Zhang Huaite turned off the eggbeater and glanced at him.
Wen Yuan nodded and started cutting the fruit again. His knife skills are extremely beautiful. A visiting judge passed by and saw the petal-shaped strawberries he cut out, and couldn’t help smiling at him with satisfaction.
However, Wen Yuan also knew from the bottom of his heart that these decorations are all external. The judges value the taste of the cake the most. The goal is to bake a cake with the right softness and the best balance of sweetness and humidity within a limited time. It’s also necessary to maintain a stable state of mind and not destroy the taste of the cake due to impatience, which is very difficult.
Watching Zhang Huaite take out the cake from the oven, Wen Yuan was so nervous as he stared at the cake and the position of his hands with wide eyes. When he saw the perfect cake in shape, he let go of the breath that he had been holding and let out a light sigh.
In the first game, they made a chocolate fruit cake ahead of time in only an hour and a half. When the host cut the cake to reveal the layers of fruit inside, the audience looked over, accompanied by all kinds of admiration.
“My god, they did it too fast without the cake collapsing!”
“The decoration of the chocolate tree house is also quite creative, as expected of Zhang Huaite.”
“His assistant is not bad either. He carved the petals and strawberries, and the knife work is very good.”
There was no surprise in the first round. The cake they made was impeccable in appearance and taste, highly praised by the judges, and they won first place in the group.
After listening to the host announce the results, Wen Yuan’s black eyes lit up. He was so excited that he just wanted to go back to the hotel immediately to share the good news with Qi Jinran.
“There’s another game tomorrow, don’t get excited.” Zhang Huaite patted him on the shoulder as they left the venue. “Today is just a small test, and the capable contestants are later.”
“Yeah, I know. Anyways, you’re here so it doesn’t matter.”
Zhang Huaite smiled and wanted to say something, but Wen Yuan had already raised his hand to hail a taxi. “Get in the car quickly, let’s go back to the hotel for dinner.”
Baking competitions are very tiring. After grabbing lunch at the hotel and reviewing the inadequacies of today’s game, they went back to their rooms to rest.
As soon as he entered the room, Wen Yuan excitedly dialed Qi Jinran.
“Jinran, we won the first game!!” Wen Yuan’s face was full of excitement, wishing to dance directly on the bed.
“Congratulations.” Qi Jinran seemed to be in the car, where the lighting was not very bright. Seeing Wen Yuan happy grin, his clear black eyes were also stained with a slight smile.
“What are you doing now?” For some reason, Wen Yuan wanted to see Qi Jinran. He can’t wait to fly back to Wancheng immediately and give the man a big hug, making him feel his joy.
“A vice president is getting married today, and I’m going to attend his wedding banquet.” Qi Jinran’s expression was light.
“Oh.” Wen Yuan didn’t expect Qi Jinran to care about his employees so much that he would go to an employee’s wedding in person. “Then go, have fun, I won’t disturb you.”
“Okay.”
Although Wen Yuan was a little reluctant when Qi Jinran hung up, at the thought that he would be able to see him after the game tomorrow, his eyes glowed again.
He got up too early this morning, and quickly fell asleep after watching the video of the baking competition for a while. He wasn’t sure what time he fell asleep when the phone by the bed rang.
Wen Yuan dazedly opened his eyes, put the phone to his ear, and said sleepily, “Hello?”
“Xiao Yuan, open the door.”
Hearing the voice on the other end, he was shocked awake. Bouncing up from the bed, he got out of the bed with bare feet, not daring to believe his ears. “Is it what I think?”
“You’ll know when you open the door.” Qi Jinran’s tone held a trace of a smile.
With an “ah” of exclamation, Wen Yuan quickly ran to the door, opened the door, to see a tall, handsome man was standing outside with black eyes looking at him with a smile.
Wen Yuan plunged into Qi Jinran’s arms, holding him tightly, so happy that he couldn’t say anything.
“Let me in first, the cleaners are outside.” Qi Jinran looked helpless.
Wen Yuan nodded and pulled Qi Jinran into the room. As soon as the door closed, he pressed Qi Jinran against the door and looked at him with joy. “Jinran, didn’t you say you were going to the vice president’s wedding banquet? Why did you come to S city?”
“The vice president got married in S city, so I came here after I gave the gift.” Hugging Wen Yuan, Qi Jinran could smell the rich aroma of cream and chocolate from him. His dark eyes were deep, as he straightened Wen Yuan’s sleepy hair, and said softly, “Surprised?”
“Too surprised!” Wen Yuan kissed him on the cheek, with shining black eyes. “You don’t even know, I almost wanted to fly back to Wancheng to find you.”