Love, Chef. - A Chen Qing Ling/Modaozushi Fanfic

Chapter 17

Lan Xichen

After the call with Wangji, I felt physically and emotionally tired. My head hurt, the wheels of destruction were already on the move and this time it was almost impossible to stop it from happening. The elders which included my Uncle, Lan Qiren along with the Jin Guangshan and Wen Ruohan, worked alongside with each other to "fix" the industry that has gone stray from its original "path". Amongst the five renowned organizations existing in this country, these three were dead against how the cooking style and food changed as the time changed. They believed that only people who can afford to cook and eat gourmet should be allowed to cook in these five renowned organizations. But they have failed multiple times, the Nies and Jiangs refused be a part of this outrageous movement which makes them be on the bad books of those three tyrants.

My uncle was banned from the family by my aunt, she did not support such an outrageous thing and she also believed that food is made by people who love food and not just gourmet food but all kinds of food. These three have been working on making all of our lives hell since the past 10 years and I believe with the young Jiangs coming back, they won't be sitting quite around this time.

"My head...." I whined as I rested my head in my palms.

"Are you okay, er-ge?!" A-yao said, as he rushed towards me.

"The triad-"

"I know."

I sat there quietly and heard A-yao shifting next to me.

"Er-ge, did you talk to A-cheng after the funeral?" He asked.

"No. I....I don't think I am ready for it."

"Er-ge, you have to talk to him otherwise...you will regret it."

"Aren't you the one suffering more at the moment?"

"I am used to it....besides, things are beyond repair now."

I looked at him for a minute and gave him a hug, of all people who think that he is the leech of my life, very few people know how much he suffers because of our relationship. He loves me but not in a romantic way, I have taken advantage of his misery for years now and he has never complained once in all these years. I am just thankful that he was there, when I was on the verge of self destruction.

"Papa?" I heard Jingyi calling me.

"Hey, kid. Why are you up?" I said, as A-yao slowly broke free from me.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Jingyi said.

"Then... should I escort you to the bathroom, my prince?" A-yao said, the way Jingyi liked it.

Jingyi nodded and A-yao lifted him in a embrace to escort him to the bathroom. I watched those two walk away and threw my body back in the sofa. As I closed my eyes, my head wandered to the past, when things were still as good and the calm before the storm was onto the good times.

Past:-

"A-cheng!" I called out.

"Huan Qianbei, what happened?" A-cheng asked.

"Are you free this evening? I wanna talk to you." I said, mustering up all the courage I had.