Chapter 369: Shuiyunjian's Grand Opening

Shen Lan secretly rolled her eyes. ‘These idiots only know how to chase celebrities; they have no plans for their own futures.’

But at the same time, Shen Lan was also very envious of them.

Pan Junru and the others were so naive because their families doted on them.

If she had the same kind of family, she’d be living the carefree life of a rich young lady, not like now, where she had to fight for everything herself.

Shen Lan composed herself and cut the ribbon herself.

A lot of people came to celebrate, most of them friends and family of Pan Junru. No one seemed surprised that a young woman was the one cutting the ribbon.

After all, it was just a private kitchen—a small business, nothing more. If a young woman wanted to cut the ribbon, so be it.

After a full day of work, Shen Lan was physically and mentally exhausted.

She had to greet guests and cook, spinning around like a top.

Pan Junru, on the other hand, was clinging to her dad’s arm and acting cute, like she was just another spectator.

When she got home, Shen Lan had no time to rest. She contacted a video editor and asked him to cut a video of the grand opening.

Shen Lan: It needs to be high-end and impressive. It should make people think the owner of this restaurant is extraordinary the moment they see it.

The editor saw her request and said it was no problem. Sigh. Having been a freelance contractor for so long, he’d seen countless bizarre requests from clients.

He could already extract the client’s core idea from these jumbled requests.

But when the editor saw the raw footage Shen Lan had shot, his vision went dark.

‘Isn’t this for a private kitchen’s grand opening? Why is the footage all close-ups of people’s faces?’

There were no shots of the food or the restaurant’s ambiance. It looked more like a personal introduction video.

The editor finally understood what Shen Lan meant by her last line: “It should make people think the owner of this restaurant is extraordinary the moment they see it.”

It turned out she wasn’t trying to promote the restaurant at all—she was trying to promote herself.

An hour later, Shen Lan reviewed the video and was very satisfied.

‘This editor really gets me. He retouched my face to look especially beautiful.’

After paying the final balance, Shen Lan eagerly uploaded the video to DouDou and generously paid for a Dou+ boost.

She thought gleefully, ‘What will Shen Lu’s reaction be when she sees this video?’

‘She’s probably so jealous, right?’

Shuiyunjian was nothing like her shabby little shop. The decor was antique-style, the facade was covered in faux-wood tiles, and wind chimes hung from the soaring eaves.

When the wind blew, they would DING-A-LING, DING-A-LING nonstop.

Because it was a private kitchen, there was no main dining hall, only private rooms of various sizes—five in total.

The smallest could only seat one to two people, while the largest could accommodate twenty at once.

The furniture was also antique-style, and it was decorated with many artificial flowers and plants, creating a very elegant scene.

Shen Lan then recalled the guests’ comments on the food today—they were all positive, without exception.

This made her confidence swell. She was already fantasizing about winning the Kitchen King competition in one fell swoop and earning the Eldest Prince’s favor.

Then, the two of them would meet, get to know each other, fall in love, become partners, and live happily ever after.

With such sweet dreams, Shen Lan drifted off to sleep.

Shen Lu actually did end up scrolling to Shen Lan’s video.

She was startled when Shen Lan’s big face popped up on screen. She glanced at the account ID: “Little Chef of Shuiyunjian.”

Raising an eyebrow, Shen Lu patiently watched the video to the end.

“Well, you can’t judge a book by its cover. To think she actually opened a private kitchen.”

“Oh, wait, that’s not right. According to the plot, this is exactly when she’s supposed to open a private kitchen.”

Shen Lu suddenly recalled some plot points she had forgotten.

Not long from now, there was indeed a Kitchen King competition that the Eldest Prince would attend as a judge.

This made many girls who coveted the Eldest Prince try every means possible to enter the competition.

Sang Yue participated too.

But Sang Yue wasn’t aiming for the title of Kitchen King; she was doing it to promote her new cake shop.

After all, the Kitchen King competition didn’t just involve baking; it also included Chinese and Western cuisine.

Sang Yue knew her own limits. Chinese and Western food weren’t her strengths. It would be enough to build some fame for her cakes; she didn’t dare dream of becoming the Kitchen King.

And as it turned out, her cake shop did indeed become famous and even attracted the Eldest Prince’s attention.

‘The Kitchen King competition…’

Shen Lu stroked her chin. ‘Now that the plot has changed, Sang Yue, who should be preparing to open her cake shop, is still working at my place. Would the female lead, who no longer needs to build a reputation for her cakes, still sign up?’

In the book, Sang Yue was rescued by Xue Can. Xue Can wasn’t like Jiang Gong; he was a man of few words and many deeds.

When he sensed that Sang Yue wanted to open a cake shop, he secured a location without a second thought, stuffed the keys into her hands, and told her to open her shop.

Not to mention later helping her find ingredients and chasing away troublemaking thugs—that was all standard operating procedure for the devoted second male lead.

[DING! Side quest issued: Participate in the Kitchen King competition and place in the top three.]

Shen Lu froze for a second.

‘Wh-What the hell?’

‘I was just recalling the plot details about the Kitchen King competition, how did a side quest suddenly get dropped on me?’

Shen Lu: “Alright, come out here. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You know I don’t like to go out often, and you pull this stunt on me?”

[Host, the benefits of participating in the Kitchen King competition are far beyond your imagination. Never mind the reward for completing the quest; you absolutely won’t be able to refuse the perks you’ll get during the competition itself.]

Shen Lu: “Fine. Let’s see what kind of pie-in-the-sky story you’re going to spin for me.”

[Reputation value! The Kitchen King competition gets way more attention than you think, Host. With your culinary skills, making it to the finals will be no problem. You can earn a massive amount of reputation value along the way!]

Shen Lu: (￣.￣)

‘Hmm… why does the pie the system is drawing suddenly seem so delicious?’

‘I really am short on reputation value!’

‘Maybe I should give it a try?’

‘Anyway… the booth area isn’t universally known yet, so relatively speaking, I’m still quite safe.’

‘Worst-case scenario, if I join the competition, I can just hire a few more bodyguards. I still have those life-saving measures, too.’

Shen Lu: “Can you tell me roughly how much reputation value I can get, and what the reward is?”

[Host, you’re putting your little system in such a tough spot~]

Shen Lu: ‘Just talk normally. Trying to act cute is a foul.’

Shen Lu: “Fine, I get it. I’ll go sign up now.”

Shen Lu searched for the registration portal for the Kitchen King competition and couldn’t help but sigh as she filled out the information.

‘I was originally planning to give my shop’s entry slot to Sang Yue, to help the male and female leads get together.’

‘But now there’s no choice. For the sake of reputation value and the reward, I’ll have to use this entry slot myself.’

‘As for the male and female leads, I trust that the red string of fate will tie you two together regardless!’

The next morning, Shen Lu casually mentioned the Kitchen King competition to Sang Yue, pretending it was unintentional.

Just as she expected, Sang Yue was very interested and immediately asked Shen Lu about the registration requirements.

After listening, Sang Yue said thoughtfully, “So, I have to have my own shop to be able to register?”

“That’s right. Because the Eldest Prince is a judge this year, the number of applicants has skyrocketed. The attention on it will be huge, so it’s a great promotional opportunity. I expect restaurants big and small will all be signing up.”