Lin Yuan had not expected Princess Anle to know that the meal was prepared by her own hands. Although surprised, she still smiled and shook her head, "It wasn’t hard, back at home, I was always the one cooking. Even though my skills aren’t exceptional, fortunately everyone has been giving me face. Madam, please do have a taste later, and if you don’t like it, Yuanyuan will make you something else."
Just as Princess Anle was about to speak, Xia Zheng came up with a sycophantic smile, "What do you mean your skills are not exceptional? Nearly all of our restaurant’s dishes were personally taught by you. If you’re not skilled, then those chefs might as well not live."
Lao Fan also harrumphed, his eyes shining as he rarely uttered words of praise, "This stinky girl, she’s good for nothing else; it’s only her cooking skills that remain. Otherwise, I really don’t know how she’d survive!"
Lin Yuan held her forehead, Lao Fan oh Lao Fan, are you praising her or insulting her?
"Oh, look, our boss must not be hungry today. Well, that’s just fine. I have a large stack of account books back there that haven’t been settled yet. How about, I trouble our boss to tally them up?" Xia Zheng raised an eyebrow, making faces at Lao Fan.
Lao Fan swallowed hard, recalling the cunning mind of the stinky brat and opted not to speak, grumbling to himself: You get to eat the good stuff while I have to do the work! This old man won’t be fooled into such a losing deal!
It was already getting dark, and Lin Yuan estimated that Xiao Linshuang, Xia He, and Qiu Ju would soon be back, so she instructed the young servants to start serving the dishes.
The dishes had not yet been served when Xiao Linshuang and the other two had already returned.
"You’re back just in time. Go wash up and get ready for dinner," Lin Yuan said, laying out the chopsticks herself, inviting her younger sister to meal.
However, lifting her head, she noticed that all three had returned with gloomy faces. Xia He and Qiu Ju were merely maids; they wouldn’t dare to show their displeasure in front of Princess Anle. But Xiao Linshuang was different—with her elder sister to back her up, she dared to say anything and do anything.
Princess Anle also noticed that something was amiss and asked the two maids, "What’s the matter? You were all happy when you left, so why have you come back looking ?"
Lin Yuan put down the chopsticks, pulled her younger sister over, pinched her tightly furrowed little nose, and asked softly, "What happened, who bullied our Miss Xiaolin?"
Asked by her elder sister, Xiao Linshuang’s pout grew even more prominent as she spewed her grievances like rapid fire, "Elder sister, someone bullied me, it was that Miss from Jin Mansion, she had accomplices, they were so mean! Hmph, they looked down on us, I don’t like them!"
Xiao Linshuang’s words were all over the place, but Lin Yuan still gathered that it had something to do with the Miss of Jin Mansion. It certainly wasn’t Jin Yuyu; thus, it could only have been Jin Lingling. Clearly, the three of them had encountered Jin Lingling while they were out.
Xiao Linshuang was, after all, only five years old. Although she spoke articulately, her recounting of the incident still had many gaps.
"Xia He, you tell us," Princess Anle, used to her own servants seldom being bullied, was also feeling rather displeased.
Xia He glanced at Qiu Ju and then narrated the day’s events.
As it turned out, when Xiao Linshuang and her companions were browsing a jewelry shop, they encountered Jin Lingling and Meng Chunyan. Jin Lingling was very familiar with Xiao Linshuang; she had suffered a frustrating idleness previously at the entrance of Jin Mansion because of Lin Yuan. Today, without having bumped into Lin Yuan, she had observed and confirmed that Lin Yuan wasn’t around before deciding to thoroughly scold the girl.
Xiao Linshuang, though young, paid her no mind and continued to browse the jewelry with Xia He and Qiu Ju.