Su Zixuan nodded. "Of course it's true. Would I lie to you? You don't look well. Are you feeling unwell again?"
Lu Hanyang shook his head. "I'm fine. Go on with your filming. The company just called and asked me to go back for a meeting. I have to go now, but I'll come pick you up tonight."
"Okay, be careful on the road." Su Zixuan stood on tiptoe to kiss his lips, watching him leave with a smile.
The moment Lu Hanyang was out of sight, the smile vanished from her face. Her expression turned extremely ugly, her eyes filled with bitter resentment.
Damn it! Lu Hanyang had indeed saved Jian An'an in the past, but ever since his car accident, he hadn't remembered any of it. Yet now he was suddenly asking whether she was the one who had saved Jian An'an back then, which showed that his memories were returning bit by bit...
This conclusion made Su Zixuan somewhat panic.
No!
She absolutely could not let Lu Hanyang remember! Keeping Jian An'an around was nothing but a hazard! It seemed she had to find a way to chase Jian An'an away!
After leaving the film crew, Jian An'an went straight to the hospital to keep Xiaoxin company.
In the hospital room, she smiled as she told Xiaoxin a fairy tale.
"The big bad wolf showed the little white rabbit its fake tail. Thinking it was Mama Rabbit, the little white rabbit opened the door. Then, with an 'Awoo', the big bad wolf pounced on the little white rabbit..."
"Oh..." Xiaoxin let out a startled cry, quickly covering his eyes and burrowing into Jian An'an's arms. "The big bad wolf is so bad! But the little white rabbit has zero caution either. How could it fail to recognize even its own mother's tail?"
Jian An'an smiled and explained, "Because the big bad wolf is very good at disguising itself. The little white rabbit is so innocent, it just didn't expect it."
Xiaoxin raised his head, looking at Jian An'an with his bright, sparkling black eyes, and said very earnestly, "I would never mistake it. Mommy is with me all day long, so I know what Mommy looks like."
Although Xiaoxin's words were childish, Jian An'an felt a warm glow in her heart.
Even a child knew what she was like, so why had Lu Hanyang believed Su Zixuan's one-sided story instead? They had been childhood sweethearts growing up together; if Su Zixuan and her mother hadn't intervened, she probably would have married him already.
Yet after losing his memory, he didn't even give her a chance to explain.
Originally, the look of disgust in Lu Hanyang's eyes had deeply saddened her, but now, seeing how well-behaved and sensible Xiaoxin was, the grievances she had suffered previously seemed like nothing at all.
After finishing the story, Xiaoxin grew sleepy and wanted to go to bed. Jian An'an tucked him in and tiptoed out of the hospital room.
As soon as she stepped outside, however, she received a call from Producer Li.
Producer Li informed her that she had been fired from the crew and didn't need to come back tomorrow.
Hearing this news, Jian An'an wasn't surprised at all.
Even if Su Zixuan hadn't fired her, she wouldn't have gone back anyway. This time Su Zixuan had almost drowned her, and who knew what vicious tricks she might come up with to deal with her next time!
After hanging up, Jian An'an sighed, and just as she was planning to look for another job, Zhang Luowei called her and referred her to one.
Jian An'an was very grateful and went for the interview that very afternoon.
The place Zhang Luowei recommended was an upscale restaurant. The head chef, Giovanni, was a Michelin three-star chef who had studied in France. Seeing that Jian An'an was nimble-handed and testing her to find she had no trouble as a kitchen assistant, he agreed on her compensation on the spot and hired her.
Jian An'an was delighted.
As soon as six o'clock passed, the restaurant kitchen began to buzz with activity.
Jian An'an was quick to read people's expressions, never added to anyone's workload, and most importantly, her cooking skills were quite good.
After working there for a few days, the head chef grew increasingly appreciative of Jian An'an.
Just as the chef was swamped with work, the restaurant manager suddenly pushed open the door and called out, "Chef Giovanni, Mr. and Mrs. Lu from Table B would like to see you. Please go over as soon as possible!"
It was very common for guests to invite the chef to their table here, but the ingredients for the next dish were already prepared and couldn't be delayed past their peak freshness. Giovanni had a flash of inspiration and dragged Jian An'an, who was washing dishes, over to him. "An'an, you help me make this dish."
"Ah?" Jian An'an was startled. "But I'm just a kitchen assistant, I can't do it!"
Trusting Jian An'an's culinary skills, Giovanni said, "It's fine, you have to believe in yourself. Besides, it's just a soup. Once the water boils, just add the ingredients in the order I laid them out and let it simmer for three and a half minutes. The timer is right here, I'm leaving it to you, I'll be right back!"
With that, he straightened his chef's hat and walked out with the restaurant manager.
Jian An'an stood awkwardly in front of the cutting board, feeling very much like a duck pushed onto a perch.
People who dined at restaurants like this were wealthy and held high status, with extremely picky palates. She was merely a kitchen assistant; could she really bluff her way through this?
Since she had already been pushed into this position, however, she had no choice but to bite the bullet, lift the pot lid, and drop the ingredients in one by one.
Meanwhile, Li Shaoting was sitting at Table A in the restaurant.
He took a necklace out from his breast pocket and looked at it blankly. This was the only thing that woman had left behind back then, and he had carried it with him for the past five years.
The pendant was a peach blossom, crafted with exquisite detail. Logically speaking, artisans capable of making such a top-tier pendant weren't hard to find, yet after investigating for so many years, he had found no clues whatsoever.
Li Shaoting let out an imperceptible sigh. It had already been five years—why wouldn't that woman come find him? At that moment, a waiter came by to serve food, and he quickly tucked the necklace away.
Feeling absent-minded, he ate a bit mechanically, but after taking a single sip of the soup, he suddenly froze.
The soup was slightly salty... but... that wasn't the point...
The point was that he could actually taste the saltiness! Due to an accident in the past, Li Shaoting had lost his sense of taste, and ever since, he hadn't been able to taste any sour, sweet, bitter, or spicy flavors! Yet now he could actually taste that this soup was somewhat salty!
Had his sense of taste recovered? Li Shaoting immediately tasted the other dishes, but to his disappointment, no! There was still no flavor whatsoever! Only the bowl of soup before him was the exception!
He had endured enough of a life without a sense of taste; no matter who made this soup, he was determined to have that person!
Li Shaoting immediately beckoned the restaurant's head waiter over and asked in an indifferent tone, "Who made this soup?"
The head waiter was startled. The soup had been made by a newly hired kitchen assistant today; he hadn't expected Li Shaoting to single it out. Could there be something wrong with the soup? Standing by with beads of sweat on his forehead, he explained, "I am deeply sorry, Mr. Li. This was made by a new kitchen assistant substituting for the head chef. If there's any problem, I apologize to you..."
Li Shaoting immediately cut him off. "Call her over. I want to see her."
Realizing he couldn't dodge the issue and finding himself helpless, the head waiter could only offer continuous apologies. With a sigh, he prepared to head into the kitchen to call Jian An'an out.