While Shen Lingqing decided to spend the weekend back at her parents’ home, the newly hired chef of Savory Alley—Liu Jinfei—was in the kitchen. He was trapped in a meeting with Qiao Lan, Lin Xiaoyu, and his fellow chef—Chef Lin. Since Shen Lingqing wasn’t here to oversee this meeting, her personal assistant was here to represent her.

“So Director Shen wants to change the whole menu, and she wants us to propose the best menu we could come up with?” Liu Jinfei asked Qiao Lian. This wasn’t the first time he was asked to make a menu, but what was Shen Lingqing planning anyway?

Qiao Lian’s eyes lit up in amusement. As she looked at Liu Jinfei, she couldn’t help but think that even though he had long disassociated himself with the Liu family, he presented himself in public with such grace and etiquette expected from a young master of a wealthy family.

Truly, his pedigree couldn’t be easily overlooked. In fact, she and Shen Lingqing could sense that he also had good leadership skills that made him get along so well with his new coworkers.

“You can think of it as a sort of a test for the two of you. I hope you know by now that our Director Shen only wants to hire a reliable and capable person in her team,” she pointed out, the chefs nodding.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Miss Qiao. Why did Director Shen take over the management of Savory Alley if she could just assume a position at Oriental Bliss?” Liu Jinfei asked out of nowhere.

“Ah, did you think Director Shen is too strict?” Qian Lian asked in return. She was surprised that Liu Jinfei was asking her this question.

The other staff of the restaurant, who silently listened to their meeting, nodded in mutual response with Liu Jinfei. Although it had been over a week now since Shen Lingqing kicked out the Zhang brothers and closed the restaurant, the Shen princess rarely talked with them.

The whole week that Shen Lingqing stayed with them, she didn’t join them for lunch and dinner and would rather have her meals in her office.

Qiao Lian sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She kept reminding Shen Lingqing not to intimidate their staff with her cold look. Furthermore, they also needed everyone’s participation to make sure that Shen Lingqing would be able to improve the restaurant’s rating.

“Please don’t misunderstand Director Shen. It is just that Savory Alley is a challenge her father set for her before he could name her as his successor. I hope you understand how important it is for Director Shen to succeed on this challenge and why she is strict with the compliance and quality of the dishes and service of the restaurant.”

The staff was stunned by what they heard. This wasn’t the reason or excuse they were expecting from Shen Lingqing’s assistant. To think that even the Shen princess had to earn her right to be acknowledged by her father… wouldn’t this mean she was more under pressure than any of them?

They all thought that she was acting like this because it was expected of her to inherit SY Holdings eventually, and the possibility that Shen Lingqing needed to prove herself never crossed their minds.

Although Director Shen was strict, her orders weren’t excessive and hard; they were challenging instead. It was like she was trying to test their limits and their patience for the past few days she was with them.

“I see. So that’s why.” Something about Liu Jinfei’s expression changed upon hearing Qiao Lian’s explanation.

Of course, he understood Shen Lingqing’s predicament. He was once named as an heir apparent before his father’s untimely death, and he knew how hard it was for the Shen princess to meet everyone’s expectations.

“It must be difficult for her,” Lin Xiaoyu commented. No wonder Shen Lingqing never wasted time dilly-dallying. Not only Shen Lingqing needed to prove herself but also had to keep the restaurant afloat, or else they would all lose their jobs.

“But is Director Shen allergic or something?” Chef Liu asked curiously, “I never saw her join us during meal times.”

His daughter was also curious about it. Several times, Lin Xiaoyu had brought meals and snacks to Shen Lingqing’s office, but she always found them untouched at the end of the working time.

“Oh, that…” Qiao Lian smiled awkwardly. Why were they suddenly interested in knowing more about Shen Lingqing anyway? They were lucky their boss wasn’t here today, or else Shen Lingqing would have glared at them until they scampered away and hid from her.

“To be honest, our Director Shen has been a picky eater ever since childhood. It’s not like she didn’t like the food you brought, Miss Lin. It was just hard for her to eat, especially with the special palate that she has. I remember one time, she forced herself to eat something that her classmate tried to feed her, but she ended up losing her sense of taste for a month because of how bad it was.”

Qiao Lian could recall that it was only the time Shen Lingqing threw a fit and swore that she would never subject herself to such ‘torture’, according to her words, ever again. It was really hard for anyone outside the Shen family to make the princess eat or taste the food they make because of what she experienced.

“Since then, anyone would be lucky if she took a bite of the dish they made… because her superior palate has made it impossible to enjoy food like normal people.”

Lin Xiaoyu’s face lit up and then turned to her father and Liu Jinfei.

“I just remembered that Dad and Chef Liu were able to make her taste their dishes, and she didn’t abhor it at all!”

“Director Shen must have decided to give an exemption to Chef Liu and Chef Lin because she saw great potential in their dishes.”