Chapter 163: Confrontation

The camera turned to Xu Le’s face. He was very calm. When the host came over with the microphone to ask how he felt.

Xu Le said briefly, “As expected.”

It was indeed within his expectations. That day’s live-stream competition had reached its end and he immediately left the stage and ran backstage.

There was still no one in the Master Chef’s kitchen. Chen Yeqi took off his headset and gestured to Xu Le to wait.

Xu Le blocked the door and watched as Chen Yeqi directed the audience to leave before walking towards him.

“You did well, Little Master Chef…”

“There’s no need to be polite.” Xu Le interrupted him and said mercilessly, “When we were choosing the ingredients just now, the Master Chef chose them at random. He had so many ingredients that could be used to make the Fujian dishes, but four of the last five dishes happened to be the same as mine. Producer, shouldn’t you give me an explanation?”

Chen Yeqi smiled and said, “How can I explain this? If you don’t believe me, you can watch the live broadcast. Little Master Chef, are you a sore loser?”

The last words were spoken in a deliberately infuriating manner.

Xu Le ignored him and continued calmly, “My first dish was soy sauce fish. His first dish was chicken soup with seafood. The rest are exactly the same as mine. Why didn’t he make all five dishes exactly the same? Is it because he didn’t have time to imitate it?”

“You’re too much.” Chen Yeqi frowned and said, “If you can’t afford to lose, why are you being unreasonable to me? You’re indeed a child. I’m an adult and won’t argue with you.”

Xu Le took a step forward and blocked his way. “Since you aren’t willing to admit it, let me meet the Master Chef.”

“No, it will break the rules of the show.” Chen Yeqi shrugged and said indifferently, “Go and rest. The competition has been going on for so long. A child like you must be quite tired. The last competition is in three days. I still have to find the audience to join the voting. Xu Le, if you have any doubts, you can watch the live broadcast replay.”

He indirectly implied that Xu Le was fooling around.

Xu Le knew that it was meaningless to argue with him. It was impossible for Chen Yeqi to tell the truth, so his gaze suddenly became firm. “Producer Chen, see you in the finals.”

The competition happened to be broadcasted at the same timing as Xu Le’s “Chinese restaurant” program. In the show, he had a cute little adult image that attracted countless fans. With his superb culinary skills, he won the hearts of the audience. A few hours after the show was broadcasted, the number of fans on his social media platform directly exceeded ten million and had doubled its original amount!

Lu Yuxi was still having an IV drip in the hospital. When she saw this, she was so happy that she was wriggling her feet and said to the person lying on the bed, “I told you, he’s super awesome! Aren’t I right?”

“Isn’t that still a loss?”

The young man on the bed retorted.

Then, Lu Yuxi clenched her fists and threatened fiercely, “Do you believe that I’ll break your other leg too?”

Li Shengsheng hurriedly leaned against the bed and said, “Big Brother, I was just teasing you. Why are you so serious? He’s awesome! He’s very great, alright? What’s his name? Xu Le, I’ll acknowledge him as my master tomorrow. It’s so admiring for him to open a store to earn money at such a young age!”

Lu Yuxi was used to his glib tongue and rolled her eyes.

At that moment, the nurse knocked on the door and entered to check on the condition of Li Shengsheng. Immediately behind her was his father, Li Kun.

“Teacher Li.”

Lu Yuxi called out and Li Kun rushed over gratefully. “Little Lu, thank you so much! If it weren’t for you, that brat would have lost his life…”

“It’s fine.”

Lu Yuxi was a little reserved. The middle-aged man in front of her was her university professor. The person lying on the hospital bed groaning loudly and trying to attract their attention was Professor Li’s son.

“His platelet count is too low. His blood won’t be able to coagulate even if he bled a little. It’s all thanks to you coming over to donate blood this time. It must be really troublesome for you!”

“It’s no trouble at all. I’m very close to the place anyways.” Lu Yuxi looked at how painful it was for Li Shengsheng to scream and roll around on the bed. She gritted her teeth and said helplessly, “We are friends. It’s only right that we help each other.”

Li Kun thanked her again before turning around and giving Li Shengsheng a stern slap. “Why are you howling? Let the nurse take a look at your injuries. Little brat, you’re really bold. You know that the consequences of you bleeding are very serious, yet you still dare to play such a dangerous sport!”

Li Shengsheng was indignant. “A real man should be brave enough to challenge himself! Oh, Miss, be gentle.”

The nurse’s eyebrows twitched. This was the first time she saw an adult crying and howling at a small injury. She said speechlessly, “There’s no fracture. It’s a little dislocated. The bleeding has finally stopped. The wound is deep. Don’t move around for the time being.”

“Then when can I be discharged?”

“Anytime.”

Li Kun said angrily, “You’d better be hospitalized for a few more days. Don’t go out and cause trouble. I’ve never seen someone playing skateboard get hit by a car.”

Li Shengsheng pursed his lips and turned to Lu Yuxi with a cheeky smile. “We were in the same club when we were in university. If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t play, with me around, you wouldn’t even be able to be in the last place, let alone the first place.”

Lu Yuxi pulled out the needle and hurriedly stood up. “Teacher Li, I still have something on, so I’ll leave first. Call me if you need anything.”

“So soon? Is it an emergency?”

“Not really. It’s just that contestant of the show is my friend. I want to go over and take a look.”

With that, Lu Yuxi rushed out of the ward without looking back.

It was late at night. In the taxi, Lu Yuxi stared at the moving street lights in the city and frowned deeply.

Xu Le probably never expected that he would be stopped at the entrance one day, unable to leave. Li Qing put his arm on his shoulder and said, “Master Xu, oh, you’ve become a big star.”

Surrounding the entrance to the exhibition hall were the audience who had just left but had not completely dispersed. They were all looking happy and chattering.

“Xu Le, the lychee meat you made is amazing! Will there be a video tutorial uploaded?”

“Can I take a photo with you?”

“Give me an autograph. It is fine even if I have to pay!”

“Good luck! I’ll continue watching the show to support you!”

“Will you open another branch store in another city?”

“When does your restaurant open for business? I want to try it.”

Li Qing looked like he was watching a show. “Master, you’d better grab my arm. Otherwise, you’ll be kidnapped. Your presence in the crowd is too low. I won’t be able to find you.”

Fortunately, the taxi stopped at the outermost edge of the crowd. Lu Yuxi squeezed in and raised her hand. “Everyone, please disperse. It’s late. Go home!”

“Who are you?”

“She’s the one who took the video!”

Amidst the chaos, it started to drizzle. Xu Le turned to look at Lu Yuxi and an indescribable emotion spread in his heart.

“Lele!”

Shen Hui appeared behind them and said, “There’s no need to go out. Come with me.”