In the end, with the joint assistance of the system and Zhang Ma, Su Wanli selected a universally beloved recipe from the cookbook collection—
—Garlic Butter Shrimp.
Ahem, of course it turned out well! She took the fresh, deveined, and peeled shrimp from the fridge, sprinkled them with black pepper salt, and let them marinate for five minutes. Then she turned on low heat, added butter, the garlic slices Zhang Ma had prepared, and the shrimp.
Once the shrimp were cooked to an edible state, she tossed in a bit of parsley, gave everything a quick stir, and took it off the stove. She finished plating with a slice of lemon and some thyme.
The whole process took less than fifteen minutes.
“…”
However, staring at the final result in front of her, Su Wanli hesitated for a long while, unsure whether she should really serve it like this.
Zhang Ma, noticing Su Wanli’s hesitation, spoke up at just the right moment—
“Miss Su, even though the lemon slices are a bit uneven, if you look on the bright side, paired with the green shrimp, it kind of gives off a… natural vibe!”
“If you’re trying to say my lemon slices are ugly and I used too much parsley, just say it. No need to be so roundabout.”
Su Wanli sighed and gave up on the idea of making another portion. Instead, she used a spoon to gently remove some of the excess parsley, then made a few finishing touches with whatever ingredients were still available in the kitchen.
After all, Meng Wange was probably just going through the motions. As long as Su Wanli showed a sincere desire to win, Meng Wange likely wouldn’t take the competition too seriously.
Still… would that really be enough to make the other person admit defeat wholeheartedly?
“Forget it. Zhang Ma, we’ll go with this one. Plate it and take it out.”
“Got it!”
At Su Wanli’s call, Zhang Ma carefully transferred the garlic butter shrimp onto a serving plate. She flashed a wide grin at Su Wanli before pulling aside the curtain that separated the kitchen.
After a few clinks of tableware, she returned, now holding another covered dish. She placed it on the serving cart beside Su Wanli’s garlic butter shrimp.
“…”
Right next to her dish was the one Meng Wange had specially prepared for her.
Even after sniffing the air carefully upon entering, Su Wanli hadn’t picked up any distinct aroma. It was unclear whether they had aired out the kitchen beforehand or if the sealing had been done so perfectly that not a single scent had escaped.
‘That sneaky Meng Wange… she really didn’t leave me a single clue.’
A sense of anticipation… surprise…
Staring at the covered dome-shaped lid, Su Wanli absentmindedly rubbed her chin.
‘What kind of surprise can a dish even offer? It all boils down to appearance, aroma, and flavor…’
Judging by what she saw earlier in the kitchen, Meng Wange’s dish definitely wouldn’t beat hers in terms of aroma. After all, with hot butter and all that parsley, her dish was bursting with fragrance.
‘Then… is it going to be some kind of beautifully crafted presentation?’
‘Did Meng Wange, in her short time, carve a mini version of me out of a carrot or something and serve it?’
‘Tch, honestly… if she did that, she wouldn’t even need the dish to be fresh. As long as it’s properly preserved, carrot sculptures can last in the fridge for a day or two without changing much.’
But judging by the size of the serving dome, it clearly wasn’t something tall like a standing carrot figure. Besides, Zhang Ma had placed a cloth underneath Meng Wange’s dish—probably to insulate it—so the temperature was likely still quite high.
‘It’s hot, yet it doesn’t smell strong… what could possibly be inside?’
“Miss Su, shall we head out together now? Or… are you thinking of making another one?”
Seeing Su Wanli still rooted to the spot and not making any move, Zhang Ma quietly gave her a reminder.
Sigh, forget it. Since this was a surprise personally prepared by the heroine, Meng Wange, there’s no way a mere villainess like me could possibly figure it out.
I can only hope my earlier guess wasn’t wrong. She doesn’t actually care about winning or losing. But if Meng Wange really insists on settling this with a clear victory, then I’ll just have to come up with a few more brand new challenges to see if I can beat her…
Su Wanli let out a sigh and shook her head at Zhang Ma.
“No need. Let’s just go ahead and bring it to the banquet hall.”
“Alrighty!”
Following behind Zhang Ma’s food trolley, Su Wanli finally completed her first dish and stepped out of the kitchen.
The view before her was still the same luxurious, spacious banquet hall. But unlike yesterday, when Su Heng had hosted a welcoming banquet for Meng Wange and the dining table had been piled with food—even though it had only been the three of them eating—it hadn’t felt empty at all.
Now, however, the table was completely bare, save for a clean white tablecloth and a single vase of lilies.
At the far end of the long banquet table, where Su Wanli often sat, Meng Wange was already seated properly and waiting.
When she saw Su Wanli and Zhang Ma emerge from the kitchen, she smiled and waved.
“Hi, Miss Su. You’ve finished already?”
“…Of course I have. What, did you think I was going to give up or something?”
Su Wanli rolled her eyes and waved to Zhang Ma, signaling her to place the dish on the table.
“Come on, Meng Wange. Let me see what kind of dish you made for me—after spending all that effort setting the rules, choosing your words carefully, and planning this whole thing.”
Even after being exposed, Meng Wange didn’t look the least bit flustered. She simply tilted her head with a gentle smile and looked straight into Su Wanli’s eyes.
“Hmm? What do you mean, Miss Su? I just suddenly felt like tasting something you made yourself, that’s all.”
“You…”
‘No, no. I can’t keep getting flustered over these little things. I’ll ask the system to give me a stress relief toy later. One that talks with Meng Wange’s voice, saying sweet nothings!’
Su Wanli quickly turned away, marched over to the drinks section, poured herself a glass of cold water, and downed it in a few gulps to cool her flushed forehead.
Then she turned back, gritting her teeth as she faced Meng Wange once more.
“Stop being so glib. Instead of playing with words, you should be worrying about what you’re going to do when you lose to me!”
Meng Wange smiled and nodded, then turned her attention to the dish Zhang Ma had just placed in front of her.
“Since Miss Su is so eager, I’ll go ahead and begin?”
The next moment, before Su Wanli could even return to her seat, Meng Wange lifted the metal lid covering the plate with a swift motion.
“…!?”
Even though Su Wanli had already mentally prepared herself, seeing the dish she had worked so hard on being unveiled and scrutinized like this still made her feel unbelievably embarrassed.
The steps for this dish had been simple—really, really simple. She had carefully controlled the heat, keeping it low enough to avoid burning the shrimp. But when it came time to sprinkle the seasoning, her hand had slipped. What was supposed to be a beautiful golden-brown crust was now buried under a heap of green—too much parsley. Even though she’d tried to wipe some of it off, it still looked obviously unnatural.
And Meng Wange’s calm expression only made Su Wanli more nervous, since she already felt guilty about how the dish turned out.
Thankfully, that moment of scrutiny didn’t last too long. Meng Wange picked up her knife and fork, cut one of the shrimp in half, and brought it to her mouth.
Gulp.
‘So… what’s the verdict?’
Before the parsley overload, she’d tasted one herself. The shrimp, pan-seared in butter and black pepper, definitely wasn’t bad. If it hadn’t been for that one mistake…
‘If only it weren’t for that mistake!! I shouldn’t have worried about the presentation so much! That bit of parsley didn’t even add anything to the flavor!’
“Miss Su.”
“I—I know already! This only turned out this way because it’s my first time cooking! Next time, there’s no way you’ll beat me so easily…”
The moment Meng Wange softly called out to her, Su Wanli trembled and immediately tried to launch into a grand declaration of defeat—at least to save a little face.
“Although the parsley in this dish is slightly excessive, and the bitterness somewhat overwhelms the savory flavor, Miss Su clearly took this into account and paired it with unseasoned steamed mashed potatoes. I think that’s a very clever design.”
Looking into her eyes, Meng Wange spoke with sincere appreciation.
“Also, with that addition, the dish now has a color combination I personally find very pleasing. From my perspective, I’d give this a solid 9 out of 10.”
Worried that Su Wanli might misunderstand, she added with a warm smile:
“Of course, the full score is 10. Thank you for making this garlic butter shrimp especially for me—it was absolutely delicious.”
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