Chapter 12 Only the Surface
I walked slowly up to Cheng Yanqiu and said, word by word, "Cheng Yanqiu, you thought what you stole was my exclusive secret recipe?"
Cheng Yanqiu jerked her head up.
"That was only something I printed off the internet to compare with my own formula."
"I never expected that tossing it on the table would make you treat it like treasure and steal it."
"As for the Mala Tang..."
My eyes swept over her frozen body, and I curved my lips.
"Haven't you heard the saying? 'Teach the apprentice, starve the master.'"
"So what I taught you was only the surface. I never taught you the essence of the seasoning."
She staggered back, her eyes full of disbelief. "Only the surface? He Qingwei... you've been playing me all along?"
"How is that playing you? These three years, I brought you into the trade and helped you earn enough money."
"Cheng Yanqiu, if you had put your mind into studying flavor instead of always looking for crooked shortcuts..."
"Would your Mala Tang still taste the same after three whole years, with no improvement at all?"
Cheng Yanqiu slumped into the chair, her face ashen.
"Useless thing!"
Zhang Muzhe suddenly exploded, slapping her hard across the face.
"You can't even learn something properly! You've made me lose all face!"
His sudden slap startled me. I spoke without thinking. "How can you hit someone!"
"She's my wife. I hit her if I want. None of your damn business!"
I was speechless. After a moment I tried again to reason with Cheng Yanqiu. "If he dares slap you today, he'll dare beat you at home tomorrow."
"Cheng Yanqiu, are you still not awake?"
Cheng Yanqiu wiped her tears and glared at me hard.
"He Qingwei, stop pretending to care."
"You've never even been in a relationship. How would you understand the love between me and Muzhe?"
"He was just furious because of you and accidentally hit me. He didn't mean it."
I was so angry I laughed. Another word would have been a waste.
"Fine, fine, fine. Call me nosy."
"You chose the person. You walked the road. When you get hurt later, don't cry."