Pink feelings
Tang Ke Xin stood in front of everyone, first silent for a moment, feeling that beside her, there was a cold figure, using his terrifying aura to spread towards her side. Her heart inexplicably tightened, and her eyes quickly blinked once, wanting to obviously retreat...
Ren Zi Xian looked at her with curiosity, comparing her attitude today to the 180-degree change from that day, and gazed at her with slight puzzlement.
Zhuang Huanran and Ru Mo, who were present, also looked at her quietly.
Jiang Tiankuai always had an air of detachment about him, his cold face revealing no hint of emotion.
Tang Ke Xin's mood became increasingly tense, her eyes flickering uncontrollably for a moment. When she recalled Jiang Tian Kuai's words, her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears as she gazed vaguely at the bottle of Amontildo on the dining table, radiating a bright green glow. She stared wistfully at that point of light, recalling her father's affectionate words: "You love red wine because it gives you a feeling of happiness; you can give red wine a feeling of happiness." This was the tacit understanding and secret between a sommelier and red wine, transcending class and everything else.
Tang Ke Xin bit her lower lip, feeling her entire body trembling violently. She blinked twice and suddenly asked in a soft voice: "May I ask, Miss Ren, how are you feeling today?"
Zhuang Haoran heard this sentence, his eyes flickered slightly, and he looked at her with a slight tilt of his head.
Ren Zi Xian smiled and thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not in a good mood today, feeling very depressed. Since morning, I've had a heavy, numbing sensation that makes it hard to open up my heart. But even though my mood is bad, my taste buds are quite good, leaning towards rich, full-bodied red wine."
Tang Ke Xin listened and then asked softly: "May I ask what dishes you've ordered?"
Ren Zi Xian smiled and said: "I ordered French royal foie gras, red wine braised chicken, black caviar, and white asparagus flambé strawberries."
Zhuang Hanran glanced at Ren Zixian and deliberately recited the dishes in a jumbled order to test the reaction of the wine server.
Tang Ke Xin's eyes fluttered lightly as she listened intently to Ren Zi Xian's words, then softly said: "You still have a cold dish, which should be Western-style smoked duck breast with apple sauce, followed by black caviar, then foie gras roll, and finally royal French goose liver, in the middle of white truffle flame strawberry..."
Ren Zi Xian's face showed a satisfied smile as he said, "Do you know the order in which I ordered my dishes?" But Tang Da was taken aback.
"You said you're feeling down today, and in Western cuisine, apple sauce has a mood-regulating effect. The aroma of apples itself also has a calming effect on people. Last time I served you, I found that you have very high standards for food, always requiring the flavor to be 100% perfect. Someone who has high standards for food will naturally make full use of it to bring out the most authentic flavors." Tang Ke Xin said quickly.
Ren Zi Xian smiled and said: "Okay, then you pick a bottle of red wine for me."
Tang Ke Xin thought for a moment and said: "Please wait a minute, I'll go pick some wine."
"Alright! I'm waiting for you! If you satisfy me today, I'll add 50% to your salary and promote you to be the leader!" Ren Zixian said with a smile.
Chen Manhong suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and turned to look at Tang Kexin.
Tang Ke Xin's clear and cold eyes blinked slightly, then nodded, before retreating two steps back, turning around and walking into the wine area.
Chen Manhong looked at Tang Kexin's frail back with some concern, hesitated for a moment, then immediately retreated two steps, turned around and left the dining hall in big strides. She walked past the long corridor, saw a chef assistant carrying a dish of food for a British guest, quickly passed by them, and entered the kitchen. The entire kitchen was already on fire at this moment, with the sound of sizzling hot stoves, the old chef wearing a white chef uniform stood solemnly in front of the cold dishes, took over the plate handed over by another chef, suddenly frowned, lowered his head, looked at the plate in his hand and shouted: "Little Li!! Didn't I tell you just now!! The plate for caviar must be chilled, don't you know?!"
Xiao Lizi suddenly stood tensely beside him, looking at his master, and wanted to beg for mercy!
"Get out! Useless thing!" The old chef angrily threw the plate aside, just thinking of asking his assistant to get him another one. Who knew that Chen Manhong would rush in anxiously again? He immediately took off his chef's hat and shouted at Chen Manhong: "Just now Cao Yingjie came in and messed with me, not enough for you to come in and go crazy too?! Whoever comes, I treat them the same! Whether it's the emperor or anyone else, get out if you have nothing to do here! Don't just barge into my kitchen and yell orders around! This isn't a place for you to give orders!"
Chen Manhong stood still, looking at the old chef with a helpless expression and said: "Oh dear, this is Miss Zi Xian's meal, I'm nervous of course. Old Chef, you must do it carefully."
"When was I not serious? Get out, get out, get out." The old chef had just finished speaking when he saw his assistant tear the duck breast into strips and place them on a transparent plate. He immediately walked over to examine the duck strips, checking if they were long or short, thin or thick. He even reached out with his hand to put some in a bowl to inspect them more closely. After studying them carefully, he finally turned around, satisfied, and saw another assistant slicing an apple that had been peeled into thin pieces, like paper. However, this assistant seemed to be afraid of cutting through the apple slices, so his movements were slightly slower.
"Let me do it, at your speed, when can you master the kitchen?" The old chef quickly took over the apprentice's knife, squeezed him out with one swift motion, picked up the knife, and with a focused gaze, pressed down on the apple with his thumb and index finger. With a few swift chops, he sliced the apple into pieces as if by magic. In just three seconds, all the young chefs were staring at the old chef in awe, their mouths agape. Before they could even react, the old chef had already chopped the apple slices into thin strips, finishing with a flourish.
"Up with the dish!" The old chef shouted.
A young chef immediately handed a plate to his master.
The old chef carefully picked up the spoon and scooped three spoons of apple silk, placing it at the bottom of the bowl to create a beautiful color effect. Then, he dotted several drops of red sauce around the apple silk...
The kitchen was bustling, and Chen Manhong hurried out again, quickly walking into the red wine area. She anxiously looked at Tang Kexin standing alone in front of the shelf, who was unusually calm today, gazing at the dazzling array of red wines in front of her. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes shone with a unique, refined light as she faced the wines.
"Ke Xin!" Chen Manhong came to Tang Ke Xin's side and said anxiously, "Are you sure you can pick out Miss Ren's favorite red wine? I'm telling you, don't mess around, she's not someone to be trifled with. She might let it slide the first time, but not the second time!"
Tang Ke Xin silently put on a pair of white gloves, took down the 2000 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, the 1883 Chateau Margaux, and then another bottle of American New World's Chardonnay. The three bottles of red wine were placed together on the dining car.
"What are you doing? Last time, three bottles of wine were sent to the top floor, and something big happened, do you know?" Chen Manhong said sternly to Tang Kexin.
Tang Ke Xin didn't say a word, but instead tensely told Xiao Rou: "Xiao Rou, quickly! Go to the counter and get me a cup of apple juice with no skin or pulp, strained."
Xiao Rou was just standing nervously in the wine and water room, when she heard Ke Xin call her, and immediately ran out obediently.
"Dead girl..." Chen Manhong watched as Xiao Rou slipped out, she had wanted to scold her, but saw Ke Xin pushing the food cart and walking out. Chen Manhong was anxious and followed closely behind her, saying: "I'm telling you, if Cao Yuqing that dead old hen said something like that, don't wear such a big hat with such a small brain! Look at you!!"
Tang Ke Xin didn't make a sound, she quickly pushed the food cart out, just in time to see the waiters serving dishes to everyone. The last waiter finally presented the Western-style roasted duck breast with apple sauce in front of Ren Zi Xian. Tang Ke Xin saw this and immediately pushed the food cart carefully to the table.
Four people stared at her together, including Jiang Tiankuai, who was cold and calm, also slightly raised his eyes to look at her.
"You choose three bottles of wine, what does it mean?" Ren Zixian looked at Tang Kexin and asked in confusion.
Zhuang Hanran also sat up straight, looked at her seriously for a moment, then glanced at the red wine she had pushed over - 2000 Pinot Noir, 1883 Cabernet Sauvignon, and New World Chardonnay.
Tang Ke Xin stood in front of the dinner table, speaking softly: "Red wine, after experiencing wind and rain, is picked, squeezed, filtered, and goes through many processes before being poured into oak barrels. Depending on its body, it may be aged for ten years, several decades, or even hundreds of years. However, no matter what, red wine only has one kind, but every person's taste buds are ever-changing, and their mood is also ever-changing. So now... based on experience, I'll choose a suitable red wine to give you a pink-colored heart."
Ren Zi Xian heard this sentence and looked at her deeply before slowly saying a few words: "Pink feelings?"
"Yes!" Tang Ke Xin nodded.
The entire restaurant staff couldn't help but curiously look at Tang Ke Xin, wondering how this usually quiet and seemingly fragile girl could suddenly appear in the hotel's highest VIP room?
Ren Zi Xian thought for a moment, then lifted his head and looked at her, smiling: "Alright! Let's get started then."
"Yes!" Tang Ke Xin immediately nodded in response, earlier wanting to turn around, but then saw the bottle of Amontillado that Zhuang Hao Ran had picked out earlier, her heart inexplicably shrinking back a bit, yet still firmly turning around, coming to the dinner table, picking up the corkscrew...
