Ch. 1101..1120
Chapter 1101: Peggy Lewis Felt a Sudden Jolt in Her Heart_1 She looked at Lyke Zhekova with indescribable exasperation, and Lyke returned her gaze with an utterly innocent expression.
He was merely stating the facts.
Had he said anything wrong?
Peggy Lewis: “…”
“When did you get here?” Peggy Lewis ended up changing the subject.
Lyke Zhekova made room for Peggy Lewis to sit down, saying, “Just arrived.”
“You’ve just woken up, and it’ll be lunchtime in about two hours.
Want me to make you an egg to tide your stomach over?” Mrs.
...
Lewis asked.
“No need, I’ll just fix myself some yogurt-based cereal to fill up a bit.” Peggy Lewis replied.
“That’s fine too.” Mrs.
Lewis nodded.
Peggy Lewis rose and went back into the kitchen, grabbing a glass bowl for herself.
Even though she doesn’t cook, Peggy is still quite particular about her tableware.
She loves purchasing pretty bowls and dishes.
With her meals prepared at home by Mrs.
Lewis, who has impressive culinary skills, these beautiful dishes make them even more appetizing.
When Peggy lives at her home, she doesn’t cook much, but she does enjoy some fruit.
Cutting the fruit and putting it into these beautiful bowls and dishes makes it a visually pleasant meal.
On regular days, whether she’s drinking alcohol or fruit juice, she has many beautiful cups she uses.
This habit was also brought over to Lyke Zhekova’s house.
While living at Lyke’s, due to Lyke also not having the habit of cooking at home, there tended to be a lack of dishes at home.
As Peggy loves buying them, she promptly shopped at Amazon online shop and got many of them delivered.
All the dishes at her parent’s house were purchased by her, naturally fitting her aesthetic.
On the glass bowl, printed in small black letters, it reads ‘Good Morning’.
Quite fitting given the circumstances.
Peggy Lewis poured some yogurt cereal into the bowl.
The cereal included various fruit-flavored yogurt chunks and freeze-dried fruits.
These included freeze-dried strawberries, apples, coconut slices, and crispy bits that Peggy couldn’t identify.
Then she poured milk over it.
She’s not a huge fan of plain milk.
But after being soaked with these freeze-dried fruits and yogurt, the milk takes on a sweet fruit flavor.
That’s something Peggy Lewis really likes.
Upon returning with her bowl, she naturally took a seat next to Lyke Zhekova.
As Mrs.
Lewis watched these two in their harmonious dealings, she liked them more and more.
“I heard from Peggy Lewis that she has already visited your elder’s home?” Mrs.
Lewis asked.
“Our family mansion is Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt’s house.” Lyke says.
“She’s been there twice.
The last time on Saturday, my father was there as well.
Among our generation, he ranks third.”
Lyke Zhekova elaborated on the composition of his family members and said, “My Second Uncle and Second Aunt are Adrian’s grandparents, Adrian’s father, being their only son, who is the eldest in the family, is my older brother.”
“My second and third brothers are from my Big Uncle’s family.
However, Big Uncle and Big Aunt have passed away.
So, my Second Uncle and Second Aunt are the eldest in the family.
On important holidays, we usually gather at their place.
When we mention our family mansion, it is Second Uncle and Second Aunt’s house.” Lyke explained.
“My Second Uncle, Second Aunt, and my father, all have met Peggy Lewis, and they all like her very much.” Lyke says.
“Initially, the Old Master and Old Madam met her due to Cindy Clarke.
Cindy often told us how good she got along with Peggy, and Morgan never stopped mentioning Peggy as well.
So, thanks to Cindy and Morgan, our family was already aware that Peggy is a wonderful girl.”
“Later, when Peggy went to watch Cindy’s competition, she happened to meet our family.
After meeting her in person, we all genuinely liked her so much.” Lyke looks at Peggy Lewis as he says this.
Peggy Lewis’s heart made an inexplicable jump at this moment.
Though Lyke said “we”, Peggy’s heart was thumping unusually hard.
Watching Lyke talk felt like he was declaring that the one who liked her was him.
Mrs.
Lewis seeing that it was about time, said, “I am going to prepare lunch.
Last night’s dinner was prepared by Cindy and Peggy, Lyke, you haven’t tasted my cooking.
Give it a try today at lunch.”
Mrs Lewis knew that Lyke would be accustomed to good food.
After all, they owned several restaurants, offering various delicacies, so what hadn’t he tasted?
And there was Cindy too.
But if they haven’t had home-cooked meals in a while, wouldn’t they eat them too?
So, Mrs.
Lewis didn’t show any hesitation.
No sooner spoken than she hurriedly got up and went off to the kitchen.
Mrs.
Lewis was currently in the mindset of hosting his future son-in-law, so she busily prepared lunch in the kitchen.
Though it was lunch for only four, Mrs.
Lewis still prepared a table full of dishes.
Fortunately, she bought quite a lot yesterday.
So did Peggy Lewis.
Because they bought so many ingredients, they ended up not using many of them.
Add to that the seafood Adrian and Cindy brought along, today’s lunch turned out to be quite lavish.
After they finished their lunch, Mr.
Lewis and Mrs.
Lewis did not let Peggy stay at home anymore.
Normally, she would return home over the weekend and leave in the afternoon.
That way, she can still go back and rest, adjusting her energy for the following week’s work.
Hence, after lunch, they hung out for a little over an hour before Lyke Zhekova and Peggy Lewis left.
As the two of them were leaving, it took Mr.
Lewis a while to realize something.
“Lyke made an effort to come and pick Peggy up, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did.” Mrs.
Lewis nodded.
Wasn’t that obvious?
“Where could those two be off to then?” Mr.
Lewis asked.
“Why do you care where they are off to?
It’s great for young people to go out on dates.” Mrs.
Lewis replied, “If you ask me, I don’t think Peggy should come home every week.
It takes up too much of her dating time.”
“But that wouldn’t be right.
Even if she doesn’t live here anymore, she should at least come home for a day, shouldn’t she?” Mr.
Lewis immediately responded.
He misses his daughter.
“You’re just missing your daughter.
Don’t you see how tiresome it would be for her?” Mrs.
Lewis stated.
If you really care for Peggy Lewis, it’s okay to see her less often.
“Her job involves running errands which is more taxing than ordinary jobs.
It’s hard enough to get some rest, yet she still has to travel home.” Mrs.
Lewis added.
Mr.
Lewis looked somewhat unhappy at her words and responded, “Is it too much to ask to have her come home and have a look?”
Mrs.
Lewis snorted and said, “With this time, I’d rather have her get a little more rest.”
“She usually stays home on weekends without going out, and you’re happy with that.
But she won’t have time to meet more people and widen her social circle.
This could be overlooked, but now she’s with Lyke, they should be dating, right?”
“The young have things to do that suits their age, they can’t always be here with us.
After she gets married, do you still expect her to come back every week?”
Chapter 1102: It’s Not a Big Deal_1 “At that time, she not only had to look after her own family, but also her in-laws and her own home.
Being only one person divided into three parts, and also having to work, that’s four parts.
How busy must she have been?”
“No matter what others think, as parents, shouldn’t we understand and empathize with her first?
If we don’t understand her, how can we expect others to?
Minimizing her burdens as much as possible is the best we can do.” Mrs.
Lewis said, “If we can give her a break, then we should.”
“We also went through that phase, we know how hard and busy it was, don’t we?” Mrs.
Lewis said.
...
“Humph!” Mr.
Lewis said, “You think you’re the only one who cares for our daughter and knows how to be a good person.
Do you think I want her to be tired?”
“All I want is to spend as much time as possible with her before she gets married.
You think I don’t care about our daughter, you think I don’t want her to rest more?” Mr.
Lewis sighed.
“But once she’s married, she’ll have her own family.
As you said, we’ve all been through that.
Naturally, we know that once you start a family, your parents have to step back.
Naturally, her first priority will be her own little family.” Mr.
Lewis said.
“Most of us undergo this transformation, I’m prepared for it.
That’s why I want to spend more time with Peggy before she gets married.
After marriage, we’ll have to step back.” Mr.
Lewis said in a low voice.
“Besides her own little family, don’t she also has to look after her in-laws?
Especially since she’ll become someone’s daughter-in-law, she can’t give others a bad impression.
She needs to balance both families, even giving more attention to her in-laws to gain their approval.”
“By then, we’ll have to step back a bit for her sake, to avoid putting her in a difficult position.” After thinking about it, Mr.
Lewis felt sad.
Having a daughter is like having a precious treasure.
But once the daughter gets married, she has to make such a big sacrifice.
Can this not upset him?
His own precious daughter, who he cherished for more than twenty years, will have to tread carefully in someone else’s family.
What father would be willing to see this?
Mr.
Lewis was not harboring any ill will towards the Zhekova family.
Mr.
Lewis did not think as delicately as Mrs.
Lewis.
He did not even consider Peggy’s in-laws being from the Zhekova family.
It was just an analogy.
Mr.
Lewis currently has no definite concept of who the in-laws will be, he just made a presupposition.
Mrs.
Lewis sighed.
Although she knows Lyke Zhekova’s feelings for Peggy,
She hadn’t dared to blatantly consider the Zhekova family as her in-laws just yet.
So she understood what Mr.
Lewis meant.
“Let’s see how things turn out.
It’s not the time yet.” Mrs.
Lewis said.
Mr.
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Lewis nodded and compromised, “Now that you say it, Peggy is quite tired.
Let’s not make her come home every week.
She can come see us when she misses us.”
“Ah!” Mrs.
Lewis nodded with a smile.
***
Cindy Clarke was at home creating a new recipe.
Meanwhile, Adrian Zhekova was sitting at the bar, keeping her company.
Watching Cindy cook brought him pleasure, he was not bored at all.
Ocassionally, he chatted in the Eighty-Eight Sixty-Four group, replying a sentence or two.
“By the way, the competition for the remaining 9 places in the International Culinary Competition will be held in Pingla next month.” Adrian Zhekova said, “Do you want to participate?”
Cindy hadn’t mentioned it, and Adrian wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
Cindy shook her head, saying, “I’m not planning to participate this year.”
“Why?” Adrian asked, “Because of what happened with Jenny Kirk?”
“Do I look like the kind of person who backs down because of unfair treatment?” Cindy said, “The more unfair it is, the more motivated I am.
I want to win and show them that even if they play their little games, it won’t work.
In the face of absolute strength, no tactics will work.”
While stirring the egg mixture, Cindy said, “It’s just that after participating in this culinary competition at home, I’ve found that there is still much I need to learn.”
“The participant that Pingla Academy sent this time was just a newcomer.” Cindy said.
“Not exactly new, they just didn’t count the graduating seniors.” Adrian reminded.
Cindy shook her head, “That still means they lacked a year of study time and experience.
Which grade is Parker Honi in?”
Adrian paused before saying, “Second year.”
“See, even winning against Parker Honi was difficult.” Cindy said, “Even without Jenny Kirk’s meddling, my skills are only on par with Parker Honi’s.
Either of us winning would be acceptable.
It’s just because Jenny Kirk messed things up, that most people felt it was unfair and thought I should have won.”
“Actually, if Parker Honi had won, it would have been justified.” Cindy said.
“If I compete against the entire Pingla Academy, against more people, and not limited to those under 30, with my skills, how far can I make it?
I don’t know, but I’m sure there are much more outstanding people in Pingla Academy.”
“Even just considering the skill level within Pingla Academy, I don’t know if I could make it to the top ten.” Cindy didn’t have a clear understanding of the standards at Pingla Academy,
So she couldn’t make a good judgement.
However, Adrian knew, “You’ll definitely be in the top ten.”
“If you participated this time, you’d definitely make the top ten and get invited to the international competition.” Adrian said again.
“I want to try defending a title.” Cindy said.
“Defend a title?”
“Mmhm.” Cindy nodded, “In this International Culinary Competition, aren’t the official competitors dispatched to various countries to compete for badges?
The top ten teams with the most badges from each country will then compete in Des Moines, correct?”
Adrian nodded.
“In every country, the official competitors are busy winning badges and naturally don’t have time to wait for competitors from other countries at home.
There will naturally be some defending a title.” Cindy said.
The official regulations had not been disclosed.
However, those in top management like Adrian knew of it.
Knowing Cindy’s character, Adrian kept it to himself even though he knew the rules.
Cindy didn’t want him to spoil anything before it was announced.
Unexpectedly, even without mentioning anything, Cindy had already guessed it correctly.
Adrian looked at Cindy with a smile, his eyes filled with pride.
Cindy was so smart, even without telling her, she guessed it accurately.
That was Cindy for you.
She was just too impressive!
Adrian’s face was filled with immense pride.
It made Cindy somewhat embarrassed.
With a red face, she busied herself keeping her head down, yet Adrian’s gaze was too intense.
Cindy just couldn’t ignore it.
She couldn’t even concentrate on her work.
Blushing, she said: “My little guess isn’t something incredible.”
Chapter 1103: Very Remarkable_1 “No, it’s really impressive.
Believe it or not, ask anyone, they definitely didn’t think of this.” Adrian Zhekova said, looking straight at Cindy Clarke.
He spoke with particular satisfaction and pride, “My Cindy is just that amazing.
You should not be modest.”
When he said this, Cindy was even more embarrassed.
She felt that Adrian Zhekova was now just self-promoting very blatantly.
“So, I want to get a feel for the International Culinary Competition’s strength this year.
I’ll be part of the Defensive Team; the rest from different countries who come to compete are all regular team members, but I can still compete with them and understand their abilities.”
“Actually, the defensive side, in the public perception, might only be considered substitutes.
...
But strategically speaking, if we can make other countries’ regular team members earn one less badge, their ranking might drop slightly, and our team’s ranking might improve.”
“The opponents we end up against in the competition might be weaker than us.” Cindy analyzed, she stopped what she was doing and told Adrian Zhekova about her plan entirely focused.
“In this way, it helps our team either to win the championship or to achieve the best possible ranking.
I think not only did I think of this, every country would have figured it out.
They’re not stupid, so among the defensive teams, there must be one or two strong competitors.”
“Since you say I can rank in the top ten at Pingla Academy, then my strength should be quite good, right?” Cindy said. Adrian Zhekova didn’t give Cindy any chance to be modest.
He directly said, “Yes, very strong.”
Cindy couldn’t help but laugh.
She even doubted if Adrian had a filter, rating her skills extraordinarily high.
Lacking a certain impartiality.
“At least my presence can increase the difficulty for the teams that come to compete.
What if it makes them earn one less badge?” Cindy said.
“This would help our official team, right?” Cindy added.
Adrian Zhekova nodded, “Indeed, it would.
In terms of the competition’s outcome, having you on the defensive side would significantly boost our advantage.”
“Not just in terms of the result.” Cindy said with a smile, “Even if the defensive side has one or two strong competitors, their overall strength is definitely weaker than the offensive side.”
“In other words, the official team members can’t experience the top levels from all countries.
They only meet in the top ten.
But the top ten teams are just a part of each country’s top teams.
The eliminated teams are not necessarily weak; they simply don’t have enough badges.”
“On the other hand, being on the defensive side allows you to encounter the top teams from every country.” Cindy said, “If you don’t care about getting awards or being recognized worldwide during live broadcasts, being on the defensive side actually exposes you to a larger variety of international teams, allows you to participate in more competitions, and learning as much as an official competitor.”
“The official competitors can receive guidance from the judges.
But the defensive team members can compete with competitors from more countries and experience more international cuisines firsthand.” Cindy said.
“Most chefs rarely get a chance to travel and experience the food of each country.
Like Charles Dean, he only visited a few key countries.
If you really want to come into contact with authentic cuisine from all countries, participating in the defensive competition is a good opportunity.”
“I want to make a name for myself, not to get lots of attention, but hoping more people will notice our country’s cuisine.
Recognize the authentic Chinese Cuisine, not the ones that have been modified abroad, the ones our people have never eaten or heard of.”
“I want more people to accept our country’s cuisine.” Cindy said, “And making a name for myself is a necessary step.
Only then can people taste my food.
Just like Charles Dean, because he is so famous, more and more people are curious and want to taste his food, to understand why he is so famous and how delicious his food is.”
“However, these are all things for the future.
Before that, I still have a lot to learn and improve.” Cindy said, “Luckily I’m still young, I still have time.”
“Things always have to be taken step by step, climb up slowly.
You can’t get fat with one bite, and you can’t reach the peak with one step.” Cindy laughed.
“So this year, I want to be on the defensive first, just to observe.
The defensive side also gets exposure to those outstanding competitors.” Cindy said.
“Good.” Adrian understood Cindy’s thoughts and readily agreed, “As long as you like it, it’s all good.”
Adrian praised, “My Cindy is such a thoughtful and ordered person, always steady, always taking it step by step.”
“What’s up with you today?” Cindy blushed at all of Adrian’s praise, “Have you become a complimenting tool today?”
Adrian laughed, “I just think that way, so I just said it.”
“If you want to become a member of the defensive group, you still have to compete, right?” Cindy asked
“Yes, you still have to participate in competitions within Pingla.” Adrian answered, “The top nine automatically become official team members, and the 10th to 19th become substitutes, that is the defensive side.
After the official competition starts, these 10 defensive team members will also go to Des Moines to serve as substitute members.
In case any competition issues occur that impact the performance of the official competitors, or if they simply can’t compete, substitutes will go on.”
“However, what if you go to the competition and directly take first place?
If you want to give up your place on the official team and let the rest move up, it might work.
I won’t comment on the contestants outside of Pingla, but the students of Pingla Academy are all very proud.”
“If you choose to withdraw from the official team and let the vacancies roll down.
This would let the originally intended substitute member get promoted into the official team.
But I’m afraid neither the substitutes nor the official team members would be satisfied.”
Official team members don’t want to be with the promoted team members who are promoted due to Cindy’s refusal even though they are not as skilled.
And the substitutes who are promoted because of this would not want this offered vacancy.”
Cindy blinked her eyes, staring at Adrian in disbelief.
Adrian touched his face and listened to Cindy asking, “Are you that confident in me?
Do you think I can definitely win?”
“Yes.” Adrian nodded without hesitation.
Chapter 1104: Significant Increase in Strength_1 “You may not have a concrete understanding of Pingla Academy’s strength, but I do.
If you don’t believe me, you could ask Samson Zhekova, the Headmaster of Pingla Academy.
He would know even better than I do.” Adrian Zhekova said, pulling out his mobile phone, ready to ask Samson Zhekova’s opinion.
Cindy Clarke hurriedly stopped him, “You already have a deep understanding.
There’s no need to ask Samson too.”
Asking Samson Zhekova over such a trivial matter could make it seem like she was boasting.
“Despite the competitors in the Pingla Competition may not be the strongest ones from Pingla Academy, they are undoubtedly within the elite range.
As for Parker Honi’s strength, even within Pingla Academy, he ranks among the top ten.”
Pingla Academy doesn’t hold back their powerful students from competing.
...
They hold auditions within the first to the third grades range, and the competition is still fierce.
“Adrian Zhekova explained,” The selected students, although not all are among the top ten in overall strength at Pingla Academy, at least Parker Honi definitely is.
The second and third rankings can compete too.”
“Your strength is on par with Parker Honi who is in the solid top ten in Pingla Academy, therefore by using him as a comparison, you will definitely be in the top ten,” Adrian Zhekova said.
“The Pingla Academy competitors you’ve encountered are, in fact, outstanding students within the Academy,” Adrian Zhekova explained.
Cindy Clarke would also undoubtedly not deliberately lose a match to control her ranking.
As long as there’s a competition, she will surely give her all.
“Let’s leave it to fate then,” Cindy Clarke shrugged her shoulders, “If I manage to win myself into the top ten, I’ll go with the team to Des Moines.
If my strength doesn’t reach the top ten, I’m perfectly suited to be on the defensive team.”
“Actually, it’s not necessarily true that the top ten will be part of the official team.” Adrian Zhekova said, “Just as you’ve analyzed, defense is crucial.
Having one less badge for teams from other countries.”
“Even the difference of one badge could result in a significant change in rankings.
If we can aim to take down the stronger teams’ badges, it will be of significant help to us,” Adrian Zhekova said.
“So when we select people, we don’t just pick the ones with the best performance results to put on the official competition team.
The arrangement for the defensive team also requires balanced consideration.”
Since it’s a competition, myriad uncontrollable factors may occur.
Even during the competition.
Apart from those external unpredictable factors, there’s also the player’s performance.
Perhaps a player has strong skills, but they underperform during the competition.
In Adrian Zhekova’s opinion, truly skilled players must perform stably to be deemed so.
If they underperform in a competition, that simply means their skills aren’t sufficient.
But if such an accident happens, and the player unexpectedly drops out of the top ten and ends up on the defensive team.
If such a situation occurs, it’s quite suitable.
“At that time, Samson Zhekova will brainstorm a plan with the teachers at Pingla.” Adrian Zhekova said.
“What if the selected contestant doesn’t want to join the defensive team?” Cindy Clarke asked.
“We would definitely not make things difficult for the contestants.
We’d respect their wishes,” Adrian Zhekova said, “We won’t directly inform them to defend.
We will first ask if they’re willing.
When choosing, we will select several alternatives to ask, one at a time.”
“There will always be willing ones.” Adrian Zhekova said, “Generally, that’s the case, of course, if no one is willing, then we’d have to give up.
We’d rank according to the scores, and let the players behind take turns being on the defensive team.”
“But generally, the contestants from Pingla have a strong team spirit.
They’re not fixated on their fame.
In their eyes, strength comes first, then the team’s performance, and lastly their own fame.”
“In Pingla, they never lack opportunities to become famous.
Pingla has given them various opportunities.
From the moment they enter Pingla, they’ve been in the spotlight.” Adrian Zhekova said.
“Therefore, when team spirit is needed, they do not care whether their reputation can be developed,” Adrian Zhekova said, “Of course, this only applies to students from Pingla.
Since the International Culinary Competition’s auditions are open to the public, many outside chefs will participate.”
“However, in fact, every audition ends with Pingla students winning the spots.
It’s not biased judging, but rather, external chefs do not measure up to Pingla students,” Adrian Zhekova said with a touch of pride.
After all, these outstanding students were all trained at Pingla.
It’s hard not to be proud.
“So every time the official team is actually made up of Pingla students.
Occasionally, if there is a contestant from outside Pingla it means they are exceptional.
Basically, they’re aiming for fame.
We don’t ask them to stay on the defensive team.”
“It’s already very tough for them to win and join, we only negotiate with the students from Pingla,” Adrian Zhekova said.
Cindy Clarke nodded and said, “In that case, if it’s appropriate, I can join the defensive team.”
“Okay,” Adrian Zhekova nodded, agreeing with Cindy Clarke.
How could he possibly refuse his wife’s request?
Besides, with Cindy Clarke’s strength, the defensive team will surely gain a significant boost.
This is a no-loss and all-gain situation.
And, they won’t need to consult students from Pingla again.
Pingla students would agree to stay for team spirit.
But if they can go battle out there, they’d definitely prefer the latter.
Cindy Clarke’s choice undoubtedly gave other contestants more options.
Moreover, Cindy Clarke volunteered entirely of her own will.
It saves a lot of trouble.
“By the way, what are the requirements to study at Pingla Academy?” Cindy Clarke asked.
“Are you thinking of studying at Pingla?” Adrian Zhekova asked.
Cindy Clarke nodded, “Although I’ve learned for three years from my master, I still want to experience Pingla.”
Adrian Zhekova listened to Cindy Clarke’s reason.
Adrian Zhekova originally didn’t expect that Cindy Clarke’s master turned out to be Master Santiago Longhurst.
Santiago Longhurst is an extremely famous chef in the Hearth Nation.
Calling him a leading figure wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Ɲονɢο.сο
Santiago Longhurst’s ancestor was once an imperial chef.
Just like the Clarke Family.
Being an imperial chef doesn’t mean they get to monopolize the emperor’s kitchen and pass it down from generation to generation.
There are also different family inheritances, serving different emperors with their distinct imperial chefs.
The Clarke Family is one line.
The Longhurst Family is another.
Those truly core skills, Santiago Longhurst could only pass it down to his own family.
Chapter 1105: No Need to Take It So Seriously_1 Santiago Longhurst is a State Banquet Chef and is intending to raise his inheritors as such chefs as well.
Cindy Clarke was fortunate to learn from him, thanks to the connections made by the head Chef of the restaurant where she worked.
She had to go through several channels before being able to study under Santiago Longhurst.
She only studied with him for three years.
She is classified as a disciple of Santiago Longhurst’s; however, she doesn’t count as a principal line disciple.
Nonetheless, Santiago Longhurst liked Cindy Clarke all the same.
Cindy Clarke’s dedication, comprehension, and persistence towards cuisine all made Santiago Longhurst very satisfied.
...
It was only due to the rules of the Longhurst family that she could not be accepted as a principal line disciple.
But whatever Santiago Longhurst could teach Cindy Clarke within the rules, he did so with no reservation.
He couldn’t bear to see such a promising talent being wasted.
Moreover, Santiago Longhurst had regretted many times.
It would have been better if Cindy Clarke were part of the Longhurst family, and if the Longhurst family didn’t have so many rules.
He would have imparted all his knowledge to her.
Even for someone like Santiago Longhurst, he doesn’t hold great power within the Longhurst family.
He too has many limitations.
Despite this, although Cindy Clarke is not a principal line disciple, in Santiago Longhurst’s eyes, she is no different from one.
Because of this experience, Cindy Clarke also made some disciples who are now her brothers and sisters.
Her relationship with them is quite good.
Cindy Clarke remembers that she seemed to have a junior fellow apprentice under the Pingla Academy.
Although he is studying under Santiago Longhurst, he is absorbing different knowledge in Pingla at night.
Cindy Clarke always felt that she took the time she spent learning from Santiago Longhurst well.
If she had the opportunity, she would also like to learn more in the Pingla Academy.
Santiago Longhurst also told her that due to these rules, whatever he could teach her had already been taught in these three years.
Actually, what he couldn’t teach, won’t cause any loss to Cindy Clarke.
As long as the fundamentals are there, and she had the skills, Cindy Clarke could explore and create even more new cuisines on her own.
That was what Santiago Longhurst had told her.
She had skills, and she doesn’t need to limit herself to existing recipes.
Cindy Clarke also believed the same.
Because Santiago Longhurst had already taught everything he could teach.
He told her not to study with him anymore.
There was nothing left to learn, and continuing would be a waste of time.
If there’s a chance, Cindy Clarke can go study in Pingla.
There, she would be able to learn more.
Cindy Clarke has always remembered this.
However, since Morgan Zhekova is around, Cindy Clarke cannot leave Morgan and go to study.
At the time, earning money and raising Morgan was her first priority.
If she were to go study, she could continue recording videos.
But, she could no longer maintain the previous update frequency.
So, Cindy Clarke has always had this in her mind, but she has yet to make it come true.
Now that she is free, Cindy thought of this again.
There’s no need for boarding at Pingla; she could just go to school like how she goes to work.
With no financial pressure now, Cindy Clarke can completely do what she truly wants to do.
“Pingla should have many things that I still don’t know how to do,” Cindy Clarke said, “Just by participating in the Pingla Competition alone, I have already learned a lot from the judges’ comments.
I think that if I could study in Pingla, I would definitely learn more.” “So, is there any problem?” Adrian Zhekova asked, “There are normally a few requirements to enroll in Pingla.
Let’s not talk about the tuition.” Pingla is notoriously expensive.
That’s why each of Parker Honi’s family members is rich.
Ordinary families can’t afford the high tuition fees of Pingla.
It’s not that Pingla deliberately raises the prices to enhance its prestige.
Inside Pingla, you can virtually say that Michelin-starred chefs are everywhere, and prestigious living places are aplenty.
Not to mention, there are all sorts of competitions and exchanges from time to time.
Inviting renowned head chefs from all over the world to Pingla to give either long-term or short-term lectures.
It can be said that all chefs whose names are known have lectured at Pingla.
Even the general public who don’t usually pay attention to the culinary field could name a few world-famous chefs.
Imagine how well-known they are.
To invite these head chefs for classes and employ famous chefs from home and abroad as formal lecturing teachers in Pingla all cost a lot.
With such inherent costs, tuition fees naturally have to be high.
Not to mention the various software and hardware facilities in Pingla that have already laid the foundation for the high tuition fees.
Therefore, the threshold for entering Pingla is high, and many chefs want to come in to study but can’t afford it.
“The most fundamental requirement is an entrance examination.
Every year the entrance examination has five teachers as main examiners.
You need votes from three or more examiners to get an admission quota,” Adrian explained.
“The enrollment exam at Pingla doesn’t test theoretical knowledge, it’s all about practice.
Through the practice exam, the examiners will start from every detail and observe if those problems that usually appear in the theory exam meet the requirements in practice.
No matter how good the theory is, it can only be completed through practice.
The practice just right to test their theoretical knowledge.” “Many candidates only think that as long as the final tasting of the cuisine is qualified, that’s enough.
However, they don’t know that the entire process of cooking, from preparation, production, to completion, is all within the scope of the examination.
A little carelessness leads to deducted points.
Many people are inadvertently deducted points.
After the examination, they miss several deduction points during the review,” Adrian explained.
“But it’s not enough just to pass the exam.
There are limited places for admission to the academy each year.
There are only a fixed number of quotas.
Once the number of people who pass the exam exceeds the amount the academy can accommodate, they will be ranked from high to low according to their scores, and when the number is reached, a cut-off line will be drawn.
Students who pass the exam but place after the cut-off line will not be able to meet the admission requirements.” Cindy Clarke nodded.
If you talk about strictness, it’s not really that strict.
Because only one test is needed.
It’s just because it’s the only chance, that makes it incredibly difficult.
“Of course, if you want to go, you can just go directly to classes, all these are unnecessary for you,” Adrian Zhekova said.
“Your skills have been proven through the competition.
Even if you go to the exam, you will definitely pass.
Even if you don’t take the exam, no one will question your skills,” Adrian Zhekova said with a smile.
“And, everyone knows that you are my wife.
Can’t I allow my wife to study in our own academy?
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Are you saying that even this level of privilege is not allowed?” Adrian Zhekova said, “If you have to follow the procedures and requirements, it would seem a bit forced.” Cindy Clarke nodded and agreed with what Adrian Zhekova said.
This is not a competition, so there is no need to be so bitingly exact and demanding fairness.
“And you’re only going to study for a period of time, you’re not planning to get a degree from Pingla, are you?” Adrian Zhekova asked with a laugh.
“Of course, I just want to study for a while, absorb some experiences I don’t know about,” Cindy Clarke said.
Chapter 1106: Guest Student_1 “You can just go as a guest student, no one can say anything about that,” Adrian Zhekova said.
Cindy Clarke is just a guest student, even though she didn’t pass the exam to enter Pingla, she didn’t intend to use a Pingla certificate to elevate her popularity or anything like that.
She’s just auditing the classes, what can anyone say about it?
Of course, with so many people at Pingla, Adrian Zhekova couldn’t stop everyone from voicing their opinions.
A large forest attracts all types of birds.
Inevitably, some people will even be displeased with this.
You never know what might happen.
...
But anyway, Adrian Zhekova and Cindy Clarke didn’t violate any admission rules of Pingla.
They complied with the requirements and adhered to the regulations of Pingla.
Moreover, Pingla has always allowed the attendance of guest students.
Like exchange students.
Pingla mainly conducts student exchanges with three other major international culinary academies.
They have a certain quota available every year for mutual learning and exchange with these schools.
There are also those who could genuinely afford a high auditing fee.
If even Pingla admits that the fee is high, then it certainly is high.
This is like giving money to Pingla.
Anyway, those teachers still teach Pingla’s students, adding a few more doesn’t make much difference.
What could also help increase Pingla’s income, improve the teachers’ welfare, and enhance the facilities within the school.
So, guest students in Pingla are often seen as big spenders by the ordinary students.
Those who cannot enter Pingla based on their grades and can only enter by paying the sponsorship fee on top of an auditing fee several times the tuition fee.
If they can’t get in through the exam and can only audit, it indicates a lack of ability.
Even if they come to study, they can’t keep up with the progress of other students.
And they contribute loads of money to the school.
The final result of what they would learn is uncertain.
If this is not a sucker, what is?
Cooking also requires talent, hard work isn’t enough.
Diligence can make up for clumsiness, but even then, at best you would end up being slightly above average, it’s already not bad if most people could maintain an average level.
For contemporary chefs, besides being diligent and hardworking, contributing more sweat than ordinary people, an extremely important factor is that they have talent.
Like Cindy Clarke, she has a gift called “absolute taste”, something that even people like Charles Dean wouldn’t possess, this is indeed an extremely rare talent.
Calling this a once-in-a-century occurrence isn’t an exaggeration.
Let’s put aside such rare talents.
When Cindy cooks, she has some preset expectations about the taste.
For what kind of seasoning should be used, the mixture would create what kind of flavor.
She has a general understanding of it.
She has a preset image in her mind.
What ingredients to use, what seasonings to match with, whether it tastes good or not, she can automatically generate a preset image of the taste in her mind.
This is also a kind of talent.
The cutting skills of a chef are perfected through calmness and meticulousness.
Therefore, if you can’t really get into Pingla, it just shows that your skills are not good enough, even if you go to Pingla to study, it will be difficult to keep up.
Only a few truly talented individuals who also work hard are exceptional, they come once in a blue moon.
After all, if they really are like this, they should be able to get into Pingla.
Many people are self-confident in their talents and are unwilling to work hard.
If he didn’t work hard before, would he start to work hard if he became a guest student in Pingla?
However, in the end, they are all paying money, which will improve their learning conditions.
Making their learning environment not just better, but the best.
But the situation for Cindy Clarke is different.
She has both talent and perseverance.
And it’s not because her grades were bad and thus she didn’t get into Pingla, but because she simply didn’t take the exam.
Her performance in the Pingla Competition is widely known.
So when it comes to it, any gossip about Cindy wouldn’t be convincing.
“When are you planning to go?” Adrian Zhekova asked.
As long as Cindy Clarke is willing, she can go at any time.
The doors of Pingla are always open, and she can enter whenever she wants.
“The competition is next month, and we still have more than half a month left.
I’ll go on Monday,” Cindy said, “Studying for another half a month at Pingla is still studying, and it will also familiarize me with the competition environment.” The auditions in our country will be held at the Pingla Academy.
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The domestic auditions have actually started long ago.
The final selection will be held in Pingla.
With so many people participating in the auditions, it would be time-consuming and unnecessary to hold such a solemn competition from the beginning at Pingla.
Cindy made it to the top ten in the Pingla Competition.
Although she didn’t win a direct qualifying spot, she automatically secured a spot in the finals, and she didn’t need to compete round after round anymore.
During the domestic qualifications, the competition begins with the top 50, which will be held at Pingla Academy.
The competition from top 50 to top 30 will be held simultaneously across multiple platforms to save time and increase the efficiency of the competition.
Then comes the competitions from top 30 to top 20, and from top 20 to top 10.
These will be flexibly arranged at that time, and competitions will be held concurrently.
It won’t be like during the Pingla Competition when they take it one match at a time.
During the Pingla Competition, there were live broadcasts.
On top of the competition, the watchability of the competition was also ensured, so they had only one match at a time.
But now the domestic qualifications are not live broadcast, at most, they are filmed on site and then released in batches on Pingla’s official website.
So in order to ensure the efficiency of the competition, they are held simultaneously.
This is just to determine the top ten through the auditions.
The top ten competitors from the Pingla Competition do not need to participate in this stage of the competition.
Parker Honi won the competition and automatically qualified for a direct spot.
The remaining nine people advance directly to the finals.
They compete with the ten competitors chosen from the auditions.
This is just the approximate competition system that Adrian Zhekova and Cindy Clarke talked about.
The specific rules of the competition will only be known at the time.
However, arriving early allows you to adapt to Pingla’s rhythm beforehand.
Having secured a spot in the finals, Cindy Clarke can take it more lightly this time.
She can also spend more time watching others compete.
Watching as an audience and competing on stage definitely produce completely different feelings.
Cindy is quite looking forward to enjoying this kind of relaxation.
“Okay,” Adrian Zhekova nodded.
Cindy Clarke auditing some courses at Pingla for a while is just the beginning.
Cindy may not know much about Pingla, but Adrian Zhekova suspects that she won’t stay at Pingla for too long.
Because there isn’t much left for Cindy to learn.
What she needs now is to communicate with some top chefs.
They can share their experiences with each other and compete in their cooking skills, and so on.
If she’s learning, I’m afraid she can’t learn much more.
Cindy probably thinks the same way about going to Pingla Academy.
The students in Pingla Academy are of high caliber, especially the very top ones.
As Adrian Zhekova said, Parker Honi’s skills can rank him in the top ten at Pingla Academy, but not necessarily first.
From Adrian Zhekova’s words, I estimate that Parker Honi would be in the later half of the top ten.
Even if he isn’t tenth, he might be around eighth or ninth.
No matter what his rank, it implies that there are people better than Parker Honi.
Chapter 1107: Full of Seeking Praise_1 Besides, there were many more teachers.
Just from people like Wesley Gordon, Cindy Clarke had already benefited greatly.
She wanted to have more interaction with the teachers.
That was the real reason she wanted to audit.
As for the graduation certificate from under the Pingla Academy, it wasn’t too important for Cindy Clarke.
Cindy Clarke cast a glance at Adrian Zhekova.
Exactly because of Adrian Zhekova’s presence, his support, she had the confidence.
...
Adrian Zhekova couldn’t help but puff up his chest under her gaze.
Oh, how loving Cindy Clarke’s gaze was.
In her eyes was a full approval of him.
This was a big motivation for Adrian Zhekova.
As long as he could get Cindy Clarke’s approval, he felt he was doing a decent job as a husband.
At least he was passing.
However, Adrian Zhekova wanted to hear Cindy Clarke praise him aloud.
So he shifted slightly in his seat and asked her, “Why are you suddenly looking at me like this?”
His face was practically begging for praise, just like Morgan Zhekova.
Like father, like son.
At that moment, Cindy Clarke really saw shades of Morgan Zhekova in Adrian’s face.
Cindy thought to herself how Adrian, despite his age, was like little Morgan.
Only, he didn’t do the hip-swaying, coquettish gestures that Morgan did.
Perhaps it was because she got used to seeing Morgan’s coquettish behavior, and unknowingly, she was influenced.
At that moment, she saw him as nothing more than a big kid.
Resting her elbow on the bar, her hand propping up her chin, she fulfilled Adrian’s wish and praised him, “It’s because of you that I can be so carefree.”
“See, I can attend lectures at Pingla whenever I want, without caring about its graduation certificate.
The ordinary person would definitely care, because the graduation certificate from Pingla definitely adds a gold touch to their resume, giving them a higher status within the industry.”
“But I don’t need that, because I already have a reputation.
Sure, being a food blogger, I already had some fame, and with my participation in the Pingla Competition, my fame has increased even more.
However, the reason I receive so much attention on top of this, is still because of you.”
“Because of you, the number of people who pay attention to me has increased, and these people have seen my culinary skills, and thus more people recognize my capabilities.
The graduation certificate from Pingla, therefore, is not that important to me.”
“Because of you, I feel at ease.” Cindy said.
She said it sincerely.
Adrian who was eager for praise could feel Cindy’s sincerity.
He knew that she really meant it and was not just saying it to appease him.
Adrian felt extremely satisfied and responded, “Oh no no no, I am not doing enough yet, I have a lot of room for improvement.”
“I will continue to work hard.” Adrian promised.
Cindy: “…”
Has he taken being a husband as another kind of job?
He’s done enough already, how good does he want to be?
Without realizing it, Cindy voiced out her thoughts.
“Just wait and see.” Adrian said.
The little guy was playing.
Listening to Cindy praising Adrian Zhekova, he also ran over quickly, saying, “What about me?
What about me?”
“What about you?” asked Adrian, raising an eyebrow.
He had done something praiseworthy, so Cindy praised him.
Why was this kid trying to butt in?
“I’m a big kid now, Cindy, you can go to school with peace of mind.” The little guy said, “Cindy, look, I am so obedient and understanding, doesn’t it make you feel reassured?”
The little guy blinked, his eyes full of “praise me”.
It seemed that Cindy had just praised Adrian, and he wasn’t satisfied.
Adrian: “…”
This kid, why does he have to compete with him over everything!
“Yes!” said Cindy with a laugh, “Our Morgan is a big boy now, and I can go to school with peace of mind, thanks to Morgan making things easier for me.”
The little guy was happy, and went on playing.
Adrian was also happy.
Because he noticed, Cindy was just indulging little Morgan.
Indeed, Cindy still treated him better.
Cindy: “…”
This father and son pairing, really, enough was enough.
Since Cindy already had a plan.
Adrian made a phone call to Samson Zhekova.
Samson Zhekova was now the headmaster of the Pingla Academy, and because of Adrian’s personal visit to Des Moines for negotiations.
Samson was promoted as the Vice president of the International Chefs Association.
Adrian thought, he couldn’t let Samson carry the title of Vice president for nothing, with absolutely no responsibility.
Being only the headmaster of the Pingla Academy was clearly not busy enough.
Samson seemed to have everything under control, even his daily life seemed quite relaxed.
Often he was seen wandering around in his IG stories.
Unlike him and Lyke Zhekova, they were busy as hell every day.
Adrian thought, he should arrange some more work for Samson.
Virtuoso was in the hands of Gabriel Zhekova and Ethan Zhekova, if he let Samson join, he was bound to be restrained.
Adrian did not plan to let Samson suffer this.
He thought of establishing a new catering brand.
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With Samson’s title of Vice president of the International Chefs Association, many customers would want to try Samson’s culinary skills.
Moreover, Samson was the third son of the Zhekova Family kitchen.
Wouldn’t the customers be curious to death?
Adrian was keen to dig out a little more value from Samson.
However, he hadn’t mentioned this to Samson yet.
For fear of scaring the kid if he told him too early, and causing Samson to leave prematurely, that would be bad.
This time on the phone, Adrian still did not mention his plan.
He just told Samson about Cindy wanting to audit, and asked him to make arrangements.
“Sure, no problem.” Samson agreed readily, “Don’t worry, brother, I assure you, sister-in-law won’t be wronged at Pingla.”
He was there at Pingla, watching it personally, who would dare to bully Cindy?
On this point, Adrian was assured.
“Alright, I’ll send your sister-in-law to school tomorrow.” Adrian said, “By the way, send me the schedule for next week, let your sister-in-law look at it first, so she can be prepared.”
“Okay.” Samson responded, “I’ll have people prepare your sister-in-law’s chef uniform and apron.”
The chefs uniforms and aprons of the students of Pingla Academy were all specially ordered with their names embroidered on them.
“Brother, send me your sister-in-law’s clothing measurements, I’ll get the logistics department to take care of it.” Samson said.
“Okay.” Adrian noted down.
“I will write a list of items that need to be brought in a moment.” Samson said, “Usually, chefs have their own preferred set of knives.
They get used to it, and moreover the weight, and size are all to their liking.
Although they can use others, they’re surely not as comfortable as their own.
Brother, ask your sister-in-law, if she is not used to the uniform knives, she can bring her own, if she doesn’t care, Pingla Academy has some as well.”
Samson said a few more miscellaneous things.
Chapter 1108: Familiar_1 Adrian Zhekova wrote it all down and, after hanging up the phone, relayed the information to Cindy Clarke.
Cindy naturally had her own preferred kitchen knives.
During the Pingla Competition, the competitors could only use the knives sponsored by the brand.
So, when the cameras zoomed in close, they would focus clearly on the brand logos.
Not that Cindy couldn’t use them, but she simply found them less convenient than her own set.
Now that she heard she could bring her own preferred knives, Cindy was naturally overjoyed.
Not long afterwards, Samson Zhekova sent over multiple well-organized checklists.
...
Samson really was quite efficient.
Cindy took note of each item.
The students at Pingla Academy were able to choose whether to live on campus or commute.
For out-of-town students, it was more convenient to choose dormitory life.
However, fewer students chose to live on campus.
While the dormitories were nice and everyone had their individual rooms, due to limited space at the academy, the options could not compare to renting an off-campus house.
Most of Pingla academy’s students were from affluent families.
Rent was not the issue – who among them did not own several properties in Belfard?
It was just that some of the houses were not that near to the academy, hence most people chose to rent or even buy a suitable place.
Whether to rent or to buy was all down to individual preferences and their evaluation of whether the property was worth investing in.
Even though people generally preferred off-campus housing,
They all paid dormitory fees for the student apartments on campus.
It was mainly for ease, so they could go back to the dorm to rest during breaks.
It gave them a place to rest without going off campus.
“Shall we take you by the academy today so that you can familiarize yourself with it?” Adrian suggested, “Tomorrow is Monday after all.
That way, you can jump right into your studies.
It would be rather rushed to try to get acquainted with everything tomorrow.”
“Sure.” Cindy quickly agreed.
They had free time today, so going to familiarize herself with the academy seemed like an excellent idea.
Thus, the two of them set off with their little one in tow.
Pingla Academy was located on the outskirts of Belfard.
The city just didn’t have enough spacious land for Pingla to utilize.
So, to make it easier to attend classes, many students chose to rent houses in the surrounding area.
However, they didn’t exactly love buying houses in the outskirts.
After living there for several years and graduating from Pingla, they did not think of returning.
There weren’t exactly a lot of recreational spots in the area, even as a vacation house it held no value.
The villa districts for holiday homes were also a distance from Pingla, also located in the outskirts.
There was distance even within the outskirts, wasn’t there?
With this in mind, Cindy’s daily commutes from home to school would take a considerable amount of time.
“The location was chosen to ensure the students focus, to save them from the numerous distractions the city’s amenities would bring,” Adrian explained.
“Moreover, there are enough holidays and rest-days.
The students have plenty of time to go out and play.
But when they have classes, it’s better for them to stay within the vicinity,” Adrian added.
Cindy nodded.
The little one sat in his special child safety seat in the back, expressing his worries, “But it’s so far from home.
It will be exhausting for Cindy to travel back and forth daily.”
But the notion of Cindy moving to live at the academy was unsettling to the child too.
He had never stayed apart from Cindy for long in his life.
Even now, upon their return to the Zhekova family, he would often stay at the family mansion.
But even then, it was only for two or three days at a time.
Cindy’s course of study would undoubtedly take more than two or three days.
If she truly moved to live at the academy with only a chance to return home once a week, it would be something the little one could not come to terms with.
“That’s way too long,” he muttered, expressing his reluctance to part with Cindy.
Cindy knew the child was talkative, never running out of things to say, always filling in any quiet moments.
But he had never before fixated and repeated the same thing over and over.
It was apparent how much he was reluctant to part with Cindy.
Cindy’s heart softened, but as she was sitting in the front, she couldn’t hold the child who was behind.
She really wished she could hold him in her arms now, showering him with kisses.
Not to mention the child, Adrian himself couldn’t bear the idea of Cindy living on campus and only returning home once a week.
Adrian too was reluctant to let her go.
For the first time, Adrian regretted the Zhekova Family’s decision in locating the academy so far away.
Why couldn’t they move the school closer to the city?
Adrian had already started considering the feasibility of relocating the school into the city.
After all, the time Cindy spent commuting was indeed quite significant.
Adrian explained, “Actually, Pingla is the same as any other university, they won’t schedule the whole day full of classes.
Normally there are two to three classes a day, sometimes there’s only a half-day of classes.”
“So you don’t need to adhere to rigid office hours, needing to be there exactly at eight or nine.
Just go there slightly ahead of your class schedule.
After classes, you can come straight home,” Adrian suggested.
Upon hearing this, the little one heaved a sigh of relief.
If Cindy could still come home every day even when she was attending classes daily, then he could rest assured.
This took a load off his mind.
“Let’s get Cleave Roland to serve as your driver,” Adrian decided.
Usually, unless he had consumed alcohol, he would ask Cleave Roland to drive for him.
Hence, for most of the time, Cleave Roland was quite available.
There would be no problem if he were to serve Cindy exclusively.
Cindy nodded.
This way, she wouldn’t be tired and it wouldn’t interfere with her precious time spent with Adrian and the little one.
“Since there aren’t many classes each day, what do the students usually do with the rest of their time?” Cindy queried.
“Refine their culinary skills of course,” Adrian explained.
“Just like how you experiment with different dishes at home, except at the academy, there’s a dedicated large kitchen.
Like in the Pingla Competition, there’s a large food storage room in the kitchen and many work stations for you to choose from.”
“It’s similar to the study rooms in typical universities, where you find a seat and start studying.
At Pingla, you find a station and start experimenting with dishes,” Adrian elaborated.
“The ingredients are free of charge, it’s all included in the tuition.”
Pingla’s exorbitant tuition fees were justified.
Besides the formidable faculty, it included all daily practice costs.
Practice ingredients were all free of charge.
Of course, these referred to common and average priced ingredients.
If a student wanted some expensive ingredients, Pingla could facilitate the purchase.
The student would need to register in advance, but they would be able to purchase the items at cost, far cheaper than the market price.
The main objective was to facilitate the students’ practice.
If this service was open to the public, it’s likely people would exploit it to turn a small profit.
For example, borrowing several ingredients, the timid would bring them home for personal use.
The bold would sell them off openly.
Chapter 1109: Thoughtful_1 This is all profit without any initial investment.
Not to mention those expensive ingredients.
They are purchased through Pingla’s connections at cost price but of higher quality, which is a great approach.
Luckily, those who come to study at Pingla are mostly conscientious.
And they don’t lack these little resources and bargains.
If they do get caught by Pingla, they would feel nothing but embarrassed.
Besides, Pingla itself has its own set of governance measures.
...
They facilitate convenience for the students, but they also do not knowingly allow people to take advantage of them.
The tuition at Pingla Academy is high, but it provides services that are commensurate with the tuition cost.
Throughout the trip, Adrian Zhekova talked about everything he could remember about Pingla Academy to Cindy Clarke.
However, after all, he does not directly manage Pingla Academy.
Samson Zhekova certainly knows more about it than he does.
But fortunately, during routine meetings, Samson Zhekova also reports to Pingla’s headquarters.
Billy Houston often goes there as well.
Pingla Culinary Academy is the organizer of the Pingla Competition, so naturally Billy Houston is also part of Pingla Academy.
Because of these frequent reports, Adrian Zhekova’s understanding of Pingla Academy has never been interrupted.
So if Cindy Clarke asks him a question that he hadn’t thought of, he could explain it in detail.
They talked all the way until they arrived at the entrance of the Pingla Academy.
The Academy was built early, when the suburban land of Belfard was not so precious and crowded.
At this point, you could see the foresight and vision of the Zhekova family.
They bought a large piece of suburban land early on.
The plot was big enough to build seven or eight large residential areas.
Yet such a huge area was all used by the Zhekova family to build Pingla Academy.
No wonder it can’t be moved into the city.
There really isn’t enough space in the city for Pingla Academy to build in such a way.
Yet, surprisingly, the entrance to such a massive school wasn’t as grand as Cindy Clarke had expected.
It was just a simple plaque with the words: Pingla Culinary Academy.
The whole school is built in a Chinese style.
The school wall looks like the wall of an ancient mansion, with a grey surface that shows traces of each brick and tile.
The tall buildings inside are also in Chinese architecture style.
They may be tall, but they never lose their Chinese characteristics.
From a distance, if no one told her, Cindy Clarke would have thought this was some kind of ancient city scenic area.
The entrance to the school isn’t very noticeable either, just a commonplace doorway.
It’s not as grand as the gates of the scenic area.
Saying that the architecture of the entire academy is grand and impressive, people passing by would have to pause and ask if it was some forgotten scenic spot.
The entrance of the academy is simply too low-key and unnoticeable.
It’s so unnoticeable that you might not even notice it if you walk past it.
The design of this academy really stands out.
However, Cindy Clarke really likes this thoughtfulness.
Because the entrance is so small, there is no room for cars to enter.
This is to prevent everyone from creating chaos by driving in recklessly.
Adrian Zhekova parked the car outside and got out.
Out came Billy Houston from inside the gate.
Cindy Clarke didn’t expect him to be at the academy on a Sunday.
Adrian Zhekova explained: “Since we’re here for a tour, we should have someone familiar with the school as a guide.
I rarely come here, so if I were to guide you, my presentation wouldn’t be as good.” Naturally, Adrian Zhekova couldn’t call in Samson Zhekova on a weekend like this.
He had asked Billy Houston to arrange for a staff member on duty at the school to be their guide.
He never intended to have Billy Houston come over.
Of course, there should be teachers and other staff on duty at the school on weekends.
Unexpectedly, in order to gain favor in front of Adrian Zhekova, Billy Houston personally came.
But it’s all well and good that he came.
It’s rather apt.
Especially for questions about things closer to the decision-making level, Billy Houston’s answers would be more detailed.
Otherwise, the ordinary staff might not know about certain things.
“CEO, CEO’s Wife.” Billy said hurriedly, “Young Master.” “Mr.
Houston.” Cindy Clarke greeted with a smile.
“Hello Uncle.” The little guy also politely called.
Billy’s face was beaming.
Although Adrian Zhekova is a tough guy, he is actually pretty good at educating children.
Look at Little Morgan, how cute and polite he is.
There’s no sign of unruliness or spoiled behaviour, or him turning into a troublesome brat.
Billy is also of the age where he should be a grandfather soon.
His son is in college, and if he marries early, he may have grandchildren in a few years.
“I didn’t expect you to come personally.” Cindy Clarke said with a smile.
“I was afraid that if the staff came, they might not be able to explain some things clearly.
Moreover, in their nervousness while hosting you, they might not be able to speak fluently.
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It’s better that I do it myself.” Billy said.
Stuttering due to nervousness would still be considered good.
If they happened to be one of those who were too overzealous to please and ended up doing something stupid that displeased Adrian Zhekova, that would be even worse.
“I feel bad for bothering you on your day off.” Cindy Clarke said apologetically.
“No, not at all.
You’re too kind.” Billy quickly said, “I was already here in the school.
This is just a coincidence.” Even if it wasn’t, he still had to say it was.
Understanding this, Cindy Clarke didn’t say anything more.
“Let’s go in.” Billy said.
“Can I take a picture first?” The little guy asked looking up.
Seeing all three adults looking at him, the little guy said: “This place is so beautiful, this wall will make a great background for pictures.” The little guy likes to share his life on his IG stories, and is fond of posting pictures.
Although he’s quite young, his pictures are very good-looking and have a web celebrity feel to them.
Anyway, they had nothing urgent to do today.
Cindy Clarke readily agreed.
She took several pictures as per the little guy’s request, letting him choose the best one.
Only then did the four of them enter the gate.
There was a shuttle bus stopped inside the gate.
It was the kind of battery-powered vehicle without a roof, like those at the airport.
A small vehicle with seven to eight seats.
“Are you going to drive this?” Adrian Zhekova asked.
“Yes, I’m going to drive.
It’s easier to stop along the way.” Billy said, “Our school is really too big.
It’s too tiring to walk it.” Adults wouldn’t have a problem walking, but little Morgan certainly wouldn’t be able to.
“That’s thoughtful of you.” Cindy Clarke laughed.
Seeing the shuttle, she herself breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone got on the shuttle and Billy Houston pointed to the side of the road and said, “We don’t allow cars inside the campus.
Most of our students are from well-off families.
If we didn’t ban it, they would be driving luxury and sports cars around, creating chaos, and it could be dangerous.
So, we just decided not to allow any vehicles, including those of school leaders.
All vehicles must be parked in the designated parking lot outside the campus.”
Chapter 1110: A Principle when Disciplining Children _1 Cindy Clarke noticed that the roadside was indeed clean.
Despite being spacious and parking-friendly, there were no cars parked there.
Instead, a row of bicycles was parked on the curb.
The bicycles were neatly arranged on the parking racks.
“These are the shared bicycles of an internal program under Pingla Academy.” Billy Houston explained.
All the shared bicycle brands in the market had previously approached Pingla Academy.
Although the academy was smaller in size compared to the city, it had a high frequency of use within its premises.
...
Moreover, the students were generally well-behaved, faring better than the frequent damages and thefts that occurred outside.
Thus, the bicycles could last for a considerable length of time within Pingla Academy.
With lower costs and high usage frequency, it was also a significant source of profit.
However, Samson Zhekova had no intention of letting those companies profit even from this.
Making money off them wasn’t going to be that easy.
Anyway, developing a small program wasn’t difficult.
The challenge for these bike-sharing companies was promoting their products.
But there was no need for promotion within the school.
The bicycles were just there, ready for anyone who wished to ride.
Given the small scope within the school, it was almost costless from Pingla’s perspective.
Just the cost of developing the small program and acquiring the bicycles.
Developing the small program was relatively easy and got done quickly.
The bicycles Pingla purchased were a bit different from the shared bikes outside.
They were more high-end.
Unlike the basic bicycles outside, the ones purchased by Pingla featured gears.
This made the ride more time-saving, efficient, and faster.
Billy Houston explained it this way to Cindy Clarke.
It dawned on Cindy just then.
No wonder the row of bikes looked so well-organized and of the same design and color.
It was as if they were bought wholesale.
Soon after, Cindy laughed and said to Adrian Zhekova, “I didn’t expect Samson to be so independent.
He didn’t even let other companies make a small profit.”
Adrian Zhekova laughed and said, “Samson has always had a principle.
As long as he can make money, he wouldn’t let others benefit unnecessarily.”
“If it brings in high costs and marginal profits, it’s a different story.
Then collaboration is a better choice,” Adrian explained, “But for things like on-campus bike sharing that’s not at all troublesome and doesn’t need promotion, it’s better to do it on your own rather than engage with an outside company for a fixed cost.”
“But isn’t there no cost if you collaborate with other companies?” Cindy asked.
“Buying the bikes does require initial investment, but the profit earned doesn’t make it seem too much.
Also, these bikes, though a bit pricier than the regular ones, are durable and won’t break down easily,” said Billy Houston, “Despite our students being spoilt, their basic decency is intact.
They won’t recklessly leave the bikes around.
This increases the usability of the bikes.”
“It’s better for us to take initiative than to wait for others to give us money,” Billy explained.
“Our headmaster does not like the passivity of waiting for others to hand out money to us.”
There is only giving from Pingla and no receiving from others.
To wait for others to give Pingla their share?
That wouldn’t work.
“I had no idea that Samson would be so ambitious.
He’s way ahead of Third Uncle,” Cindy said, laughing.
“Well, overall he still takes after Third Uncle,” Adrian Zhekova thought of Jayden Zhekova and his son, unable to contain his laughter.
“Third Uncle has completely dropped out of the scene and doesn’t do anything, even if you try to involve him.” However, that Jayden had ended up this way was largely due to their father.
It was because Jayden and Gabriel’s father was too stubborn, even to the point of obsession.
Jayden had to let go and do nothing, being content with being a prodigal son.
Otherwise, even if Jayden was too lazy to do too much, he could still follow Samson’s approach.
Moreover, Jayden was far more capable than Gabriel.
Adrian Zhekova sighed and didn’t voice his thoughts here.
After all, Billy Houston was still there.
It’s not good to talk about your family affairs in front of others.
“Samson doesn’t actively seek out work.
If you give him less work, he’s happier to rest.
But whatever work is assigned to him, he would execute it splendidly.
He does everything within his power to perfection,” Adrian Zhekova said.
“So you’re gradually loading him with more work,” Cindy finally understood.
Adrian Zhekova nodded: “If he has the ability, why shouldn’t I use it?”
“If I give him too much work all at once, I’m afraid he’d give up.
It’s not an unfounded fear, Samson would really do that.”
“But if I give him one task at a time, let him get used to each one, and once he realizes it’s effortless and he still has plenty of time to rest, he won’t resist it, and then I’ll add another task.”
“Samson is very efficient at work.
Even if I load him with extra work and he feels it’s encroaching on his resting time, he’d find an even more efficient way to complete it.
Then, he’d realize he’s still very capable of dealing with his work without getting distressed.”
So that’s it.
Adrian Zhekova gradually added more work to Samson’s plate, repeatedly pushing against his limit.
He found that Samson was still able to manage his work perfectly well without getting tired.
Cindy Clarke: “…”
She felt that Samson had indeed been fully manipulated by Adrian.
No wonder Adrian pushed for Samson to assume the position of Vice President of the International Chef Association, planning to give him more work.
Cindy Clarke initially thought that wouldn’t this increase Samson’s workload?
Turns out Adrian Zhekova had always been doing this.
And Samson had always managed to cope well without any mishaps.
This led to Adrian Zhekova constantly testing the limits of what Samson could bear.
Suddenly, Cindy felt that Samson was like a bottomless pit.
It seemed that no matter how much work was given to him, he could finish it excellently without any pressure.
But this also demonstrated his capabilities.
Billy Houston was listening on the side, constantly nodding in agreement.
“Our Headmaster is truly formidable.”
If he were to compare, Samson was far more impressive than Ethan Zhekova.
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If the same work were given to Samson, he definitely wouldn’t be willing to do it.
It was only Adrian Zhekova, boiling Samson like a frog in warm water, who succeeded in doing so gradually.
“These are our teaching buildings,” Billy Houston pointed out along the way.
“This is a map booklet of our school,” Billy Houston handed the booklet directly to Cindy Clarke.
As Cindy looked at the booklet, she listened to Billy’s commentary and followed him around to visit and learn about the various classrooms.
“This is where the students usually practice, you can come here as much as you want, just make sure to register,” Billy Houston stated.