Ch. 1241..1250

Chapter 1241: Not Here to Be a Substitute _1 When Cody Quinn said “we,” it meant that regardless of how the teachers plan to arrange it, at least he personally wants to join the competitive team.

However, Cody Quinn indeed has the ability to do so.

Even though individuals like Cindy Clarke did not participate in the selection competition.

In this selection competition, Cody Quinn came out as the first.

And it was by a landslide, creating a significant gap from the second place.

Even individuals like Parker Honi admitted that Cody Quinn was the deserved number one in Pingla.

In the official rankings of Pingla, Cody Quinn has always been the first, and his ranking has never fallen, never been surpassed.

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Even the students of Pingla have joked that Cody Quinn is becoming a legend, like the racing god of his namesake.

It would be a pity if such strong power didn’t join the competitive team.

The teachers must think so too, and they will probably place him on the competitive team.

Not just Cody Quinn himself, they all felt that Cody Quinn must definitely join the competitive team.

Parker Honi scratched his head and said, “Honestly, I originally did want to join the competitive team, but now I kind of want to join the defensive team.”

“Isn’t the first place in the Pingla Competition automatically entered into the competitive team?” Ryan Brown said.

The previous Pingla Competition rewarded the champion by allowing them to join the competitive team.

The rest of the people were not told at the time.

It was only recently they found out that they could be exempted from the selection.

They will be allocated to teams according to their strength at that time.

The remaining people may not be able to join the competitive team, but staying on the defensive team would be more than sufficient.

“That’s true,” Parker Honi said, “But hearing what Cindy Clarke said, I think it makes a lot of sense.

It’s not about becoming the strongest shield or anything.

I just feel that in the defensive team, I can encounter more opponents.”

“For your competitive team, you only choose to challenge 10 countries.

It is impossible to challenge all the teams.

Finally, you will enter the final match.

As per general tactics, you will definitely opt for some relatively weaker teams to avoid encountering strong ones.

You can meet strong teams in the final match.”

“But it’s not the same for us.

All teams have 10 challenge places.

Perhaps not all teams will come to challenge, but in general, the opponents we encounter will definitely be more than the competitive team,” Parker Honi said.

“I’m actually fine.

There’s still a chance next year.

I will hone my skills this year and then participate in the selection competition next year.

With my skills, as long as I don’t slacken, even with some formidable competitors next year, I won’t fail to qualify.

Besides, there’s still this year’s practice.”

“Being able to compete with those who are at least their nation’s top chefs is already quite good.”

“To be honest, I would rather compete directly with the cuisine of the opponent’s country, not some third-party country.

Isn’t this like attacking each other?

The dishes selected are not the ones they are good at.

No matter how they restore it, it is difficult to completely bring out the most authentic taste.” Frederick Evans said, “This has nothing to do with culinary skills, but with the cultural enlightenment we have received since birth.”

“Indeed.”

Everyone agreed with his view.

However, we still have to wait until the teachers announce the list tomorrow.

***

The next day, everyone gathered early in the practice room.

Before long, Samson Zhekova, Wesley Gordon, and Hunter Clarke arrived.

Without further ado, Samson Zhekova got straight to the point: “Based on our discussion, we have decided on the list of members for the defensive team, the competitive team, and the substitutes for the competitive team.”

With the exception of Cindy Clarke, others like Cynthia Florine were predictably assigned to the defensive team.

Only Parker Honi was assigned to the competitive team.

“If there are any objections to this arrangement, you can raise them,” Samson Zhekova said.

Without hesitation, Parker Honi raised his hand, and at the same time, Quentin Woodridge, who had been assigned to the defensive team, also raised his hand.

“Quentin Woodridge, you speak first,” Samson Zhekova called out.

“I want to join the competitive team.

I believe that my skills are sufficient.

Since the moment I registered for the selection, my goal has always been the competitive team, and I never thought about anything else.” What he wanted was fame, to make a name for himself, and the wealth that came after becoming famous.

He didn’t have a big picture view, and didn’t think about staying behind as a strong shield.

Only someone without pressure like Cindy Clarke could say something like that.

If Cindy Clarke wanted to, she could open as many restaurants as she wanted.

But he couldn’t.

This competition was his chance for a breakthrough.

“Parker Honi, what’s going on with you?” Without answering Quentin Woodridge, Samson Zhekova asked Paker Honi again.

“I know, I have a direct entry spot.

But I want to give up this spot and join the defensive team,” Parker Honi said, “With my skills, I should be sufficient as a shield.”

“Moreover, in the defensive team, I can encounter more teams and accept more challenges,” Parker Honi said, “I participate in the competition to improve myself and learn more.”

Samson Zhekova nodded, looked at the analysis table that he, Wesley Gordon, and Hunter Clarke made yesterday.

From all the analyses, Parker Honi is much stronger than Quentin Woodridge.

The greatest advantage is in the control of cooking time.

There’s still some time to practice, so it depends on Quentin Woodridge’s practice results.

Samson Zhekova nodded: “Okay, Parker Honi, you go to the defensive team.”

Quentin Woodridge was overjoyed, even his face carried a smile.

However, he didn’t expect to hear Samson Zhekova say, “According to our comprehensive strength analysis, Quentin Woodridge, you join the competitive team, but you can’t yet enter the official team, you can only stay as a substitute.

The substitute, Henry Dallas, moves up a bit, and becomes an official member.”

Quentin Woodridge never thought that the exchange opportunity he had strived for would end up like this.

He went to the competitive team, not to be a substitute!

“I have sent our comprehensive combat power analysis to your respective email addresses.

If you don’t accept it, you can check it,” Samson Zhekova said, obviously to Quentin Woodridge.

As expected, only Quentin Woodridge quickly picked up his mobile phone to check.

The others were just curious and followed suit and picked up their phones.

When he saw his analysis, Quentin Woodridge was speechless.

The analysis was very professional and clear at a glance.

The shortcomings, the advantages, everything was written out.

And the reasons for the scores were explained clearly.

Only then did Quentin Woodridge realize, was he seen so poorly in this team?

“Of course, the current arrangement is only temporary,” Samson Zhekova said, “We will review the daily practice results every three days, have a small test every three days, and re-rank every three days.”

“In half a month, before the competition, after a new ranking, the starters and substitutes will be assigned again,” Samson Zhekova said, “So, don’t get discouraged.

What do you want, what is your goal, you just have to work hard to achieve it.”

Chapter 1242: Distribution_1 Upon hearing this, Quentin Woodridge’s fighting spirit was rekindled.

The previous analysis report had left him thoroughly convinced.

Indeed, it was his own lack of strength.

But, the gap between him and the original substitute who had moved up a rank due to Parker Honi’s proposal to exchange spots was not significant.

As long as he put in extra effort to improve, he could surpass the other.

However, the other person would surely strive to elevate their own skills as well.

But he had confidence that even so, he could still surpass them.

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Parker Honi successfully entered the Defensive Team as he had hoped.

There were five contestants from outside the Academy, and four of them have become substitutes for the expedition team.

The other person moved up a spot due to Parker Honi’s team exchange and would have otherwise also be a substitute.

Pingla Academy’s students held the top nine positions.

Originally, Parker Honi was ranked tenth when he was in the expedition team.

But even so, no one raised objections.

After reading the analytical report sent by Samson Zhekova, especially the part about them, they knew that the report was accurate.

There was no bias or injustice present.

Nobody else objected either, which suggested that the report’s analysis of these other individuals was also accurate.

Consequently, where they fell short compared to others became abundantly clear.

Therefore, no one thought that Pingla Academy was discriminating by intentionally placing its students on the main team, leaving those from outside the school as replacements.

The truth is, there is indeed a vast disparity in skill.

Aside from Cody Quinn, who was undeniably number one, Parker Honi’s abilities were on par with Cindy Clarke’s.

At least during the Pingla Competition, except for an unexpected development during the final causing Cindy Clarke’s ranking not to be high.

But in the earlier stages of the competition, Cindy Clarke was always closely matched with Parker Honi.

They had just tasted Cindy Clarke’s cuisine yesterday, and there was indeed a gap.

Cindy Clarke’s skills are superior.

This confirmation implies that Cindy Clarke did not advance to the finals of the Pingla Competition because of connections.

It was actually that specific judge who had issues and had not made a fair judgement.

The abilities of Cindy Clarke and Parker Honi allowed them to only place tenth among the regular members of the expedition team, let alone their abilities, which are not as good as Cindy Clarke’s and Parker Honi’s.

Therefore, even after entering the substitute position, besides Quentin Woodridge who initially had some objections, after seeing the analytical report, including Quentin Woodridge, everyone was convinced.

Following such distribution, the whole team began their training in preparation for the International Culinary Competition.

***

Time swiftly flew by.

The expedition team had already departed the day before to challenge different sites.

They certainly needed to depart a few days in advance to adapt to the local environment, savor the local cuisines and understand the local culture.

Meanwhile, Quentin Woodridge remained on the substitute bench, unable to break into the formal team.

The top nine spots in the official team were rigidly occupied by the nine students from Pingla academy.

Even the tenth rank tried hard to move up, but the gap remained significantly wide.

Quentin Woodridge originally believed he could at least replace tenth position.

However, while he strived to improve, the tenth rank was also making efforts.

He improved, but the advancement of the tenth rank was even bigger.

From the preliminary selection, Samson Zhekova could tell that the potential of the tenth rank surpassed that of Quentin Woodridge.

Truthfully, rather than Quentin Woodridge entering the expedition team as a substitute, waiting for an unexpected circumstance to replace a top-ten member, he had more chances to play if he stayed in the Defensive Team.

The Defensive Team did not set substitutes.

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It was because there were so many students in the Pingla Academy.

For the sake of watching the competition, even during holidays, everyone stayed instead of going back home.

Students from other places also stayed in Belfard.

Such a good reserve force meant there was no need to find additional substitutes.

Many students had already bought tickets for the finals and would fly directly to the site to watch.

As for the expedition team’s challenges, they would not accompany them.

They’d simply watch the finals.

Since there were no set substitutes, staying in the Defensive Team and assuming there were no surprises, the chances of playing were much higher than in the expedition team.

Parker Honi, who was ranked tenth in the expedition team, also considered this aspect.

Although the official expedition team had 10 members, not every student was chosen for a match, and they would not all go.

So being tenth, Parker Honi would probably not get too many chances to play.

It’s better to stay in the Defensive Team, where he might able to get more practice.

The Defensive Team was mainly composed of him and Cindy Clarke.

The reason why Samson Zhekova agreed to Quentin Woodridge and Parker Honi’s swap was because the members of the Defensive Team, except for Quentin Woodridge, were all from Pingla Academy.

Firstly, it wouldn’t pose an issue in terms of unity.

Unstable elements would not appear within the team.

If Quentin Woodridge had issues with anyone, it could easily lead to unpleasantness.

It’s better to send him to the expedition team, with the formidable Cody Quinn there, Quentin Woodridge really couldn’t stir up any trouble.

Meanwhile, the defensive team led by Cindy Clarke and the others, welcomed their first challenge.

One day before the challenge, Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke stood before everyone.

Samson Zhekova has already left with the expedition team as the team leader.

The school’s side was now under the responsibility of Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke.

“Tomorrow, you will all face the first defensive challenge.” Wesley Gordon said, “The Indian Triad is the team that will visit us tomorrow.”

“According to the competition’s rules, we as a Defensive Team do have some advantages.

Of course, we as a Defensive Team have advantages, other teams as the Defensive Teams will also enjoy equal advantages.

It is friendly to us as a Defensive Team, but not so much to our expedition team.” Hunter Clarke explained.

She looked at Wesley Gordon and Wesley Gordon said, “Our advantage as a Defensive Team is that we set the topic.”

“Although it’s about creating a dish from a third country’s cuisine, but since we could come up with the topic, we can practice in advance, which is a great benefit.

The Offensive Team will only know the subject once they arrive at the venue and won’t have time for practice.”

“You all know, a dish that has been repeatedly studied and continuously improved compared to a dish that has not been prepared at all, even if it is not the first time making it but is not a regular dish, has a huge advantage.”

Wesley Gordon being Wesley Gordon, his demands were extremely strict: “So, if you all cannot win the competition in this manner, then it would be incredibly disgraceful and unprecedented.”

Cynthia Florine raised her hand.

“Speak.” Wesley Gordon said.

“Well…since we can prepare the topic in advance, why was it only mentioned today?

After all, there’s only one day left; if we had known sooner, we would have had more time to prepare, wouldn’t that be better?” Cynthia Florine asked.

“Yes, yes.” Aiden Huxley and the others nodded in agreement.

They were too familiar with Wesley Gordon.

They knew that Wesley Gordon, although serious on the surface, would not mind them asking or expressing anything as long as their questions were legitimate.

Chapter 1243: Suspected of Having Absolute Taste_1 “We do have limitations, otherwise, I would have told you about this earlier rather than now.” Wesley Gordon explained.

“Even though we’re allowed to get the question in advance, the leeway is only one day.” He elaborated, “Even if there are no competition organizers present to supervise us, they have ways to ensure we abide by the rules.”

“Because the categories are set by them.

For instance, if they set ‘soup’, we then have to choose a soup from a certain country’s cuisine, a certain type.” Gordon explained.

“And this category is only given to us the day before the competition to prevent us from studying and practicing the cuisine too far in advance.” Gordon added.

Gladys Joy rolled her eyes: “Those foreigners sure are clever.”

“You’ve been brainwashed by those chicken soups.” Yannick O’Brian laughed, “Always praising foreigners for their high-quality work ethic, always sticking to the rules without bending, they’re actually quite astute.”

“I know that, but they can’t even do simple calculations.” Joy continued to complain.

“So, you think they’re simple.” Aiden Huxley chimed in.

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Joy: “…”

Everyone burst into laughter.

After they finished laughing, Wesley Gordon said: “The category given to us this time by the International Chef Association is indeed ‘Soup’.”

“From this, Hunter Clarke and I have discussed and decided to choose Japanese cuisine.” Gordon added.

“The countries nearest to us offer primarily Japanese food, which is relatively diverse.

Korean cuisine ingredients are only a few types: kimchi, chili sauce, soybean paste, also, onions, apples, pears mashed and mixed in with the sauce.

As for fried noodles, they see it as our Chinese cuisine.

This boundary blurs easily, causing unnecessary troubles instead.” Gordon continued.

“Among the dishes, soybean paste soup, kimchi soup, ginseng chicken soup, these ones dominate.

They can all be produced with the same basic seasoning.” Gordon stated, “These are simply too plain, it’s not easy to innovate from there, not suitable for a competition.”

“As for Southeast Asian cuisine, it’s quite close geographically to the Indian triad, and the tastes can somewhat coincide at times.

Their experience with Western cuisine as former colonies provides a certain advantage.”

“So after much thought, we decided to choose Japanese cuisine.

Firstly, their culinary culture has been influenced by ours resulting in many similarities, their preference for lighter flavors makes ingredient selection flexible for us.

Regarding the Indian triad who heavily leans towards curry and masala, their tastes are pungent and strongly tantalizing.

Suddenly giving them a light cuisine instead, although no weak contenders will be participating in the competition, what if this catches them off guard?” Hunter Clarke smilingly commented.

Cynthia Florine nodded: “Korean cuisine is also spicy-dominated, although different from Indian cuisine, both are pungent and rich which should be easier to grasp for them.”

“Good, that’s the topic.” Wesley Gordon announced, “You have one day to prepare.

Gather here at 9 a.m.

tomorrow, the competition officially starts at 10:30 a.m.”

“By the way,” Hunter Clarke added, “For tomorrow’s match, each team will select three members, compete in individual competitions, two out of three rounds will win.

So everyone should think about it, we’ll meet here at 5 p.m.

today, Teacher Gordon and I will taste everyone’s dishes and decide who will compete tomorrow.”

“Are there any other questions?” Gordon asked again.

Cindy Clarke asked, “Who will be the judges tomorrow?”

“The judges will be the guides from the opposing team.

They will appoint three guides as judges to carry out the blind selection.

You don’t have to worry about fairness,” Gordon assured.

“At that time, we will have our staff serving as waiters, serving dishes for the guides.

The dishes will not be labeled with who made them, the chef’s name tags will be hidden under the bowl.” Gordon further explained.

“In this way, although the judges are from the opposing team, because they will not know the topic in advance, they can’t judge which dish was made by whom.”

“The International Chef Association was very meticulous about maintaining fairness when establishing these rules.

Although we have the advantage of receiving the topic in advance to practice, the judges therefore cannot be from our side, and must be from theirs.” Gordon elaborated.

“Can’t we just have the International Chef Association send over someone to be the judges?” Bartholomew Bailey furrowed his eyebrows.

Hunter Clarke chuckled, “Have you forgotten about the previous Pingla Competition, about the character of the person sent by the International Chefs Association?”

This response left Bartholomew Bailey speechless.

He really had forgotten.

“Due to that incident, Samson Zhekova and the headmaster have been persistently complaining to the International Chefs Association.

They finally agreed to stop interfering with any of our selection activities,” Hunter Clarke mentioned.

“Moreover, people from the International Chefs Association, though seemingly from a third party, no one can ensure they won’t have connections with either of the teams.

If the challenging team doesn’t have any advantage, they’d also have complaints.”

“After all, we’re not just defending teams, but also challenging teams.” Clarke explained, “So, this is considered a more balanced way.”

“Besides, you ought to have faith in our Headmaster,” Gordon reminded, his face breaking into a rare smile upon mentioning Samson Zhekova, “He’s an acknowledged genius chef, presumably has ‘absolute taste.'”

Upon hearing this, Cindy Clarke was taken aback.

Samson Zhekova too possesses absolute taste?

This was the first time she had ever met someone who also has the same ‘absolute taste.”

And yet, she didn’t know about this fact until now, even he was her uncle.

“Presumably?” Cindy Clarke asked.

“Because it’s never been confirmed.

But up till now, he’s never been wrong about identifying ingredients from tasting dishes,” Gordon explained.

“With him present, he is definitely capable of discerning our team members’ unique styles,” Hunter Clarke added, “Even if there’s an innovation attempt, an individual still has some unchangeable habits.”

“We might not notice it ourselves, but the Headmaster will definitely see them.

It’s like a person’s tag.” Clarke remarked.

Cindy Clarke nodded her agreement, that was indeed true.

She had noticed that she too had her own habits.

And that she was especially fond of a certain ingredient.

She wondered if this could be considered her personal tag.

For a chef, only after they’ve achieved success and fame, these small habits can be called ‘tags.’

Otherwise, they’re just habits.

Cindy Clarke thought that for now, she should probably only call them ‘habits.”

After all, only those close to her have tried her cuisine, she’s yet to expand her offerings to the wider range of diners.

Chapter 1244: Going Around Eavesdropping One By One_1 “I thought our teachers would stick to the principle of fairness and justice, even when it comes to their own candidates.” Yannick O’Brian jokingly said.

The implications of what Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke just said mean that Samson Zhekova possesses such an ability.

He could likely use this ability to taste and distinguish which dishes are made by their team.

If he could distinguish it and the judges subtly hinted at it,

Samson Zhekova, after identification, might be biased towards his team while giving scores.

Everyone was indeed surprised that the usually extremely fair teachers would resort to such tricks.

“Do you really think we are so old-fashioned and inflexible?

Teams from many countries participate, each with their own purpose, and they all ultimately seek benefits.

...

If you really expect others to be as fair as you, then don’t expect to have a chance in the finals.”

“If we are too straightforward, then we are just making way for others.” Wesley Gordon said, “We don’t resort to underhand tactics, but we can’t guard against others who do.

It’s not possible to remain unstained when surrounded by filth.

Why should we?

This is what’s unfair to us and our candidates.”

“Since everyone uses various off-track methods to win, we can too.” Wesley Gordon stated earnestly.

The crowd, seeing his stern face and hearing his words, couldn’t help but divert their eyes from his seriousness.

It seemed dissonant to say so righteously that they intended to resort to sly tricks.

But, thinking about the resources their side had, with their cunning teachers, not to mention the presence of a fox-like character like Samson Zhekova,

everyone eventually felt reassured.

Heading into the competition with Samson Zhekova as their leader, their team certainly wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.

Once they received their subject, they started to delve into it.

They researched together in the practice room.

Since they all knew each other well and had a good relationship,

they didn’t feel the need to outcompete each other.

Although they were all teammates, if the relationship was indifferent or if everyone didn’t understand each other and were there purely for self-interest,

the situation wouldn’t be so harmonious.

After all, even though they’re on the same team, because only three can participate in tomorrow’s event, there’s also competition within the team for a place in the competition.

There’s competition within the team, so it might not be so harmonious.

Everyone sees their teammates as competitors, concealing what they’ve done from others, wishing they had a secret weapon to shock everyone and win against all their teammates.

In this case, there’s no possibility for discussion, collective problem-solving, or common improvement among the teammates.

But things are different now, the team consists of individuals who joined via the Pingla Competition.

Besides Cindy Clarke, all are formal students of Pingla Academy.

Even though there are always exams and competition, it doesn’t affect their relationship.

Cindy Clarke also emerged from the Pingla Competition, sharing camaraderie with the team.

Having observed Pingla as a guest student, she also shares a bond of friendship.

The composition of their Defensive Team can be considered remarkably divine.

Leaving aside their skills for now, at least their hearts are united.

Compared to the structure, Wesley Gordon is much more satisfied with their team than with the Offensive Team.

Although the offensive team, including those from other countries, has unquestionable skills, they definitely lack unity.

Without unity, their abilities will be reduced.

Such a team competition isn’t about individual strength.

Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke observed Cindy Clarke and others discussing what to prepare for the soup.

They shared inspiration, and after everyone decided, they started to experiment.

Then they tasted each other’s dishes, offering opinions and suggestions.

Looking at their collaboration, Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke felt immensely satisfied.

The two withdrew from the practice room, leaving the space for the competitors themselves.

On the way back to the office, Wesley Gordon said to Hunter Clarke: “Actually, I think even if they are sent as the offensive team, they wouldn’t be worse off.

Their cooking skills can continuously improve on the way.”

“These kids have great potential and learn quickly.

They can learn from one another and understand by analogy.

If given the chance to learn along the way, coupled with their drive for improvement, research and sharing their insights,” Wesley Gordon said, “With such an atmosphere and attitude, why worry about insufficient progress?”

Their success in the Pingla Competition, their excellent performance, and getting admitted to Pingla are all affirmations of their potential and abilities.

Given time, especially for Cindy Clarke and Parker Honi, they wouldn’t be any worse than Cody Quinn.

Hunter Clarke laughed: “You don’t need to feel regretful, even if they aren’t in the Offense Team, but the Defense Team.

With them on the team, I expect that for those adversaries trying to take badges from them this year, it’s going to be tough!”

Thinking about this, Wesley Gordon burst into laughter: “That’s true, hahaha!”

“In the previous few competitions, even though our defensive team was strong, it was never like this year – so united, with absolutely no selfish ideas.

They’re all together, supporting each other.” Wesley Gordon sighed.

“The importance of unity in such a team is something they never understood.

It’s even more important than individual strength.”

“Did you notice?” Hunter Clarke said, “Cindy Clarke is always the first to bring it up.”

“She’s always the first to throw out a lead, guiding everyone to research together.

With her leading, everyone naturally started helping each other.

It’s not to say the others are not good.

If it weren’t for the other children who are also straightforward, fixed on the overall win or loss of the team, Cindy Clarke, no matter how she guides, wouldn’t be able to lead them.” Hunter Clarke said.

“Well, Cindy Clarke did set a good precedent.” Wesley Gordon nodded, indicating he had also noticed.

“I have been watching the first-year class she was a guest in, and the atmosphere is also very good.

Previously, everyone stuck to their own field of study, striving to overtake their classmates who ranked highly, and push forward within the entire school.

Who has time to exchange insights with classmates?” Hunter laughed.

“When Cindy Clarke went there and led everyone in sharing, initially she only found one or two classmates.

But then, upon realizing the positive effects, as their individual progress was significant, other students witnessed this and naturally let down their defenses, everyone began to research together.

The atmosphere of the class has become particularly good.”

“If that’s the case…” Wesley Gordon stroked his chin, “We could let her be an observer in each class, one after the other.”

“Hmm?” Hunter looked at Wesley in surprise.

Chapter 1245: Not Just Full, But Almost Throwing Up_1 The current Hunter Clarke looked at Wesley Gordon with the same eyes as looking at a cunning merchant.

Like the students, she always regarded Wesley Gordon as a serious man.

It’s just that she wasn’t as afraid of him as the students were.

But she never knew that Wesley Gordon could be so cunning.

Having Cindy Clarke audit each class one by one was like treating her as a tool person!

“Didn’t you say before that you were going to let Cindy Clarke skip grades?” Hunter Clarke asked.

Originally, Wesley Gordon claimed that even promoting Cindy to the second grade was a bit slow, but feared that Cindy might refuse, so he planned to let her audit for ten days to half a month.

...

Why did he change his mind so quickly now?

“Cough!” Wesley Gordon cleared his throat, “I just think that even if Cindy moves up to the fourth year now, it wouldn’t help her much.

It would be better for her to experience all the classes.

This way, it doesn’t affect her class attendance or her skipping grades.

It’s a win-win situation.”

Hunter Clarke:”…”

She never thought that Wesley Gordon would dare to use Cindy as a tool person.

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His courage was quite impressive.

Over here, everyone was studying cuisine.

Parker Honi chose the beer stew.

For Cindy Clarke, she opted to change the format using a Japanese hot pot to soup, which was in fact, the same.

For the time being, it’s just named Hot Pot Soup.

Meanwhile, Aiden Huxley decided to make clam soup.

Everyone tried a few attempts but always felt like something was missing.

Especially Cindy Clarke, she chose to use chicken bones to make the soup base.

There was a freshness, but it still felt somewhat flat and lacked depth.

“What’s missing?” Cindy frowned, “this flavor…”

She always felt that she knew what was missing, but just couldn’t recall.

“I’ll go to the food storage room.” said Cindy.

Cindy went to the food storage room and first toured the cold storage area.

In the cold storage area, there were all kinds of meats, with or without bones, and also deep-sea seafood processed by quick freezing.

But Cindy went round the whole place, initially thinking up the ingredients in the practice room.

However, she hadn’t comprehensively considered the ingredients, which was why she came here.

The ingredients here were all-encompassing and indeed contained some she hadn’t considered.

But after seeing the ingredients, her brain and taste buds automatically prefabricated the taste of making the soup base, and the flavor when mixed with chicken soup.

Cindy shook her head, it still wasn’t right.

So she continued to move on to the dried goods area.

The dried goods area was also meticulously divided into different small areas.

There was a cured meat dried goods area, a vegetable dried goods area, and a seafood and freshwater dried goods area.

Cured meat aside, the dried vegetables were quite a different flavor from fresh vegetables.

Cindy picked up a dried bean pod and smell it, then shook her head.

Dried potato slices, dried radishes were all incorrect.

Cindy moved on to the seafood dried goods area.

She suddenly halted, the mixed flavors of various seafood dried goods were a little chaotic.

Yet Cindy confirmed that there were suitable flavors here.

Cindy checked one by one, picked them up and sniffed them.

When she picked up a small piece of dried skipjack tuna, and smelled it, she immediately confirmed that this was the flavor she was looking for!

No wonder she always felt like she should know this flavor, yet she couldn’t recall it at the moment.

Many places in Japanese cuisine use skipjack tuna.

Such as the common miso soup, Takoyaki, and even in the soup base of Oden, skipjack tuna is also used in the production.

Cindy picked up the small dried skipjack tuna and went back.

She had not yet added other ingredients to the soup, but first stewed the soup base, then tasted the flavor.

Cindy nodded unconsciously.

The flavor was now correct.

The fresh sweetness of the chicken soup was mingled with the freshness of dry skipjack tuna, even carrying a bit of a smoky flavor.

The processed dried skipjack tuna has already void the fishy taste, leaving a fresh, sweet flavor that is slightly smoky.

Following that, Cindy prepared several different kinds of mushrooms.

Each kind was separately made into soup, and separated into small bowls.

At the same time, the soup base was also divided into several bowls.

Each bowl of soup was mixed with different mushroom soup.

She tasted it again, recording the different flavors.

In addition, she tried to combine several kinds of mushrooms again, made mushroom soup again, mixed it with the dried skipjack chicken soup to confirm the flavor.

That afternoon, Cindy did nothing else, but the taste of the soup filled her stomach.

Not only was she full, but she was also about to vomit.

She was too embarrassed to ask others to help her taste it.

Because everyone was busy tasting their own various attempts at cooking, no one had any extra appetite.

Finally, it got to the time to decide who would be competing tomorrow.

Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke came in.

The practice room was already filled with the aroma of cuisine.

This was just in time for dinner.

The two estimated that after eating a round, they would be full, and dinner would be skipped.

But the contestants were almost at the point of throwing up.

The full aroma of the room simply could not stimulate any of their appetites.

On the contrary, the more they smelled it, the more greasy it became, as if they wanted to go out and freshen up.

Actually, in the middle of things, they all went out several rounds just to get a breath of fresh air.

But every time they came in and smelled the aroma of the food, they immediately wanted to throw up.

Later, they simply endured it and didn’t go out.

Otherwise, going out and coming back in, made them feel even worse.

After Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke tasted each dish in turn, they didn’t play coy.

After all, the contestants were already very close, there was no need to make any pretensions, nor did they have to worry about the ones who didn’t compete feeling unfair which could harm their relationships.

“Cindy Clarke, Parker Honi, Aiden Huxley, you guys will compete tomorrow.” Wesley Gordon announced.

“I can see that you are all almost retching from the smell, so hurry up and leave.

Remember to gather here on time at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.

For the others, it doesn’t matter if you are a bit later, but Cindy Clarke, Parker Honi, and Aiden Huxley, the three of you who will be competing tomorrow, definitely can’t be late.”

“Yes.” Everyone promised and quickly left the practice room.

They didn’t have the time to tidy up their things, they simply couldn’t stand the smell any longer.

Cindy originally thought about playing it safe and staying in the student apartments tonight.

But to her surprise, Adrian Zhekova had already picked up Morgan Zhekova, and was waiting for her at the door.

At this point, Cindy couldn’t say anything.

She couldn’t just let the father and son go back on their own.

So, she followed them into the car.

In the car, Cindy told Adrian Zhekova about tomorrow’s competition: “So, I will have to leave early tomorrow.

You don’t have to come with me, as I will be leaving very early.”

“Alright.” Adrian Zhekova nodded, “I have an important meeting tomorrow, otherwise I would come with you to watch your competition.”

“You have seen my competitions before, there’s no need to specially come over.” Cindy said with a laugh.

“In that case, I’ll find someone to do a live broadcast, or record a video for me to watch after I finish work.” Adrian Zhekova planned.

“That works too.” Cindy nodded, “But, I won’t be able to cook dinner tonight.”

“Tired?” It was never a requirement for Cindy to cook, it’s just that Cindy felt since she could cook well, why let father and son eat what the housekeeper cooked.

Chapter 1246: Why Does It So Easily Overthink_1 Cindy Clarke nodded her head, preparing to explain when she suddenly dry heaved.

As the force of the dry heave convulsed through her body, she instinctively bent over and clamped a hand over her mouth.

In reality, it was just a dry heave and nothing came out.

But she was uncomfortable.

“What’s the matter?” Adrian Zhekova quickly pulled over to the side of the road.

Turning to her, he patted her back and said, “We should go to the hospital.”

“How come you’re dry heaving all of a sudden?

Did you have something bad to eat at school, or are you too tired?” Adrian Zhekova sounded worried.

...

“I noticed that you didn’t look too well when I picked you up.”

However, he noticed that the others also looked pale and with the International Culinary Competition imminent, everyone must be busy preparing for it.

Adrian Zhekova was well aware of the rules of the International Culinary Competition.

His brother, Samson Zhekova, had already explained them to him.

Therefore, Adrian Zhekova had a pretty good idea that they had all been busy in the practice room in the afternoon discussing their dishes for tomorrow’s competition.

Noticing that everyone looked so paled, Adrian Zhekova figured they must be tired.

But it was unsettling that she was physically sick from exhaustion.

How tired must one be to reach such a level?

Cindy shook her head, trying to stop the discussion.

She knew what was going on, and no visit to the hospital was necessary.

But feeling quite uncomfortable, she was unable to articulate anything and could only wave Adrian off to prevent him from driving directly to the hospital.

Morgan Zhekova also anxiously watched Cindy from the back seat, staring at her with moist eyes.

Due to his many years of watching melodramas, a bunch of grim thoughts immediately crossed his mind.

Similar to barrage comments, one idea after another swept across the dark screen of his mind, quickly filling it up.

Suddenly, the dark screen was dominated by four characters.

Energy Ahead!

The words filled up the entire screen.

Morgan quickly unbuckled his seatbelt from the child safety seat and climbed down.

Clinging to the back of the front passenger seat, he stuck his little head desperately between the two front seats.

“Cindy, am I going to have a little brother or a little sister?” Morgan asked unexpectedly.

Adrian Zhekova jumped, excitedly asking Cindy, “Really?”

When Cindy had Morgan, Adrian Zhekova was not there.

Both he and Cindy shared the consensus that they wanted to give Morgan a little sister.

Having Morgan, such a fun-loving and naughty kid was already challenging enough for Cindy.

If they had another, she feared she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Just imagining the scenario where she would have to choose who was the cutest between two kids left her overwhelmed.

Morgan was lovely.

She felt blessed to have such a precious baby – it was like she had saved the universe in her previous life.

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But she still felt … one was enough.

Moreover, things are always more treasured when they are less.

Cindy would never admit that she was afraid of having another naughty son.

Adrian Zhekova also wanted a daughter.

He thought daughters were soft and cute.

With sweet and tender voices, long soft hair, they would curl up in his arms and call him daddy.

Isn’t that much cuter than a son?

Adrian Zhekova had no experience whatsoever, and didn’t know what symptoms a pregnant woman would have.

However, after being reminded by Morgan, it did seem likely!

Didn’t it seem just right?

Adrian Zhekova was thrilled to the core.

If he had enough space in the car, he would have been jumping and dancing for Cindy and Morgan to see.

“Are…are you pregnant?” Adrian Zhekova asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Cindy: “…”

Seeing Adrian so excited, Cindy found herself not wanting to disappoint him.

However, Morgan always spoke before he thought things through!

It was such an uncertain matter, yet he blurted it out.

Suppressing her feelings of nausea from dry-heaving, Cindy said, “No, I am not pregnant.”

“Then why are you dry heaving?” Morgan asked, taking over for Adrian, “Isn’t this the reaction of pregnancy?”

“…” After accepting the bottled water that Adrian passed her, taking a few sips, Cindy finally replied, “When I was pregnant with you, you were still in my belly, how would you know?”

“That’s how they portray it on TV,” Morgan said.

Again, Cindy found herself wondering, what exactly does Morgan watch on TV?

During her classes at Pingla, Morgan would return home by four in the afternoon, earlier than she does.

By the time she and Adrian returned home, it would be past seven in the evening.

During this gap, Adrian and Cindy had no idea exactly what Morgan did at home.

There were times when Cindy was figuring out her cuisine and Adrian was handling his work at home.

Upon reflection, the times when they had actually filled Morgan’s time were surprisingly minimal.

She was suspicious that Morgan had sneaked off to watch some overly complicated TV dramas during these times.

Cindy then made a mental note that, when she got back, she would set up something akin to a “child mode” to curb his viewing habits.

Otherwise, this child was learning too much.

If they couldn’t set up such a feature, she would go to Walter Wells and have him design one for her.

After placing her thoughts aside, Cindy decided to explain to Adrian first: “No, our team was locked in a practice room all afternoon researching the dishes for the competition.

We’ve had to constantly taste and revise; it was enough to make anyone sick, not to mention the room, even with ventilation, was still filled with the rich aroma of cooking.”

“If we had been hungry, the aroma would have been mouthwatering.

But we weren’t hungry and after smelling these aromas for several hours, I felt like throwing up.”

“Not just me, you saw how the others came out looking ashen, that was entirely due to the strong smells.”

Adrian Zhekova: “…”

So it wasn’t pregnancy after all.

Still unwilling to give up, he asked, “Should we still go to the hospital for a check-up?

Even if you’re not pregnant, this is not normal.

It wouldn’t hurt to take something for digestion.”

“Just buy me some digestive tablets, hawthorn slices, and sour plum candies to stimulate my appetite, and I’ll be fine.” Cindy didn’t want to go to the hospital over something so trivial.

Adrian Zhekova: “…”

Even though Cindy repeatedly assured him that it wasn’t pregnancy.

However, hearing her cravings only made him more suspicious.

From the expression on Adrian’s face, Cindy knew he still harbored hopes.

Cindy had always known that Adrian wanted a daughter.

He didn’t have, like other wealthy families, a deep-seated desire for a son.

They have Morgan to inherit the family business.

Adrian simply wanted to round out the family with a daughter and to personally accompany Cindy through the whole process: from pregnancy to childbirth, and then to caring for a baby.

Cindy herself wanted another girl, to keep Morgan company.

Otherwise, Morgan would be too lonely by himself.

He was the only kid around; the doting by his parents might cultivate in him a reluctance to share.

Cindy worried that his solitary childhood might prevent him from learning to be considerate.

Most kids with siblings are usually better at taking care of people than only children.

Chapter 1247: Those People Are Really Shameless_1 She also learned to share more.

There’s only one child in the family, and the whole family’s attention is on this precious baby.

The energy of the parents, and the affection of the grandparents and grandparents from both sides, are all focused on the same child.

Any tasty or fun things in the house are all for the child alone.

Whatever the parents, grandparents, and grandparents on both sides buy is for this one child.

Over time, even if the child is not willful, he gets used to the fact that these things are all his.

It is inevitable that he will not love to share with others.

...

For this reason, Cindy Clarke also wants to have another child, preferably a younger sister.

A gentle and affectionate little daughter would be wonderful.

As for taking care of people, Cindy Clarke is not worried at all.

During the time she and Morgan Zhekova depended on each other, even though Morgan Zhekova was young and couldn’t do much,

He still insisted on caring for her in his own capable way, warming her.

“Then let’s go to the hospital.” Cindy Clarke said, “Get a check-up, and you’ll feel reassured.”

Even if she wasn’t pregnant it was good to make sure her stomach was fine.

Adrian Zhekova immediately said to Morgan Zhekova, “Sit down quickly and fasten your seat belt.”

Morgan Zhekova climbed back to his seat and fastened his seat belt.

Adrian Zhekova then headed for the hospital.

The result, of course, was that Cindy Clarke just felt stuffed, but her stomach was fine.

Cindy Clarke hadn’t actually eaten that much, mostly soup, her stomach was full from drinking.

Add to that the lengthy exposure to the smell, she lost her appetite.

They have digestive tablets at home, so they didn’t ask the doctor for any medicine.

Upon leaving the hospital, Adrian Zhekova stopped halfway on the road in front of a convenience store and bought some sour plums and hawthorn strips for Cindy Clarke to eat in the car.

Morgan Zhekova looked at it greedily, Cindy Clarke divided some of it and let him chew slowly in the backseat as a snack.

Watching children eat is indeed appetizing.

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Cindy Clarke had passed the age of loving snacks, she didn’t know why.

As she grew older, she lost interest in snacks.

She loved sour plums and hawthorn strips before.

But now, if they’re not in front of her, she can’t even remember them.

Even if they’re in front of her, she doesn’t feel like picking them up to eat.

However, when she looked back at Morgan Zhekova eating the sour plums so sweetly, his little mouth nibbling much slower than an adult, his mouth staining with a bit of sour plum flesh,

Seeing this, even Cindy Clarke’s appetite came back, holding a sour plum in her mouth, it was sour and sweet.

Her stomach unknowingly became more comfortable.

Although Adrian Zhekova was driving, he was paying attention to Cindy Clarke’s condition at all times.

Seeing that her complexion had noticeably improved, he asked, “How do you feel?

Are you feeling better?”

Cindy Clarke nodded, “Much better, I feel like I have an appetite again, and I can have dinner.”

Adrian Zhekova was relieved this time.

Before, she had no appetite and didn’t want to eat dinner.

Adrian Zhekova didn’t want to force her.

Even though she couldn’t eat, forcing her would just make her feel worse.

Still, he was worried.

It’s not good for her body if she doesn’t eat dinner.

You should eat less for dinner, but not to the point of skipping it.

Now hearing Cindy Clarke say she has an appetite and can have dinner, he’s over the moon.

“I’ll call the housekeeper and ask her to prepare some sour and spicy dishes to stimulate the appetite.” Adrian Zhekova immediately said.

Even though Cindy Clarke said she was feeling much better and looked noticeably more comfortable, Adrian Zhekova didn’t plan to let her cook.

After Adrian Zhekova made his phone call,

Not long after, they arrived home.

The housekeeper, hearing that Cindy Clarke’s appetite wasn’t good, had made a bone soup that was good for the stomach.

She also made sour and spicy bean sprouts, sweet and sour ribs, mixed vegetables, Northeast sauerkraut and pork stir-fry, as well as popcorn chicken and six pan-fried chicken wings specially for Morgan Zhekova.

Looking at a table full of sour, sweet, and mildly spicy dishes, Cindy Clarke suddenly felt her appetite open up.

“The ingredients at home aren’t that complete, when I come back tomorrow, I’ll make the cuisine I’ll use for tomorrow’s competition for you.” Cindy Clarke said at the dinner table.

If it wasn’t for the fact that she was too tired today, Cindy Clarke would have wanted Adrian Zhekova and Morgan Zhekova to have a taste first.

Upon hearing this, Morgan Zhekova was extremely excited, “Can I go with you tomorrow?

I want to see you compete.”

“I promise, I’ll just watch from the side, I won’t cause any trouble, I’ll be good.” Morgan Zhekova assured.

Cindy Clarke looked at Adrian Zhekova, asking for his opinion.

For Morgan Zhekova’s requests, as long as they are not excessive, Cindy Clarke generally tries to fulfill them.

And now he’s in nursery, there’s no academic pressure.

Actually, it’s just a way for parents to free themselves, to put their children in someone else’s hands.

Cindy Clarke didn’t expect Morgan Zhekova to learn much in nursery.

Anyway, during the holidays, Adrian Zhekova had already given Morgan Zhekova several lessons.

If occasionally Morgan Zhekova wants to have a break and not go, Cindy Clarke doesn’t force it.

Adrian Zhekova thought for a while, then nodded, “That’s fine.

Tomorrow I won’t be able to split my time, so you’ll have to take my place and support Cindy with me, cheering for her from the sidelines.”

Morgan Zhekova was overjoyed, he quickly clasped his hands together on his chest, nodding incessantly, “Dad, don’t worry, leave it all to me!”

“After dinner, I’ll ask Wesley Gordon how they’re arranging things tomorrow.

If it’s possible, let Morgan stick with them, that way you won’t be distracted.” Adrian Zhekova planned meticulously.

Cindy Clarke thus let go and let Adrian Zhekova handle it.

After dinner, Adrian Zhekova asked Wesley Gordon.

Wesley Gordon immediately said that would be no problem.

At that time, he and Hunter Clarke would be with the judges from the other team in another room.

To prevent any premature knowledge of the competitors’ dishes.

While also acting as a check on the other side.

As for the characters of the Indian Triad, they couldn’t trust them.

If they were to speak frankly from previous confrontations, those guys were quite shameless.

If they don’t keep a close watch, they will certainly find a way to cheat.

They don’t think much of the Indian Triad, but likewise, the Indian Triad doesn’t think much of them either.

This disdain, is not limited to the cooking aspect.

It could even escalate to a higher degree.

The Indian Triad sees them as enemies in all aspects, even looking down on them, thinking the Hearth Nation can’t keep up with them.

This sentiment, every year at the Cooking Competition, without exception, the Indian Triad challenges them.

Looking at past competition records, the Indian Triad has lost far more than it has won.

And the few times they won, they did so by cheating shamelessly.

So this time, the Indian Triad was the first to challenge them.

Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke were on high alert, to prevent their cheating while also not being too hospitable.

They’ll just maintain face that can pass, they still have to show the decorum of a great nation, don’t they?

So first, Wesley Gordon decided that until the dishes are served to the judges, he would strictly prevent the Indian Triad’s coaches from leaving the little black room!

Even when they meet the competitors, the cooking station must be clean.

Chapter 1248: No wonder my head is getting bigger-1 “Absolutely can’t leave any ingredients or even a bit of residue on it, leaving any trace for the opponent’s mentor to judge from the ingredients in the final dish which dishes were made by our Pingla contestants.”

To prepare for tomorrow, Wesley Gordon started being vigilant tonight, even thinking about how to prevent the opponent from cheating.

He was falling asleep when Wesley suddenly sat up and called Hunter Clarke.

“Hello?” From the sound of his voice, Hunter was clearly asleep and had been woken by his call.

“Hunter, I’ve thought of another problem,” Wesley said.

Hunter Clarke: “…”

“You’re not thinking about pulling an all-nighter, are you?

If you don’t get your rest, how will you keep an eye on the Indian Triad team tomorrow?” Hunter reminded him.

Wesley Gordon hadn’t thought of this problem.

...

Reminded by Hunter, he suddenly felt it was indeed a problem.

“Just one more thing to discuss, then I’ll go to sleep, I won’t call you again, I promise.” Wesley quickly guaranteed.

Right now, all Hunter wanted to do was sneer.

This was already the fifth call Wesley had made to her this evening.

Even if she was currently drowsy, she still clearly remembered this fact.

She used to think Wesley Gordon was a serious person.

But ever since this afternoon, when Wesley planned to use Cindy Clarke as his tool, Hunter felt that she had never truly understood Wesley.

She needed to re-evaluate Wesley.

Just as she had this thought, she received five calls from Wesley in one night.

All about how to guard against the Indian Triad and whether they could counter-trap them.

Now, Wesley’s image in her mind had been completely overturned.

“Alright.” Hunter sat up, turned on the bedside lamp, and rubbed her eyes a few times.

She fully woke herself up: “You go ahead.”

“I think sticking the contestant’s name on the bottom of the bowl is not safe enough,” Wesley said.

Hunter:”…”

Wesley had thought so much that even this came to his mind.

“Sticking it on the bottom of the bowl seems fine to me.

There’s soup in the bowl, they can’t flip it over,” Hunter said, “After tasting the cuisine, there will definitely be left over in the bowl, so they can only pick the name tag from underneath.”

“I always feel it’s not safe enough, what if they take advantage of our inattention, when carrying the bowl, secretly take out the name tag, seeing the name?” Wesley said.

Hunter:”…”

Exactly how much trauma have those people left you with?

You’re even this guarded.

Wesley shook his head and sighed: “You weren’t in charge before, you don’t know how shameless they are.

They’re absolutely shameless.”

Hunter:”…”

“So you’ve thought of a better method?” Hunter asked.

Every time Wesley called her tonight, he had thought of an improved idea and wanted to ask her opinion.

To reassure him, and also because she genuinely thought the ideas were good, Hunter agreed to all of them.

Then, Wesley said excitedly: “Let’s do this: our two teams, use bowls of different colors.

For example, our team, use red bowls, their team use black bowls.”

“Black?” Hunter twitched a corner of her mouth, “If black bowls are used for soup, it’s hard to highlight the soup’s merits.”

The soups that Cindy and others had prepared were all very light in color.

With a black bowl, it’s pitch-black, firstly it’s not visually appealing.

“Oh yes!

I know what you mean, but listen to me, this is the plan.

I’ll lead the mentor of the Indian Triad into the Little Black Room.” Wesley said.

Hunter:”…”

What kind of statement is this?

“Let’s arrange for the contestants to draw lots, making sure Indian Triad doesn’t know which color each has drawn.” Wesley said.

“No matter what color we draw, we change ours to white bowls.” White bowls are the most secure.

When filled with soup, you can see the color of the soup regardless of what it is.

It best accentuates the color of the soup.

“As for them, change theirs to black.

Red’s not good, it’s too festive of a color, a good omen like that, can’t be given to them.

Then note it down officially.

If the mentor of the Indian Triad tries to eavesdrop during the drawing of lots, well, we’ve immediately changed the colors, so they still won’t know.” Wesley said.

Hunter:”…”

You sure are racking your brains for a single competition!

No wonder she always felt that Wesley’s head was getting bigger.

She thought it was just her illusion, but didn’t expect that it was all because of his constant thinking, really made his head big.

“After they’ve all made their choices and the results are out, we can make the results public, and tell them which color represents which team.

That’s the safest way.” Wesley said.

Hunter:”…”

Framing a competition, Wesley managed to make it look like a spy war.

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“Fine, let’s do it that way,” Hunter said, “We have both black and white bowls in stock.”

“Then let’s arrive at 7 in the morning; we need to set things up quickly.” Wesley said.

“Alright,” Hunter nodded in agreement, “If we’re to arrive at 7 in the morning, shouldn’t we rest now?

There are only a few hours left.”

To prevent any sudden incidents, the two of them stayed in the school’s teacher’s dormitory tonight.

But even so, to meet at the Practice Room at seven, they have to wake up quite early.

“Alright, alright.” Wesley agreed, “Goodnight, goodnight.”

After hanging up the call, Wesley finally slept in peace.

Early in the morning, Wesley and Hunter started their preparations.

As for welcoming the Offensive Team, others were in charge, so they didn’t need to worry about it.

Cindy also woke up early.

The kid wanted to go with her, but he was still too sleepy to wake up.

When Cindy called him, he was still lying in bed unwilling to open his eyes.

Helpless, Cindy could only pick him up.

But now he was somewhat heavy, reaching the point where it was hard for Cindy to carry him.

She used to be able to pick him up from the bed while standing straight.

But now Cindy tried it and failed.

She could only sit at the edge of the bed and pull him up to sit.

The little guy was like a boneless wonder, directly falling back into Cindy’s arms.

Smelling the scent of Cindy’s arms, he felt extremely at ease.

“Cindy, you smell so good.”

The best smell in the world was your mom’s scent.

“Your skin feels so good too,” said Cindy with a smile.

His chubby body, the sensation of holding him, they barely felt any bones, it was too soft.

“Hehe!” Despite the drowsiness, the kid still had a grin on his face.

Hunter helplessly said, “Didn’t you say you wanted to come to school with me to watch the competition?

If you don’t get up now, I’ll be late, I can’t wait for you.”

This phrase worked better than any alarm.

The little guy instantly woke up.

Even in Cindy’s arms, he was startled, instantly opening his eyes.

Chapter 1249: Who would have known, there was an accident, hit by a car_1 “I’m awake!” The little one immediately climbed out of Cindy Clarke’s arms, no longer sleeping in.

He didn’t even delay for a moment, climbing straight off the bed and heading to the restroom, using his little step stool to wash up.

To keep in good spirits, the housekeeper had prepared breakfast, so Cindy didn’t lift a finger.

Once she left Morgan Zhekova’s room, she saw Adrian Zhekova had also gotten up.

“Why are you up so early?” Pingla was distant and travelling there would take some time.

She needed to be at school by 9 o’clock, hence Cindy would wake up at 6, tidy up with Morgan, hurriedly finish breakfast and plan to leave by half-past six.

...

She would prefer to be early rather than late.

She had a competition today; she had to be extra careful with her time.

There was no need for Adrian Zhekova to wake up so early though.

“Although I can’t go to the match to watch you compete, I can at least send you off.” Adrian said.

After he was finished saying that, he glanced into the little one’s room and noticed he wasn’t there.

For precaution’s sake, he took Cindy back to their room and shut the door.

As Cindy was about to ask why, Adrian’s kiss silenced her.

But his kiss was brief, he only held Cindy’s face, kissing her momentarily.

“This is my encouragement.” Adrian said, holding her face.

“Received.” Cindy chuckled, nodding seriously.

“Cindy!” The little one’s voice called from outside again, “I’m done tidying up!”

Adrian helplessly looked at Cindy, stating: “Now that Morgan’s able to run and jump, he’ll always be interrupting us.

If we were to have a baby sister, and she can’t run or jump yet, will all your time be taken over by the youngest one?”

“I don’t want to lie to you.” Cindy nodded, “Definitely yes.”

Adrian: “…”

“Then we’re not in a hurry, we’re both still young, we can wait a few years to have a baby sister.” Adrian quickly let go of yesterday’s regret over Cindy not being pregnant.

Cindy thought, still young?

We’re not.

Well, she was still young indeed.

But Adrian Zhekova certainly was not.

“Fourth Uncle is only getting married now.

When he has children, it’ll be at least a year or two.

If he can take it, I’m sure I can.” Adrian said.

Cindy: “…”

Who knew Lyke could be implicated even with this.

Cindy felt a hint of sympathy for him.

“Morgan’s calling.” Cindy reminded Adrian.

Adrian finally let go of Cindy and the two of them exited the bedroom together.

Right at the door, they bumped into the little one, who was looking for her.

The little one looked up at Cindy and Adrian, asking: “Cindy, why did you suddenly go back to the bedroom?”

And even came out with dad.

Cindy gave him an awkward explanation: “I just went to wake your dad.”

“Oh.” The little one seemed to believe her, “Hurry up and eat, so we won’t be late.”

With that, he hopped and skipped off to the living room.

Cindy and Adrian hurried over as well.

Knowing the three of them needed to rush off and that Cindy had a competition that was absolutely crucial today, the housekeeper had prepared a simple and quick breakfast, helping them to finish very quickly.

Afterwards, all three of them left together, with Cleave Roland driving Cindy and Morgan away.

Adrian drove himself to Pingla.

Having just parted ways, Adrian was already feeling the solitude.

He even considered not having the meeting and just going directly to find Cindy.

Adrian had to resist this thought with all his strength.

He finally arrived at the company and entered, ready to have the meeting.

It was too late to reconsider.

On Cindy’s end, she was sitting in the back seat with Morgan.

Suddenly, Morgan turned around flailing his little arms: “Cindy!”

Cindy quickly held onto Morgan’s hand: “What’s the matter?”

“I feel anxious.” Morgan tightly grasped Cindy’s hand, “It feels bad.”

Cindy was startled: “Is it the same as before?”

Morgan nodded vigorously: “Yes, but more intense.”

Cindy couldn’t help but consider.

If Morgan’s ability really was to predict danger, then what kind of danger was waiting for them?

She couldn’t work out what the danger was now, or when it would come.

Even a vague idea of the timing would be good, at least they would have a sense of it and could take precautions.

Yet, this kind of elusive occurrence, not knowing when it would come, continuously being cautious, always on tenterhooks.

Most likely, before the danger even arrives, their spirits would have already taken a hit.

Because of Morgan’s ability, there is no prior experience, it’s unproven.

How it’s triggered, how far in advance they could get to the danger, all were still unknowns.

They had no idea how to guard against it.

As Cindy was contemplating, her mobile phone suddenly rang.

Cindy picked up the phone and saw it was Joshua Clarke’s number.

Cindy hesitated for a moment since the last time Joshua looked for her, she knew it definitely had something to do with Christy Xenos and Wendy Clarke.

Cindy really did not want to answer Joshua’s call.

The phone had been ringing for a while and finally, she decided to pick up to see what the situation was.

If it was still due to Christy and Wendy, she could just hang up.

Unexpectedly, she picked up the call only to hear Wendy’s voice.

“Cindy.” Wendy called, “Don’t hang up the phone, don’t you care about dad’s health?”

Wendy had no other way.

She had just dialled Cindy’s number and, to her surprise, Cindy had already blacklisted her number.

Then she used Christy’s number to dial.

As expected, it was also blacklisted by Cindy.

With no other choice, Wendy used Joshua’s phone to dial.

“Cindy, how could you blacklist mum and my numbers?” Wendy questioned.

“You tell dad that if he lets you use his phone to call me again, I might have no choice but to blacklist his number,” Cindy responded in a cold voice.

Joshua was the only remaining link between the Clarke Family and Cindy.

If Cindy had to blacklist Joshua’s number as well, it could very well pose a threat to Wendy.

Seeing that Cindy was about to hang up, Wendy hurriedly said: “You wait!

You don’t care about dad’s safety anymore?”

“What do you mean?” Cindy asked, frowning.

Wendy seized the opportunity to say, “Cindy, no matter what, you need to provide a role model for Morgan.

He sees you being disrespectful to your parents, even blacklisting their numbers because you’re afraid we’ll contact you.

Morgan sees this, and he can easily pick up these habits, aren’t you afraid he’ll treat you the same way in the future?”

“I’m hanging up.” Cindy said coldly.

She had already pulled the phone away, about to hang up when she heard Wendy’s piercing voice from afar: “Dad’s been hospitalised!”

Cindy quickly put the phone back to her ear: “What did you say?”

“Dad’s in the hospital, you’re repulsed by dad and don’t want to see him, so dad misses you but we won’t let him go find you.

It’s the cold truth that he can’t bear the cold shoulder, you look down on him.

He didn’t want to bother you by looking for you and have you feel disgusted.”

“That’s why, dad went to secretly find you behind our backs.

Who would have known disaster would strike, and he got hit by a car.” Wendy said.

Chapter 1250: Car Accident_1 “If you hadn’t gone to see him, he wouldn’t have been in the car accident!” Wendy Clarke accused, “If you could think about him, pay more attention to him, he wouldn’t have tried to secretly see you because he misses you.

If you could have bought a house for him, arranged a comfortable place for him to live, showed him you care about him, he would not be worrying about you not recognizing him, blaming him.”

Upon Joshua Clarke’s car accident, Cindy Clarke was anxious, only to hear Wendy say, “You should come see him, he’s at Late Good Hospital.”

On hearing Wendy’s words, Cindy became even more suspicious.

“Let me talk to dad,” Cindy said.

She’s not heartless.

It’s just too coincidental, Morgan Zhekova had just started to feel anxious, sensing danger.

Then she received a call from Wendy.

Moreover, coincidentally, this happened while she was on her way to a competition.

...

These coincidences, strung together, made Cindy have to overthink.

As a result, she heard Wendy say, “He’s seriously injured right now, and they’re trying to save him.

Why else would I call you?

Otherwise, he could have called you himself, and I wouldn’t have to call you using his mobile.”

But what’s the truth?

Of course, Joshua Clarke is fine, he’s just sitting in the VIP room of the hospital.

Joshua Clarke is getting old, and his body would have some diseases common in old people.

Using his health insurance card to get a check-up, and arranging his hospital stay isn’t difficult.

Right now, he’s sitting on the sofa, anxiously watching Wendy deceive Cindy with his mobile phone.

The reason Wendy gave him was that she just wanted to have a serious talk with Cindy.

But obviously, if they were to ask Cindy for a talk, she definitely would reject them.

So they could only use Joshua Clarke as an excuse.

Joshua Clarke didn’t know that Cindy had a competition today, so he agreed.

He figured, this was akin to things many elders in other families have done.

Pretending to be sick to call their children to come home.

It’s always the same routine.

If he could use it, it wouldn’t cause any harm.

Just for seeing his children, there’s nothing wrong with it.

“I got it.” Cindy said.

“You’ll come, right?” Wendy confirmed.

“I will go there.” Cindy said, but she didn’t say when she would.

She didn’t believe a single word Wendy told her.

But she couldn’t joke about Joshua Clarke’s health.

Without verification, she couldn’t base her confirmation that Joshua Clarke was conspiring with Wendy to lie to her on her own conjecture.

“You’d better come right away.

If dad can’t be saved, and you regret it then, don’t come crying to me.” Wendy said, “By then, you wouldn’t have the nerve to cry to me!

You might not even have the nerve to enter the mourning hall!”

Joshua Clarke listened and shivered.

He didn’t expect Wendy to say such absolute things.

Originally, it was all just pretending.

Pretending to be sick is something he could accept, as long as it wasn’t a serious illness.

But Wendy is already saying he had a car accident from the start.

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This made Joshua Clarke feel it was bad luck.

He was perfectly fine and hadn’t had a car accident, wasn’t this cursing him?

Nonetheless, Joshua Clarke cooperated anyway.

He was a good father, so he shouldn’t care so much.

Otherwise, Wendy would often say he favored Cindy.

Now for Wendy, he had sacrificed so much, and Wendy couldn’t say that anymore.

But who knew, Wendy crossed the line.

Now she was talking about his death!

Even if it was just tricking Cindy and only a hypothesis, it still brought bad luck.

Especially since he was very old.

And yet Wendy still spoke like that.

Wasn’t she afraid of a self-fulfilling prophecy and it actually coming true?

Joshua Clarke’s face had now turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Even Christy Xenos felt that Wendy went too far.

No matter how hypothetical it was, she shouldn’t say such things.

Christy Xenos cautiously looked at Joshua Clarke.

She didn’t dare speak up, afraid that Cindy might hear it, so she could only appease Joshua Clarke with a smile, gesturing him not to mind.

Ever since Wendy became capable, it had been a long time since Christy Xenos had to humble herself before Joshua Clarke.

Everything had come this far, Joshua Clarke knew that he couldn’t give up halfway now.

So even though he was angry, he was still holding onto it.

“Okay.” Cindy said.”I’ll be right there.”

After hanging up the phone, Cleave Roland looked at Cindy in the rearview mirror: “Madam, do you want to change the route?”

“No need.” Cindy said.

She didn’t trust Wendy, but she also wouldn’t ignore Lyke Zhekova’s welfare.

She wasn’t short of hands right now, so she called Adrian Zhekova: “Have you started the meeting yet?”

“Not yet, it’s only 8 o’clock, and it’s not time for work yet.

The meeting is scheduled for 9:30.” Adrian Zhekova explained.

Cindy breathed a sigh of relief.

It was good that she hadn’t disturbed his work.

Since he left the house with her, Adrian Zhekova arrived at the company quite early, with nothing to do in the office, and he was happy that Cindy called.

If Cindy didn’t call, he would have wanted to call Cindy.

Cindy quickly told Adrian Zhekova about the phone call from Wendy just now.

Adrian Zhekova had the same thoughts as Cindy, thinking that Wendy was lying.

But this involved Cindy’s father, Adrian Zhekova couldn’t just say straight away that it’s nothing and they are definitely tricking you.

Cindy can think like this, but he couldn’t say so.

“I suspect that Wendy was lying to me, but I can’t just ignore it.

It’s just that the timing she made this call was too coincidental,” Cindy told Adrian Zhekova about Morgan Zhekova suddenly feeling anxious.

“After Morgan felt anxious, Wendy called.

This can’t help but make me overthink,” Cindy said.

“I fear she wants to disrupt my competition, and not just to disrupt my competition, but with other intentions.

Can you send someone to the hospital to check up on my dad?”

“If he’s truly in an accident, I definitely will not participate in the competition and go directly to the hospital.

But if they are deceiving me…” Cindy hadn’t figured that out yet.

If they were tricking her, she could decide on the follow-up actions later.

Right now, Cindy couldn’t think that far ahead.

“Alright, I’ll send someone to confirm immediately.” Adrian Zhekova can confirm, without having to wait for someone to go to the hospital, they could start out separately.

While someone went to the hospital in person, someone else could first contact the hospital to confirm.

Usually, the hospital couldn’t disclose patient information.

But Adrian Zhekova could ask as Joshua Clarke’s son-in-law.

And Cindy didn’t have the contact information of the hospital, even if she thought of it, implementing it would be difficult.

“I’m hanging up now, I’ll confirm this immediately, and reply to you within 20 minutes,” Adrian Zhekova said,”Don’t worry.”

“Okay, don’t worry about it.” Cindy said.

Adrian Zhekova hung up the phone and immediately went to work on it.

First, he dispatched people to Late Good Hospital.

Then he told Adam Zahn to look for the contact information of the hospital.

Adam Zahn directly contacted a surgeon at the hospital, first asking if there were any car accident patients admitted this morning.

The other party weirdly said: “No.”

“Are you sure?” Adam Zahn asked again.

“Although the hospital receives many accident patients every day, it’s extremely rare to receive that many at the same time in a short period.

Only a large-scale serial car accident could cause that.”