SweetHeart in Honeyed Desire

Chapter 27

Once the new product had passed the taste test, Lu Yu and the photographer arrived at 『Sweet Dream』in accordance to the scheduled time.

Last night, Tang Mi had purposely gone through her wardrobe but had truly been unable to find an outfit to wear that can be counted as ‘dressing pretty. ‘ In the end, she borrowed a sapphire dress from Fu Xin’s closet.

She decided that the next time she had a day off, she really should find the time to go clothes shopping.

After Tang Mi changed into casual clothes, Lu Yu was full of praise for the dress she was wearing. When she saw her makeup-less face, however, she silently sighed. She tugged Tang Mi to the side and helped her do her makeup. Tang Mi almost thought that she was a model who was about to have a photoshoot for a magazine cover.

Lu Yu was very skilled in applying makeup and imparted many techniques upon Tang Mi. Once makeup was done, Lu Yu utilized techniques more professionally than that of a hair stylist’s as she did Tang Mi’s hair.

Tang Mi’s hair was long yet soft, smooth and shiny like black sesame. Lu Yu couldn’t help but inquire about the secrets on how she took good care of her hair.

Tang Mi replied in a deadpan manner, “It’s natural. “

Lu Yu: “…”

She fiddled with Tang Mi’s hair for a while before pinning it up with an ocean blue hair clip. “Mn, and it just so happens to match your dress. “

Tang Mi tugged on her long hair somewhat awkwardly. “I feel like it would be better to wear my chef uniform. “

Lu Yu remarked, “Naturally, we need a photo of you in your chef uniform, but one of you in casual dress is also a must. This is mainly to attract fans. Do you know how many of them pay attention to appearances nowadays?”

Tang Mi: “…”

Lu Yu withdrew two paces and sized her up carefully from the distance. “Ah, you looked average when wearing a chef uniform; I didn’t expect you to be so beautiful when dressed up. You really are princess-like. “

Tang Mi’s brows twitched. “Do you really plan on titling me ‘Princess of Baking?'”

“Yes, leave the packaging to us. Feel reassured. “

Tang Mi: “…”

By no means am I reassured by leaving it to you.

While Lu Yu helped her with her appearance, the photographer had just finished taking photos of the dessert and came over to request that she pose with her new product.

Tang Mi usually never took photos, not to mention a professional one. To the side, there were even staff members holding reflective panels.

According to the photographer’s directions, she woodenly walked over and sat down next to the table. She spooned up some of the caramel cheesecake and brought it up to her mouth.

The photographer said, “Don’t move so stiffly. Look at the camera, smile. “

Tang Mi raised her head and tugged her lips into a smile.

The photographer spoke up again. “Smile a bit more naturally, a bit sweeter. Have you seen Shu Qing Yan’s 《Sweet Formula》? When she was eating dessert, she exposed a smile that captivated thousands upon thousands of viewers. Right now, your expression makes me think that this cake is not tasty at all. “

Tang Mi: “…”

Director, I am simply a pastry chef.

At present, pastry chefs had to not only rely on their looks, they had to also be able to act. This test was just too comprehensive.

To the side, Lu Yu gave her some advice. “How about you actually eat the cake to find that feeling?”

Tang Mi smoothly slid the spoonful of cake into her mouth. The soft cream cheese melted on her tongue, and the resulting combination of the rich, fragrant cream taste combined with the bits of crisp textured biscuits made Tang Mi unable to contain a soft moan of content.

“Good,” the photographer suddenly said.

Tang Mi looked at him, slightly confused. “You took a photo?”

“Mn, a candid photo really is more reasonable. “

Tang Mi: “…”

The photographer showed Lu Yu the result and then began to pack away his equipment. Lu Yu carried her bag as she walked over to Tang Mi. She said, “This issue of the dessert special collection is nearly done. Next week, it’ll be released on the official Weibo and official site on schedule. Oh, that’s right. Previously, our special collection’s star chef received a lot of media attention, so if any reporters come to interview you, you must not be too surprised!”

Tang Mi: “…”

Could it be that she would become popular overnight? But…she just wanted to be a pastry chef peacefully.

**********

After all the material was collected, the Public Relations Department finished the first draft of the dessert special collection the next day and handed it over to Yu Yi in the regular business meeting that morning for him to look over. The special collection included all of Yu Zhi’s popular desserts the past half year as well as the hottest selling classic desserts and new products from each restaurant. From just seeing the photos, readers couldn’t help but want to eat them.

Yu Yi glanced through it all, and his flat voice rang out throughout the meeting room slowly. “Princess of Baking?”

The Public Relations Department Director nodded. “Mn, it’s just an advertising gimmick, similar to how Lin Che’s the Prince of Baking. A title will make this a greater selling point. “

Yu Yi indifferently said, “We are a restaurant, not a performing arts company. “

“Eh, then CEO Yu means…?”

“I do not like this title. “

Thus, when the dessert special collection was officially released, Tang Mi’s title had changed to ‘Queen of Baking. ‘

Before 『Sweet Dream』 opened for business, Supervisor Yu and a group of female employees sat together to look at Weibo, issuing gasps and exclamations from time to time. After changing into her chef uniform, Tang Mi walked over to ask them, “What are you looking at?”

Supervisor Yu heard her voice and turned her head to glance at her. A somewhat distorted smile crossed her face. “Our Queen of Baking has arrived. “

Tang Mi stared blankly at them before shifting her gaze to the tablet on the table.

It displayed Yu Zhi’s official Weibo.

She recalled that the special collection was being released today and walked over to the side to log onto Weibo on her phone.

The dessert special collection announcement was pinned and already had an extremely high number of reblogs and comments. Tang Mi nervously opened up the image to full size.

The special collection was fairly comprehensive and did not focus solely on one restaurant. Tang Mi looked through the desserts from the other restaurants, until her attention finally fell onto the special column for the star pastry chef.

The three words, ‘Queen of Baking,’ were designed to have a glittering, golden light special effect that nearly blinded Tang Mi with its brilliance.

…Wasn’t it Princess of Baking? How come it suddenly changed to Queen?!

So many great chefs were have not been titled Queen, so how could she be a Queen?!

Tang Mi felt her heart sink.

At the same time, Luo Hao also happened to be skimming over this Weibo post’s…comments.

「Did Yu Zhi choose the pastry chef based off her looks? :)」

「Last time, that chef was also pretty handsome. Excuse me, are you hiring janitors?」

「I ate at Sweet Dream before. Their strawberry parfait last time was really yummy. The cake this time seems to also be really delicious. I’m going tomorrow to eat eat (≧▽≦) 」

「The pastry chef can go act in 《Sweet Formula 2》. Look at her eating the cake so happily~」

「I completely agree with you, but I just want to know if the pastry chef will deliver the cake if I buy it?」

「I’ve eaten at all of Yu Zhi’s restaurants! Sweet Dream’s pastry chef is the youngest and didn’t seem to have had work experience in a large restaurant before, but her cakes are really delicious!」

「I suddenly discovered that I graduated from the same university as this pastry chef. Will the restaurant give me a discount?」

「Perhaps the achievement of graduating university with CEO Yu can also be used. 」

……

Luo Hao laughed and handed the tablet over to Yu Yi. “The dessert special collection was released today. The online reception is pretty good. I feel that Tang Mi will become popular. “

Yu Yi’s fingers casually swiped across the tablet, until the screen showed Tang Mi’s photo collection.

Most of the photos were of her in professional attire, but there were two photos of her in casual dress. Or rather, two photos that were taken. The smiling photo of her eating the cake, however, could make any viewer involuntarily smile as well.

Luo Hao mockingly said, “I didn’t expect Tang Mi to be so unexpectedly photogenic when dressed up. “

“Mn. ” Yu Yi hummed in agreement as he returned the tablet to Luo Hao.

Fu Xin was also on Weibo looking at Tang Mi’s interview column. She impatiently called Tang Mi’s number. “Holy shit, Tang Tang, when did you become the King’s wife?!

Tang Mi: “…What?”

“Aren’t you the Queen of Baking?! Isn’t the Queen the King’s wife?!”

“.. That is just something the company did to promote the issue. Shouldn’t you know this as someone in the media? This is called packaging. “

Fu Xin: “…”

Okay, packaging.

In the following days, because of the released dessert special collection, 『Sweet Dream』’s customer traffic clearly rose. Everyone in the restaurant hurried about with their feet never touching the ground.

Especially Tang Mi; because so many guests came just to eat her cake, she was working overtime nearly every day. The restaurant manager, however, promised everyone that the overtime pay would not be small. Furthermore, the restaurant’s turnover had gone up, so everyone was also getting quite a bonus.

Tang Mi already had two months’ worth of wages and would, from time to time, go over to Bai Xiao’s place to earn extra income. She had thus seen her bank account balance rise bit by bit. She could even dare to look at her landlord with a raised head and straight back.

**************

The head office was relatively pleased with each of the restaurant’s recent turnover increase. When Luo Hao entered Yu Yi’s office later, he reported, “We already received an invitation to this year’s Japan exchange program for western-style pastries. It’s at the end of this month, for two people. Which two staff members will the company send?”

Yu Yi stated, “Let Jonathan, who we came to an agreement with last time, go to the exchange program. “

“Got it, and the other person? Should we have each restaurant manager submit recommendations?”

Yu Yi muttered to himself irresolutely. “I’ll think about it later. “

Luo Hao nodded and felt the urge to go onto Weibo on his tablet. He thus opened Yu Zhi’s official Weibo.

The dessert special collection’s hot popularity had yet to fade. These days, there were still many people coming to eat and then posting images and comments on Weibo. The official Weibo had reblogged a lot of them, with half of those being love confessions to Tang Mi.

“CEO Yu, look. Tang Mi has recently welcomed quite a lot of guests. I think the Public Relations Department’s strategy this time is not bad. Creating a star chef can indeed spur sales. “

Yu Yi swept his gaze over the Weibo blog, his expression cold. “I said, we are a restaurant, not a performing arts company. “

“Got it. ” Luo Hao agreed on the surface, but in his heart, he couldn’t help but laugh because he heard an inkling of annoyance in Yu Yi’s voice.

Yu Yi was silent for a moment before saying, “The other person…have Tang Mi go. “

Luo Hao looked at him, surprise flashing through his eyes.

Yu Yi said, “Didn’t you say she brought in a lot of guests recently?”

“…Yes, but this exchange program lasts for ten days. “

“I know. “

Luo Hao’s brows furrowed slightly, but he still smiled at Yu Yi. “Then I’ll go notify Restaurant Manager Qi. “

Right as he reached the doorway, Yu Yi called out for him to stop. “Wait. “

Luo Hao turned around. “CEO Yu has further instructions?”

“Help me arrange my itinerary. I want to go abroad on an inspection in the near future. “

“To where?”

“Japan. “

Luo Hao nearly burst out laughing, but he ultimately relied on his tenacious wilpower to simple respond with, “I will go make arrangements immediately. “