Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots
Chapter 1238 - 147 Abstention (First Update)

Chapter 1238: 147 Abstention (First Update)

With less than two hours left in the competition, an unexpected incident occurred on the stage.

Wu Hanyu had fainted!

Just moments before, everyone had been idly chatting in low voices when suddenly a dull thump was heard. Following a flash before their eyes, Wu Hanyu, cloaked in a translucent Curtain Lattice, swayed and collapsed to the ground.

Chen Leyao was the first to notice and instinctively stood up, reaching out to catch her, but with some distance between each embroidery stand, her efforts were in vain.

"Yukyuk!"

Lady Du cried out in shock, dropping her teacup and running towards her daughter, then began to sob loudly as she embraced Wu Hanyu, who had already closed her eyes.

The sudden turn of events surprised many people, but it was Cheng Haoxuan who first snapped back to reality, calmly directing Embroiderer Ru and Embroiderer Rui to help Wu Hanyu up and take her to a room.

Lady Du hugged her daughter, wiping away tears from the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief, sobbing, "Take her to my carriage instead! My daughter, I have always warned you not to overdo it, not to overdo it, but you didn’t listen and insisted on competing while sick. Now that you have fainted, what am I supposed to do? Ohhh, Yukyuk, you can’t let anything happen to you. You are my only daughter; you can’t worry me like this!"

Lady Du’s crying was desperate, almost as if she wouldn’t be satisfied until everyone heard her.

Chen Leyao, standing nearby, looked flustered as she watched Wu Hanyu being carried away like she was completely unresponsive, her expression changing slightly.

Lin Wei and Tian Xuan exchanged looks, both finding the situation incredible.

"Ladies, Miss Wu has left early due to poor health. Please stay calm and continue with your embroidery; there is only a quarter of an hour left," Cheng Haoxuan announced in the center of the stage after Wu Hanyu and Lady Du had departed.

"Sshe left early; does her score still count?" Luo Sangu, standing at the back, suddenly asked.

Cheng Haoxuan glanced at this seemingly nonchalant woman, slightly displeased, but still announced clearly, "Madam Wu has already explained to me when she left that Miss Wu is feeling unwell and cannot continue the competition, and they have decided to withdraw. Therefore, Miss Wu’s score will not be counted in the final results."

Perhaps to confirm the truth of Cheng Haoxuan’s words, the Maid beside Lady Du began to pack up Wu Hanyu’s unfinished embroidery and took it away.

Although it was a competition, women’s embroideries generally are not circulated outside, and since Wu Hanyu had given up, Madam Cheng readily allowed her Maid to take her embroidery away.

Everyone had just been distracted by Wu Hanyu’s sudden fainting, and no one had taken notice of her unfinished embroidery, so no one truly knew the extent of Wu Hanyu’s embroidery skills.

Hearing Cheng Haoxuan declare Wu Hanyu’s score void, Luo Sangu’s eyes lit up, and she briskly returned to her embroidery stand, her face full of delight, muttering to herself as she sat down.

The person closest to her, curious, leaned in to listen and couldn’t help but show a look of contempt, "You’re actually pleased that she’s sick! How heartless!"

As the saying goes, an old ginger is spicier than the fresh. Lady Jiang had already seen through Lady Du’s exaggerated wailing and had also discerned that Wu Hanyu’s fainting was just an act. Seeing Chen Leyao somewhat distracted, she quickly sent her Maid to pass on a message to her.

After hearing the message, Chen Leyao breathed a sigh of relief and sneered, "Quite the convincing performance!"

Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng, standing below the stage watching the drama unfold, couldn’t help but chuckle. Although Wu Hanyu was feigning illness, Lin Yuan still lost her favorable impression of Luo Sangu, who was instantly concerned about the competition results. While everyone else was worried about health, she was the only one concerned about the outcome. If that wasn’t cold-hearted, then it was an excessively strong desire to win!

"Ding ding ding!"

The young girl hosting the competition struck the gong, and the contest finally came to a close.

Putting down her embroidery needle, Lin Wei smiled contentedly and looked up at the tea house window, her heart full of thoughts for the one still watching her, a sight that made her both sweetly happy and deeply reassured.

Lin Yuan sensed Lin Wei’s unusual mood. She initially thought Lin Wei was looking at Lady Liu, but the expression on her face didn’t resemble that of someone looking at her mother. It was more akin to the look given to a beloved.

But when Lin Yuan turned her head to look, she discovered that the person had already vanished.

With Wu Hanyu having withdrawn, only nineteen competitors remained on stage. Naturally, Lin Wei moved up from third to second place, and the seemingly bewitched Luo Sangu rose to third.

Tian Xuan carefully held her own embroidery work, her bright eyes flicking back and forth across Cheng Haoxuan, her face wearing an obvious look of adoration.

The results of the Red Smoke Pavilion were judged on the spot, with the competing women lined up on stage according to the order previously listed, each holding the embroidery they had just completed. In front of each competitor was a small screen, only half the height of a person, on which hung the embroidery submitted at the time of registration.

In this way, as everyone displayed their embroideries one by one, the onlookers could make comparisons, and any cheaters who had others do their work would be immediately obvious.

Since Wu Hanyu had forfeited, her screen was naturally moved aside. Taking her place at the top was Lin Wei, who had previously been third.

"Hey, your piece is double-sided embroidery too?" Chen Leyao found Lin Wei somewhat interesting and, out of curiosity, peered at the screen in front of her, becoming even more intrigued.

Double-sided embroidery was unique to Jiangnan—how did this girl know it?

"Are your ancestors from Jiangnan?" Chen Leyao asked.

At that question, Lin Wei’s heart skipped a beat. Could she admit that this double-sided embroidery was influenced by the teachings of Chen Leyao’s illegitimate brother?

Of course not.

Shaking her head, Lin Wei said somewhat guiltily, "No, it’s just that my older sister is well-informed and had heard of a technique called double-sided embroidery. She asked me to research it when I had time. This one, I figured it out on my own."

To Chen Leyao, Lin Wei’s apparent guilt seemed nothing more than a sign of modesty, and combined with her sincere demeanor, Chen Leyao grew even fonder of her.

"You worked it out yourself? Wow, you’re so talented! I had to have experts come to my house to teach me double-sided embroidery!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Chen Leyao coughed uneasily as if she shouldn’t be revealing her secrets in front of others, a reminder her mother had often given her.

Lin Wei, being of simple thoughts, didn’t notice anything amiss and smiled slightly without saying a word.

Luo Sangu, standing beside Lin Wei, peeked at the embroidery of the two and muttered, "Double-sided embroidery? It seems yours is even more impressive than hers!"

Madam Cheng exchanged a few words with Lady Jiang, and the two women walked over with smiles to the competitors to examine each person’s work.