Chapter 64: Secretly Following
From Jasmine’s perspective, that was obviously the reason. What other reason could there be? The food at Spark Farm was bland, lacking in nutrition, and tasted awful. At first, the workers might have felt grateful for it, but after their basic needs were met, they naturally started to desire more.
In this situation, hiring a chef was the right decision.
Delicious food would further improve the workers’ happiness, which would lead to better rest and, ultimately, increased productivity. In short, hiring a chef would bring significant benefits to Spark Farm, a win-win situation.
However, after Jasmine’s affirmative answer, Adele’s expression became strange. She hadn’t expected Jasmine to accept her explanation so readily, without even giving her a chance to backtrack. Adele’s face stiffened, and Jasmine asked curiously, “Miss Adele, what’s wrong?”
“Humph!” Adele snorted and turned her head away, refusing to look at Jasmine. Instead, she sat down and opened the letter from the Blake patriarch, unfolding it to read.
The Blake patriarch didn’t say much. He simply inquired about her situation and told her when to return home after the semester ended. Her mother had something to discuss with her. Adele put the letter aside. Since there was nothing urgent, she planned to reply to her father after finishing her current tasks.
The semester was almost over. There was only about a month left. In January, the coldest month of the year, the school would announce the winter break. Students would submit reports on the farms they had managed, which would be reviewed and evaluated by hidden teachers. Then, the headmaster would assign the final grades.
Academic results and rankings would be sent to the students’ homes during the break. Only after returning to school the following year would the top student from the previous semester give a speech. Adele was doing very well with her internship. After she had implemented the new work and rest schedule, the farm’s productivity had not only not declined, but had actually increased significantly.
If Jasmine’s prediction was correct, Adele would be giving another speech as the top student next semester.
Jasmine stood beside Adele for a while. When it was almost time for dinner, she told Adele that she was leaving. But Adele, still sulking for some reason, only hummed noncommittally, neither forbidding nor allowing her to leave. Jasmine took the initiative, saying, “Miss, I’m going to dinner now,” and left.
Her decisive departure angered Adele. Not long after Jasmine left, Adele threw down her pen. She told herself, “I’m not going to see if Jasmine is enjoying her meal or not,” but she stealthily followed Jasmine, like a thief.
Adele thought her actions were flawless, but she didn’t know that she had already been exposed. Jasmine, unaware of what Adele was up to, simply continued walking, pretending not to notice. Adele, acting like a spy, would occasionally peek out from behind something. Jasmine, wanting to tease her, muttered to herself, “I feel like someone is following me,” and slowly turned around.
Her eyesight was incredibly sharp. The moment she turned her head, she saw Adele shrinking behind a decorative suit of armor. Even after turning around completely, she could still see a lock of silver hair.
“Strange, maybe I was mistaken.” Jasmine scanned the area, pretending to be nonchalant. Then she turned back and continued towards the dining hall.
Adele patted her chest, “Jasmine is so weak, but her senses are sharp. I almost got caught.” She emerged from her hiding spot, only to realize that while she had evaded Jasmine, she hadn’t evaded the maid working the night shift. The maid had been diligently cleaning the armor and, seeing Adele’s strange behavior, was momentarily frozen, not knowing what to do.
Adele also stiffened. She tried to act as if nothing had happened, flipping her hair and nodding at the maid, “Continue your work.” Then she quickly walked away, her face burning red.
—How embarrassing! I was seen by a maid!
She composed herself and reached the dining hall entrance. She couldn’t just walk in like this, so she peeked inside cautiously, holding onto the doorframe. She saw Jasmine queuing at the serving window, waiting for her meal, completely unaware of her presence. Adele breathed a sigh of relief. See, humans couldn’t possibly detect her!
However, while Jasmine hadn’t noticed her, the servants entering the dining hall were surprised to see her. They wanted to greet Adele, but before they could speak, Adele suddenly turned around, putting her finger to her lips and shushing them.
She absolutely couldn’t be seen by Jasmine!
As for being seen by others, it didn’t matter. She had already been seen, and her authority as the master had been compromised. She could just regain it later. Besides, even if the servants saw her acting strangely, they wouldn’t say anything. After all, she was their master.
Jasmine carried her tray, loaded with food.
The chef Adele had hired was truly skilled. While Adele had been working on her assignments in her room, the chef had prepared many dishes. Even with limited seasonings, the food smelled delicious. There were even desserts: a small wooden plate with several cream puffs.
Perhaps because she had seen Jasmine when she first arrived, knowing that Jasmine was Adele’s personal maid, the chef had given Jasmine three extra cream puffs to curry favor with her. Jasmine didn’t have the habit of saving dessert for last. She ate whatever she wanted, and right now, she really wanted to try the cream puffs.
She didn’t even use a spoon. She simply picked up a puff, put it in her mouth, and took a bite. They were truly delicious. Perhaps because sugar was scarce in the manor, the chef hadn’t used much, so the puffs weren’t overly sweet.
But to Jasmine, it was the perfect level of sweetness. The highest praise for a dessert was that it wasn’t too sweet!
The soft, creamy filling, with its subtle sweetness, melted in her mouth. It had been so long since she had eaten such delicious food that she was completely engrossed in her meal, forgetting all about Adele secretly following her.
Desserts could truly warm the heart. Jasmine ate happily, finishing all the cream puffs in no time. Then she turned her attention to the other dishes. She immediately spotted the stir-fried onions and meat. In this world where stews were the norm, she had actually encountered a stir-fried dish!
It wasn’t exactly a stir-fry. The meat was cut into large chunks and seemed to have been pan-fried first before being added to the pan with onions and stir-fried together. Lemon juice had been added to the seasoning, making it a more Western-style dish.
But it was still one of the most delicious meals she had eaten in this world. Paired with the perfectly textured bread, Jasmine felt incredibly happy.
At that moment, she felt a gaze on her. She finally remembered that Adele had been sulking for some reason and had been secretly following her. She must be peeking in from the doorway now.
Adele’s “shush” had made most of the servants instinctively hold their breath and pretend they hadn’t seen their master’s strange behavior. But there were always exceptions. The manor’s most unique resident, the little girl, ran over to Adele. Not understanding Adele’s gesture, she asked, “Miss Blake, are you playing hide-and-seek?”
Even Adele, who couldn’t get angry at the weak, couldn’t help but want to cover the little girl’s mouth. She instinctively glanced at Jasmine, hoping that Jasmine hadn’t heard the little girl’s voice. But the dining hall was so quiet, and the little girl’s voice was both loud and shrill. How could Jasmine have missed it?
So, when Adele turned back, she saw that Jasmine, who had been facing away from her, had turned around and was looking towards her with a puzzled expression in her usually calm eyes.
Adele, whose face was already flushed, couldn’t control herself any longer. She vanished in a flash. Everyone was surprised by her sudden disappearance. Only Jasmine knew that at that moment, Adele’s speed had exceeded her usual limits. She hadn’t expected Adele to be so fast.
Adele was gone. Jasmine turned back and continued eating her meal. She was very devoted to food, especially delicious food. She would sit down and savor it carefully, finishing all the good parts and leaving the rest.
Jasmine knew that resources were scarce in this world, but she had come from a highly developed world and had never suffered any hardships, thanks to her cheat abilities. So, it was understandable for her to be a bit picky… Of course, it would be better if she could send the food she couldn’t finish to the Human Resistance Army. But that was impossible for now, so she would just do her best.
She had heard the maids whispering about her pickiness before. “Is Miss Jasmine really that delicate? She’s so picky. If she doesn’t like a dish, she won’t even touch it.”
“Well, she’s Miss Blake’s maid. Miss Blake dotes on her. She can afford to be picky.”
“I don’t know what she’s so proud of. She’s just a human, like us.”
Jasmine had been leaning against the wall in a corner when she heard those words. She could have confronted the maids, and they wouldn’t have dared to say another word. But Jasmine didn’t want to make things awkward. Besides, it was true that she was picky, and it was precisely because of Adele’s favoritism that she could afford to be so.
Since they were speaking the truth, there was no need to correct them.
Jasmine also knew that she had a difficult personality. As someone who had transmigrated from a developed world, someone born with cheat abilities, even if she didn’t want to admit it, she had to acknowledge that she looked down on ordinary humans, vampires, and even otherworldly beings.
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