Feng Mian rushed to the hall once more. Her eyes brightened upon seeing the competition was still ongoing. Everyone was busy preparing their cakes, cookies, or anything other than that to present. The judge would be harsh, so they have to prepare their best sweet.

"I wonder how they'll announce the winner with so many people like this," Feng Mian looked at the number of the participants from the seating seat. There were at least dozens of them.

"Don't worry, the judge will taste their sweet and pick the best 10 from them. Afterwards, the 10 of them will prepare 100 sweets for the audience and they'll vote which will win of course, the 100 audience will be picked randomly among the audience. That way, they wouldn't know who it would be so no cheating can be possible."

"I see."

Zhang Liang scanned the surroundings. He noticed that Lu Di La and the rest were already sitting not far from their place. "Let's go to the others."

"Okay." Feng Mian also saw the others. She quickened her pace and headed to the group. The three of them were watching the competition intently. It seems that they have long gotten used to the atmosphere in the competition.

"Liang Ge! Er Jie!"

"Oh, you two finally come out," Lu Di La looked at Feng Mian and smiled apologetically. "I hope they didn't make things hard for you."

"It's fine."

Zhang Xue called Zhang Liang, asking her to help them take care of the matter of Han Mei. Originally, Feng Mian was unconvinced that she would be able to succeed, but it turned out that there was nothing wrong. She managed to make Han Mei talk and lured Patissier Mei out.

That woman must have been watching Han Mei intently to make sure that the woman couldn't possibly leak her out.

"They're really brave." Zhang Yi snorted. "If not because that patissier already made a name for herself, it'll be harder to drag her down."

Feng Mian nodded in agreement. When she saw Patissier Mei change her attitude almost immediately, she had the feeling that this patissier was better off as an actor. However, she was also sure that Zhang Xue must have his own reason for wanting to expose her like that.

Lu Di La looked at Feng Mian and smiled lightly. "Are you curious why Xue wants to go that far?"

"Well, if you don't want to tell…."

"It's not a secret," Zhang Ai interrupted. "That Mei something is Xue Ge's ex-girlfriend. The two of them share the same interest in sweets, so they got along. However, they broke up after Mei something tried to steal Xue Ge's idea for her own competition because she felt burned out. Since then, their relationship worsened."

Feng Mian blinked. It seemed that Zhang Xue had a much more complex relationship compared to Zhang Liang.

"Oh, the time limit is almost over."

"Ah!"

Feng Mian directed her gaze to Zhang Xue. He was currently taking out the sweet that he had baked. Seeing the small size burger like sweet on his hand, she wondered what he made.

"It's macaron," Zhang Ai muttered with her mouth salivating. Macaron was the type of sweet that looked like a burger but in a small size. The up and bottom were made of a mixture of eggs, flour, and some others. In the middle, instead of meat, it was cream. The taste of macaron was usually very sweet.

"I want to be the one chosen to taste later."

"Do you really think that they'll pick family members?" Zhang Yi shook his head helplessly.

"Ah, right."

To ensure fairness, they would not pick among the family members from the audience. They had to make sure that the one they picked from the audience was completely random and unrelated to the participants. That way, they could try to minimize the bias.

"They'll have to pick the top 10 first," Feng Mian said.

They watched intently as the judges began to walk around and tasted the sweet one by one. Based on their expressions, some of the participants already almost cried. They knew that they wouldn't qualify as the top 10 among the people in this competition.

When the judges came to Zhang Xue's table, he kindly explained what he made and waited for the judges to taste.

Feng Mian turned to look at Zhang Liang. "Is the content of the books about macaron?"

"No," Zhang Liang replied calmly. "The content of the book that Han Mei stole was about a cake. Xue is always indecisive when it comes to competition. His books will be filled with many types of sweet."

"…I see."

Zhang Liang patted his wife's head. He knew that his brother was nervous about the competition and usually came up with several ideas. This was the reason why he didn't want other people to look at his notes. They would be very random and unrelated to one another most of the time.

The judges continued and finally announced the name of the top 10. Seeing Zhang Xue's name on the list, they heaved a sigh of relief.

"Well, since we can only wait now, shall we grab a bite?"

"Sure!"

"I want a macaron!"

"Xiao Ai! You should eat a proper meal and not just sweet!" Zhang Yi was stunned by his daughter's request.

Zhang Ai pursed her lips. "But if I can't taste Xue Ge's macaron, I want to buy one for myself too."

"No!"

"Daddyyyyy come on."

Feng Mian laughed when she saw this scene again. it seemed that they would have to wait for a long time before they could eat properly.

In the end, Zhang Liang brought burgers for them to eat. Zhang Ai had to be content with only drinking cola since Zhang Liang didn't want to buy macaron for her. After they ate, they paid more attention to the participants again. One by one, everyone began to taste the sweets.

Zhang Ai looked at them with envy. "I really wish I can be chosen."

"We can ask Xue to recreate the macaron later."

Feng Mian laughed. It seemed that Zhang Xue wouldn't be able to get proper rest. Slowly, the people casted their votes. From the way they behaved, they had difficulties to pick the best sweet. Each person can vote for two people, so they began to cast their vote.

Afterwards, the vote was tallied. Everyone looked at the screen, wanting to know the result.

2. Zhang Xue - 39 votes

"Ahhh, that's too bad," Zhang Ai noticed that the first one had 41 votes. There was only two votes difference between the two of them.

Lu Di La nodded. "Well, it's the best result he ever got. Last time, he only reached fourth place."

"Hmm, let's bug him to create more macaron."

"Okay."

On the stage, Zhang Xue looked at the screen and sighed. Just a little bit more and he would have won. Well, at least, this meant that he still could improve his skill and compete again next year. His eyes landed on his sister and his wife who were coming at him.

He smiled bitterly. They must be here to ask him to recreate the sweet just like that they had asked last year.

Feng Mian shook her head calmly. "Just let the two of them there. It's already more than enough."

"Alright."

Ring! Ring!

"Yes?" Feng Mian picked up her phone after looking at the name on the screen.

"Little Lass! I have good news for you," Wei Lian, or Old Wei, was laughing heartily as he talked. He had just received the confirmation from the gallery that showcased Feng Mian's works along with other artists. Since she was not that famous yet, she still had to share the gallery with other emerging artists.

Feng Mian's eyes lit up. "What is it, Grandpa Wei?"

"Your painting, the one that was titled 'Despair and Hope,' is priced at 1012 dollars! That's the highest price that was quoted so far," Wei Lian replied while laughing heartily. He was surprised greatly when he found out that she managed to reach more than a thousand dollars.

'Despair and Hope' was the last painting that Feng Mian made. She depicted the scene when she was drowning and Zhang Liang came to save her.

"That's amazing!"

Feng Mian smiled brightly when she heard what Wei Lian said. He wanted to give her the chance to hold a gallery on her own if she managed to paint a lot. In addition, the number of her commissions was still growing steadily. It seemed that a lot of people were satisfied with her and wished to get their hands on what she made.

Zhang Liang studied Feng Mian's face. Feng Mian talked a bit more to Wei Lian before she hung up. She looked at her husband with a beautiful smile on her lips. "My painting is sold at over a thousand dollar."

"Congratulations!" Zhang Liang hugged Feng Mian.

Feng Mian giggled and buried her face in his embrace. She felt really happy right now.