Chapter 26: The Exposition Theft

Page 1 of 3

Once they had settled on their objective, the two set out at once.

The Food Recommender Song Hui managed the largest indoor garden in all of Dongxia City—the Daisy Garden—and that was also where her Food Recommender examination was to be held.

After purchasing all the ingredients needed to make egg yolk pastries along the way, they hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Daisy Garden.

However, the moment they got out, Qin Lang and Cao Dongdong froze simultaneously.

The Daisy Garden was in complete chaos. A large number of visitors remained inside, while personnel in the uniforms of the Spirit Chef Association had sealed off the premises and were checking the identities of every visitor.

What was going on?

The two exchanged a glance.

It seemed they had arrived at the wrong time.

“Let’s ask what happened.” Cao Dongdong scratched his head, then strode forward and approached the nearest Spirit Chef Association staff member. “Excuse me, is Miss Song Hui here?”

The staff member, already rushed off his feet, frowned. “What do you want? If it isn’t urgent, come back later.”

“We’re chefs here to visit Miss Song Hui and take the Food Recommender examination.” Qin Lang followed closely behind Cao Dongdong and spoke up.

“The Food Recommender examination…” The staff member’s frown deepened. Just as he was about to say something, a gentle voice tinged with exhaustion came from nearby.

“I’m very sorry, but the Food Recommender examination cannot be held for the time being.”

Qin Lang turned his head and soon saw an elegant, beautiful woman of about thirty, with delicate and gentle features. Fatigue showed faintly in her eyes.

He recognized her at a glance as the person they had come to visit.

Seeing the disorder within the Daisy Garden, Qin Lang had already prepared himself for the possibility that the examination could not take place. But simply turning around and going home was not his style.

“Miss Song Hui, may I ask what happened here?” After a moment’s thought, Qin Lang asked again, “I’m a Spirit Chef as well. If possible, perhaps I can be of some help.”

“That’s very kind of you.” Song Hui forced a faint smile. “The Daisy Garden is hosting this year’s Tianhua Flower Exhibition. The exhibition officially begins tomorrow, but at noon today, several varieties of rare flowers, along with a large quantity of rare flower seeds, were stolen.”

“I think I’ve heard of that exhibition…” Cao Dongdong scratched his head. Then he suddenly remembered. “The one held once every five years in Tianhua Prefecture?”

“That’s right.” Song Hui nodded. “The exhibition lasts half a month, and during that time, large numbers of travelers from other cities will come here because of its reputation.”

Hearing this, Qin Lang and Cao Dongdong exchanged a glance, both realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Tianhua Prefecture had twelve cities in total, and Dongxia City was only one of them. The influence of this flower exhibition was enormous.

Page 2 of 3

For such an important event to encounter such a major problem on the day before its opening, it was no wonder the Spirit Chef Association had sent people to help.

“Why not postpone the flower exhibition and quickly prepare other rare flowers to replace the stolen ones?” Qin Lang suggested.

The Spirit Chef Association had mobilized so many people and still had not found the culprit. The stolen flowers would probably not be recovered anytime soon.

At this point, the only option was to prepare for the worst and think of a way to salvage the situation.

“There isn’t enough time.” A shadow fell across Song Hui’s eyes.

“The date of the flower exhibition was set a month in advance. Travelers have already been arriving in Dongxia City over the past few days. Changing the date now would cause an even greater impact.”

Qin Lang frowned.

It seemed they could only find a way to recover the stolen flowers.

“Are there surveillance cameras in the Daisy Garden? Did they capture what the thief looked like?” Qin Lang asked. “Can’t you issue a wanted notice and mobilize the entire city to search for him?”

“We’ve thought of that, of course, but unfortunately, the surveillance footage captured nothing useful.” A staff member nearby sighed.

“The person who stole the flowers was a Spirit Chef.”

“Their food spirit most likely possesses a combat skill related to illusion or invisibility.”

“We can determine the time when the flowers disappeared from the surveillance footage, but there were no suspicious individuals recorded either before or after that time.”

This was troublesome.

Qin Lang and Cao Dongdong could not help looking troubled.

Using the supernatural abilities of food spirits to commit crimes truly made them almost impossible to guard against.

“Then… could you show us what the stolen flowers and seeds looked like?” Qin Lang asked softly. “If we find any clues, we’ll contact you immediately. At least we’ll be doing our part.”

“We can do that.” The staff member nodded and handed Qin Lang and Cao Dongdong two diagrams that had been printed in advance.

“Thank you for your kindness.” Song Hui forced out another faint smile, and her gaze toward the two became much gentler.

“Think nothing of it. It’s what we should do.” Qin Lang smiled as he accepted the diagrams and studied them carefully.

The diagrams showed dozens of kinds of seeds and five varieties of flowers.

Qin Lang quickly skimmed over the seeds whose types he could not identify, then turned his attention to the five flowers shown on the diagrams.

Page 3 of 3

He recognized none of the five flowers, but their unusual nature was obvious from their appearance alone. One of them even possessed seven distinct colors, as though it had come straight from a dream.

It was easy to imagine that without these flowers, the exhibition would lose much of its splendor—and might even leave visitors from other cities with a poorer impression of Dongxia City.

“Then we won’t disturb you any longer.” After putting away the diagrams, Qin Lang pulled Cao Dongdong along and bade the two women farewell.

The visitors inside the Daisy Garden were being subjected to strict inspections by the Spirit Chef Association, so there was little chance of anything being overlooked. That meant they only needed to search outside the garden.

Once they had reached a secluded spot, Cao Dongdong could not help looking at Qin Lang.

“Qin Lang, do you have any leads?”

“A few.” Qin Lang nodded slightly. “If you were the thief, where would you go after stealing the flowers?”

“This…” Cao Dongdong scratched his head. “As far away as possible?”

Qin Lang fell silent.

He smiled helplessly and shook his head. “No. He would probably hide them first.”

“This is a serious matter. Once the Spirit Chef Association received the news, they would immediately seal off every road leading out of Dongxia City and begin searching the entire city.”

“The reason the thief chose to act today is that the exhibition begins tomorrow.”

“So once tomorrow arrives and the exhibition is already underway, the association’s blockade and search will certainly become less intense.”

“That will be the best opportunity for him to escape.”

“That makes sense.” Cao Dongdong pondered this. “So where is he hiding?”

“If I knew that, wouldn’t I have gone straight there already?” Qin Lang could not help rolling his eyes before looking around.

“But I do know one thing: he won’t have gone far.”

“Why not?” Cao Dongdong asked curiously.

“Because…” Qin Lang pointed at the diagrams in his hand. “He has the flowers with him. These rare flowers are extremely delicate and require careful tending.”

“If he doesn’t want them to die, his movements will inevitably be restricted.”