"Are you afraid?" Zhao Gushen asked her.

Ye Fei shook her head without any hesitation, "Not afraid."

"Ever since I entered the competition, there have always been negative voices." Ye Fei said, "I know that I’ve earned my rank through my abilities, and that’s enough."

"Whether I come first or stop in the top ten," Ye Fei said.

She knew that once they went public, no matter what rank she achieved, people would have things to say.

If she took first, without a doubt, people would say it was because of Zhao Gushen.

But if she didn’t take first, some might say she felt guilty and to avoid suspicion, didn’t dare to claim first place.

Picking a position that’s neither high nor low, making it appear very fair.

No matter what, there’ll always be something negative people can say.

"Since that’s the case, why don’t we go public? Why should we care about other people’s feelings?" Ye Fei smiled, "It’s our marriage, nothing to do with anyone else. It’s our lives, and we should live happily without considering irrelevant opinions."

"Besides, even if we don’t go public now, we will someday. Our wedding won’t be delayed for too long."

The old lady and Chi Jingsi had discussed it and planned to hold the wedding in half a year.

This half a year is for preparation.

From the wedding dress to other wedding-related matters.

Wedding decorations.

Normally, people getting married have to wait for the hotel’s banquet hall to be available, fitting into the hotel’s empty hall schedule, so it takes time.

But they don’t need to.

Sheng Yue will always have a venue open for them to hold the wedding.

Whenever they want to use it, it’s available.

It will definitely cater to their needs first.

The reason for six months of preparation is because the elders want to arrange the wedding as well as possible.

There are many details to be finalized.

The floral arrangements at the wedding are planned to be sourced from the most renowned region.

And many other details.

To get everything right, it takes plenty of time to prepare.

After all, marriage is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and a wedding happens only once in a lifetime.

They don’t know about others, but for Zhao Gushen and Ye Fei, it’s definitely a one-time thing for life.

They want, many years down the road, when they look at the wedding photos and videos again, to still be moved.

Looking back at their wedding with a nostalgic smile.

"By then, those with malice in their hearts will still make malicious speculations." Ye Fei said, "Besides, Xiao Mo’s age is right here, nobody can say we fell in love because of a culinary competition, right?"

Even if they claim that, no one would believe it.

In fact, it would seem like they’re treating people as fools.

"Since that’s the case, I think saying it sooner or later is all the same." Ye Fei said, "Anyway, we are without guilt. Even if people criticize me and doubt me, let them doubt. They can say what they want, I won’t lose a piece of meat because of their words. What can they even do to me?"

"I have you to back me up, I’m not afraid of anything. Even if I’m truly scolded, so what? I won’t be at a loss." Ye Fei was truly fearless.

Even if she were criticized to the point where she couldn’t continue in the industry, it would be alright.

She’s not Shi Jiumei.

No one can ban her.

With Zhao Gushen around, trying to suppress her is not an easy feat.

If Shi Jiumei hadn’t been banned by Zhao Gushen, she would still have fan support to continue her career as a gourmet blogger.

So even if she really couldn’t stay in the chef industry,

she could return to being a gourmet blogger, and her fans would still support her.

In the worst-case scenario,

if she even lost her gourmet blogger career,

there’s still Zhao Gushen.

She wouldn’t be struggling for food.

At most, she wouldn’t fulfill her original dream.

But cooking for family would be the same.

She could still enjoy the joy of cooking.

This, for her, wouldn’t be such a big loss.

So, Ye Fei maintained a good mindset.

She felt this was probably what it meant to be fearless.

She smiled sweetly at Zhao Gushen, "What do you think?"

"You aren’t concerned, so I have even less reason to be." Zhao Gushen’s eyes were exceptionally bright.

He was genuinely happy that Ye Fei wanted to go public without hesitation.

Of course, he wanted everyone to know Ye Fei was his wife.

He wanted to openly protect her under his wings.

To let everyone know, the person standing behind Ye Fei, was him.

If anyone dared to wrong Ye Fei, they would have to think twice.

But such feelings couldn’t be expressed without burden.

Because once public, he’d be happy.

But Ye Fei would have to face lots of skepticism.

Zhao Gushen couldn’t bear that.

Ye Fei understood Zhao Gushen’s constant concern.

If not for the fear of her being overwhelmed by online criticism, he wouldn’t have such hesitations.

And as an internet celebrity, Ye Fei had dealt with a lot of that already.

Even if not for this matter, there would be other issues.

Slander from competitors, disputes among fans escalating against her.

Malicious assumptions from some bystanders, throwing blame recklessly.

However, Ye Fei knew that what she’d experienced before paled compared to the criticisms and malicious speculations that would come once they went public.

After she and Zhao Gushen went public, the negativity they’d face would be much bigger.

At least, she knew what kind of situation it would be.

She anticipated the situation and scale they’d face.

She was ready mentally, knowing what she had to face.

So, she wasn’t scared.

She had made her preparations and thought it through.

"Besides, even if it wasn’t about the competition. Even if we go public later, there’ll be other things." Ye Fei said.

"As long as I insist on being in the public eye and pursuing my career, there’ll always be people gossiping. Especially since Changping is in the culinary industry and can obviously help me greatly in my career."

"If I keep a low profile, achieving nothing, there’ll be people saying that even with Changping as strong support, I can’t accomplish anything, that I’m a hopeless case."

"But if I achieve something, people would still say it’s only because of your support that I could achieve anything. They’d say, even if it wasn’t me, anyone else, even without knowing much about cooking, could achieve the same with your support."

"Actually, isn’t this just like the cooking competition? No matter my results, there’ll always be commentary." Ye Fei laughed.

Her laughter held no shadows or worries.

"So, no matter when we go public, there’ll always be people talking." Ye Fei said, "I’ve actually considered this for a while."

"I thought, since no matter when, there’ll be people talking anyway."