Please note that Kitchen Xiuzhen will be quite late today. Translator san is frantically translating it even as you read.
The shock from the events last night had disappeared like a cloud of smoke, and everyone was busy preparing for the feast for Sir Song Tao. Under the pressure of having a super VIP, nobody dared to be complacent.
Who knows when will the super VIP from the capital arrive?
It is just after lunch hour in the restaurant, and the chefs finally had a break. Everyone was sitting around on the shared dining table, having their lunch and chatting with one another.
"Hey, have you heard about it? To ensure that Sir Song Tao has a suitable place to live in, Governor Zhao had offered his new villa to Sir Song Tao!"
"Oh my gosh, I heard that Governor Zhao's new villa is the epitome of luxury. In the past, I had heard that half of the trees in the barren mountains outside of Xianyang were cut down just to provide the wood to build the mansion!"
"This is nothing! I heard that the villa was specially designed by a top architecture that comes from the capital. This was specially designed from the ground up!"
"From you the way you talk, it sounds as if you have entered the villa to take a look before?"
"I wanted to go in, but I could not do so! But I have a distant relative who participated in the construction of this villa. He told me that there are several large kitchens! Super luxurious!"
"Hey, while I was buying some food in the market, I heard a big news."
"Quick, tell us!"
"Governor Zhao had ordered that all surrounding villagers who live within the surrounding vicinity of the new villa to move away."
"Oh my gosh! This is really too much! But, his villa is in the mountains and very quiet. There should not be many people nearby?"
"Hehe, you are wrong. Most of the people living near the villa are commoners without much money. If you drive them out of their home, where are they going to stay?"
"Sigh! The worst thing, it is now winter, and each day is colder than the last day. These poor folks!"
"Sigh! All the crows are as black as one another [1]!"
"Hey, Shouzhen, why are you so quiet today? Did you not hear the news?" Chef Yang asked.
"All these news does not affect us or our jobs. Our job is to cook well, and serve these VIPs! Even if we discussed these issues, and do not agree with the actions of these officials, we cannot do a thing about it." Wen Shouzhen sighed.
"Rou Er had learnt cooking from you for around 10 plus days. Can she still withstand the tough kitchen life?" Chef Zheng picked up a piece of meat and tactfully changed the topic.
"Hehe, to tell the truth, my daughter has great talent in cooking. I was intending to teach her how to cook from today onwards!" Wen Shouzhen grinned. There is nothing he loves more than to show off his 'talented' daughter.
Chef Zhang snickered and filled his bowl with more soup.
Wen Shouzhen was angry at this obvious display of disrespect. He sneered, "As a Shifu, I am not only a teacher, but also a father [2]. Therefore I treat my disciples well and impart my knowledge to them. I am not like someone who did not care about his disciple, and even forced his disciple to be a mere kitchen hand for 3 years without imparting any cooking skills to his disciple!"
Chef Zhang was very angry and slammed the bowl on the table. He shouted, "Wen Shouzhen, who are you talking about? You better make things clear! Who does not care about his disciple?"
Wen Shouzhen was not scared of Chef Zhang, and coldly replied "Of course I am referring to you! A man like you is not fit to be a Shifu!"
"Xiao Wu is my disciple, I teach him accordingly to my methods! I am not like someone who is so shameless, have his daughter come here for just 10 odd days and immediately teach her how to cook! She has not even learnt to crawl, and she wants to learn to run?" Chef Zhang was not one to take an insult lying down and immediately scolded back.
"Brother Zhang, keep quiet!" Chef Yang immediately tried to mediate and stop the conflict from escalating.
"Do not touch me!" Chef Zhang pushed away Chef Yang's hands.
"All right! Since you said you are teaching Xiao Wu, tell us how are you teaching Xiao Wu!" Wen Shouzhen coldly smiled.
"Washing vegetables is the first step in getting started. It is necessary to be familiar with the dishes and to be able to do a good job on the ingredients."
"Cutting vegetables is the basis for a diligent work. All kinds of cutting skills can be learned in a few days. What about side dishes? Only by understanding the principles of food cooking first, can dishes be well prepared and taste good."
"As you said, your daughter has only been a kitchen hand for less than a dozen days. Her foundation in cooking is weak. With a weak foundation, no matter what she cooks will be tasteless!"
"For example, the smaller and younger chickens are more tender and the valley ducks are fatter; the fish is better if it has a flat and white belly; the squid from the lake are of better quality; the bamboo shoots grown from different soils are less sweet and fresh; All other food have their own properties."
"The reason why I let Xiao Wu be a kitchen hand for a long time is to build his foundations. I have my own reasons for not allowing him to help with pairing the dishes or teaching him how to cook."
Chef Zhang suddenly went on a long tirade, and his words all make sense. Even Chef Zheng and Chef Yang were surprised and astonished. They did not expect that the Chef Zhang that is not good at making conversations actually have such a high understanding of cooking. They assumed that he only knows how to make desserts and flour dishes.
"Hehe, I have already taught Rou Er all these!" Wen Shouzhen smiled, and slowly stand up and looked at Chef Zhang in the eye.
"The things you teach barely scratch the surface of this knowledge! Xiao Wu is steady and for 3 years, he had been training on his basics. When it is time to cook, all he needs is some simple instructions and he can cook a very lavish feast!" Chef Zhang puffed out his chest and looked very proud.
"Oh, since you said this, I wanted to see it with my own eyes, and see how capable your disciple is! Let's not wait, and have competition today! The situation is fair since I have not taught my daughter how to cook yet. Why not both of us teach our disciples to cook? After 2 hours, let Rou Er and Xiao Wu will have a competition to see whose dishes are tastier. Do you dare to complete?'" Wen Shouzhen had a drop too much, and he was much more aggressive than usual.
"Hehe, you said it! Wen Shouzhen, when you lose, your daughter has better not cry and act pitiful!" Chef Zhang smiled in glee.
Xiao Wu had trained in the basics for 3 years, while Wen Rou had only worked as a kitchen hand for less than a dozen days. This competition…. no matter how he looks at it, he is at a huge advantage.
"Choy! [3]" Wen Shouzhen snorted. As if his daughter will lose and cry!
"This is a good idea! Why not have some stakes? Whoever loses must donate one tael of silver to the kitchen, so that the kitchen hands can eat and drink. What do you think of this? Chef Yang immediately thought of a way to benefit himself, and recalled the time when Wen Rou carved some flowers.
This competition should be exciting! Regardless of who wins, all the chefs and kitchen hands will benefit and get to enjoy some wine and good food!
"It is a deal!" Wen Shouzhen slammed his palm on the table.
"Whoever reneges on this bet is not a man!" Chef Zhang took up the challenge and stomped his fist on the table.
"Shifu…. I ….." Xiao Wu was suddenly overcome with stage fright and wants to retreat. He had long dreamt of the day that he would learn how to cook, but he did not expect that day to come in the form of a competition! Therefore, he was trembling in fright.
"What is it? You have learned how to handle ingredients for 3 years. Later, do not embarrass me. If you dare to lose, I will break your legs!" Chef Zhang turned around and barked at Xiao Wu.
"Rou Er, do not worry, Father will teach you my cooking skills." Wen Shouzhen turned around and gently informed her.
Xiao Wu wanted to cry. Both of them are Shifu. But their attitude towards their disciples are as different as night and day!
"Since it is a competition, if everyone chose a dish to make, it will be hard to judge fairly. It is not right to compare apples to oranges. In the interest of fairness, why not cook the same dish? What do you think of my suggestions?" Chef Zheng immediately tried to meditate and prevent any ill feelings among the two chefs.
“Great!" The two chefs agreed!
"What should we cook?" Both the chefs turned around and looked at Chef Zheng.
"Since it is just the first dish that they cooked, let's make it something simple and easy. Let's set the theme of the competition as 'stir-fried Chinese cabbages'! The time limit is 2 hours, what do you think?" Chef Zheng looked at the heap of cabbages beside him.
The most common ingredient in the winter time is the Chinese cabbages. Everyone turned around and stared at the pile of Chinese cabbages.
Notes:[1] 天下乌鸦一般黑 translates literally to "All the crows are as black as one another!" It is an idiom that implies 'all the officials are corrupted as one another.'
[2] 师父 - Shifu consists of two Chinese words, "师" Shi as in teacher or coach老师，教师, and 父Fu as in father. So a Shifu means teacher and father.
[3] 切Choy! A slang. - it just means 'humph' with a look of disgust. Chinese have a lot of slang that means nothing. Like Arh… Orr… Yi… Meh…. En …. How many can you identify?
[4] Please if you want to read this chapter for free, you may do so at prosperous food dot com. As a mark of respect to the translators, we ask you to refrain from reading this chapter at other websites.
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