Adorable Food Goddess

The next day was the final deadline that Boss Sun had given the restaurant. However, he didn’t come.

Everyone was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was dinner time. Little Lu ran to the kitchen happily.

“Brother Yao, we will be busy today!” he announced.

“Are there customers on the third floor?” Ye Jiayao asked absentmindedly.

“The compartments on the third floor are full. Young Royal Highness, Xia’s third son, Heir-Son Lord of Yong An, and many other people are there,” Little Lu answered.

Ye Jiayao was shocked. “Who’s treating them?”

“I don’t know. It seemed that Young Royal Highness has his group of friends, Xia’s third son is with a separate circle, and Heir-Son Lord of Yong An is also in another group.”

Ye Jiayao wondered what was going on.

“Which compartment is Young Royal Highness Jing at? I will have a look.”

“Fu Qu Attic was taken by Xia’s third son, Young Royal Highness is at Heng Fu Attic.”

Ye Jiayao ran straight to Heng Fu Attic. While Xing was preparing some tea for the customers, Ye Jiayao asked him to call the Young Royal Highness out.

A few seconds later, Helian Jing came out looking happy. “Yaoyao, I was just about to look for you!”

“Chunfeng and Zhao Qixuan are here, too, do you know that?” Ye Jiayao asked.

Helian Jing smiled. “I know. We ran into each other when we came in. It is my first day to take an official job so I am treating a few colleagues to dinner.”

“What about them?”

“Oh, that’s Chunfeng’s colleague’s treat. Zhao Qixuan is here to talk about business, and the other people… um, they were the ones here yesterday. They probably admired you so much that they came here to cheer up the business.” Helian Jing looked at the opposite compartment, his mouth twitching as he saw Mr. Liu. It was a miracle that he was here since he rarely ventured out ever since Liu Li got him sick with her tricks.

Ye Jiayao finally relaxed. She had thought there was an urgent situation again because so many people had turned up.

“Okay, then. I will go cook your foods now.” Ye Jiayao turned around to leave.

“Yaoyao,” Helian Jing called. “Come cruise with us tonight! I booked a boat and Chunfeng and Qixuan are coming, too.”

Ye Jiayao gave him a fake smile. “I don’t think I will have the strength to go on a cruise tonight.”

She had seven compartments and seven big tables of dishes to do alone since Zhong Xiang was absent. She was not even sure if she’d have the strength to walk home after this.

Helian Jing said, “It’s cruising, not swimming. You’ll just sit on a boat. Everyone is going, Yaoyao. Come on!”

“We can talk about that later. If I don’t have the spirit, I won’t go,” Ye Jiayao told him placatingly.

She returned to the kitchen and was welcomed by seven full order lists. They were also all hard and energy-consuming dishes.

Ye Jiayao braced herself, rolled up her sleeves, and started to get to work.

She was on fire.

“Deng Haichuan, take care of the eels. Wang Mingde, take care of the cuttlefish. Cui Dongpeng, cut the meat. Jiang Youli, place the cold dishes…”

She started to cut eggplants into pieces, using a special tool to take the inside of the eggplants out. She minced the inside of the eggplants and mixed it with minced mushrooms, minced meat, and some garlic. She added flour to the ingredients and put everything back into the eggplant shells and steamed them.

After the shark fins were softened by water, she put them in the hot soup to stew together.

When the roasted duck was ridden of its skins, she added cucumber slices, onion slices, and some flour skins to it. She made a small dish of ingredients. She found that Bei Jing ducks were way innovative at this time.

She waited until the oil inside the pan was hot before she put the carrot pieces, bamboo shoot slices, and green chili slices in the pan. She stir-fried them until they were about 60% cooked before putting them inside a dish. She then fried the cuttlefish pieces on a controlled fire and mixed it with the dish she just prepared to finish cooking. She poured a bit of garlic oil over the fish and plated it up.

Ye Jiayao then turned to change a stove and cook the eels. Immediately, someone went to clean out the pan she just used.

She changed to another stove, but she didn’t rest. There was no time wasted during planning. The chef helpers worked with her seamlessly. They knew what to do even without her ordering them around.

The delicious dishes came out to the tables one by one.

Immediately after the last dish was called out, Ye Jiayao threw the pan down and cheered. Everything was done!

That was an intense hour! Now that she finally paused long enough to rest, the exhaustion and dizziness caught up with her.

Being a chef was definitely very tiring. She couldn’t figure out how other chefs managed to have round faces and bellies.

“You guys take care of the rest of the work,” Ye Jiayao requested as she retired to a chair to relax.

Ah Fu came in and told her that the customers in Narcissus Attic asked to see her.

“Who are they?”

“The person called himself General Zhu.”

Oh! The general who lost an eye to Liu Li’s arrow.   What does he want with me? Can’t they just leave me alone? I don’t want to be the hero!

“Tell him I can’t go. Just say that I am busy,” Ye Jiayao rejected.

“General Zhu said that you can come after you finish working.”

“Then just say that I’ve already finished working and I’m now going home.” Yes, she really should leave now, otherwise, Little Jing would just take her to that cruise.

She hurriedly tidied up a bit and left the kitchen. She didn’t know that the one-eyed general was waiting for her by the doorway.

The general made a polite gesture with his hands and said, “Brother Li Yao, I am coming to invite you personally now.”

Ye Jiayao returned the greeting and pretended to be clueless. “General Zhu, do you have something to ask me? Are you not satisfied with the dishes?”

“No, no. Your dishes are the most delicious things that I have ever eaten. I am extremely satisfied with it,” General Zhu flattered.

“Thank you for the compliments. I am not worth it, though,” Ye Jiayao said humbly. “You are welcome to visit here frequently.”

“Of course. Brother Yao, your personality is as excellent as your dishes. I will come here frequently in the future. Brother Li Yao, some brothers upstairs wanted to see you. Can you do me a favor and indulge them?”

Ye Jiayao said awkwardly, “I have been busy the whole night… can I go to the toilet first?”

She was for sure going to escape the moment he turned his back.

“Hey, I feel like going as well. Okay, let’s go together,” General Zhu said with a laugh.

What? Ugh!

“Yaoyao!”

Ye Jiayao held in her sigh of relief as she heard Little Jing call for her. Impeccable timing! She turned around and watched as Little Jing walk down the stairs with Chunfeng and Zhao Qixuan following behind him.

General Zhu greeted Helian Jing immediately.

Helian Jing nodded and returned the greeting before turning to ask Yaoyao, “Have you finished your work?”

Ye Jiayao immediately jumped at the chance to get rid of General Zhu. She said, “I just finished. Are you guys done, too?”

“Almost. My colleagues wanted to sit a bit longer. We are going to cruise first. Come on, let’s go together!” Helian Jing suggested eagerly.

If given the choice between cruising with Little Jing or going to the restroom with General Zhu, there was no question.

“Alright! I’m kind of sweaty so some air would be good,” Ye Jiayao answered.

General Zhu sighed when Li Yao walked away with Young Royal Highness Jing. His brothers heard about yesterday’s event and they all wanted to see this smart and bold chef. He shouted for dinner today to satisfy the brothers’ curiosity, but unfortunately, the chef had been elusive.

When they were a distance away from Heavenly Residence and about a hundred steps away from the dock, Ye Jiayao said, “Little Jing, I don’t want to go anymore. I’m just too tired.”

Xia Chunfeng asked, “Didn’t you say you wanted some air? The wind in the river at night is very cooling.

Ye Jiayao replied sulkily, “I was just trying to get rid of General Zhu because he asked me to go to his compartments. Aren’t they going to spread around what happened yesterday? It was finally solved, I don’t want to make a mess again.”

Helian Jing had been warned by his big brother yesterday to keep the incident lowkey. He said, “Zhao Qixuan, you’re familiar with Zhu Youxu, right? Talk to him privately and tell him to keep quiet if he wants his other eye to stay safe”

Zhao Qixuan nodded. “Okay. I will talk to him tomorrow.”

“Yaoyao, come on, have a seat. No one else is around, just rest.” Helian Jing looked at her expectantly.

Xia Chunfeng pushed her slightly. “Go, go, go!”

Ye Jiayao had no choice but to get on the boat despite her exhaustion.

The boat was cruising quietly with the wave over the reflection of the starry sky. The music playing in the background sounded elegant and soothing. Ye Jiayao slouched down on the comfortable chair, holding a cup of tea. She had to admit, this was really nice.

“I was worried that you guys would get severe punishment,” Zhao Qixuan began. “But you all made it through so easily!”

” You  were worried? Imagine how we felt! You don’t know how dangerous it got last night,” Xia Chunfeng sneered.

Ye Jiayao inconspicuously started to listen, wanting to know the gritty details of what happened at the palace.

“What? Tell me what happened! How did you escape punishment?”

Helian Jing sipped his tea and sighed. “It’s quite a long story.”

“Just say it. Stop being pretentious, Little Jing,” Ye Jiayao told him impatiently.

Helian Jing turned to Yaoyao and said instead, “You should tell us where you went with Brother Chunyu.”

He got Yaoyao to join them on this cruise because he wanted to inquire about his relationship with Brother Chunyu.

“Yes, what was that about? I saw you and my brother riding together last night,” Xia Chunfeng added.

Ye Jiayao flushed with embarrassment. “We didn’t really go anywhere. We just found somewhere quiet. Why are you asking me that?”

The three nobles looked at her questioningly.

Ye Jiayao got defensive and exclaimed, “Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I’m lying?”

Zhao Qixuan, who paid more attention to details than anyone else, said thoughtfully, “Li Yao, your ears are red.”