Adorable Food Goddess

After the lunch frenzy, Ye Jiayao called Zhong Xiang, Deng Haichuan, Wang Mingde, and Cui Dongpeng over to a little teahouse outside for a meeting.

Such an important feast was impossible to manage on her own. She needed to bring some helpers along.

She has her own reasons why she chose those four.

Zhong Xiang’s skills were more holistic but Ye Jiayao wanted him to focus on pastry. Deng Haichuan would be in charge of ingredients and the materials. Wang Mingde was good at making soup seasoning. He once mentioned that he learned how to make vegetarian food, and Little Jingjing had told her that the old princess was a Buddhist and a vegetarian. As for Cui Dongpeng, he was a very hardworking person, his cutting skills were excellent, and he could follow directions very well.

Of course, the most crucial point was that the four of them have a good relationship with her.

Ye Jiayao briefed them about the feast. “When the time comes, I want to invite you to go over with me. If we do a good job, we could be hired to do more feasts. This is our chance. Are you in or not?”

Without a second of hesitation, the four of them replied in unison, “In.”

Their faces were all filled with excitement. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, they’d be fools to refuse.

Deng Haichuan said, “Brother Yao, just tell us what you want us to do. We won’t let you down.”

Wang Mingde and Cui Dongpeng nodded eagerly.

“Brother Yao, we will follow your orders,” Zhong Xiang declared.

Ye Jiayao smiled. “Alright, but I have to tell you, only success is allowed. I will not tolerate failure. Every one of you has to put in your 110% to do this. I will delegate the tasks out tomorrow. Whoever screws up will not be given a second chance.”

Zhong Xiang said, “Don’t worry, Li Yao, we will give this our best shot.”

“Then it’s all settled. Tomorrow, I will draft out the menu and pass it to the Helian Mansion for checking. Once it is passed, everyone has to get ready immediately. Oh, and also, before the menu is confirmed, everything should be kept a secret.”

Everyone nodded. “Okay.”

After that, Ye Jiayao made a trip back to Laifu Motel to retrieve her little booklet, her manual to success.

She has seen the menu that Little Jingjing gave her from Zhao Qixuan’s grandmother’s birthday feast last year. It was done by Fu Ji and was no different from the regular birthday feast, just more expensive dishes. Indeed, the meals from the Manchu Han Imperial feast menu was more detailed, with reasonable arrangements. What she wanted to do now was to make slight changes to the Manchurian dishes that the southerners were not used to.

After that, she loitered around the streets for a while. She went to a preserved fruit stall and bought a huge bag of things.

“Brother Yao, are you buying these back as snacks?” Song Qi’s mission today was to help her carry stuff.

“Do you want to have some while we play Doubles tonight?”

Song Qi’s eyes brightened up.”Sure, sure! The Heir-Son Lord is not on duty today, but we are still lacking one person. Nevermind! Finding another player is easy.”

Ye Jiayao bit her lip. She didn’t want to play with Chunyu.

“I am just joking about playing doubles. You can eat these, though. Right, which pastry shops sell the best pastry in Jin Ling?”

Song Qi answered, “Bai Wei Zhai. Other than the pastries from the Imperial kitchen, they are the best – and most expensive too.”

“Okay! Let’s go to Bai Wei Zhai.” Ye Jiayao wanted to understand the standards of the pastries in the market. She needed to gauge how good they were.

Both of them went to Bai Wei Zhai. They bought some of all types of pastries, like Split Yellow Pea Cake, Lotus Cake, Walnut Cookies, Chestnut Cake, Thousand Layer Oil Cake, and many others, making yet another huge bag.

Ye Jiayao was about to take her money out when she saw Song Qi pass some silver to the shop assistant.

“Song Qi, let me get that.” Ye Jiayao wanted the shop assistant to return the silver to Song Qi.

Song Qi laughed and said, “Brother Yao, does it really matter who pays? Besides, you bought so much and I reckon more than half of it will end up in my stomach.”

Actually, when she was paying at the preserved fruits stall, Song Qi noticed that she did not have a lot of money with her. And anyway, Heir-Son Lord has given him some silver with the instructions to buy whatever Miss Ye required.

Ye Jiayao let him pay, not wanting to cause a scene. Besides, it wasn’t as if she could really fight him.

After buying so much, both of them went straight to Ruyi Motel. Song Qi got the waiter to brew a pot of Da Hong Pao and both of them started to unpack and eat.

When Xia Chunyu arrived at the inn, he saw the both of them munching busily, the whole table filled with dried fruits and pastries.

Song Qi looked as though he has been relieved of a heavy burden when the Heir-Son Lord arrived. As a grown man, he really wasn’t used to eating such sweet stuff. The scariest part was that for every one that he eats, Miss Ye would ask him how it tasted. What were the strengths and weaknesses?

He has always just swallowed his food in and shit them out, how would he know what were the strengths and weaknesses? He was being slowly stuffed to death with sugar.

“Heir-Son Lord, take a seat here. I will brew some tea for you!” Song Qi said hurriedly.

“Song Qi, quick, continue, we are not done yet!” Ye Jiayao shouted after him.

Song Qi escaped quickly. With the Heir-Son Lord taking over his place, he would never return.

Xia Chunyu frowned and asked, “Not done yet? What are you two doing?”

Ye Jiayao pointed to the little booklet in her hands. “I am doing some investigation. I am in charge of Little Jing’s grandmother’s birthday feast so I have to do some research on which dried fruits and desserts to use. I have to be the best out there.”

Xia Chunyu was shocked. “Little Jing handed the birthday feast to you? Did Helian Xuan agree to that?”

This was no simple matter. A birthday feast was not just cooking up a few dishes, there were different aspects involved. Could Yaoyao really handle it?

Ye Jiayao smiled proudly and replied, “Would Little Jing dare to entrust it to me without the consent of Helian Xuan?”

“Ay! Don’t look so doubtful. Do you think that I can’t do this?” she continued challengingly.

Xia Chunyu looked at her blinking large eyes that were shining with a hint of sly threat. For his safety, he was not going to voice his reservations.

“Then, you go do a good job. Do you need help?”

“Yes!”

Xia Chunyu stifled his surprise.  You do? Really?

Ye Jiayao smiled even brighter, pointing at the table full of food. “Help me eat.”

Xia Chunyu’s eyebrows form a deep furrow. He doesn’t usually eat snacks.

“Try this Split Yellow Pea Cake and this Lotus Cake, and tell me which one tastes better. Tell me how does it compare to the ones you had in the palace or at home.” Ye Jiayao passed him the pastries eagerly.

Xia Chunyu’s heart started beating quickly upon seeing her expectant gaze and her blooming smile. Does this mean she was no longer angry at him? Was this the sun after the storm?

He took the pastries gladly.

“How is it?”

“The Split Yellow Pea is very fine, it melts immediately in the mouth. The fragrance of the pea is strong, but it is a little too sweet, and you could get fed up with this easily. As for the Lotus Cake… it’s soft and sweet, but it is too soft from steaming. It’s not chewy enough. As a whole, it’s not bad.” He paused and suddenly exclaimed, “This is from Bai Wei Zhai, isn’t it?”

Chunyu’s cultured upbringing really shows. His comments are very precise and detailed, unlike the uncouth Song Qi who has nothing to say other than ‘nice’ or ‘not nice’.

“Your taste buds are quite keen. Yes, it is from Bai Wei Zhai. Song Qi says that in the whole Jin Ling, Bai Wei Zhai is the best,” Ye Jiayao said as she took down some notes of what Chunyu said.

Xia Chunyu snorted. “Why would you listen to him? Bai Wei Zhai is but a popular brand with long history. Ju Xiang Yuan is actually better. Take the Split Yellow Pea, for example, the color of that in Ju Xiang Yuan is light yellow, making it more attractive. It is fragrant, sweet and refreshing.”

Ye Jiayao looked up. “Song Qi said it with such conviction, though.”

“Ju Xiang Yuan’s shopkeeper is originally a pastry chef from the Imperial kitchen,” Xia Chunyu added.

“No wonder it’s good. I will have to try it tomorrow,” Ye Jiayao said. “Here, try this Osmanthus cake.”

Xia Chunyu reluctantly ate another piece. “The smell of the Osmanthus flower is not strong enough. This must be made with last year’s flowers. The best time to eat Osmanthus cake is during the blooming season of the Osmanthus flower. The Osmanthus cakes then are usually made of freshly picked Osmanthus flowers, making them especially fragrant.”

Ye Jiayao clicked her tongue, impressed. “I think you have the potential to be a gourmet.”

“Of course. Even if you bring all the pastries from the various shops in Jin Ling and jumble them up, I would be able to tell which comes from where,” he said proudly, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

Ye Jiayao pouted.  Bluff.

After eating eight pastries, Xia Chunyu was starting to feel sick. Didn’t Song Qi go out to brew some tea? Where was he? And where was the tea?

Even if he went up the mountains to pick the tea leaves, he should’ve been back by now.

Xia Chunyu reached out to take Yaoyao’s teacup.

Ye Jiayao blocked him. “Hey, I already drank from this.”

“We’ve kissed multiple times, we’ve done  other  things multiple times… do you really think drinking your tea will bother me?” Xia Chunyu drawled.

Ye Jiayao blushed but still refused to relinquish her drink.

Xia Chunyu was annoyed. “I helped you by eating so many of these things, yet you can’t spare me your tea? Do you want me to choke to death?”

Ye Jiayao instantly felt apologetic. She only tore a small piece of each pastry to try and was already so sick of them. What more of him who has eaten so much?

“Didn’t Song Qi leave to brew some tea for you?” Ye Jiayao pouted.

“Do you think he really went to brew some tea?” he replied dryly. “He must have fled away in fear of you force feeding him pastries again. I suffered through that, and yet, you won’t even give me a sip to drink.”

“Take it, take it all. I will just get one myself.” Ye Jiayao left her seat to get some tea.

Xia Chunyu called, “Don’t bother. I haven’t had dinner yet, and now I am filled with pastries. Come with me to get some food to get rid of this taste, otherwise, I am going to puke.”

“It is so late! Go eat by yourself. It is time you should leave, anyway.” Since the food tasting has already ended, he could leave.

Xia Chunyu pointed outside. “Didn’t you hear that it is raining heavily outside? I didn’t come with a horse carriage. I’ll leave when the rain stops.”

Ye Jiayao actually felt like eating something else too, but it was raining outside. There were no boots in this era so walking in the rain would be wet, slushy, and uncomfortable.

“Why don’t I get the waiter downstairs to lend us their kitchen to make some food?” she suggested.

After some thought, he said, “Cook some egg fried rice!”

The first dish Yaoyao made for him was an egg fried rice, the taste of it still fresh in his mouth.