Chef Hua
Chapter 216 - 132: Wounding Its Own Kind

Chapter 216: Chapter 132: Wounding Its Own Kind

A series of sounds of cabinets being opened, rummaged through, and closed came from the room, and soon after, Qing Tao’s voice, filled with joy tinged with apprehension, rang out once again.

"Thank you...thank you, Lady, your servant will definitely serve you with even greater diligence in the future, and not let you down..."

Perhaps due to too much excitement, the words came out somewhat incoherent.

Song Jingxi smiled faintly, "This money was rightfully yours, why so nervous? Now, you may leave, I still have something to discuss with that Hua Family girl."

Qing Tao acknowledged with a sound, pitter-pattered out of the room. Hua Xiaomai sidestepped to avoid her gaze, watched her pass by, patted her chest to calm her nerves, took a deep breath, and was about to lift the curtain to enter when she heard Song Jingxi speak again.

"Sell her tomorrow." Her tone was extraordinarily calm and dispassionate, as if deciding the fate of a domestic chick, "The farther away, the better. From this day forward, I don’t want to see her in Tong’an Prefecture ever again."

Qing He seemed taken aback and stammered, "Lady, but Qing Tao... she really contributed this time, you..."

Song Jingxi scoffed lightly, "Didn’t I give her five taels of silver? That’s no small sum for her, so I’ve been more than fair. Although she claims everything went without a hitch and no one saw her throughout, who can guarantee it? If her actions ever come to light, it will be a scandal of epic proportions. I have struggled for many years, and now I can finally move up a rung. I cannot let it all be ruined because of her."

"But..." Qing He wanted to say more but suddenly fell silent as Song Jingxi spoke again, "You think me heartless? You’ve seen how much I’ve suffered for these years for Taoyuan House, let me be blunt with you, I cannot afford to lose. Say no more, go and call that Hua Family girl over, we must give her the reward as soon as possible."

Hua Xiaomai stood behind the wall, feeling as if doused by a bucket of snow water. Despite the sweltering summer heat, she shivered repeatedly. Hearing footsteps coming from inside, she quickly stepped back, feigning haste in her arrival, and collided with Qing He face to face.

"Ah, Miss, your timing is perfect, come in quickly, our Lady said she wants to properly thank you!" Qing He, unsuspecting, struggled to offer a smile and pulled Hua Xiaomai into the room.

Originally sitting on an imperial consort’s couch, Song Jingxi immediately stood up when Hua Xiaomai entered, quickly walked over with a beaming smile, and took her hand with a hint of apology, "From yesterday to today, I’ve been so busy that my feet barely touched the ground. I should have thanked you right away, Xiaomai. It’s unfortunate it was delayed until now, please don’t hold it against me."

Hua Xiaomai smiled slightly and turned to look at Qing He, "Could you step out for a moment?"

Qing He, puzzled by the request, paused for a moment, staring blankly at Song Jingxi. Seeing a slight nod from her, she reluctantly turned and left.

Song Jingxi looked carefully at Hua Xiaomai’s face, pursed her lips, and said with a laugh, "My goodness, are you angry? Did you resent me for not informing you beforehand and just leaving the entire kitchen to you? I really had no time! I met with the prefect first thing in the morning, and now, our Taoyuan House is about to welcome another great opportunity."

What? Hua Xiaomai raised an eyebrow, and abruptly interrupted, "This ’good event’ that Proprietress Song is talking about, wouldn’t happen to be the Mid-Autumn Moon Banquet? What exactly is it?"

"How did you come to know..." Song Jingxi suddenly widened her eyes, paused, then continued smiling, "Each year for Mid-Autumn Festival, the prefect arranges a grand feast to celebrate with the people of the city. Starting this year, it’s been assigned to the victor of the Eight Treasures Conference to organize. Taoyuan House secured the task, so we will definitely be very busy. Xiaomai, I’m counting on you!"

No wonder she held the Eight Treasures Conference in such high regard—the driving force of "interests" is indeed no joke!

A banquet organized by the prefecture’s officials might not yield immediate direct benefits as the host, and could even run at a loss, but navigating these connections could open a door to the future. Relationships, favors, and all such things—the truly priceless commodities that one can firmly hold in hand!

As Song Jingxi spoke, she pushed a wooden chest in front of Hua Xiaomai, opened it, and with narrowed eyes, said cheerfully, "Here, this is the reward I promised you, don’t find it too meager."

The chest contained ten shiny silver ingots, dazzling to the eyes.

Fifty taels, really generous!

Hua Xiaomai truly had no patience to beat around the bush. She glanced at the box and cut straight to the point, her voice deep, "You had Qing Tao replace Biyue Pavilion’s Conch to ensure you’d win the right to host the Moon Banquet, didn’t you?"

Song Jingxi’s smiling face instantly turned cold, her throat involuntarily swallowing as she said icily, "How much do you know?"

"Everything." Hua Xiaomai lowered her head and smiled faintly, "We’re both chefs, making a living in the culinary world. What you did..."

"So what?" Song Jingxi slammed the table with a bang, her emotions igniting in an instant, becoming extremely agitated, "You’re a woman too. Don’t you know how hard it is for a woman to struggle in the culinary world? As an apprentice, one must endure the harassment and taunts of masters and senior brothers; after finally completing the apprenticeship and opening one’s own restaurant, because you’re a woman, thugs and bullies are more likely to trouble you, and onlookers just wait to see your failure. Now that my Taoyuan House has finally made a name for itself, people whisper behind my back that it’s all thanks to my husband’s family! I’ve suffered no less than anyone else, in fact, ten times, a hundred times more. Why should I be subjected to such controversy? With an opportunity right before me, if I didn’t seize it, how could I face myself?"

Hua Xiaomai let out a soft sigh and pursed her lips, "You misunderstand, I meant no criticism, and I certainly have no right to judge. From the beginning, I’ve known that the culinary world is far from peaceful. To achieve their goals, people will pull out all the stops. Adding poison to a competitor’s dish or intentionally using incompatible ingredients—I may not have witnessed these myself, but I’ve heard plenty about such tactics. Compared to those people, you merely replaced the Biyue Pavilion’s Conch with an inferior product. That’s already relatively conscientious; at least you didn’t endanger lives."

"In that case..." Song Jingxi paused, her expression easing, "If you can understand me, that’s the best. What I did may be questionable, but honestly, I had no other choice. Besides, over the years, I’ve built up Taoyuan House with my own two hands. Now with your help, we can continue to run the business with integrity..."

"Now that I’m fully aware of what you’ve done, do you still dare to keep me around?" Hua Xiaomai smiled and shook her head, "Even if you were willing to let me stay on as a chef, I wouldn’t have the guts to stay."

"Why?!" Song Jingxi took a step forward, "You..."

"A fox grieves the death of a rabbit. Qing Tao faithfully served you, only to be sold by you in the end. I’m scared that one day, I might suffer the same fate."

"How could you be the same as her?"

"What’s the difference?" Hua Xiaomai looked her straight in the eye, "If I stayed, I’d be no different from Qing Tao. We’d both be at your command, doing your bidding. The more I’d be trusted by you, the greater the risk."

Song Jingxi wanted to say something but was interrupted with a raise of Hua Xiaomai’s hand, "The Provincial City really is wonderful, filled with famed chefs and numerous restaurants. I love it, and I’ve always hoped to find a place for myself here one day. I might come back in the future, but I don’t think I’m destined to make a living in the kitchen of your Taoyuan House."

Her words were final, and Song Jingxi knew she couldn’t be persuaded, her eyebrows twitching slightly, "Then this matter..."

"I won’t speak of it." Hua Xiaomai quickly said, lightly tapping the wooden box on the table, "You’ve gained the right to host the Moon Banquet, and I’ve exerted considerable effort. This silver is rightfully mine, and if you wish, you can consider it hush money. I can’t guarantee anything else, but if the day comes when the matter of the replaced Conch is revealed, I guarantee it won’t be from me. The lunch service is over, and you should rest before preparing for tonight’s business. I’ll take my leave now."

Seeing her willing to take the money, Song Jingxi breathed a sigh of relief, but when Hua Xiaomai mentioned leaving, she suddenly looked up, "You’re leaving now? It’s quite late, and you won’t make it home today. Besides, as a young woman, what if something happens on the road..."

"With these fifty taels of silver in hand, should I worry about not making it back to Fire Knife Village?" Hua Xiaomai smiled at her, picked up the wooden box from the table, stepped into the room she had been staying in for the past few days, quickly packed up her belongings, and left Taoyuan House immediately.

...

After leaving the restaurant, Hua Xiaomai went straight to a bank. She kept only one ingot and exchanged the rest of the fifty taels for silver notes, which she concealed on her person. Before she had left Fire Knife Village, Hua Ermu had given her some money, and she hadn’t spent much in the past few days; she should have more than enough to cover the trip back to Fire Knife Village.

Having left the bank, she found a relatively clean and decent inn in the city. After settling in, she hired a carriage, agreed on a price, and arranged for it to pick her up from the inn early the following morning. Having taken care of everything, with nothing left to do, she casually strolled through the city, purchasing some specialty snacks famous in the Prefecture to bring back for Hua Ermu and Jing Taihe to taste, and also to send some to Ke Zhenwu and Zuo Jinxiang along the way.

On her last night in the Provincial City, Hua Xiaomai did not sleep well. She woke up early the next morning restlessly. After sitting idly in her room, as the carriage arrived on time, she immediately went downstairs, boarded the carriage without looking back, and set off in the direction of Fuzhe County. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket and monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)