Chef Hua
Chapter 550: Episode 295 They Started Quarreling

Chapter 550: Episode 295 They Started Quarreling

Hua Xiaomai was not an ignorant, clueless person who knew nothing about reason. Not to mention other things, just in terms of education level, she could easily crush Meng Yuhuai a hundred times over. She had also considered, just as Meng Yuhuai suggested, having a frank talk with Wang Zhanrui, but the question was, was it really necessary?

Opening a restaurant was nothing more than using one’s cooking skills to satisfy the customers, make oneself happy, and incidentally make some extra money to improve one’s own life. That’s all there was to it. Did she also need to take on the ideological education of her employees? She was willing to speak, but there had to be someone who could really listen!

Hua Xiaomai turned her head and glanced toward the kitchen, then involuntarily revealed a wry smile.

Ha, to put it bluntly, the two chefs she hired at Daoxiang Garden were not the easiest people to get along with. There was no need to mention Wang Zhanrui, who emitted a gloomy aura around him. Anyone who got within three feet of him would feel their breathing become a bit more difficult. As for Chef Tan, well... while he looked amiable, always greeting people with a smile, he was someone who always went along with everything. No matter what you asked him, it was always "yes, yes, yes." Trying to get a sincere word out of him was truly more difficult than ascending to heaven.

...What kind of fate was this, hiring two normal people to work earnestly, how could it be so difficult?

Seeing her lost in thought, Meng Yuhuai gently tapped her on the head: "I’ve said so much to you, and you haven’t heard a single word, have you?"

Startled, Hua Xiaomai quickly covered her head and turned around, muttering softly, "Why do you have to hit people? Alright, I’ve got a sense of measure; I’m just venting a bit. Since you refuse to take me to the Provincial City, you can go by yourself tomorrow; I’ll have nothing to worry about other than the usual matters."

Maybe he was right about one thing, sooner or later she had to find an opportunity to properly resolve this issue. She didn’t expect Wang Zhanrui to greet her with a beaming smile every time he saw her, but at the very least, he shouldn’t have a face full of frost and hold grudges in his heart.

Meng Yuhuai also knew she was not the type to nitpick without reason, so he didn’t persuade her further. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he led her back to the front hall.

Because Meng Yuhuai was going to the Provincial City the next day, the family of three went home early that evening to have dinner and pack, inevitably bustling about. The night passed without event, and early the next morning, after sending Meng Yuhuai off from the village, Hua Xiaomai and Meng’s mother went to Daoxiang Garden as usual.

In the autumn, many people loved to wander through the woods and fields, and with the recent incident involving Daoxiang Garden and Gui Lin Inn, the number of people coming to Fire Knife Village from the County had suddenly increased a lot.

Coincidentally, there were three or four customers from the County seated in the bamboo grove that day. After looking through the menu back and forth without making up their minds, they took an interest in the "chef’s special" sign after hearing that Hua Xiaomai was available. They ordered several dishes along with a pot of wine, excitedly declaring that they must taste the legendary skills today.

According to Hua Xiaomai, given her current situation, preparing two tables of dishes each for lunch and dinner was already quite strenuous. If there were more customers, they would have to wait in line accordingly. Thus, she was quite nervous about whether the "chef’s special" would provoke dissatisfaction. But unexpectedly, someone took the bait on the very first day, and her heart immediately felt steadier.

However, when Qing You reported the dishes ordered by the customers at the bamboo grove table to her, she couldn’t help but feel a mixture of amusement and frustration.

The other dishes were still manageable, but there was one dish, "Mutton Square Hidden Fish," that was particularly labor-intensive.

As it happened, this dish was also a famous ancient recipe. When Hua Xiaomai was learning to cook, her graduation project was a modified version of "Mutton Square Hidden Fish." She had earned her title of outstanding graduate based on this dish.

To her, this was certainly a familiar dish; one might even say it held a special significance for her. But...

It was really such a hassle!

Cooking mutton and fresh fish together can bring out the utmost in freshness, but at the same time, these two ingredients are very difficult to handle.

The mutton had a strong gamey taste, and the fresh fish had a muddy smell. If there were any slight error in the steps, it would make the dish inedible, inevitably leading to a situation where the ingredients were wasted and the restaurant’s reputation was ruined. Back then, to make this dish impeccable, she had spent a full half month in preparation. Who would have thought, on the very first day of launching the "chef’s special," she would encounter such picky customers?