Transmigration: The Little Chef Calls The Shots
Chapter 1212 - 121 List (Third Update)

Chapter 1212: 121 List (Third Update)

With two silver pieces in hand, which equated to half a year’s salary for him, not to mention remembering twenty names, even a hundred or two hundred would be possible.

The young clerk nodded and bowed, borrowed pen and ink from the shopkeeper, and ran towards the entrance of the Red Smoke Pavilion.

Watching the young clerk’s retreating back, Chen Ruochu looked up at the room where Lady Jiang and Chen Leyao were and had the shopkeeper open up a private room for him to sit in.

Because of their eagerness, Lin Yuan and her companions arrived quite early. After waiting for a while and not seeing anyone from the Red Smoke Pavilion post the list, they became somewhat jittery and anxious.

Especially Tian Xuan, this competition was her last chance to participate. If she couldn’t make it into the top three this year, she would have to heed Sir Tian’s words and diligently study the four arts of zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting.

"Alas, what’s with the Red Smoke Pavilion this year? In past years, they would have posted it early, why so late this year!"

Hearing Tian Xuan’s complaints, several other passersby who were also anxious about the wait chimed in agreement, but one person spoke in a low, mysterious voice: "You all shouldn’t complain. I’ve heard that this year, the competitors are all formidable; it’s understandable that the Red Smoke Pavilion is late in releasing the list."

The speaker was a young lad, here to check the list for his younger sister at home.

Tian Xuan turned to look at him and felt that he didn’t resemble the offspring of officials from the capital city, so she didn’t quite believe his words: "How do you know this year’s contestants are so impressive? It’s as if you know so much."

The young man, seeing that Tian Xuan was young and appeared pretty and intelligent, wasn’t offended by her remark but instead said with a smile, "The miss seems not to know. My beloved is one of the embroideresses from the Red Smoke Pavilion. Could the news she heard be wrong?"

Since it was news spread by someone from within the Red Smoke Pavilion, it was likely to be very accurate.

Lin Yuan’s eyebrows raised as she also inquired, "So what’s so remarkable about this year’s competitors?"

The man replied with a hint of pride, "Well, you might not believe what I say. I’ve heard that at the last moment of registration, a lady submitted a piece of double-sided embroidery. You all know about double-sided embroidery, right? That’s an extremely sophisticated embroidery technique; isn’t that remarkable?"

Hearing him mention double-sided embroidery, Lin Wei’s little face instantly flushed red, and she lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.

Lin Yuan, Xiao He, and Xiao Linshuang all knew that this remarkable person was Lin Wei, and they laughed along.

But Tian Xuan didn’t know. Although she had seen Lin Wei’s embroidery work, she had not seen double-sided embroidery. Despite wondering why the others were laughing, her thoughts were more focused on the other formidable competitors.

"But that’s just one person. Every year, they select the top three anyway. Just because one person can do double-sided embroidery doesn’t mean they won’t let others be selected, right?"

The young man nodded and continued, "The miss shouldn’t be hasty. In fact, I’ve heard that this miss who does double-sided embroidery isn’t quite a master yet, so whether she will be selected is still unknown."

Upon hearing the young man say this, any sense of superiority Lin Wei had felt was immediately transformed into a sense of crisis. No wonder Madam Cheng had told her she couldn’t guarantee Lin Wei’s selection—it wasn’t just a matter of being polite; it was genuinely uncertain!

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but feel alarmed. The capital city was indeed a place teeming with talent!

The man then said with an air of mystery, "Hey, do you all know which two families are the fiercest contenders for Imperial Merchant this year?"

For this man’s mysterious airs, Lin Yuan was very displeased, as almost everyone in the Capital city knew these things.

Sure enough, before they even said anything, some of the other onlookers impatiently urged, "Oh come on, isn’t it just the Chen family and the Wu family from Jiangnan? Just spit it out. Don’t tell me that these two families will participate too! How can that be, their embroidery craftsmanship in Jiangnan is so much more exquisite than ours in the North!"

The man clicked his tongue twice, nodding as he said, "There you’ve got it wrong. Although the embroidery craftsmanship of Jiangnan is exquisite, our Red Smoke Pavilion’s craftsmanship is also not bad! Haven’t you heard the saying that ’it’s best to be exposed to various skills’? Those two families from Jiangnan, they just want to come learn from our craftsmanship, so they can go back and improve their own!"

The onlookers nodded repeatedly, Tian Xuan suddenly exclaimed in shock, "No way? Are the Chen family and the Wu family really participating?"

The man nodded, "That’s right. Therefore, this year’s Red Smoke Pavilion is truly brimming with talent, you can imagine how fierce the competition is."

Tian Xuan bit her lip, her face turning pale. She didn’t know how to do double-sided embroidery, the Wu family of Jiangnan was this year’s Imperial Merchant, and the Chen family had been an Imperial Merchant for many years, would she not be eliminated again?

Looking up at the lofty Red Smoke Pavilion, tears shimmered in the corners of Tian Xuan’s eyes. Was it really so hard to make one step closer?

Lin Wei’s face didn’t look very good either. Lin Yuan gently held her slightly cold little hand, comforting her, "This is your first time participating; there will be plenty of other chances in the future. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself."

Lin Wei gently bit her lip, wanting to say something, when suddenly there was an uproar from the front of the crowd, and people slowly started pushing towards the entrance.

Tian Xuan wiped her tears with a sweep of her hand, pulling Lin Wei and squeezing forward, "Hurry up, they’ve posted the list!"

In fact, there were also several young ladies from noble families taking part in Red Smoke Pavilion’s selection event. However, they either stayed home or sat in the tea house across the street, waiting for servants to come here and jostle. It was rare for someone like Tian Xuan to come and check the list personally.

Lin Yuan did have some martial skills. Although she wasn’t sure of winning if it came to a fight, she found it more than enough to protect her sisters for now. With a few blocks, Lin Yuan ushered them to the very front.

There were four copies of the list posted by the Red Smoke Pavilion, so it wasn’t too crowded at the front.

Standing in front of the list nearest the entrance, Tian Xuan nervously bit her lip as she scanned from the end of the list to the front, causing Lin Yuan and the others to be extremely puzzled.

"Sister Xuan, the top of the list is over there, why are you looking here?" Xiao Linshuang raised her head to look at Tian Xuan’s face, tense and nearly turning white from nervousness, and became anxious as well.

Tian Xuan’s eyes moved over the list, answering distractedly, "You don’t know, but there’s actually a trick to this list. Those ranked at the very front have the best chance of making it into the top three, so naturally, the chances for those later on are much lower."

Hearing her explanation, Lin Yuan and Xiao Linshuang couldn’t help clicking their tongues, was Tian Xuan thinking she was at the very end?

Sure enough, they heard Tian Xuan murmuring, "Last year I was seventeenth. This year I should have improved, right? How come it’s already the thirteenth and still no sign of me?"

Xiao Linshuang’s mouth twitched, standing speechless to one side.

Lin Yuan was also very speechless, she stepped forward, pulling Lin Wei and Tian Xuan toward the far right of the list, "With such a lack of confidence, no wonder you never get picked!"