Cute Wife Gourmet

Chapter 110 Someone is up to something
Everyone was chatting and laughing as the first pot of dough was ready. Zhong Xiang was responsible for putting the filling in and Wang Mingde was responsible for pressing it into shape.

"It looks delicious." Helian Jing couldn't help drooling as he looked at the small and exquisite mooncakes.

If Yaoyao hadn't said that they had to be frozen before being eaten, he would have just ignored it and just made two to eat first.

Ye Jiayao inspected the finished products and picked out any that did not meet the standards.

However, Zhongxiang's craftsmanship is excellent and almost none of his products are unqualified.

“Put it on a plate and freeze it.”

The first batch of one hundred mooncakes were packed into ice containers.

"How long will it take before we can eat?" Helian Jing couldn't wait.

Ye Jiayao suppressed her laughter and said, "Look how greedy you are. It will take at least fifteen minutes to get it."

Helian Jing moved a chair and sat next to the Bingjian, staring at it.

Start frying the second pot of glutinous rice flour here.

As soon as the quarter of an hour had passed, Helian Jing began to urge him. Cui Dongpeng opened the ice jar, looked inside, and shouted, "Brother Yao, come and see, something is wrong."

Everyone dropped what they were doing and gathered around.

Ye Jiayao picked up a mooncake, only to find that it was not as round and translucent as the ones she had made in the previous times. Instead, it was dry and even cracked in some places. It broke apart easily, unlike the previous chewy ones.

"Cracked? How could this happen?" Zhong Xiang exclaimed.

"Is the recipe wrong?" Wang Mingde said to himself.

"How is that possible? We have studied the formula several times and it was successful every time." Deng Haichuan said.

Is there something wrong with the materials?

Ye Jiayao looked solemn and said in a deep voice: "Check the materials and find out the cause of the problem."

Helian Jing picked one up and ate it: "I think it's quite delicious!"

"Not even the slightest difference is acceptable." Ye Jiayao said seriously. She was counting on this batch of mooncakes to become famous, and she would not allow any defective products to appear.

Everyone tried to find the cause separately, but couldn't find it after searching for a long time.

Everyone looked at Ye Jiayao, not knowing what to do.

Ye Jiayao stared at the second pot of mooncakes that were almost finished, her brows furrowed and her expression complicated.

The formula was calculated in multiples of the amounts from previous tests. She calculated it herself several times, so there was no way it could be wrong. The materials could be checked and no problems were found. So what was the problem?
“Put this batch in the freezer and try it, and don’t make the rest.” That’s the only solution. If both batches come out the same way, then there’s something wrong with the recipe.

The previous laughter was frozen by this sudden change. Everyone stared at Bingjian with heavy hearts. In the kitchen, only the ticking of the clock remained, and every tick ticked their nervous nerves.

Helian Jing had never seen Yaoyao look so solemn before, so he comforted her, "Yaoyao, don't worry too much. I really think this is a good thing."

Ye Jiayao knew that even if it was a defective product, Xiao Jing would accept it all and would not give her a penny less, but she felt uneasy. She couldn't understand why something went wrong after preparing it for so long.

"Xiao Jing, can you go back first? I'm very confused now." Ye Jiayao said.

Helian Jing didn't know how to comfort him, so Deng Haichuan said, "Find out the problem later, and I'll send a message to the young prince."

Helian Jing had no choice but to leave first.

"Time's up." Zhong Xiang was the first to shout. He cared more about the success or failure of this time than anyone else, because this was the only chance for him, and if he missed it, he would never have it again.

Everyone hurriedly opened the lid of the ice jar and took out the mooncakes.

"Huh? This batch is good again." Deng Haichuan said happily.

Ye Jiayao took one to taste, and it was indeed a success.

"Two batches of mooncakes, same recipe, same method, but different results... There is only one explanation, there was something wrong with the previous ingredients." Ye Jiayao said firmly.

Zhong Xiang was stunned: "But the goods are from the same batch. If there is a problem, there should be a problem with all of them."

A hint of coldness flashed across Ye Jiayao's eyes: "What if someone did something wrong?"

Everyone was shocked.

Ye Jiayao continued, "Brother Xiang and Wang Mingde went to buy the materials together. I believe there will be no problem."

"Well, we have inspected the goods and there is absolutely no problem." Wang Mingde said.

"The first batch of mooncakes used the ingredients at the top, but the ones at the bottom were fine, which shows that someone had tampered with the ones at the top. Our ingredients are placed in the kitchen, and everyone coming in and out can see them. So, it is not easy to tamper with them when there are people around. It must have been done late at night. Think about it, is there anyone worthy of suspicion?" Ye Jiayao asked.

Ye Jiayao was upset to come to such a conclusion. What was the mind of this saboteurs? Was he jealous or resentful? She thought she had done nothing wrong to anyone. If she didn't find this bastard, she would be treated like this from time to time in the future. It would be too much for her to bear.

Zhong Xiang groaned and said, "I really can't imagine who would do such a thing."

"Yes, ever since Brother Yao came, we in Tianshangju are united." Deng Haichuan also said.

"I don't think so. This time when we came out with Brother Yao, some people felt dissatisfied." Cui Dongpeng said with a sneer.

"I think he's just complaining. He won't harm us like this!" Deng Haichuan obviously knew who Cui Dongpeng was referring to.

"You can know a person's face but not his heart, who can guarantee that?" Cui Dongpeng said. "Are you talking about Liu Qisheng?" Ye Jiayao also guessed that Liu Qisheng was originally Zhong Xiang's follower. He stood up for Zhong Xiang and had a conflict with her. In the end, Zhong Xiang stopped and became her right-hand man. Liu Qisheng must have felt bad.

Zhong Xiang's face turned a little ugly.

Cui Dongpeng analyzed: "We did an experiment the day before yesterday. Brother Yao, you said that it was enough and there was no need to do it again. There were not many people present at the time. I remember that Liu Qisheng was one of them. If they wanted to do something wrong, it must have been between the night before yesterday and last night, because we are sure that we will not open the materials again."

"That makes a lot of sense." Ye Jiayao agreed.

"But we can't point all the blame at Liu Qisheng. Everyone who was present at the time should be a suspect." Zhong Xiang still wanted to protect Liu Qisheng.

Wang Mingde, who had been silent, thought: "If that's the case, I was half asleep the night before last, and I seemed to see Liu Qisheng sneaking back to his room in the middle of the night."

"Maybe he's going to the toilet?" Zhong Xiang said.

Wang Mingde shook his head: "Not like that. In the past, he was always careless and noisy when he came back from the toilet, but the day before yesterday, I felt that he was very cautious and walked on tiptoe."

Everyone was silent. It seemed that it was Liu Qisheng. Zhong Xiang was very sad and hung his head sadly.

Ye Jiayao thought for a moment and said, "Judging from the cracks on the dough, it's likely that flour or something was mixed into the glutinous rice flour. The white flour from Yangzhou is very fine and white, and it's hard to tell when it's mixed into the glutinous rice flour. Right now we're just suspecting him, and we don't have any solid evidence, so let's not talk about it for now. We'll go back and investigate after these two days are done."

"What about these one hundred mooncakes?" Deng Haichuan asked.

"Void it." Ye Jiayao felt sorry for herself when she said this. The material cost of one hundred mooncakes was nearly one hundred taels of silver. Everything else was fine, but the cream was hard to come by. But she would never allow these inferior products to flow out.

Deng Haichuan and Cui Dongpeng were almost crying. This was a full four hundred taels of silver! If they said they didn't want it, then they didn't want it.

"Let's eat it ourselves." Wang Mingde was reluctant too.

Ye Jiayao said helplessly: "I'll leave twenty for you, and I'll take the rest."

Take it back and give it to Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang to eat. It’s always easier to talk to family members than to others.

"Okay, you guys continue to work. Brother Xiang, I'll leave this to you. You must keep a close watch."

"Where are you going?" Zhong Xiang asked.

Ye Jiayao said dejectedly: "There's not enough stuffing. I have to go back and make it!"

Everyone worked until dawn and finally made 400 mooncakes.

Then they steam longevity peaches, which are in very large quantities. In order to bring good luck, they are distributed to neighbors and passers-by.

Fortunately, there were many helpers in the palace, and several large baskets of birthday peaches were made in just the morning.

In order to find time to attend the old princess' birthday banquet, Xia Chunyu worked three consecutive days in exchange for one day of rest.

I came to the palace early in the morning to help receive the guests.

He and Helian Xuan stood side by side in front of the palace gate to welcome guests. One was wearing a purple and gold python robe, and the other was wearing a sea-blue brocade robe with cloud patterns. Both were dignified and heroic.

"You are so courageous, my sister-in-law. I heard from Xiaojing that there was a problem with the mooncake materials and one hundred of them were broken. But you said they should be thrown out, so they should be thrown out." Helian Xuan sneered and whispered while welcoming guests.

"How could there be a problem?" Xia Chunyu was stunned. Yaoyao had always been careful and cautious, so how could there be a problem? And there were so many of them, Yaoyao must be heartbroken.

Helian Xuan raised his eyebrows: "I don't know about that."

"By the way, you asked me to invite Minister Mu, and I have already invited him. Did he ask you to do so?" Helian Xuan asked.

Xia Chunyu shook his head and said mysteriously, "No, I want to meet someone from their family."

"Man or woman?" Helian Xuan looked at him meaningfully.

Xia Chunyu sneered: "You will know when the time comes."

Wei Liujiang would definitely not let go of such a good opportunity. Maybe Ye Jinrong would also come to join in the fun, and then it would be a good show to watch.

Today is just the first step.

Xia Chunyu took a break from his busy schedule and went to the kitchen to take a look, only to see Xiaojing coming out of the kitchen.

"Brother Chunyu...what are you doing here? Looking for food? Or looking for Yaoyao?" Helian Jing asked: "If you are looking for Yaoyao, he is so busy right now that I would be kicked out even if I went there."

Xia Chunyu broke out in a cold sweat, thinking that he would be kicked out even if he went.

Xia Chunyu said seriously: "I came to find you. Your brother and I were so busy that we didn't even have time to go to the toilet, but you ran away. Your brother asked me to catch you."

Helian Jing said confidently: "I am not taking any time off. The highlight of today is the birthday banquet, I have to keep an eye on it."

"Don't explain to me, talk to your brother." Xia Chunyu turned around and left with his hands behind his back.

Helian Jing hurriedly followed: "Where's Chunfeng? He said he would come early to help today."

"He came earlier and was watching the acrobatics at the theater with Zhao Qixuan and the others."

"This guy said he wanted to help, but he actually went to have fun on his own." Helian Jing whispered.

When the two of them came out of the kitchen, they heard the announcement outside: "Minister Mu, Master Mu has arrived."

Xia Chunyu stopped and soon saw the pot-bellied Minister Mu, who came in with Mu Qinchu and Wei Liujiang. Over there, a housekeeper greeted a lady and a young lady to the inner courtyard.

(End of this chapter)