Cute Wife Gourmet

Chapter 62 Promotion
Ye Jiayao had to think carefully about this issue. The birthday banquet of the old princess in the palace was not comparable to the birthday banquets of ordinary people. The specifications were not only several levels different, but there were too many rules and particularities. And there couldn't be any mistakes. She had never done it before, so she didn't dare to agree rashly.

But this is also a very rare opportunity. If this birthday banquet is successful, she will become famous and truly make a name for herself in Jinling.

"Da Yaoyao, you must help me with this matter. You are the key to success or failure." Helian Jing said expectantly.

Ye Jiayao smiled. Little Jingjing was really nice. He clearly wanted to help her, but he insisted that he was helping him. For such an important banquet, top chefs would usually be invited. With the power of the Helian Palace, it would not be difficult to invite the imperial chef to cook. But Little Jingjing gave her such an opportunity, was willing to trust her, and was willing to take the risk.

"Xiao Jingjing, this is a heavy task. I have never prepared a banquet of similar scale and I don't know if I can do it." Ye Jiayao told the truth.

Helian Jing said: "There is always a first time for everything. How do you know it won't work if you haven't tried it? This is also my first time to do an errand. I am very confident that we can do it well."

Ye Jiayao suppressed her laughter and said, "Little Jingjing has learned to talk about great principles. How about this, you try to get a birthday banquet menu prepared by the chef, or even one from the palace. I'll take a look at what's included."

Helian Jing smiled and said, "That's easy. I'll get it for you later."

After leaving Tianshangju, Helian Jing went to Yong'an Marquis' Mansion. He remembered that the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion also celebrated her 70th birthday last year, so it would be right to find Zhao Qixuan.

Zhao Qixuan was not in the mansion, saying that he was on duty. Helian Jing just remembered that this guy also held the position of Zuo Zhongyun of Zuo Chunfang in the Zhanshi Mansion. He couldn't help but sigh that even a playboy like Zhao Qixuan had things to do.

Helian Jing wrote a note and asked his servant to pass it to Zhao Qixuan.

Xia Chunyu announced to the public that he had caught a cold and took leave to rest at home, but this alarmed his mother and aunts, who came running over, asking for a doctor and asking him to stew bird's nest and so on, which annoyed him greatly and he had no peace and quiet for the whole morning.

In the afternoon, Song Qi came to report that there was new developments in Yangzhou.

Xia Chunyu closed the fan in his hand, sat up straight, looked stern, signaled the maids to leave, and then said, "Speak."

"It was said by a servant of the Ye family who committed a crime and was expelled from the mansion. She said that Wei Liujiang had been secretly having an affair with the second young lady of the Ye family when he stayed at the Ye family last year. She once saw the two of them having a tryst in the back garden at night. Although it is hard to guarantee that she was not slandering him just to vent her anger, there is no smoke without fire..."

Xia Chunyu's eyes were cold: "Where is this person now?"

Song Qi said: "She has been arranged to come to Jinling. She will be here in three to five days."

Xia Chunyu said: "I will interrogate him personally when the time comes."

If it was just Second Miss Ye who wanted to usurp the throne and persecute Yaoyao, then he would deal with her alone. If Wei Liujiang was also involved, then I'm sorry, and I would deal with them both together. Of course, there was also Madam Ye. He believed that Madam Ye was absolutely aware of the situation. Otherwise, how could Second Miss Ye get the three thousand taels of silver to hire the people from Black Wind Hill to rob people?

Song Qi hesitated about whether he should tell the prince something.

Seeing that he was hesitant to speak, Xia Chunyu said impatiently, "If you have something to say, just say it. When did you learn to act so effeminate?"

Song Qi then said weakly, "My Lord, this morning, Prince Jing went to Tianshangju to look for Miss Ye. I heard that Prince Jing and Miss Ye have a close relationship."

Song Qi doesn't know yet that Ye Jiayao is the person that Prince Jing has been looking for.

Xia Chunyu snorted coldly, feeling sour in his heart. Since Dayaoyao had already been called, how could their friendship be shallow? Xiaojing could go to see her often, but when he went to see her, he was kicked and his life was almost crippled.

You naughty girl, I'll let you have fun for a few days. When I get better, I'll show you how I'll deal with you.

Ye Jiayao was reciting the menu when she suddenly sneezed. She rubbed her nose and continued reciting.

What she was reciting was the Wanshou Banquet in the Manchu-Han Banquet. The Manchu-Han Banquet is the most famous Chinese banquet in the history of Chinese food culture, which combines the essence of Manchu and Han dishes. There are a total of six banquets, all named after the grand banquets in the Qing Palace, namely the Mongolian Vassal Banquet, the Court Officials Banquet, the Wanshou Banquet, the Thousand Old Men Banquet, the Nine Whites Banquet, and the Festival Banquet.

The whole banquet included 196 cold and hot dishes, 124 dim sum and tea snacks, totaling 320 dishes.

Her father had only made four of these banquets, which were modified versions. Unfortunately, she was in college at the time and was unable to witness this grand banquet.

This is the essence of thousands of years of inheritance and development of Chinese cuisine condensed by future generations. With this treasure book in hand, and coupled with careful study by one's own, it is entirely possible to become a leader in the catering industry.

Ye Jiayao is full of confidence. She wants to seize this opportunity and become famous in one banquet.

When she becomes a chef, she can open a restaurant and make a lot of money. At that time, she can buy a house by the Qinhuai River, invite a few friends to go boating, drink some wine, or go traveling, and be a free and easy single noble. Well, it would be best if Dabao and Erbao can be brought back, then it would be perfect.

Ye Jiayao bit the pen and the more she thought about it, the more beautiful it became, and she giggled.

"Brother Yao, the shopkeeper wants you to come over." Xiao Lu called her from outside the door.

Ye Jiayao quickly put the notebook away and put it in her arms. This was the capital for her to make a fortune, so she had to keep it carefully.

Shopkeeper Li made the decision to let Li Yao be the head chef after careful consideration.

There is no doubt about Li Yao's cooking skills. The restaurant's business has improved significantly in the past few days, with more repeat customers and enthusiastic responses to the restaurant's new dishes. This is Li Yao's credit. Secondly, Li Yao has a good relationship with everyone. Except for Zhong Xiang, who seems to have some opinions about her, everyone else has already regarded Li Yao as the boss. In such a short time, he has been able to achieve this, which shows that Li Yao has a good way of dealing with people. Such a talent, if he does not improve his salary and sign a contract as soon as possible, he may be poached.

Ye Jiayao knocked on the door: "Shopkeeper Li."

"Come in."

Ye Jiayao pushed the door open and walked in, smiling: "Boss, you are looking for me."

Shopkeeper Li waved his hand and said, "Come over here and take a look at this first."

Ye Jiayao took it and saw that it was a contract promoting her to head chef.

"Shopkeeper, this is..."

Shopkeeper Li said, "Li Yao, I am very optimistic about your ability. I saw that you are qualified to be the head chef on the first day you came. After a few days of observation, you really did not disappoint me. The kitchen must have a leader, otherwise there will be trouble without a leader. This important task is handed over to you."

Ye Jiayao was originally very happy, as she was promoted to head chef so quickly. The salary of a head chef is more than double that of a first-class assistant chef, with a salary of 18 taels, and it increases by 5 taels every year. It is said that the salary of a chef is at least 34 taels, and the salary of a top chef is even higher, with 100 or even several hundred taels. Some restaurants even give some shares to chefs in order to retain them.

But she hesitated again when she saw the deadline. Five years, five more years. If she was looking for a job to make ends meet, this would be the best, but her goal was to open her own restaurant. Five years was too long, and according to the contract, the penalty for leaving midway was a bit scary.

"Manager Li, can this deadline be changed? I don't even know if I will still be in Jinling in five years." Ye Jiayao said.

Manager Li said, "This is the rule of the industry. The minimum contract period for a third-class assistant chef is one year, the minimum contract period for a first-class assistant chef is three years, and the minimum contract period for a head chef is five years. You should know that it is not easy for a restaurant to train a chef, and the treatment I give you is much more generous than that of other restaurants. Even Xiang Yi Lou and Fu Ji, their head chefs only get 15 taels per month, and the maximum increase is 20 or 30 taels. Li Yao, I have confidence that I can train you to be a chef famous in Jinling."

Ye Jiayao said awkwardly: "Boss Li, I am very grateful for your training, but I like to travel around. How about this, you sign a three-year contract with me, and within three years, I will help you train a chef who is as good as me, how about that?"

Shopkeeper Li hesitated. From the perspective of the restaurant's interests, the longer the contract, the better. Frequent staff changes would lead to the loss of customers.

But Li Yao said that he would help him train a chef who was as good as him, which made him excited. After all, the chef's skills were the foundation of his livelihood, and he was not willing to teach them to others easily.

"How about this, you think about it again, and I'll think about it again too." Shopkeeper Li said. He still hoped that Li Yao could sign for five years.

When Ye Jiayao came downstairs, Deng Haichuan and Cui Dongpeng carried her to the backyard.

"What are you doing?"

The two looked around and saw no one else. Deng Haichuan asked mysteriously, "Brother Yao, I heard the shopkeeper wants to promote you to head chef?"

Ye Jiayao laughed and said, "You have very sharp ears. Who told you that?"

Cui Dongpeng said with a smile: "There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. Brother Yao, please tell me, is this true?"

Ye Jiayao asked him back: "Do you hope this is true?"

Cui Dongpeng widened his eyes and said, "Of course I hope so, Brother Yao, we all want to follow you."

Deng Haichuan nodded vigorously to indicate that he meant the same thing.

Ye Jiayao was silent. In fact, she quite liked the working environment here. There was no bullying by top chefs, no villains trying to trip her up, and everyone was happy together. If it was only for three years, she would have signed it.

"The shopkeeper has this intention, but I'm still considering it."

Uh...their eyes almost fell out.

"Brother Yao, this is such a great thing. We can't even dream about it. What are you still considering?" Deng Haichuan said anxiously.

"Yes! Brother Yao, if you don't do it, the boss will definitely hire someone from somewhere else to be the head chef. If the chef turns out to be difficult to negotiate with, everyone will suffer again." Cui Dongpeng said with a bitter face.

Ye Jiayao waved her hand: "It's not that I don't want to do it, the problem is that the shopkeeper wants me to sign for five years."

"You rejected it?" Deng Haichuan's heart ached. He felt sorry for Brother Yao. What a good opportunity!
"No, let me think about it again." Ye Jiayao said lightly.

Cui Dongpeng and Deng Haichuan looked at each other, totally unable to understand what Brother Yao was hesitating about. If it were them, they would have wanted to sign the longest contract possible so that they could have a stable income and not have to worry about their livelihood.

"By the way, don't tell anyone about this for now." Ye Jiayao warned. She didn't want everyone to come and ask her before the matter was finalized.

(End of this chapter)