The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

11. Be Calculated

Translator: Xie Jiawei

Proofread by Peter Gong

With the salary advanced by boss Zhao back to Fan Ada’s home, Xu Zhiwei offers half to him, the amount of which is not small. The head chef at a high-end restaurant like Huiquan Hall enjoys the highest income among all employees, which dwarfs that of the chief executive and the cashier because their work can easily be replaced, but the head chef is the pillar of a restaurant and could not be replaced.

Xu Zhiwei’s salary of half a month is enough to rent a house in such a remote village as Shibawan for half a year. But he is hardly calculated. He not only feels that he bothers Fan these days, but also thinks that many things of his family often trouble Fan when he is not at home. So as soon as he gets money, he thinks of repaying him with no parsimony.

When giving money to Fan, Xu Zhiwei tells him his plan that he is ready to move from his house. Now he is the head chef of Huiquan Hall and he does not need to depend on Fan’s family because Huiquan Hall will provide him enough food. Besides, Fan’s house is very far away from Hui Mountain and Xu has to take a ferry to cross the canal. Therefore, he would rather rent a house near the Clay Street. When he saves enough money, he will build his own house in the village again, and then he would come back to live.

Fan Ada looks at the money in front of him, swallows, and then pushes it back firmly. Yes, he should not want money from Zhiwei. A few days ago, Xu Zhiwei couldn’t find a job. When Xu was desperate, Fan forced Xu Zhiwei to take out the rest of his saving money. Now that Xu Zhiwei gives him half of his salary, but Fan refuses to accept it.

“What do you mean, brother? I can’t take your money. Besides, you are alone now. How can I bear to let you go out to rent a house after you come back to hometown? No one will take care of you when you are outside. Just stay here and make yourself at home. You can do whatever you like to. I will deal with your other worries.” Fan Ada pats the table and his chest again, which makes one feel that he is sincere and affectionate.

In fact, this is the brilliance of Fan, which not only reflects his thorough understanding of Xu Zhiwei’s conduct, but also his own comprehensive calculation.

He knows Xu Zhiwei’s ability and he knows Xu Zhiwei would make more money with his ability. If he asks for the money now, there would be a standard for everything in the future to be calculated. Moreover, if Xu Zhiwei really leaves, there will be fewer times for him to take advantage of Xu. But if he doesn’t take the money and invites Xu Zhiwei to live in his home instead, then Xu Zhiwei will feel that he owes Fan all the time. However, there is no way to calculate the human relationship. As for Xu’ kind character, the more gratitude he owes, the easier he will be calculated, and the interests in the future will be greater.

What’s more, what Fan Ada values more is not money, but Xu Zhiwei’s skill. He prefers to learn the fishing skill rather than the fish itself. He thinks that if his children could learn the skill from Xu, his life will be as comfortable as that of the emperor. Not only can he spend money like water, but also can eat food as delicious as that of the imperial household, which will make him on cloud nine.

Fan really gets it right. Xu Zhiwei sees that Fan is so sincere that he couldn’t hurt his dignity by insisting on leaving. He nods silently and continues to live in his house for the time being.

After Xu Zhiwei becomes the head chef, the whole family of Fan suddenly become very polite to him. This makes Xu Zhiwei very uncomfortable. So he tries to go out early and come back late. He goes out early in the morning to Huiquan Hall for breakfast. In the evening, not until Huiquan Hall closes and people in the village go to bed does he come back.

However, Fan goes straight with some affairs. For example, if he can’t sell vegetables collected from other places in the country, he will go to Huiquan Hall to find Xu Zhiwei. At such a big restaurant, everyone’s vegetables are used the same way, and they don’t care about getting more than half a basket. Besides, Xu Zhiwei is the head chef who can make the decision. However, in a responsible manner, Xu Zhiwei can skillfully use the ingredients sent by Fan in the dishes every time to replace some other dry goods that can be stored, or directly renovate the dishes. And the renovated dishes are what the boss Zhao Hudong wants to see most, because they can not only surprise the diners, but also furnish them more ideas and topics to attract more customers.

Another thing is that every time Fan comes to Huiquan Hall, he always asks Xu Zhiwei to make him some delicious food, which is no problem at all. It’s not that there are too many things in Huiquan Hall’s kitchen to eat, but that it’s a rule in the past that the people who send food materials, seasonings and firewood will be full before going home.

There are two explanations for this rule. One is the one in folklore, which says that if one goes into the kitchen of a restaurant but leaves hungry, it will bring bad luck to the restaurant. Because it would imply that the kitchen doesn’t open fire often and there is no business. Another explanation is very practical, saying that it is a way for the kitchen to have a good relationship with the people who deliver the ingredients. No matter how good a cook is, he can’t cook a good dish without good ingredients, seasonings and firewood. It will be even worse if someone deliberately chooses something bad and delivers it to a restaurant, or plays tricks in the delivery of goods. Although restaurants don’t have to take into account the suppliers because the latter have to ask them to do business, owners of restaurants will be very polite to the delivery clerks, for fear that something will happen among them. In addition, after the relationship is well established, in case of any urgency, they still have to rely on these delivery assistants for help.

However, when these people go to the kitchen to eat, they can only have a full meal but not a good meal. Because the meals they eat are made of leftovers and inferior materials. But such leftovers and inferior ingredients are not impossible to make delicious dishes. It depends on who cooks.

Other delivery people who want to eat can not bother Xu to cook for them. But when Fan comes, Xu Zhiwei does it himself. So although ingredients are only some leftovers, and inferior materials, after his cooking, the dishes even attract the people of the kitchen.

Owing to these two things, and Fan’s talkative personality, everyone in Huiquan Hall knows that Xu Zhiwei and Fan are close to each other like family members. As for their specific relationship, few people know it. They only hear that they grew up together when they were young, and Xu Zhiwei lives with Fan’s family now.

All this should be what Fan hopes. It will only be more beneficial for him to let more people know that he is close to Xu Zhiwei. In the future, some things can be done in the name of Xu Zhiwei.

Although Fan ties Xu Zhiwei with an invisible rope, he is always worried about one thing. He didn’t care too much about it before, but he must beware of it when taking Xu Zhiwei as a fortune maker for the rest of his life.

When Xu Zhiwei is a chef in Huiquan Hall, he would change some dishes according to the actual seasonal ingredients, but the Steamed Pumpkin and Fried Three Fresh would not change, which are already the first specialty of Huiquan Hall.

Since the day of the trial, Steamed Pumpkin and Fried Three Fresh have already become a household name, and they are deified in the rumors in the streets. Therefore, these two dishes with great influence spread by word of mouth must be used as attractive points to attract customers. In order to match the two dishes with the deified fame, Xu Zhiwei gives them two attractive names: “Golden Lotus within Wine Drop” and “Three Fresh Stewed in Thick Juice”.

However, these two dishes also have demerits. They are made by Xu Zhiwei under certain conditions. But in fact, the usual banquets are different from the trial, because cold dishes must be the first to serve. So even if the Steamed Pumpkin is still unique, refreshing and pleasant, without the premise of borrowing flavor, it is not that tasty after all. The same is true of his Fried Three Fresh, which cannot be tasted with Steamed Pumpkin at the banquet, so the rich and delicious flavor cannot be fully highlighted. In this way, the two dishes will no longer prove magical and legendary.

In addition, after a period of time, other restaurants also take action to counterattack the momentum of Huiquan Hall to compete for customers. After studying the two dishes of Huiquan Hall, they copy or change them one after another. For example, for the Steamed Pumpkin, some restaurants make steamed pumpkin with wine, which is called “Broken Jade in Golden Cup”. There are also restaurants preparing rose juice with unique taste, in which the Steamed Pumpkin is soaked and it is called “Golden Pumpkin Bathed in Rose.” In fact, these two kinds of imitations are very attractive and distinctive. They have been popular in Xi cuisine for a long time, especially for Steamed Pumpkin with wine. Until now, there are still cold dishes of this kind.

It’s much easier to imitate the Fried Three Fresh. Except for Xu Zhiwei’s Fried Three Fresh with oil gluten as the main ingredient, other kinds are also invented. Finally, they even use delicacies and seafood as the main ingredients. However, the frying and stewing techniques are still in accordance with Xu Zhiwei’s, but the time of frying and stewing is adjusted according to the different ingredients. And all kinds of Fried Three Fresh still exist.

In the end, even Xu Zhiwei is surprised when seeing the signs advertised by other restaurants. Although they are only two special dishes, he never expects that others would copy them so blatantly. In fact, copycat is more terrible than imitation. Imitation can at least make customers distinguish the authentic and superior from the inferior ones. However, there is no comparison between the two versions. One is that others can’t tell the difference between those who copy the name and cooking steps, and they think that they are totally the same. In addition, even if one can know the difference, as long as the restaurants cheat customers to eat all the copies, then they can be used for months at least. If one changes it a little, he can cheat for a few more months. In this process, the most authentic practice will gradually be forgotten, and even be applied to these dishes which are randomly changed.

But these imitations and copies also have some features that Xu appreciates. For example, with the idea of Frying Three Fresh with sea cucumber, he feels that if he uses his own method, combined with the method of cooking according to different materials (It is one of cooking skills. Cooks distinguish ingredients according to their features and cook them separately.), the sea cucumber could definitely be cooked into a very delicious dish by pre-stewing before the same frying.

The counterattack from other restaurants on Clay Street is even more fierce. Moreover, the position of Huiquan Hall is not good. Therefore, after only two months, the reservation of Huiquan Hall is no longer as hot as it was at the beginning. There is a saying of “Golden Horn and silver border grass belly” in the restaurant’ geomantic omen. The location of Huiquan Hall is on the grass belly. What’s more, the grass belly of Huiquan Hall is special. Because Clay Street is an irregular arc along the foot of the mountain, people can’t see the facade of Huiquan Hall when they stand at two ends of the street or even walk into the street for a distance. And if people want to get to the door of their restaurant, no matter which street they come in from, they have to go through many restaurants. Therefore, people who enter the street to eat temporarily, whether they choose the nearest one randomly, or they choose one particularly after walking the whole street, they will not stop at Huiquan Hall. However, some regular customers who have made a reservation or take Huiquan Hall as their destination may still be intercepted by other restaurants with which they have a good relationship when they enter the street on both sides. The original Wangshan restaurant may not be able to open because of the position. Therefore, if Huiquan Hall wants to be prosperous, it must have its own characteristics which are hard to copy and cannot be replaced, so that it can firmly interest the guests.