Chapter 403: The Grand Cooking Competition

Chapter 403: Chapter 403: The Grand Cooking Competition

Xu Laifu hurried to Hongfu Restaurant, full of excitement.

Manager Hong was in the back kitchen, watching the head chef test the new seasonings. When he saw Xu Laifu arrive, he thought he was there to pick up the baskets.

"No, no," Xu Laifu said, waving his hand. "Our boss wants to team up with you for an event..."

"A cooking competition?"

At first, Manager Hong was baffled. After Xu Laifu finished explaining the general plan, he began to pace around the courtyard.

’It sounds like quite the gimmick.’

The only issue was that other restaurants and inns would immediately find out about the seasonings. They would undoubtedly scramble to act, leaving him with little time to get a head start.

Xu Laifu could see what was troubling him.

"Our boss says that no matter what you do, being first always leaves a lasting impression. Even if more powerful competitors show up later, it’s hard to change the public’s ’first impression’ and ’preconceived notions.’"

Manager Hong stopped in his tracks.

’That’s right!’

His restaurant was the first to use the seasonings. If he looked on the bright side, they might really make a deep impression on the dining public. In the future, whenever people talked about who made the best food, Hongfu Restaurant would always be part of the conversation.

They were obscure right now, but with this gamble tomorrow, they could at least start making a name for themselves.

Besides, even if he didn’t agree, Ji’s Flavor Industry would just find someone else to partner with...

"I agree."

Manager Hong nodded, but he still had some concerns.

"I can send our head chef over, but are you sure your side can handle it? If anything goes wrong, I’m afraid..."

A competition always has winners and losers. If it wasn’t organized well, they might not make a name for themselves and end up a laughingstock instead.

To put it bluntly, he was worried that if his chef lost, it would damage their reputation.

"Don’t worry. Our boss said she wants a win-win situation. She would never do something that harms others for her own benefit."

"Alright then. We’ll follow your boss’s arrangements."

After Xu Laifu left, the head chef came running out gleefully with a plate of food.

"Manager! Manager! This new stuff you bought back is a real treasure! It’s absolutely amazing for cooking! Here, try it."

Manager Hong didn’t even need to taste it. Just smelling the rich aroma was enough to put his mind at ease.

’Oh well, I’ll take the gamble!’

Ji Huan had expected Manager Hong to agree to the partnership. She and Xu Laifu discussed the specific details until it was nearly closing time.

Zhou picked up a broom and started cleaning. Ji Huan asked if he had been frightened today.

She was referring to when Di Rong had come by.

Zhou shook his head. He was used to that kind of commotion.

"So, are you getting used to the work? If there’s anything you don’t know how to do, or if you’re having any difficulties in your daily life, you must remember to tell Manager Xu. You can tell me, too. Don’t make things hard on yourself."

"Boss, there is something I’d like to talk to you about."

Zhou offered Ji Huan a suggestion.

"Those sauce and vinegar bottles seem easy to slip from one’s grasp. If a customer doesn’t bring a basket and carries it by hand, it could easily break on the way. Even in a basket, if the stopper gets knocked off, the contents could spill. Why not use coarse hemp or straw to weave a net bag? Something shaped like a fishing net that would support the bottom of the bottle and wrap halfway up the side, with a handle at the top to carry it..."

Ji Huan watched Zhou, who was gesturing earnestly as he spoke.

’He must have come up with this idea because of the vinegar bottle the naughty boy broke. He’s got a quick mind. That’s worthy of praise.’

"Not bad, that’s very clever! And coarse hemp and straw don’t cost much. How about this: you weave one for me to look at first. If it works well, we’ll find people to make them in large quantities."

But Zhou said, "You don’t need to find anyone else. I can do it by myself."

After all, he had nothing to do here at night. Of course, there wasn’t much to do during the day either, just wipe the tables, dust the shelves, boil water, and make tea.

In all his life, this was the first time he’d ever had so much leisure.

He didn’t have to worry about being beaten or going hungry. He ate well, slept well, and even got paid...

It was because things were so good that he felt uneasy, always wanting to do something more for the shop.

How could Ji Huan not see what was on his mind? She found it both funny and exasperating.

’It’s fine for now. There are only a few rows of products on the shelves and business is slow, so he can handle the weaving by himself. Once business picks up, we’ll definitely need to hire more people.’

However, since he had volunteered so eagerly, she couldn’t very well dampen his enthusiasm.

"Alright then, I’ll leave this task to you."

Zhou nodded solemnly. "I’ll be sure to do a good job."

Since it was a competition, they definitely needed to promote it.

Their target audience wasn’t just the people on this street. And they couldn’t hold competitions every day, so they had to attract as many people as possible.

After some discussion, they decided to focus on shouting out announcements, supplemented by flyers.

Although the flyers hadn’t been very effective on the day the new shop opened, getting people to come spend money was one thing, but getting them to come watch a spectacle was another—especially when there was free food involved.

There wasn’t enough time to have them printed at a paper mill, so they decided to write them by hand.

Ji Huan, Guan Shan, Dabao, Ji Mingfang, Hu Dacheng—who felt he’d made good progress after studying for a while—and Hu Ximei, who had learned many characters from Ji Huan, all pitched in.

They were busy until late at night. The younger ones had mostly gone to sleep, and Ji Mingfang had to go home, but Ji Huan and Guan Shan were still burning the midnight oil.

They wrote deep into the night, until Ji Huan unknowingly fell asleep at the table.

Guan Shan, sitting on the other side of the desk, stopped what he was doing. He stood up, walked around to Ji Huan’s side, and gently pulled the brush from her hand.

He bent down, placed a hand on her shoulder, slipped his other arm under her knees, and lifted her into his arms.

He strode silently to the edge of the bed, glanced at the shoes on Ji Huan’s feet and her outer jacket, then paused and sat down on the edge.

Cradling Ji Huan in one arm, he used his other hand to take off her shoes, then reached for the front of her jacket.

His hand stopped abruptly as it touched her collar.

He paused for several long breaths, his hand slowly curling into a fist before he drew it back.

He carefully placed her under the covers, then noticed a smudge of ink on her little finger.

He got up, went to the kitchen stove to add more firewood, and came back with a warm, damp cloth. He then wiped her entire hand clean.

As he wiped, the cloth stilled.

Compared to his own, her hand was truly small. It seemed especially, pitifully so when cupped in his palm.

Such a small hand, yet it had five long, slender fingers, the tips of which had a rosy, pinkish hue.

They were as pale and soft as scallion shoots, yet they were not the hands of someone who had never known a day of hard work.

His thumb brushed over the thin calluses on her palm. He gazed at her peaceful, sleeping face for a moment, his eyes gradually darkening.

Snapping back to his senses, he had no idea how much time had passed.

He tucked her hand back into the quilt, straightened the corner of the blanket, then stood up and returned to the desk to continue writing.

The next day, the weather was clear and fine, and the streets were much more crowded than usual. The heavens were truly on their side.

Zhou, Xu Laifu, and the staff from Hongfu Restaurant went out early in the morning to hand out flyers.

This time, the flyers were especially simple.

The words "Cooking Competition" were printed in the center, large and eye-catching. Below them were the location and time. There was nothing else.

The group split up, all of them shouting loudly as they distributed the flyers.

Just as Ji Huan had predicted, a huge number of people came over when they heard the commotion.

In the end, they didn’t even have to hand them out. As soon as people heard there was a competition—a cooking competition, no less, with free samples—they came over on their own to ask for one.

In no time, more than half the flyers in the basket were snatched away.

Zhou clutched his basket tightly, ignoring the passersby asking for more, and quickly ran off.

He remembered Ji Huan’s instructions clearly: don’t hand them all out in one place. He had to run to several different locations to let more people know.

By the time the sun had climbed high into the sky, the people from Ji’s Flavor Industry and Hongfu Restaurant were bustling with activity.