CH 19

Soy Milk Fried Stick

When it was Wen Mingtang’s turn, she had been eagerly anticipating the fresh produce from the farm all day. However, by the time it was her turn, the fresh vegetables had already been taken, leaving behind only two packets of dried seafood and a small jar of pickled vegetables.

One of the packets of dried seafood contained dried seaweed, while the other packet contained dried shrimp. As for the small jar of pickled vegetables, it was said that Master Wang and Master Sun, the other two cooks, specifically made arrangements to set it aside for the breakfast chef.

Wen Mingtang returned to the hall of the public kitchen with two packages of seafood and pickled vegetables. Ah Bing and Tangyuan, who were waiting for her in the lobby, couldn’t help feeling depressed when they saw the small jar of pickled cabbage and two packs of seafood that Wen Mingtang had received.

Tangyuan said bluntly, “Are Masters Wang and Sun doing this on purpose? With their cooking skills…how many times have we had plenty of leftovers for lunch and dinner? Do they really need to take so many vegetables? Isn’t it just a waste?”

Ah Bing also responded from the side: “That’s right! Master Wang and Master Sun have always been fooling around. When Master Wei was here, they…”

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Ah Bing immediately fell silent and coughed awkwardly before changing the subject. “Anyway, regardless of their cooking skills, they certainly have a lot of hidden motives. Master Wen, you need to be careful around them!”

Though it had not made a sensation yet, Ah Bing felt that with Master Wen’s craftsmanship, it would be a matter of time before everyone came to the public kitchen to eat morning food. At that time, the two masters Wang and Sun, who were not very good at craftsmanship but had too many eyes, will know about it, and maybe they will come up with some other moths!

Wen Mingtang was not surprised by this.

Even if it’s just a casual change in duties within the palace, it can still lead to conflicts, not to mention the vacant position of the head chef in the palace kitchen. Although Old Man Jiang from Guozijian1 next door was called to take over as an interim, it was not a long-term solution. Sooner or later, the public canteen of Dali Temple will have its own head chef. With the arrival of a new chef and kitchen staff, there will naturally be people trying to push others out and claim the positions for themselves.

Speaking of which…

Wen Mingtang looked at Ah Bing who was flirting with Tangyuan, and asked curiously: “Ah Bing, the Master Wei you mentioned just now refers to…”

The faces of A Bing and Tangyuan froze when they were asked about this, and they looked at Wen Mingtang. Seeing that he couldn’t refuse, Ah Bing said: “It’s the former chef, who was found by Depute Minister Lin to be a fugitive and arrested by himself!”

It turned out that Master Wei was a fugitive who had been on the run for many years!

“Master Wei’s cooking skills were indeed better than those of Master Wang and Master Sun, but,” Ah Bing said, “he is still incomparable with Master Wen!”

He began to believe in her cooking skills. After all, she made the impossible thing of making so delicious noodles without vegetables, meat, and eggs. How can this cooking skill be compared to ordinary people?

Wen Mingtang smiled and didn’t say anything else. She just opened the jar of pickled cabbage, took a chopstick of pickled cabbage out, and tasted it.

“This pickled cabbage is moderately salty and fresh, not bad!” Wen Mingtang, who had tasted the pickled cabbage, nodded and praised.

Seeing this, Ah Bing and Tang Yuan hurriedly said: “The pickled vegetables on Zhuangzi are really good, and they are good to eat with porridge.”

But, why did Master Wang and Master Sun specially leave pickles for Master Wen? Do they want Master Wen to cook plain porridge for the morning meal like them?

It’s not that they disliked white porridge. In fact, it was good to eat white porridge once in a while! It was just that Master Wang and Master Sun used to make porridge twice in three days, which had long made people get bored of it. Even now, they have not recovered from the boredom! So… It was a bit unbearable to still eat porridge!

Complaining about Master Wang and Master Sun’s small actions, Master Wang, who made the evening meal, came to the lobby, and smiled as soon as he entered the door: “Master Wen, Ji Caimai asked you to get the ingredients!”

After dinner, it was time for the three chefs to receive the ingredients for the next meal.

He led Wen Mingtang into the public kitchen’s warehouse, but Master Wang didn’t leave but stood outside the warehouse and exchanged greetings with Ji Caimai.

Ah Bing and Tangyuan who followed Wen Mingtang into the storeroom saw this, and couldn’t help but say: “Master Wang is the most cautious, he must have found out somewhere that Master Wen’s oil-splashed noodles for breakfast were delicious, and he was upset. Thinking of tripping up Master Wen!”

Wen Mingtang glanced at Master Wang who talked nonsense with Ji Caimai and smiled. Looking at the ingredients on the warehouse floor, she thought for a while and took some soybeans, flour, and walked out.

Looking at the soybeans that Wen Mingtang was holding in her hand, Master Wang, who was earnestly buttering up Ji Caimai, was distracted and looked at her in time, and then said “enthusiastically”: “Master Wen, do you want to make soy milk for the morning meal tomorrow?”

Wen Mingtang nodded and laughed. she said, “Make some sugar cakes with flour to drink with soy milk!”

Master Wang also smiled and complimented after hearing the words: “It’s a good morning meal, Master Wen is very skillful!”

The two talked with each other amicably, but Ah Bing and Tangyuan, who were following Wen Mingtang, felt strange when they heard it. They always felt that the atmosphere of the conversation was a little subtle.

Ji Caimai half-closed his eyes, and became “deaf” at the right time, until Wen Mingtang spoke first, and said, “So, I’ll go back first! We need to get up early to make morning meals, and so have to go to bed early at night.”

Ji Caimai heard this, then nodded to her, “Deafness” recovered, and said: “Master Wen, go!”

After some polite greetings, he vividly expressed the feeling of ”Night of the Long Knives 2“.

After Wen Mingtang led Ah Bing and Tangyuan away, Ji Caimai glanced at Master Wang and said, “No matter how much you want to drive someone away, there are boundaries that must not be crossed! If you cross those boundaries and add something that shouldn’t be added to the food, causing problems when it’s consumed, don’t blame me for turning against you!”

He knew the level of Master Wang and Master Sun well, and they fought openly and covertly for the position of the head chef and did a lot of things to run on the new cook and her helpers.

Ji Caimai turned a blind eye but saw everything.

If they didn’t make too much trouble, he was OK with them!

Today about Zhuangzi’s vegetables, he knew that the two left Wen Mingtang a head of pickled vegetables and two packages of dried seafood that were never used in court food, so he beat them on purpose.

Master Wang’s heart jumped when he heard it, and he nodded quickly.

After Ji Caimai took the key and left, he snorted coldly and went to see Master Sun.

“She took soybeans and flour, and said that she was going to make soybean milk and sugar cakes tomorrow.” Master Wang said, looking at Master Sun, and sneered, “This newcomer seems to have some skills!”

He was full of praise for the You Po Mian and made an appointment to eat breakfast tomorrow. Unexpectedly, this young cook can do a lot of tricks, even soy milk.

It seems that the people who came from the imperial dining room of the palace were indeed quite capable!

“Ji Caimai told us to fight back, don’t make a big fuss, he might be the first one to let us go if we have a problem!” Master Wang paused, and then said, “Sun, look… what should we do?”

“It’s okay!” Master Sun smiled when he heard the words, raised his eyebrows meaningfully, and said, “I’m going to make some sweetened beets tomorrow, so it’s not a violation of the rules to pick up the sugar first!”

Both the soy milk and the sugar cake require sugar. He took the sugar away in advance, and he wanted to see how this “clever woman” can “cook without rice again” this time!