Chapter 120: Asking Chef Tan yo Take Care of Baozhu
Translator: Flying Lines
The Wong Family was very lively that day. The kitchen was also kept busy and everyone had their hands full.
Ye Xiaoxian did not have time to take a break until she had cooked all the dishes and the banquet began outside.
She had just stopped working when Scholar Wong’s maid came looking for Xiao Baozhu, asking Xiao Baozhu if she was finished working here. She wanted Xiao Baozhu back to serve the bride who had already been sent to her wedding room.
Xiao Baozhu had been busy for quite a while in the kitchen and had not had a chance to eat any food. Besides, she did not want to do the work of serving the bride.
The maid saw that Baozhu was behaving in an undisciplined manner so she then became even more aggressive. “If you don’t go, then you won’t need to eat lunch. We won’t bring any for you!”
Ye Xiaoxian interjected, “Baozhu won’t go back today. She’ll just eat here.”
“Who are you? Can you manage our family’s business?” The maid saw that Ye Xiaoxian was in plain clothes, so she assumed that she must not be a guest attending the wedding banquet, so she glared at Ye Xiaoxian.
“Who I am is not your business! Just leave!” Ye Xiaoxian hated such people the most. They were also from lower class but had to bully someone inferior than them. When they saw someone superior than them they would fawn over them.
As expected, seeing Ye Xiaoxian having some conflict with the maid, the cook of the Wongs quickly walked over. The cook was in his thirties, having worked in this family for quite some time, so he had a say in the matter.
The cook did not like Ye Xiaoxian at first. He had long heard that for the young master’s wedding banquet they would invite a chef from outside. He did not expect that the chef would turn out to be a little girl, so he was not convinced.
However, when Ye Xiaoxian displayed her slicing technique in the kitchen, the chef was tempted to kneel in front of Ye Xiaoxian and call her “Master”.
This little girl could actually carve tofu into a flower, slice cucumbers into different shapes to decorate the dishes and garnish the dishes in very delicate ways. Such work could not be done unless one had learned and practiced hard for ten or so years.
The chef had been convinced in various ways. He also wanted to learn some tricks from Ye Xiaoxian but Ye Xiaoxian was too busy to mind him, so she was only engaged in her own work.
It was almost done and the cook came over, thinking of chatting a bit with Ye Xiaoxian. He did not expect that a lowly maid would have any conflict with Ye Xiaoxian.
“What happened? What happened?” the cook shouted.
When the maid saw the chef come over she immediately refrained from showing her cocky attitude. After all, the chef was in a much higher position in this family than her. “Chef Tan, I’m here to ask Young Master’s handmaid to tidy up the yard. The bride has been taken in and it won’t do if the handmaid isn’t there to serve her, right? Otherwise it would make her feel slighted by our family.”
Ye Xiaoxian then said to Chef Tan, “When I first arrived I told you that Baozhu was here to help me today. She’s been so busy that she hasn’t had a chance to even drink any water. Is it reasonable to call her back right now? Will having servants serve on an empty stomach make the bride feel less slighted by your family?”
“Well…” The maid still tried to say something.
Chef Tan then asked her, “Lian, are you trying to slack off?”
“Of course not!” Lian said. “I’ve been…”
“When the bride comes she will surely bring her own servants from her parent’s house. She’ll be much more familiar with her own people. Why should you make a handmaid serve her? Just go back by yourself for now.”
“…” The maid looked at Xiao Baozhu then turned to Ye Xiaoxian. At last she listened to Chef Tan and went back alone.
Ye Xiaoxian turned to Chef Tan. “Chef Tan, thank you very much.”
“No problem.” Chef Tan also looked at Xiao Baozhu. “Are you two…”
“Oh, she’s my sister-in-law.”
“Right…” There were only twenty something people in the Wong household. When Xiao Baozhu arrived, all of them knew what she had done. Xiao Baozhu was already a laughingstock here. Chef Tan also knew.
But, because of Ye Xiaoxian, Chef Tan did not show any loathing and only said, “So she turns out to be your sister-in-law. Can she cook then?”
Ye Xiaoxian wanted to teach Xiao Baozhu how to cook but Xiao Baozhu did not appreciate it, so she did not possess this skill either.
“She knew several dishes like cold jelly, douhua and some other stir-fried dishes. If you want to try out some new dishes you can ask her. If she doesn’t know, she can come back to ask me,” said Ye Xiaoxian.
“Sure, that’s nice, nice,” said Chef Tan.
He had been waiting for this. He originally was thinking of asking Ye Xiaoxian to teach him, but since Ye Xiaoxian said first that he could do it via Xiao Baozhu, it would be the same to ask Xiao Baozhu.
Ye Xiaoxian also knew that Chef Tan was thinking of asking her to teach him, so in return he would have to take care of Xiao Baozhu for her in this family, which was only common sense.
The servants in the family also started eating but they would eat together in turns. The time they had for eating was also limited. Everyone would have only ten minutes to eat.
As Ye Xiaoxian was not a servant here and her job for today was also done, she could arrange her time freely. She went to take two portions of food. One was for Xiao Baozhu.
There were fish and meat in the meal and the rice was also well cooked. Xiao Baozhu did not just eat when she took the meal but looked at the meat on the top. Thinking about it she had not eaten such a big chunk of meat for quite some time. When she began to eat she was like a hungry wolf, tucking in to the meal as if she had not eaten for a long time.
Looking at her, Ye Xiaoxian sighed again. She wanted to ask her to go home but also knew that Baozhu would not be persuaded. Ye Xiaoxian shared more meat from her bowl with Xiao Baozhu. Xiao Baozhu hesitated and then wanted to cry.
“Sister-in-law, I don’t want to go back!” Xiao Baozhu ate while crying.
“Then you don’t have to, but you also can’t live your life this cowardly. Even a little girl can bully you. What the hell is she!” Ye Xiaoxian said to Xiao Baozhu, angry and pitying her cowardice.
Xiao Baozhu said, “I don’t want it either but Mr. Wong did not even look at me.”
“Baozhu, stop pinning your hopes on others. If you really want to live a good life with the Wongs you have to change yourself. You have to keep your chin up and get promoted.”
“How can I get promoted?” asked Xiao Baozhu.
“Seize any opportunity to get promoted. You’re a smart girl and should know how to make use of your chances. For example, you didn’t want to tend to the fire in the kitchen but instead you wanted to do the accounting back then. You should think about what you are good at and let others here see your value. They will only think highly of you when you show your capability. If you just leave things like this, Mr. Wong will ignore you and even any servant here will pick on you.”
Xiao Baozhu looked at Ye Xiaoxian in a daze and then though about her future carefully.
Before Ye Xiaoxian left the Wong household, she talked again with Chef Tan. As she knew that Baozhu did not have enough food all day she wanted Chef Tan to take care of her. Chef Tan agreed and said he would spare some meals for Baozhu and she could come and get them herself.
