It seemed that nobody believed him, so Zhang Deshui pointed to Little Ye and said, “You guys don’t believe me, do you? You don’t believe me… fine, I’ll let her roast another lamb for you.”
Someone said, “There is no point even if we like it. We have to satisfy the minister.”
Someone else laughed, “Zhang Deshui, are you grasping at straws? You even find such a little brother… No, she’s a little girl, right?”
“Zhang Deshui, we old fellows don’t have the time to fool around with you. You’re from State Preceptor’s residence. Even if your dish cannot satisfy the minister, the State Preceptor will save your life. But we are not like you. If we can’t do it well, who will save us then?”
“…” Everyone was muttering, but no one believed Zhang Deshui.
Zhang Deshui didn’t want to persuade them anymore. He said, “Forget it! You roast your meat, and we roast ours. Let’s see whose final product is more attractive!”
Zhang Deshui took Little Ye to his stove, then called a few chefs who were responsible for assisting him. He said to them, “Today, we will listen to Little Ye. We shall do whatever we’re asked to.”
The few chefs suspected that Zhang Deshui was trying any method at any crisis when they heard that he would listen to Little Ye.
‘We have to listen to such a little girl?’
‘Or is it because the minister is pushing so hard that he just give up?’
‘Alas, since we have been training every day, just listen to Zhang Deshui. If he wants us to listen to the little girl, then listen to the little girl.’
Ye Xiaoxian didn’t say a word.
She had known their reaction. The people here were older than her, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to be imperial chefs. The older people liked to put on airs in front of the younger generation and act like masters. As a saying goes, “You can never teach an old dog new tricks.”
It doesn’t matter, her dishes would talk.
She was very strict about cooking. Once she started working, she would easily forget about where she was. She started to distribute tasks to everyone in an orderly manner. Some were responsible for picking up the ingredients, some for pickling the meat, and others for starting a fire stove and controlling the fire. Everything was meticulously arranged.
These chefs saw that Little Ye looked quite similar to the kitchen. Their doubt on Zhang Deshui lessened. Anyway, there was nothing else they could do, what if it really worked?
The lamb was roasted for the whole afternoon and the pork was the same. The requirements for beef and dog meat were not as high as the former ones, as they had to be reprocessed after being boiled. Chicken would be boiled and then mixed with sauces.
After the six domestic animals were ready, the chefs were sweating profusely. They put their own dishes on the table carefully, and then they were so tired that they lay on the ground to rest while wiping their sweat.
Obviously, they would observe what other people had made. Zhang Deshui and Ye Xiaoxian’s dishes attracted the most attention. They wanted to see what kind of dishes Zhang Deshui and Little Ye could make.
Zhang Deshui put their dishes on the table with assistants.
Ye Xiaoxian was tired. She found a long bench and wiped her sweat while sitting on it.
It was extremely hard to be a chef, especially for a woman. It was summer and Ye Xiaoxian was not in a modern kitchen, so couldn’t enjoy the coolness brought by the air conditioner. Even if the kitchen was well ventilated, it was still as hot as a stove.
Ye Xiaoxian only expected that the minister would be here soon so that she could leave the palace as soon as possible.
…
At dusk, the minister finally arrived.
The minister, in his forties, looked quite young. He looked very serious with a black beard. When he came in, his expression was not very good.
When the chefs saw him, they could not help but stand up respectfully.
Little Ye saw that everyone stood up, so she could only stand up and look at the minister.
“Are you done? Are there any improvements compared with what you made yesterday?” The minister asked.
Someone boldly said, “Well, yes… I added some spices.”
Another person said, “I cooked it once before I roasted it. When I roasted it, there was oil flowing out, as if it had been cooked twice.”
“…”
Everyone demonstrated the improvements they had made, which were quite useless.
“It’s all nonsense!” The minister got angry.
In the end, he looked towards Zhang Deshui, who laughed, “Minister, we added spices, changed the process, even changed the head chef. I’m not the head chef today, this lady is.”
The minister looked at Ye Xiaoxian and cursed, “Nonsense, it’s all nonsense!”
Zhang Deshui hurriedly explained, “Minister, this is Madam Xiao. She used to live in the tribe for two or three years. She cooked all the lamb and beef in the tribe.”
Only then did the minister look closely at Ye Xiaoxian.
Zhang Deshui added, “She is General Xiao Baoshan’s wife.”
“Oh?” The minister looked at Ye Xiaoxian with curiosity.
Ye Xiaoxian bowed but didn’t say anything.
Women of this era, especially women with status, were rather silent. Besides, Ye Xiaoxian was afraid she would say something wrong.
Anyway, whether her dish was delicious or not, the minister would know after a taste.
Zhang Deshui hurriedly cut a small piece of meat from a lamb leg, handed it in a plate to the minister, and then respectfully said, “Minister, please have a try. It’s very delicious. State Preceptor had tasted it last night, and the people of State Preceptor’s mansion all praised her for her good cooking skills.”
The minister took a piece of meat into his mouth with a half-believing expression.
Unexpectedly, once the roast lamb entered his mouth, his eyes instantly lit up.
“C’est bon!”
Many years ago, when the minister was wandering around all over the world, he had eaten roast lamb of this flavor. He never expected that he would eat it again in the palace.
It was exactly the same taste, the taste from memory.
One piece of meat wasn’t enough for the minister, so he ate the second, the third…
The people next to him believed that the food Little Ye made was really good when they saw the minister had eaten so much and looked very satisfied. The minister was a serious person, but now his mouth was covered with meat oil and he even didn’t spare a second to wipe it off.
‘Is it really that good?’
The chefs also wanted to have a taste.
The minister ate seven or eight pieces of roast lamb in a row, then went to the roast pork and tasted a piece. He looked surprised, too, and went on eating the roast pork.
The minister didn’t take out the handkerchief to wipe his mouth until he was satisfied. He asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Where did you learn this skill?”
Little Ye thought for a while and made up, “I met a commoner chef a few years ago. He taught me.”
Alas, she wouldn’t tell the minister that she had studied in the New Oriental cooking class in modern times for a long time, and then she had studied it herself for a long time before she could be an expert.
The minister was very satisfied with her answer. “I’ve tasted this before. That commoner chef must be your master, right?”
Little Ye said, “My master never tells me his name.”
“Then it must be him. When I ate this dish at that time, he told me that he was a wanderer and wouldn’t settle down in a fixed place. I believe you must be his apprentice. I didn’t expect that he would pass on his skills to a woman. However, he obviously has his reasons for doing this. In short, as long as his skills can be passed down, that’s great.”
Ye Xiaoxian thought this minister was so imaginative and had made up a good story.
If there really was such a person, he was probably a time-traveller like her.
However, she probably had no chance to meet him.
The minister finished his presentation, and decided on the spot that Little Ye would be in charge of the roast lamb and roast pork on the day of the ceremony.
He had no intention to try the dishes made by other chefs.
The chefs didn’t buy this arrangement. This little girl was so young that they doubted if the dishes she cooked would be so delicious.
The minister noticed their dissatisfaction, so he said, “You don’t believe me? Alright, then you should try it too. Have a try and compare what she made with what you’ve roasted! You can call yourself an imperial chef? How embarrassing!”
When the chefs got the permission, they rushed to try the roast meat.
Even though different people favored different tastes, no one disliked Little Ye’s roast meat.
Only then did everyone realize that Zhang Deshui wasn’t fooling around, and Little Ye was an expert.
And they remembered that Zhang Deshui said that Ye Xiaoxian was Xiao Baoshan’s wife. They heard that Xiao Baoshan married a village woman, but they didn’t expect this village woman to be so good at cooking.
Perhaps, she could only make roast lamb and roast pork, and couldn’t cook any other kinds of dishes. After all, these were the only ingredients she could find in the village.
Since the minister had confirmed Ye Xiaoxian to be the head chef who made roast pork and roast lamb, he stopped wasting his time with other chefs. He asked other chefs to leave first, leaving only Little Ye and Zhang Deshui.
Because he had some details to discuss with Little Ye.
The minister asked Little Ye, “Madam Xiao, will you come on the day of the ceremony? Or… are you going to pass on the cooking skills to Zhang Deshui and he will roast the meat for the ceremony?”
When the minister was speaking, Zhang Deshui stared at Little Ye. He wished that Little Ye would immediately pass on her cooking skills to him.
Although he knew the process today, he still couldn’t grasp some details. He needed Little Ye’s guidance. Otherwise, he couldn’t make the same flavored meat, and he still couldn’t survive in the end.
Unexpectedly, Little Ye said, “This cooking skill belongs to my master. Without his permission, how can I pass it on to others?”
Thankfully, the minister mentioned her so-called “master” before, or else she wouldn’t have had an excuse to refuse him.
The minister accepted her excuse, so he said, “That’s right, it has to be agreed by your master. However, if Madam Xiao can’t pass it on to Zhang Deshui, then you have to personally roast the meat. Can you handle it that day?”
Little Ye said, “As long as I have enough assistants, I can do it.”
The minister decided, “Well, then on the day of the ceremony, Madam Xiao will be the head chef. At that time, all the imperial chefs in the palace will be at your service.”
…
The news about Ye Xiaoxian spread throughout the palace. She become popular inside and outside the palace.
The minister of the Ministry of Rites appointed Ye Xiaoxian as the head chef of the ceremony and then told this message to the Empress.
The Empress was half-doubted if Ye Xiaoxian was competent, but she heard that the minister had been dissatisfied with the dishes for a long time. Now that he finally found a chef he liked, so the Empress agreed.
