Chapter 128: First time attending the Chamber of Commerce

Xiaojing still couldn't get the ice cream because the princess wanted to know the result of Xiaojing's discussion with Xia Chunyu, so she sent someone to call him back for questioning.

The next day, Ye Jiayao went to work. As soon as the sign appeared, the whole Tianshangju was in an uproar. Brother Yao had not participated in the cooking competition yet, but he had already become famous and was recognized by the emperor. He was granted the title of a chef in the imperial kitchen. This was definitely a very, very remarkable thing. You must know that it is not easy to enter the imperial kitchen. Either you win the first or second place in the cooking competition and become an imperial chef. Or you pass all the strict assessments of the imperial kitchen and start from the bottom. It takes ten or eight years and good luck to become an imperial chef.

Everyone knows that Brother Yao is no ordinary person, but the speed of his rise is really scary, it's like he's soaring into the sky.

"Damn it, our Tianshangju also has an imperial chef, and he is an imperial chef in Tianshangju. If this gets out, will our Tianshangju be overcrowded..." Deng Haichuan's tone was not one of worry at all, but one of arrogance.

"Needless to say, from now on, the price of appointing the imperial chef to cook will be increased." Cui Dongpeng laughed.

"Brother Yao, does this mean that you can enter the palace whenever you want?" someone asked.

Ye Jiayao said: "It's not that great, I'm just qualified to enter the imperial kitchen to cook imperial meals, and I have to go if the palace summons me."

"That's impressive too. Not everyone can get this qualification if they want it." Deng Haichuan felt proud of it and was even happier than when he became the imperial chef.

"Li Yao, Manager Li wants you to come over for a moment." Manager Qian came to call her.

Zhong Xiang watched Li Yao go upstairs with mixed feelings. He couldn't say he was jealous, as Li Yao's cooking skills had already impressed him, but Li Yao's progress was so fast that he couldn't even see his shadow. This gap was still difficult for him to accept.

Shopkeeper Li sighed and groaned. If he could have foreseen what was happening today, he would never have sold Tianshangju. Who could he blame now? He could only blame himself for being short-sighted and cowardly.

"Shopkeeper Li." Ye Jiayao greeted Shopkeeper Li with a smile.

"Li Yao, you're here. Take a seat." Shopkeeper Li pointed to a chair.

Ye Jiayao was not polite either. She sat down and listened attentively.

"The Chamber of Commerce will hold a meeting this afternoon. You come with me." Shopkeeper Li said. Looking at the high-spirited young man in front of him, Shopkeeper Li still couldn't connect him with the imperial chef, but he was indeed the imperial chef.

"Is there any progress on the cooking competition?" Ye Jiayao asked.

Shopkeeper Li nodded and said, "It's almost done. Today's meeting will propose a specific plan. If everyone agrees, it will be decided. You can go with me to listen to it so that we can prepare early."

Ye Jiayao nodded happily. This meant that she could meet the bigwigs of Jinling City’s catering industry today. This opportunity should not be missed.

"There is one more thing. Your status is different now. I think the price of the private room on the third floor needs to be raised. What do you think is a suitable amount?" Shopkeeper Li asked for her opinion. Although they had a contract, her status was different now. She was in the imperial kitchen, so she had to be served in any restaurant.

"Also, your salary will increase as well, to chef level, fifty taels per month, plus commission."

Ye Jiayao laughed and said, "I don't care, boss, just do whatever you want."

The money she earns every day is counted in the thousands, so wages and commissions really don’t matter to her.

"That's it, I'll give you 20% for each private room on the third floor, and that 20% is yours," said the shopkeeper Li. Anyway, the restaurant was not his anymore, so he was happy to be a good person.

"Okay, you decide." Ye Jiayao had already started calculating. There were eight private rooms on the third floor. Based on the average consumption of fifty taels in each room, plus 20%, she could earn forty taels, which means one thousand two hundred taels a month. This is the basic amount, which means more than ten thousand taels a year. With the commission from mooncakes, she would have enough money to open a restaurant next year. With three years of savings, she could open a big restaurant.

It turns out that if you have a skill, you can have both gold and silver.

The more Ye Jiayao thought about it, the happier she became. Shopkeeper Li took out a stack of silver bills, all with a face value of 1,000 taels, and placed them on the table: "Originally, we agreed to pay you every three days, but you were away yesterday. This is the commission for four days of mooncakes. A total of 2,300 mooncakes in four days, a total of 3,450 taels. I sold 136 Bingjians, a total of 1,360 taels, a total of 4,810 taels. Please count them."

Money is just a number no matter how much you calculate it in your mind. But now the colorful banknotes are placed in front of you, and this most direct impact makes your blood boil.

Today is only the third day of August, and there are still twelve days until the Mid-Autumn Festival. If nothing unexpected happens, she can earn 20,000 taels of silver. If she tells others about it, it will scare people to death.

"No need to order, no need to order. How could I not trust you?" Ye Jiayao held a thick stack of banknotes in her hand, grinning foolishly from ear to ear, looking like a money-grubber.

Shopkeeper Li sneered and said, "I suggest you deposit the banknotes at Datonghui. There's a 5% interest rate every month. Besides, it's not safe to keep so many banknotes on you."

"Really? That's great." Ye Jiayao agreed.

At noon, Shopkeeper Li asked Ye Jiayao to go to the Chamber of Commerce together, and they also went to Datonghui. Ye Jiayao deposited the banknotes first.

Datonghui is the largest silver shop in Huaisong, with a total of 56 branches across the country. It is very powerful and is the first choice for all the wealthy people in Jinling City to deposit money.

Ye Jiayao signed, pressed her fingerprints, received a deposit slip, and then went to the Chamber of Commerce Street.

The so-called Chamber of Commerce Street is because this street gathers chambers of commerce from all walks of life, including medicine, silk, tea, porcelain, antiques, and any industry you can think of. Their organizations can be found here, which shows how developed Huaisong's economy is. The facade of the catering industry chamber of commerce is quite impressive. Carriages stop in front of the door one after another. Shopkeeper Li has given her a relatively comprehensive introduction on the way.

The Chamber of Commerce holds an election every three years. The current president of the Chamber of Commerce is Zheng Fugui, the vice president is Duan Qilin of Qilin Pavilion, and there is also Zhang Youcheng, the president of the previous Chamber of Commerce. Zhang Youcheng is the oldest here and the only one who does not run a restaurant. The reason why he can be the president is because he has many apprentices, and each of them is extremely awesome, such as Lu Yiming and Zheng Fugui.

Ye Jiayao smacked her lips, this old man was really awesome. Lu Yiming was known for his vegetarian cuisine, but he was also good in other areas. Although Zheng Fugui did not cook vegetarian cuisine, he was very good in other areas. She would ask this old man for advice when she had the chance.

The Chamber of Commerce's meeting hall was quite large, like the Heifenggang Juyi Hall, with three chairs on the upper seat, two rows of chairs on the left and right, six chairs in each row, and high chairs between the chairs. In this way, there were only 27 people sitting in this hall, representing the most authoritative group of people in Jinling's catering industry.

Ye Jiayao was a little excited. Well, just a little excited. She had even been to the Emperor's Purple Palace and the Imperial Kitchen. This kind of scene was nothing.

Shopkeeper Li pointed to a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with a big belly and said, that's Zheng Fugui, the tall man on the right who is about the same age is Duan Qilin, and the old man on the left with a beard that reaches his chest is Zhang Youcheng.

"Have you seen that guy with triangular eyes? His name is Lian Xingwang, the owner of Xiangyilou. The guy with small eyes next to him is Niu Baoshun, and the one drinking tea over there is Mei Xiuguang, the owner of Juxiangyuan..." Manager Li introduced them one by one in a low voice.

Ye Jiayao couldn't help but look at that guy twice more. Mei Xiuguang, right? Mei Fei's relative. Damn it, I almost fell into this guy's hands yesterday.

When some people saw Shopkeeper Li coming, they all greeted him, and Shopkeeper Li greeted them with a smile.

No one paid any attention to Ye Jiayao and thought she was Manager Li's follower.

Shopkeeper Li gestured for her to find a seat in the back row, and he sat in the third seat on the left.

Ye Jiayao was very self-aware. As a newcomer, she needed to be low-key, so she sat down on the last chair in the second row on the left.

As soon as my butt touched the stool, someone came over and said in a stern tone: "Who are you? Do you know the rules? Do you think you can sit in this seat?"

Ye Jiayao raised her eyes and saw a young man in his early twenties with an arrogant attitude.

Ye Jiayao smiled slightly: "Is this your seat?"

The young man said proudly: "What do you think?"

Ye Jiayao didn't like his attitude, but since it was her first time here, she didn't want to cause trouble, so she stood up to offer her seat. But when she stood up, she found that there were no seats left in the back row opposite. In other words, the seat was full.

Holy shit, do you want her to stand?

Forget it, just stand! So Ye Jiayao and the followers brought by the restaurant owners stood in the last row.

The young man who had just asked her to give up her seat turned his head and glanced at her with contempt, and said to the person next to him with a sarcastic sneer on his face: "I don't know whose servant is so unruly."

The person next to him was kind and said, "Maybe it's his first time here and he doesn't know the rules."

"Hey, Xiaotian, my dad said that you are the strongest favorite to win this cooking competition. Like father, like son." The arrogant guy boasted.

Xiaotian? Lu Xiaotian? Could he be Lu Yiming's son?

Ye Jiayao has a good impression of Lu Yiming, and this Lu Xiaotian also looks pleasing to the eye.

"Uncle Zheng, you are too kind. With so many senior masters here, how could it be my turn? I am just going there to gain some experience. If it comes to winning the championship, your brother Sanduo is the real deal." Lu Xiaotian said.

Ye Jiayao thought: This guy with his nose in the air is Zheng Sanduo? The young master of Fu Ji?
Zheng Sanduo just said, "No, no, I can't do that. I'm just joining in the fun."

Hypocritical and disgusting, Ye Jiayao despised it in her heart.

Someone came up and said, "I heard that the new chef at Tianshangju is very good. What do you think of him? Does he have a chance of winning?"

Zheng Sanduo sneered, "What's so great about that? Isn't it just being opportunistic? Making some ice drinks and snow skin mooncakes to attract attention."

"You can't say that. He hosted the birthday banquet at Prince Helian's Mansion and was highly praised. If he didn't have some real skills, why would they invite him?" Lu Xiaotian said.

“You don’t know, the reason why the Helian Palace invited him is because he has a good relationship with the young prince of the Helian Palace. Moreover, the Helian Palace originally invited my father, but my father turned it down due to health reasons, otherwise he would not have been invited.” Zheng Sanduo said disdainfully.

　I'm not feeling well today, so it's even later. Sorry, there will be another update later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)