Chapter 186 His Way
But how to ask for the money? Xia Youshi was in a dilemma. Should she just ask for it directly? No, she had to do it beautifully and avoid being criticized.

Ye Jiayao was in a very good mood. When she returned to the Marquis' Mansion, she found that the servants in the Mansion were particularly respectful when they saw her today. They nodded and bowed, and their postures were particularly standard when they saluted, unlike before, just to show their respect.

She was in a hurry this morning and didn't notice it, so she only noticed it now.

After returning to her own courtyard, Qiao Xi said, "The eldest young lady has come to ask when you will be back. When you are back, send someone to inform her."

Ye Jiayao was quite surprised that Qiao had not taken the initiative to contact her.

"Did the eldest young lady say anything?"

Qiao Xi shook her head and said, "The eldest young lady didn't say anything, but she looked like she was in a bad mood."

Ye Jiayao thought, is he going to cause trouble for her?
"Then let Cherry go and tell her that I'm back."

Not long after Cherry left, Qiao came.

"Second brother's wife, you have to help my sister-in-law this time." Qiao said as she entered the room.

Ye Jiayao was surprised: "Sister-in-law, please sit down first and talk slowly."

Mrs. Qiao told her about how Mrs. Zhou followed her to the Peony Garden today.

"Mother already knows about it. Although she hasn't said anything, I can tell that she is very unhappy. Sister-in-law, you have a lot of ideas. Please help me think of a solution."

Ye Jiayao was speechless about Zhou. She had just taught him a lesson last night, but he acted up again today. His greedy nature had penetrated deep into his bones and there was no cure.

"You don't have to blame yourself for this, sister-in-law. Mother knows Third Aunt's temper and she won't blame you." Ye Jiayao comforted her.

"But mother is unhappy." Qiao felt deeply uneasy. Her second brother's wife was in the limelight, and she failed to perform well and made her mother-in-law unhappy. How bad!

Ye Jiayao thought for a moment and said, "Sister-in-law, how about this? You go to Third Aunt and tell her that mother thinks you didn't buy enough and that they're not enough. Third Aunt hasn't moved into the new house yet, so you can borrow the flowers she bought for a few days and return them to her after the wedding. As for whether she should return them or not, it's not up to her to decide how to return them. Even if she has to return them, she has to deduct the flowers worth more than two hundred taels and say that Third Aunt doesn't have to pay back the other two hundred taels."

Qiao's eyes lit up. Yes, this was a great idea. Why hadn't she thought of it?

“And when borrowing, we have to say that Liuli County knows Third Aunt’s intentions and will be grateful to her,” Ye Jiayao emphasized.

After sending Mrs. Qiao away, Jiang Yue and Qiao Xi looked at the Second Young Madam with admiration. Qiao Xi in particular had been waiting and watching the Second Young Madam, not knowing whether the future Madam could be competent for the position of Madam and whether she was worthy of her wholehearted support. She did not see the scene last night, but today the Second Young Madam solved a problem perfectly with just a few words.

This is definitely a difficult problem. It is definitely not easy to get something from the Third Lady.

Qiao Xi made up her mind that she would serve the Second Young Madam well in the future.

While Mrs. You was still racking her brains over what to do, Mrs. Qiao came running over with a smile on her face.

"Mother, my wife asked Third Aunt to borrow the flowers she bought and put them in Third Brother's yard."

Yu's heart trembled, she was very surprised: "She is willing to lend it?"

Mrs. Qiao said proudly, "My wife said that mother thought the flowers she bought were not enough, and it would be too late to go to the Peony Garden again. Someone from the palace will come to see how the new house is prepared tomorrow morning, so she asked her to borrow some..."

Yushi listened and was secretly surprised. When did Mingxiu become so smart? She was so upset that she couldn't think of a good solution, but Mingxiu solved it with just a few words. Did she underestimate Mingxiu before?

Mrs. Qiao felt that she had finally shown her face in front of her mother-in-law. The previous gloom was swept away, and her back was especially straight when she walked.

In the evening, Youshi rarely smiled, thinking of how Zhou was still acting cute in front of her, saying that it didn't matter if the flowers were displayed for a few more days. Haha, you are only allowed to borrow from me, and if you don't return it, can't I give you a taste of your own medicine?
"The eldest son's wife has finally learned her lesson." Yu said with emotion.

Mother Sun smiled barely perceptibly: "I heard that the eldest young lady went to find the second young lady, and then went to find Zhou."

You was stunned: "You mean, this idea came from the second son's wife?"

Grandma Sun didn't comment. Is there any need to ask? Who else but the Second Young Madam could come up with such a brilliant idea? The First Young Madam doesn't have that ability.

In a blink of an eye, two days passed and the cooking competition ushered in the final battle. I heard that in the cooking competition, Lu Xiaotian defeated all the competitors and won the first place for two consecutive games, becoming the favorite to win the championship. Everyone was looking forward to the story of the Lu family father and son winning the first place twice.

Ye Jiayao really wanted to go and see Lu Xiaotian, but unfortunately she didn’t have the time. She hated the schedule very much. Couldn’t the time be staggered?
Today, Lian Chunyu took a day off to accompany her to watch the Zhongxiang competition. Xiaojing, Zhao Qixuan and others were also here.

Thanks to them, Ye Jiayao finally got a seat today.

A row of princes and sons of noble families were sitting there, and each of them was handsome, elegant and noble. For a moment, they became the focus of the scene, even overshadowing the ten contestants.

Xia Chun was used to being visited by people. He was the focus wherever he went, so he looked calm. Xiao Jing seemed to be much more stable. Unlike before, he was very excited when he encountered something new and interesting. He had the aura of Helian Xuan. The most flamboyant one was Zhao Qixuan. Su Su didn't come today, so no one restrained him. He crossed his legs. It was October, and it wasn't very cold. But he was shaking a jade fan to pretend to be cool. He looked really asking for a beating. Ye Jiayao really didn't want to sit with him. However, Ye Jiayao understood that they were not just here to watch the fun. They came to watch the competition, which put invisible pressure on the judges.

Among the ten contestants, including the twenty contestants in the cooking competition, who else has such a strong support group as Zhong Xiang? The judges had to think carefully.

"Yaoyao, how confident is Zhong Xiang?" Xia Chunyu asked.

Ye Jiayao hesitated and said, "It's hard to say. It depends on how others perform."

She never looked down on others and always tried her best. Wang Mingde had already handed over all the skills of making soup to Zhong Xiang, which was one of the keys to success. It all depended on Zhong Xiang.

"He was trained by the Second Young Madam, so he must be good. I have already placed a bet of one thousand taels on Zhong Xiang, betting that he will be in the top three." Zhao Qixuan said leisurely.

Xiao Jing glanced at him and sneered, "Why do you bet on everything?"

"A little gambling can cheer you up! Besides, this is also a way to show support for the Second Young Madam, Chunyu, right?" Zhao Qixuan winked at Chunyu.

Chunyu snorted, "Last time you used Yaoyao's name to make 1,500 taels, where's the treat you promised me?"

Zhao Qixuan smiled and said, "I won't default on my debt. You guys are busy recently. After Chunfeng's wedding, I will treat you. Three days and three nights is no problem."

Xiao Jing said: "That's what you said."

"Of course I said that. When have I ever defaulted on a debt?"

Ye Jiayao said, "Okay, if Zhong Xiang makes it into the top three this time, I'll treat you too. We'll be at the Tianshangju Fuqiu Pavilion. You can order whatever dishes you want and drink whatever wine you want."

"It's so frank. The Second Young Madam is so frank. Oh, I really miss the days when we drank together, ate meat together, chatted and boasted together... Alas, now only Chunyu gets the benefit." Zhao Qixuan said sourly.

Xiao Jing rolled his eyes at him. What the hell are you saying? He has Su Su by his side every day. He is so happy and carefree. He is the most miserable person, okay? After his elder brother left, he had to deal with the affairs of the family, the Ministry of War, and the military camp. He was so busy that he could only think about those simple and happy days in the middle of the night when no one was around.

Xia Chunyu glanced at Xiao Jing with a mysterious look. It was unbelievable that this little brat almost became his love rival. Fortunately, he acted quickly, otherwise he would be in trouble.

Dang Dang Dang...

With the sound of a gong, the competition began.

Everyone turned their eyes to the center of the venue.

Today's competition is scheduled to last for one hour, because some pasta and cakes need to be steamed and cooled, which is quite time-consuming.

Zhong Xiang had already demonstrated his unique skill of making dragon beard noodles in the semi-finals, so today he changed to making hollow noodles.

This was another idea of ​​Ye Jiayao. As far as she knew, hollow noodles did not exist in this era, so she asked Jiang Li's colleague who worked on machinery to make a simple noodle grinder. The noodles were pure hollow egg noodles, which were chewy and had an eggy aroma. They tasted great with the soup prepared by Wang Mingde.

So when Zhong Xiang took out the noodle mincer, the onlookers were all confused, not knowing what it was or what it was used for.

"Is that what you asked Jiang Li to make?" Xia Chunyu asked.

"To be exact, it was done by Jiang Li's colleague." Ye Jiayao said.

"What is the use?"

Ye Jiayao said mysteriously: "You will know later."

"He actually makes buns..." Zhao Qixuan thought Zhong Xiang would do something new, but when he saw Zhong Xiang start to make buns, he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Ye Jiayao said disdainfully: "Outsiders watch the excitement, while insiders watch the door. Don't underestimate it as just a bun, there are many tricks inside. Let him make a few baskets for you to try next time."

The bun skin is very particular, with a little gelatin used to make the skin more translucent and tough. Although Liu Qisheng had sold the gelatin production method, Niu Baoshun was obviously unwilling to share it with everyone, so it was not spread out. Niu Baoshun participated in a cooking competition, and there was no competition in the pastry section, so Ye Jiayao dared to guarantee that Zhongxiang was the only one using gelatin.

The second thing is the filling inside the buns. It is made of jelly made from more than a dozen ingredients. It tastes delicious after thawing. If it weren't for the desire to make a splash in the cooking competition, she would have wanted to start a breakfast business.

"If Yaoyao says it's good, then it must be good." Xiaojing's confidence in Ye Jiayao has never wavered.

"Really? Then I'm a little looking forward to it." Zhao Qixuan said with a leisurely smile.

　Today is the third update, I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)