Chapter 189 Someone is sabotaging

The grand cooking competition came to an end. Lu Xiaotian won the championship of the cooking group without any surprise. Duan Qilin won the sixth place. As for Niu Baoshun, he didn't even make it into the top ten. Zhong Xiang attracted people's attention as a dark horse. With his touching speech, Tianshangju became the most desirable place for every chef. It was so popular that chefs came to apply for the job every day.

Ye Jiayao took the opportunity to launch two pastries and two cakes that Zhong Xiang had made in the competition. The sales were just as popular as the snow skin mooncakes, especially the cakes, which were even more amazing than the snow skin mooncakes.

I heard that the restaurant owners in Jinling have been under a lot of pressure these days. After the employees inquired about the salary and benefits of Tianshangju, they protested to the owner. I also heard that Chef Niu Baoshun was in a bad mood because he did not make it into the top ten, so he beat and scolded the young cook, which aroused public anger. A group of people saw him and beat him up in the kitchen, and went on strike, demanding that the owner standardize the store rules and that the chef should not beat and scold the kitchen helpers at will. The owner, Lian Xingwang, was helpless.

The people living at the bottom of society, who had been exploited and oppressed to the point of numbness, were awakened by Zhong Xiang's words, just like a long-sleeping lion awakening, and their power should not be underestimated.

Moreover, the turmoil in the catering industry has also spread to other industries. Almost all owners have begun to complain. Some people traced the source and pointed the finger at Tianshangju. But Tianshangju has a big background. The real owner is the son of Jing'an Marquis. Who dares to act rashly?

At this time, Zhao Qixuan, a business giant in Jinling, announced that he would comprehensively improve the benefits of all his employees, which triggered a wave of salary increases and greatly improved Zhao Qixuan's reputation.

Zhong Xiang and Ye Jiayao had not expected such a far-reaching and wide-ranging impact, and they had no time to pay attention to these things because the wedding banquet at the Marquis' Mansion was about to begin.

The wedding of Princess Liuli was arranged in accordance with the etiquette for a princess, which was much more complicated than Ye Jiayao's wedding. Everyone in the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion, from top to bottom, was on high alert and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

"Wang Mingde, check all the cold dishes again." Ye Jiayao gave the task of checking and checking to Wang Mingde, who was the most careful and calm one among the group.

"Yes." Wang Mingde began to check one by one.

"Deng Haichuan, keep an eye on it. Every dish today must be prepared strictly according to the requirements."

"Yes." Deng Haichuan answered loudly.

"You all heard it, show your real skills. If you want the meat to be one inch thin, you can't slice it into one inch slices. If you want the slices to be seven inches long, you can't cut them into seven and a half pieces." Deng Haichuan shouted at the top of his voice.

Everyone perked up and chopped faster with their knives. The sound of "thump, thump, thump" was uniform, as if it was made by the same person.

The cooks in the Marquis' Mansion were only responsible for washing and picking vegetables today. At first they were a little unconvinced, thinking that the Second Young Madam looked down on them. But now seeing this posture, they were all secretly amazed. Wow, after all, he is the cook of the number one restaurant in Jinling. He is so awesome.

A total of sixty-six tables of dishes will be prepared today, which is the largest private banquet Ye Jiayao has ever taken over. For this purpose, she specially spent a lot of money to invite Lu Xiaotian and Duan Qilin, plus the two main players Zhong Xiang and Deng Haichuan. Even so, it was still not enough, so Ye Jiayao rolled up her sleeves and prepared to cook herself.

Outside, drums and music were playing loudly, and firecrackers were blasting. It must be the arrival of Liuli's bridal sedan. Sure enough, a few moments later, Zhou Xing's wife, who was in charge of the kitchen, came to report: "Madam has ordered that the table can be set."

Ye Jiayao nodded: "Let's get started!"

Ye Jiayao had gathered all the maids in charge of serving dishes for training in advance on how to set the table. There were clear requirements on where the dishes should be placed and how much spacing should be between them.

There are eight cold dishes on each table, which adds up to more than 500 dishes. They have been busy since yesterday, preparing braised beef, fried spring rolls, etc. However, the heaviest work is still the hot dishes. To keep the dishes fresh, most of the dishes have to be prepared temporarily. The workload is so huge that Ye Jiayao's scalp feels numb.

The first one: "Happily ever after."

Several woks were filled with ingredients at the same time, the sizzling sound of oil rose one after another, and the rich aroma filled the entire kitchen.

The second one: "The lotus blossoms in pairs."

The third one: "The phoenix sings and the peace comes."

Lu Xiaotian was secretly amazed that Ye Jiayao was able to arrange such a large-scale banquet in such an orderly manner, with a reasonable division of labor and tight connections. Her excellent management and overall planning abilities were evident.

"Second Young Madam." Wang Mingde came over with a hint of anxiety on his face and whispered, "There seems to be something wrong with the Eight Treasures Chicken."

Ye Jiayao's heart trembled. She waved to Cui Dongpeng and asked him to continue stir-frying. She and Wang Mingde went to the stew pot.

"What's wrong?"

"I tasted this Eight Treasures Chicken two hours ago, but it doesn't taste right now. I'll just have this pot," said Wang Mingde.

Ye Jiayao scooped a spoonful and tasted it, and it was indeed very salty.

"I personally put the ingredients in every pot, in the same proportions. There is no reason why this pot should be particularly salty." Wang Mingde said with certainty.

Ye Jiayao absolutely trusts Wang Mingde. He is so cautious and careful that he won't make such a low-level mistake.

Is someone playing tricks?
There are so many people coming and going in the kitchen today, it’s really hard to tell!
"Second Young Madam, what should we do? Adding water can dilute the saltiness, but with this level of saltiness, we need to add a lot of water, and the aroma of the soup will be diluted." Wang Mingde was worried. Ye Jiayao thought for a moment and said, "Go tell Haichuan to serve the dishes at the back first."

"Oh!" Wang Mingde went to find Deng Haichuan.

Ye Jiayao was also worried. There were eleven chickens in the pot. Even though it was just one chicken, there was still a lot of stuff in its stomach. It was very troublesome to deal with. What should she do?
Damn it, I can only use the stupid method.

"Wang Mingde, go get a big pot and pour out all the soup from this pot. Then, add five tablespoons of soup to each pot and mix them in. Then, add ten tablespoons of water to the soup and mix them in the six pots."

Wang Mingde's face lit up with joy, as this way the flavor of the soup could be preserved to the greatest extent.

Ye Jiayao watched Wang Mingde tossing and turning, and anger rose in her heart. At such a critical moment, someone was actually playing tricks. Wasn't this deliberately trying to sabotage her?

The guys at Tianshangju would never do this. Lu Xiaotian and Duan Qilin came alone, and they never came to the stew pot from beginning to end.

Ye Jiayao cast her eyes on the maids who were helping in the kitchen. There were about ten of them. They were delivering food and taking dishes, and they could move freely around the kitchen.

Suddenly, an old woman looked up, her eyes met Ye Jiayao's, and she immediately lowered her head to work.

It was just a brief encounter, but Ye Jiayao keenly caught the panic and the guilt that could not be concealed in those eyes.

If it was her or one of them who was up to something, there was no guarantee that they would not do something bad again. This time, Wang Mingde was very careful and found the problem after tasting it again and again. He couldn't imagine how much impact it would have on the Marquis' Mansion and Tianshangju if such a salty Eight Treasures Chicken was served. He had to find out as soon as possible.

Ye Jiayao looked back and forth at the maids and immediately came up with an idea.

Call Jiang Yue first and give her these instructions. Jiang Yue nodded, turned around and left.

"Mother Zhou, please come here."

Zhou Xingjia came over quickly: "Second Young Madam, what do you want?"

"Go and take those women to the annex. I have something to say."

Zhou Xingjia hesitated. Isn't she busy right now? If the Second Young Madam has anything important to say, hasn't she given her many instructions before?

But she had experienced the Second Young Madam's style of doing things in the past two days. She was resolute and decisive, and she kept her word. So she didn't ask any more questions, but turned around and told the maids to follow her to the side room.

A dozen or so maids suddenly left the kitchen, and the cooks who had been working diligently before all smelled something unusual.

Deng Haichuan knew about this, but he didn't want to make it public, lest everyone get distracted and make mistakes. He said loudly, "Just do what you need to do, don't meddle in other people's business."

Ye Jiayao followed to the ear room. Jiang Yue was standing at the door and handed her a piece of oil paper.

"I saw it. It was Zhu Wang's family who threw it into the corner of the flower bed when no one was paying attention."

Ye Jiayao nodded and opened the oil paper. There were some tiny particles on it. She tasted it and found it was salt.

Even if she knew that this person wanted to destroy the evidence, there was no place to put it in the kitchen, so the best way was to put it in the stove and burn it. Unfortunately, the big pot on each stove was very heavy, and a woman couldn't lift it. It would be too conspicuous, so she deliberately asked Zhou Xingjia to take the person to the ear room. This section of the road had to go through the yard. If he wanted to destroy the evidence, this was a good time. And she had already asked Jiang Yue to hide outside and watch.

"Second Young Madam, everyone is here." Zhou Xingjia said.

Ye Jiayao held the oil paper in her hand and smiled coldly: "You were all carefully selected by Mother Zhou to help. It can be seen that you are all hardworking and serious people in the mansion. I believe in Mother Zhou's judgment, so I also believe in you. However, today, one of you has disappointed me."

Everyone was startled and looked at the Second Young Madam, especially Mother Zhou, who had personally selected these people and patted her chest to guarantee that there were no problems. She had eliminated those who were lazy at work, so how could there be problems? Madam had said in advance that whoever had problems with his subordinates would be held responsible, and the Second Young Madam had the right to deal with them strictly.

"Mother Zhou, if someone takes the opportunity to cause trouble and ruin the wedding banquet, what crime will they be punished for?" Ye Jiayao asked coldly.

Mother Zhou shuddered, her heart was in turmoil, and she said tremblingly: "Disrupting the wedding banquet is an unforgivable crime. You will be severely punished with fifty lashes of the cane and expelled from the house."

Ye Jiayao nodded and said coldly, "You all heard it. I'm giving one of you a chance. If you come out and admit it yourself, you won't be punished with fifty lashes. If you want me to point it out, you can decide for yourself. I'll count to three. If you're late, I won't wait."

(End of this chapter)