Chapter 37: Befriend Shopkeeper Wang

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In fact, Wang Defu felt that Zhou Xiaoli was probably speaking nonsense. However, in accordance with his usual principle of running a restaurant, he decided to ask nonetheless.

“Is it salty? Or bland? Or not to your taste?”

Zhou Xiaoli shook her head. “Neither. The taste is just right, but it’s a little different from what I’ve eaten before.”

Upon hearing Zhou Xiaoli’s words, Wang Defu asked, “You’ve eaten it before? Which restaurant is it? I’ll try it next time.”

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Zhou Xiaoli pursed her lips and finally said, “It’s not a restaurant. I made it myself.”

“You made it yourself?” Wang De raised his pitch. It was obvious that he did not believe it.

At this moment, Wei Chiyu said, “Miss Zhou’s cooking is very good.”

Wang Defu was silent for a moment. In the end, he clapped his hands and said, “How about this? Since you’ve said so, can I invite you to the kitchen to make one portion of it? If our dish is indeed lacking, I can improve on it then.”

Before they came, Zhou Xiaoli heard Wei Chiyu speak about the First-grade Restaurant.

He said that the First-grade Restaurant paid a lot of attention to the customers’ evaluation of the dishes. Therefore, it has always been known to provide delicious food in Wenshui County.

At that time, she had thought highly of Shopkeeper Wang.

Now, it seemed that it was true.

No wonder his First-grade Restaurant could make a name for itself in Wenshui County in such a short period of time.

However, she asked, “Is this a good idea?”

Zhou Xiaoli was a little hesitant. It was one thing to , but if she indeed cooked a portion for him to try, wouldn’t it cause trouble for the chef?

However, even if she did not want to do it now, someone was disagreeable.

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to cook this dish at all. Are you afraid?”

Head Chef Chen walked out of the kitchen and looked at Zhou Xiaoli with a straight face.

He had already heard about it from the waiter.

He had made the stir-fried chicken dish for most of his life. This was the first time someone had questioned him about it, what’s more from such a young girl like her.

Ever since the iron wok came into existence, the dishes that people could cook became sumptuous, and there were more delicacies in the market.

Hence, the people of the State of Zhao, from the Emperor to the commoners, were advocates of good food.

At this moment, many customers had gathered around to watch the commotion.

How could he allow his dish to be deemed as lacking? Naturally, he had to have proof.

Helpless, Zhou Xiaoli could only enter the kitchen.

“I won’t stand on ceremony then.”

Zhou Xiaoli cupped her hands at Chef Chen as a mark of respect. After all, this was his home ground, so she had to be polite when using his things.

With a straight face, Head Chef Chen retained an air of arrogance around him as he said, “Please!”

Zhou Xiaoli didn’t mind his attitude. She put on an apron and started cooking.

From dicing the chicken and cucumbers to start the fire to heating up the oil, she did all the steps smoothly.

From the looks of it, one could tell that she cooked often.

However, many remained doubtful that a village girl could make a better stir-fried chicken dish than Head Chef Chen.

Head Chef Chen had been paying attention to Zhou Xiaoli the whole time, so he realized that Zhou Xiaoli’s steps were almost the same as his, except that she had added sugar.

He could not help but be surprised at it.

Then, he became angry. “If you add sugar, won’t it ruin the taste? You’re simply fooling around.”

Zhou Xiaoli did not argue with him.

As soon as the dish was served, it was brought straight to Shopkeeper Wang.

“Shopkeeper Wang, it’s done.”

Shopkeeper Wang was shocked. “You made it!”

Unfortunately, a greater shock was yet to come.

After he picked up the chicken and put it in his mouth, his eyes widened at the taste. “Hmm, this is really not bad!”

Seeing the shopkeeper’s shocked expression, Chef Chen stepped forward suspiciously. Using a plate, he picked up some of the chicken and moved away.

The moment the chicken meat entered his mouth, he froze on the spot.

Although the taste was similar to what he made, there was a hint of umami. Although it was just a little bit, he could not deny that it was indeed more delicious.

In particular, as a chef, his taste buds were sharper than ordinary people. That shocked him further.

With the shock, his arrogance was gone. He said shamefully, “I was too arrogant.”

Shopkeeper Wang did not blame Head Chef Chen for his recklessness earlier and merely patted him on his shoulder to encourage him.

“Split this stir-fried chicken into smaller plates and send it to the customers to try,” he instructed the waiter standing at the side.

“Just say that from tomorrow onwards, our First-grade Restaurant’s signature dish, Stir-fried Chicken, will have a new form.”

With that, he welcomed Zhou Xiaoli out of the kitchen with a smile and praised her again. In the end, he even waived their meal.

On the surface, Zhou Xiaoli said that he shouldn’t have, but in her heart, she thought that the shopkeeper, Wang Defu, was indeed good at doing business.

“Miss Zhou, I see that you’re a little younger than my kid. You can call me Uncle from now on. You’re welcome to come to the First-grade Restaurant anytime.”

Zhou Xiaoli loved to make friends with people from all walks of life, hence she did not refuse. She smiled and said, “Then I’ll call you Uncle Wang from now on.”

Immediately after, Zhou Xiaoli’s gaze paused. She lowered her voice and said, “Uncle Wang, when I was young, I learned a few moves from a person. If you trust me, please do not go out nor accept any social invitations tonight.”

Wang Defu was stunned and he could not comprehend what Zhou Xiaoli had just said.

On the other side, Zhou Xiaoli was ready to bid farewell. “Um, Uncle Wang, I won’t disturb you anymore in that case. I still have some matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first.”

With that, she walked towards Wei Chiyu.

When she went to compete with the head chef, Wei Chiyu sat at the table the whole time and sipped his tea. He was not surprised that Zhou Xiaoli won.

As Zhou Xiaoli walked over, he smiled and stood up. “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked out of the First-grade Restaurant side by side.

“Hey, aren’t you worried that I can’t do it and make a fool of myself?”

Zhou Xiaoli was unhappy that Wei Chiyu had remained calm during the whole process.

“You can definitely do it. So what should I be worried about?” Wei Chiyu said casually as he took the donkey’s lead.

“What if?”

“There’s no what if.”

“Hmm, this…” Zhou Xiaoli was speechless. “Aren’t you a little too confident in me?”

Wei Chiyu suddenly smiled. “Let’s go.”

Zhou Xiaoli was stunned again. Why was this guy smiling so much recently?

Wei Chiyu didn’t notice that Zhou Xiaoli was in a daze. He walked in front and continued, “Oh, right, I’m going to a friend’s place to get something later. Wait for me.”

“Oh, okay.” Zhou Xiaoli quickened her pace and caught up with him. “Go ahead. I’ll go buy some cloth and cotton.”

Thus, Wei Chiyu sent Zhou Xiaoli to the fabric shop and left after giving her some instructions.

Zhou Xiaoli tied the donkey cart and went to the cotton shop next to the fabric shop to buy five kilograms of cotton.

After piling them into the cart, she went back to the fabric shop.

Zhang Lan’s intention was to buy coarse linen clothes to wear, but Zhou Xiaoli was unhappy with how scratchy they were.

Therefore, she wanted to buy a few pieces of cotton cloth to make clothes and bedding. It would be comfortable to wear and use then.

After putting the cotton cloth in the cart, Zhou Xiaoli thought of what Zhang Lan had told her. To make shoes, one needed to use burlap to make the soles of the shoes.

Hence, she went back into the fabric shop and spent 500 copper coins to buy two bolts of burlap.

Just as she was about to leave with two bolts of burlap, her gaze fell on a piece of red fabric with a floral design.

She could not help but think of Zhou Xiaoyu at home. She would definitely look festive wearing a red jacket during winter.

She immediately pointed at the fabric and asked, “Boss, how much is this material?”

However, before the boss could answer, a delicate and arrogant voice suddenly came from behind her.

“Boss, I will take that material!”

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