Here Comes The Lady Chef

Within the jar, the liquid inside was thick and clear. There is a faint aroma of the wine.

Could it be that it took just one night to brew a jar of wine?

Wen Shouzhen was amazed. He carefully lifted up the jar and poured it into a small bowl. Then he examined it.

Clear, translucent, and pure.

Wen Shouzhen lifted the bowl towards his nose, and sniffed at it. The fragrance of wine immediately made him craved for it.

He raised the bowl to his lips and tasted it.

"Fine Wine!"

The wine quickly flowed from his throat. The fragrant of wine is velvety, slightly sweet, and not as strong in alcohol content as the wine he usually drinks, but it has a long-lasting ambience. It is not spicy or pungent. The taste lingers on the tongue between the teeth, leaving a refreshing feel in his mouth.

Wen Shouzhen was excited. This is great wine! He could not resist pouring another bowl, and immediately gulped it down.

Then he laughed and proclaimed, "Excellent Wine!" and wants to drink more.

"Hubby!" Zhou Shi was anxious. How could you drink wine like this?

Zhou Shi knows that her hubby, Wen Shouzhen, loves to drink wine. But his alcohol tolerance is…. something that is better left unsaid.

If he got drunk and collapse in a drunken stupor, what will happen to his job at the Drunken Immortal Restaurant?

"Relax, it is all right. This wine is mild and sweet, and not very strong!" Wen Shouzhen waved his hands, and rea.s.sured his wife.

"Rou Er, did it only take one night to create this wine?" Wen Shouzhen finished his 3rd bowl of wine, and he began to take interest in the method for making this wine and the how Wen Rou managed to get hold this recipe.

"En!" Wen Rou nodded her head, "Father, we have to thank chef Gao! The cookbook that he gave me has a recipe for this wine. This wine is called Chicken wine. It means that once the chicken cowed, the wine is ready for consumption."

Wen Shouzhen smiled, "Chef Gao cookbook is really amazing. Looks like his claim that his ancestor was an imperial chef is not just a boast!  When I have time, I like to take a look at this cookbook."

Wen Ting immediately piped in, "Father, could you understand the cookbook? When did you learn how to read?"

Wen Shouzhen"s face turned red, and he shouted, "You little rascal! Must I report to you everything I do, and even tell you when I learned how to read?"

Then he looked at Wen Rou in great satisfaction, "Rou Er, in future, you try to read more recipes in the book. If there are any more good stuff in the cookbook, let me know. We will then try out the recipes and have a feast!"

Wen Shouzhen wanted to drink one more bowl of the wine. But considering that he did not have much time, he withdrew his outstretched hand. It would be best to drink less now, so that he could drink this more often.

"Father, in future, please do not drink the wine from the Yin Family!" Wen Rou suddenly said.

"Oh?" Wen Shouzhen was surprised at this outburst, and looked at Wen Rou.

"Father, now that we have this ancient cookbook, in future we can create wine. There are also other recipes for brewing wine!" Wen Rou really hates the Yin family with a pa.s.sion. She could not wait to sever all relations with the Yin family.

"Father, sister is right. The books had a proverb,

拿人手短，吃人嘴短

"If someone takes something that is not his,
his hands will become shorter.
If a person eats a food that is not his,
his mouth will become smaller.[1]"

It is not nice for us to keep taking from the Yin family. It is better to drink the wine that we made, and there is no guilty feelings, or a need to return a favour at a later time." Wen Ting immediately chipped in.

Wen Ting does not like Yin Deshun. He felt this man is only good at b.u.t.tering people up, and every move he made is calculated with intent to profit from it.

Wen Ting himself may often talk rubbish, but he had the bearings of a scholar and does not like people like Yin Deshun.

"En, you are right. Although I have accepted several jars of wine from them, I have also given them more than what they have gifted to me. If we count the value of all the things we have gifted to them, I have actually made a loss. All right, from now on, we will not accept any wine from them!" Wen Shouzhen waved his hands, and agreed.

"I will go and wash up. Wen Rou, you also hurry. We need to rush to the restaurant to work."

Wen Rou saw that her father had agreed, and was very happy and pleased. As long as she can be free from the clutches of the Yin Family, she is willing to put in more efforts and brew more wine.

The kitchen at Drunken Immortal Restaurant is as busy as ever.

Several days had pa.s.sed since Wen Rou entered the Drunken Immortal Restaurant. The weather is still as freezing as ever, but Wen Rou had no complaints. Normally, she would stay in the kitchen, and wash the vegetables or help to peel the vegetables.

The back kitchen is filled with kitchen hands and trainee chefs. There are also a few large, round female chefs in the kitchen.

Although Wen Rou was wearing a cotton shirt, it did not fail to reveal her slender figure and pretty face. As a result, she was quite popular among the mostly male kitchen hands.

"Sister Rou Er, let me help!" Xiao Wu immediately grabbed the big basket of onions that Wen Rou had carried, and helped to peel the onions.

Wen Rou did not fight with Xiao Wu, and walked to the tap. She wanted to wash the vegetables.

"Sister Rou Er, the water is very cold! Let me do it!" Ever since Wen Rou had been a.s.signed to the back kitchen, Yuan Zi would periodically rush over here to take a look, and often help out while showing off his superior knife work.

Yuan Zi immediately proceeded to wash the cabbages. Normally when he help chef Yang, he was not so motivated.

"Brother Yuan Zi, the cabbages will be torn if you use so much strength…" Wen Rou gently informed him.

"Oh, all right. I will be more gentle! Hehe." Yuan Zi smiled. When he smiles, his round face becomes even more round like a ball.

Wen Rou looked around, and picked up a bag of glutinous rice. She was about to wash them and cook them when Er Gou entered.

"Let me do it!" Er Gou volunteered.

"Oh… everything is done by all of you, then what do I do?" Wen Rou shook her head in resignation, and made her way to her father"s workplace.

"Father." Wen Rou followed her busy dad.

"Rou Er, finished your tasks?" Wen Shouzhen asked.

"Father, I do not want to wash vegetables anymore. I want to learn how to cook from you." Wen Rou immediately replied.

"Oh, did you find the task of washing vegetables very boring?" Wen Shouzhen stopped working and grinned at his daughter.

The scene of how Wen Rou and Fang Dashi combined efforts to defeat chef Gao immediately flashed through his mind. This daughter of his is really talented. If she was just a.s.signed to wash vegetables every day, that would be a ma.s.sive waste of her talents.

"Father, I have been here for 7 days. Other than washing vegetables, it is also washing vegetables. These few days I do not even have vegetables to wash…."

Wen Shouzhen frowned.

All the kitchen hands in the back kitchen are mostly teenage boys and they are at the age when they begin to become interested in girls. His daughter is really pretty, and should have a hard time there.

Wen Shouzhen sighed, "Aiyo! So it be! Originally, my intention is to let you learn the characteristics of the vegetables and built a firm foundation. But from now on, you will follow me. I will teach you how to cook!"

"Father, you can learn something from washing vegetables?" Wen Rou eyes widen in surprise.

"Hehe, there are a lot of things you can learn from washing vegetables. Each type of vegetable had a different shape, feel and time when they are ripe. When you wash the vegetables, you will begin to understand this. This can help to strengthen your basic foundation.

"Such as these cuc.u.mbers. All cuc.u.mber looks green and slender, but each cuc.u.mber can taste different. Washing vegetables is the first step to learning more about these ingredients."

"Use your sense of touch to feel the ingredients. You can feel the texture, hardness and suitability of the ingredients. One of these cuc.u.mbers is hard; the other is soft as cotton."

"Use the eyes to distinguish the freshness of ingredients: this is slightly ripe; this is overripe."

"Use the nose to feel the smell of the ingredients: if there is a fragrance, it is slightly sweet!" Wen Shouzhen said.

He then cut the two cuc.u.mbers and pa.s.sed a small piece of each to Wen Rou.

"You try them."

"Father, that is really true!" Wen Rou just nibbled a small part of each cuc.u.mber. As what her father had said, one of them is crunchy and ripe, the other one is soft and sweet.

"Although all of them are cuc.u.mber, the quality of these cuc.u.mbers are different. Therefore, when you cook, the taste will not be uniformed. The crunchy one is suitable for frying, while the soft one is suitable for making soup." Wen Shouzhen was really pleased with the look of awe that his daughter was giving him.

"Father, I have not expected that there are so many things to learn from washing vegetables?" Wen Rou picked up a cuc.u.mber. Her face was full of admiration for her father.

"Of course! But these are just basic skills, you can learn all these at home. Today, I will teach you the basic knife skills!" Wen Shouzhen immediately turned around and is prepared to demonstrate his knife skills.

At this time, Zhu Zi rushed into the kitchen in a hurry, and rummage through a cabinet.

"Zhu Zi, what are you looking for?" Wen Shouzhen walked over and asked.

"Chef Wen, there is no more wine! Manager Lee asked me to come to the kitchen to see if there are any more stock of wine?" Zhu Zi was frantically searching while he replied.

"Didn"t you move all the remaining wine to the dining hall a few days ago?" Wen Shouzhen asked.

"Oh, silly me! I had completely forgotten to purchase more wine!" Zhu Zi knocked his head, stomped his foot, and looked dejected as he walked back to the dining area.

"This kid….." Wen Shouzhen shook his head.

[1] 拿人手短，吃人嘴短  – This means not to take what does not belong to you.