On this night, time seemed to pa.s.s by very slowly.
Wen Rou was very tired, but once she lay on the bed, she found that she could not sleep. Her thoughts of full of returning to the kitchen tomorrow and helping her father, and her hands itched. Finally, she just lay there, covered by the blanket, and giggled in happiness.
In the room next door, both Wen Shouzhen and Zhou Shi also tossed and turned in their bed, and could not sleep either. One of them was because he was so happy that he had discovered his daughter talent, and could not help feeling great that his daughter will learn from him; the other was worried about her daughter, and scared that her precious baby could not bear the hardships of working in the kitchen.
"Hubby, can you stop "hehehehe"? It is already so late, and this is driving me nuts!"
"Wife, can you also stop tossing and turning? Look, you keep grabbing the blanket when you tossed and turned. Now I am feeling very cold!"
"Achooo!"
"Serve you right! Stay further away from me!"
Wen Ting was in a very good mood. In a series of grunts, he accompanied his tutor to chat until the wee hours of the morning.
……………..
On the morning of the next day, Wen Ting woke up refreshed and alert. He wore the new clothes that his mother had made for him.
The green-grey robe offers a nice contrast with his white colour skin, and he looked very suave and handsome!
When he entered the dining hall, he discovered that Wen Shouzhen, Zhou Shi, and Wen Rou are already having their breakfast there.
"Yi? What happened to the 3 of you? Last night, none of you slept a wink? All of you have large patches of eye bags under your eyes!" Wen Ting was surprised and his voice was quite loud, as he pointed his index finger on their eye bags.
"You still dare to say? You think that everyone is as heartless as you? Today, Rou Er will be following your father to the Drunken Immortal Restaurant. As a mother, how could I sleep well? If not for you, would Rou Er follow your dad to his workplace and suffer?" Zhou Shi glared at Wen Ting, and angrily scolded him.
"Oh!" Wen Ting got an unexpected scolding in the morning, and cursed his luck. He sat on a stool, and grabbed a bowl of porridge and begin to eat his breakfast. He had just taken two spoonfuls of the porridge, when he asked, "Mother, please give me a plate of salted vegetables."
"There are no salted vegetables this morning! Stop being picky about your food! Make to do with whatever you have, and just eat your meal quietly!" Today Zhou Shi was upset at Wen Ting, and did not want to serve him.
"But Rou Er had a plate of salted vegetables…." Wen Ting did not ease up.
"Rou Er also have black colour eye bags under her eyes! You also want them?" Zhou Shi raised her fists at Wen Ting. Today Zhou Shi was in a combative mood, and did not have a trace of the motherly love that she used to have.
"Oh, forget that I asked anything."
Wen Ting sighed. He picked up the bowl of porridge and drank it directly from the bowl. He was thinking that he should finish the meal quickly and escape from the dining hall. But he did not antic.i.p.ate that he had just finished half the bowl when his mother began to nitpick again.
"Ting Er, your mother did not mean to criticise you. But you should eat like a gentleman! After all, you are a scholar. You eat so hurriedly and just stuff everything in your mouth, just like a female pig s.n.a.t.c.hing the food. This is too terrible!"
Wen Ting become unhappy, "Mother, why you keep picking on me?"
Wen Rou immediately tried to break up the argument by changing the topic, "Mother, why didn"t I see eldest uncle family?"
Zhou Shi replied, "Last night, they left for your eldest aunt"s parents" home to pay their greetings and respects before the new year. They should stay there for 3 nights before returning."
"What about 2nd uncle?" Wen Ting asked.
Wen Shouzhen angrily retorted, "Early in the morning, he left the house to loaf around. He is already his late 30s, and still do not have a stable job. I did not know what our Wen family ancestor did wrong to have such a useless man!"
Saying this, he looked at Wen Ting and sighed, "Just like you! Both of you made me worried about you two !"
Wen Ting could not say a word and just keep quiet.
"Yi, Father, you have a new robe?" After a while, Wen Ting looks as if he had discovered something new.
"Of course! You have already changed your clothes, why would I want to wear the old one?" Wen Shouzhen glared at his son in fury.
"Even the style is the same. "Mother, I am a scholar. Why don"t you make a gown for me?" Wen Ting did not like it when he saw he had an identical robe as his father.
"Making a gown requires more cloth and is more expensive!" Zhou Shi dryly replied.
"Ke ke." Wen Rou almost choked. [2]
“Rascal, if you do not want to wear it, take it off! You did not even notice your sister?" Wen Shouzhen shouted.
Wen Ting was surprised, and turned around and looked at his sister. Suddenly, he discovered that Wen Rou nice hair was tied in a simple pigtail, and the grey-blue robe she was wearing looks familiar.
As he examined more, he discovered that it is his hand-me-down, and had been altered to fit her.
"Sister…" Wen Ting suddenly choked.
Wen Rou just smiled, "The kitchen is oily and messy. These clothes are suitable."
Zhou Shi did not say a single word, eat her meal, and pulled a long face.
Wen Shoucai could not stand his wife’s long face, "Wife, please do not be like that. Today, Rou Er will be going with me to the kitchen, and not the prison. She will not die. Why did you pull a long face?"
Wen Rou almost fainted. What a unique choice of words! Is there anyone that advise others by saying these words? She looked at her mum. As expected, Zhou Shi became furious. She spat and angrily shouted, "Wen Shouzhen, you old thing! Why did you say such inauspicious thing so early in the morning?"
Wen Zhou smiled, and wanted to explain, but he discovered to his horror that a white colour object suddenly flew towards him. He tried to dodge, but could not dodge on time. The object landed on his face. This object is a white steamed bun that was thrown by Zhou Shi in fury.
This steamed bun was freshly steamed, and was quite hot. It scalded Wen Shouzhen and he screamed "Woah, Woah, hot, hot!" in agony.
Wen Rou discovered that the situation was dire, and immediately pulled her father towards the door, and shouted, "Mother, we will be leaving now!"
"This child!" Zhou Shi sighed. She still felt angry and turned around and wanted to take out her frustration on Wen Ting. But when she turned around, she discovered that Wen Ting had eaten all the porridge in his bowl, the left over salted vegetables on his sister"s plate, and had grabbed a bun and had fled.
The splendour of Xianyang is hard to describe in words, and best experienced in person.
The busy streets are thronged with crowds of people, and there are countless restaurants, merchants, jewellery stores, antique stores, stores selling paintings and calligraphy, and stalls selling ladies accessories. Every kind of artists could be found in this city, and masks, clay works, shirts, hat and socks, are all readily available for sale.
Even the numbers of beggars are staggering.
But the things that piped Wen Rou"s interest are still the small food stalls that she is most familiar with.
The fragrant scent of the thick bean-curds, the freshly baked large steamed buns, the piping hot noodles, the crispy roasted duck, the frosted sugar candied haws ……
Wen Rou regretted that she had ate too much this morning. She could only look on with her eyes, and drooled as she saw the bewildering a.s.sortment of food.
Along the way, her saliva dripped on several streets, as she followed her father to his workplace. Finally Wen Shouzhen stopped moving.
"We have arrived!"
Hearing her father"s voice, Wen Rou looked up. She saw a two-storey wooden restaurant in front of her. On the top of the restaurant is a heavy signboard made from Pear Blossom wood, three elegant letters written in gold colour on the signboard: “Drunken Immortal Restaurant”!
Wen Rou could not help but be touched, "Drunken Immortal Restaurant, I have returned!"
"Good morning, head chef Wen!" A young man with a big nose, and small eyes opened the door of the restaurant and greeted Wen Shouzhen.
"This is Zhu Zi!" Wen Shouzhen nodded his head, and made his way into his workplace, while introducing Wen Rou to all he met.
"Brother Zhu Zi, nice to meet you!" Wen Rou recognised Zhu Zi. In her past life, Zhu Zi has taken care of her.
"You are too polite! Head chef Wen, this lady is…." Zhu Zi eyes seemed to move around quickly, and just give Wen Rou a pa.s.sing glance. He dare not to look too long.
"This is my daughter Wen Rou. From today onwards, she will follow me and learn how to cook form me!" Wen Shoucai did not stop moving as he introduced his daughter to Zhu Zi.
This weak, young lady come here to learn cooking?
Zhu Zi could not believe it, and just stood there, stunned.
"That is the Zhu Zi I knew, still as dumb as ever!" Wen Rou thought and she covered her mouth and giggled. Then she followed her father into the dining hall.
"Manager Lee, this is my daughter, Wen Rou. From today onwards, she will follow me into the kitchen and learn cooking from me." Wen Shouzhen pulled her daughter towards the cashier and informed the manager.
A shrewd, tall man about the same age as Wen Shouzhen looked up. Seeing the young lady, his face revealed a look of amazement.
"Ai ya ya. I have long heard that your daughter is as pretty as a flower. Today I met her and discovered that the rumours are indeed, true!"
"Good morning, Manager Lee!" Wen Rou obediently greeted him. In her past life, Manager Lee was pretty good to her and her family.
"En!" Manager Lee smiled and acknowledged her greetings.
"Head chef Wen, just now what did you mentioned? Learn cooking?" Manager Lee suddenly recovered his wits.
"Yeah, Rou Er will learn cooking from me!" Wen Shouzhen replied.
"You really can bear to let her do so! Rou Er arh, follow your dad and learn from him. His cooking skills are really top-notched!" Manager Lee smiled. In his heart he did not mind it. He thought that this young lady probably think that being a chef is fun, and did not realise it is a lot of hard work. After a few days, she probably could not withstand the hardships of the kitchen and would leave voluntarily.
Behind the dining area is the kitchen. The two of them made their way to the kitchen.
"What a familiar smell!" Wen Rou was quite happy to be here. She breathed in deeply and took a look around.
It is still the same as ever. There are 7 to 8 stoves, and a lot of places had traces of oil. The pots and pans are still messily scattered around the room, but the ingredients are well stocked and tidy.
This kitchen was divided into two parts. The outermost part is the main kitchen, and all the kitchen helpers may use it. The innermost part is the kitchen for just the chefs only, and is highly secretive and restricted area.
All the chefs did not want to reveal their recipes or let other steal their recipe. Hence, there is this arrangement in the kitchen.
Wen Rou had yet to settled down when Zhu Zi hurriedly rushed in and reported, "Head chef Wen, old man Qiao had sent his man here. He said that his mansion had recently hired a few chefs. He requested that head chef go to his mansion and evaluate these chefs!"
"Shi Tou, you bring Rou Er to meet everyone and introduce her around the kitchen. I will go quickly and come back quickly!" Wen Shouzhen immediately called Fang Dashi.
"Manager Lee, I was summoned by old man Qiao and will be going to his mansion for a while. If I could not make it back on time, please arrange other chefs to cover for me!" Wen Shouzhen reported to Manager Lee, and then follow a servant of old man Qiao out of the restaurant.
Wen Rou followed Fang Dashi, and walked around the restaurant.
Hearing that head chef Wen"s daughter had come to the restaurant to learn cooking skills from her father, the kitchen staff immediately stop what they were doing, and crowd around her, asking questions.
There is a Chinese idiom [1]
千穿万穿，马屁不穿！
Thousands break, Ten thousand break, but b.u.t.tering people up will not break.
千勤万勤，不如殷勤！
Thousands protect, ten thousand protect, but it is not as good as relationship protect.
Therefore when they meet the darling daughter of their boss, they immediately heaped praise on her, and tried to build good relationships with her. If one day they get into trouble, she may protect them yet.
But the biggest draw for most of the staffs is their curiosity. After all, head chef Wen had boasted that his daughter is as pretty as a G.o.ddess. So they came to take a look at the girl.
Her grey colour cotton clothes could not hide her slender figure.
And to put it simply, she is really pretty.
"Good day!" Wen Rou outstretched a palm and waved to everyone. Then a fact about this restaurant that she never noticed before in her past life suddenly hit her.
Within the Drunken Immortal restaurant, almost all the kitchen hands are fat. There are tall and fat, short and fat, white and fat, or dark and fat. Even her father is quite fat.
Wen Rou could not help but to laugh in her heart. In my past life, why didn"t I notice that all the people working here are like that? Right now I am working here and learn cooking from my father. Would I become fat like them?
Notes:[1] It means that praise and b.u.t.tering people work wonders in building good relationships. And when trouble comes, your relationships will protect you.
[2] Actually, it requires the same amount of fabric to make a robe or a gown. It is just the style is different.