Translator: Fan Translation Studio

  Those people had been rummaging around the room for a while and didn’t find anything particularly useful, so they then left quietly……

  When Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baoshan got back with the stuff they had bought they heard some noise in the hall. Many people complained that the ingredients they had prepared yesterday had either been stolen or damaged. Vegetables had turned to crumbs and tofu had become clotted.

  They asked the manager of the hotel to give them an explanation but the manager did not know who had done it either, so he had to report it to the government office.

  Ye Xiaoxian whispered to Xiao Baoshan, “Baoshan, shall we tell the government office what the short guy told us? Let’s tell them that we suspect that people from Meng did this.”


  Xiao Baoshan said calmly, “Little Ye, as we’re away from home we’d better avoid trouble whenever possible. Besides, you must trust the government office that they can solve the case.”


  While they were waiting for the government office to send staff over, the manager sighed. “Really, whoever did this, can’t you just participate in the contest honestly? Why must you do such terrible things every year? It was even worse last year when everyone had diarrhea!”


  Someone asked the manager, “As such terrible things take place every year, why do you hold this cooking contest annually? Won’t your hotel suffer losses?”


  The manager sneered and snorted.

  Ye Xiaoxian told Xiao Baoshan, according to her experience, “Actually the hotel won’t suffer any loss holding this contest because they can gain more in popularity. Furthermore, one of the rules is that the chefs of the winning dishes have to selflessly give their recipes to Wufu Hotel. In this way, Wufu Hotel can borrow the names of the award winning dishes, launch their new menu and use the opportunity to make their dishes the new craze.”


  Xiao Baoshan said, “Little Ye, you have indeed seen the world and are very knowledgeable.”


  It was so curious to think about it as since they became intimate, Xiao Baoshan stopped being reserved towards Ye Xiaoxian. Usually he had been overcautious with her before. But now, when he talked to her he would stay rather close to her. Sometimes he would also hold her waist.

  All of this made Ye Xiaoxian rather uncomfortable, but she did not know why. Could it be that she only treated Xiao Baoshan as a task she decided to conquer and actually did not like him?……

  The staff from the government office arrived quickly. They asked everyone to come out and questioned them all until, at last, they actually caught the gang from Meng. Surprisingly, however, the short guy was also one of them.

  The short guy still tried to justify himself but the gang from Meng said, “Stop acting. If it weren’t for you knocking on everyone’s doors, we wouldn’t have known who was staying in which room.”


  Until then the short guy did not give up.

  Ye Xiaoxian said in fury, “I even thought he was kind. If I hadn’t been so warm-hearted and told him about the recipe, our stuff would have been spoiled too.”


  As some accidents occurred in the contest, the contest which was scheduled for the morning had been put off until the afternoon so that everyone had time to get themselves ready.

  Ye Xiaoxian was also preparing her things attentively. She was going to use marbled meat to cook braised pork, so the pork needed to be marinated first.

  As for the Pear and Emerald Soup, others all used pork balls as the pearls while she used fish balls. Fish balls were still rare in this era but Ye Xiaoxian’s fish balls were made very delicate. She also added tofu into the soup.

  Originally all the judges invited by the hotel did not think highly of Ye Xiaoxian. They thought the participant was Xiao Baoshan at the beginning but Ye Xiaoxian turned out to be the one. However, when they saw Ye Xiaoxian carve the tofu into flowers, they were all stupefied.

  Xiao Baoshan, staying by her side, was stupefied too.

  At the beginning he only saw Ye Xiaoxian wave her sharp knife swiftly, taking it to the tofu, but he did not expect to see the tofu become like a confederate rose once placed in the water.

  The judges were all amazed as well and shifted their attention all on Ye Xiaoxian. Despite being such a young girl she in fact possessed such special slicing and chopping skills!

  Ye Xiaoxian was cooking her dishes as if there was no one around. She had carved her tofu on one side and also finished marinating her pork on the other side. She then got another wok ready and put the pork in to steam it. She used this time to start making her dessert. Today she was going to make a chiffon cake.

  She used fresh milk and eggs to make the whipped cream, thanks to the herculean Xiao Baoshan, without whom the whipped cream would not have been made successfully. Xiao Baoshan used three chopsticks to stir the liquid and it took him less than five minutes to beat the egg white to perfect peaks.

  The cake was slowly baked in a wok which was more or less like the modern cake made using a rice cooker. As long as she got the temperature right the cake could be made very well.

  It only took Ye Xiaoxian two hours to get the three courses done.

  Some competitors had not finished cooking and started cursing, and some had finished their dishes rather quickly due to making easy to cook recipes. They just stir-fried the pork, made a mung bean porridge as a dessert and cooked some ordinary meat balls and bok choy soup.

  The judges tried each course and unanimously praised Ye Xiaoxian’s cooking, finding her dishes the best. However, the manager of the hotel found it difficult.

  According to the rule, the winner had to leave their recipe to Wufu Hotel, but the dishes Ye Xiaoxian cooked were all very challenging. Basically, the carved tofu itself could not be made by any cook.

  Also, as for the cake and the whipped cream, it was impossible for them to find a Hercules such as Xiao Baoshan to beat egg whites like that.

  The hotel manager thought it over and over and finally decided to give the first prize to Ye Xiaoxian. Perhaps they could not make the tofu and cake but they could at least do the braised pork, couldn’t they?

  The braised pork made by Ye Xiaoxian was also rich but not greasy, especially the fatty part of pork. When anyone would bite into it they could only feel that their mouths were filled with juice but would not find it greasy. When they looked at the recipe closely they found that she had added vinaigrette into it. The sour flavor could refresh the palate and break down grease.

  The hotel manager and all the judges unanimously decided to give the winner’s plaque to Ye Xiaoxian.

  For Ye Xiaoxian, she came here aiming for the winner’s plaque. As long as she put up the plaque in her restaurant, “The Xiao’s Cuisine”, she would gain more notoriety in Qinghe……

  As the contest was delayed, Ye Xiaoxian and Xiao Baoshan would not hurry back home that night.

  After Ye Xiaoxian finished the contest she felt completely relaxed. She decided to go shopping before it went dark. Xiao Baoshan was also at her side accompanying her. However, Ye Xiaoxian was almost unable to bear Xiao Baoshan’s smell.

  She used to find that Xiao Baoshan radiated warmth all over. Especially after last night she could sense his smell from several feet away. It was not that he smelled but because of his forceful vibe.

  The feelings made her uneasy as she kept remembering what they did that night.

  She could not help but think: Do I really love Xiao Baoshan?

  Or could it be that she used to love him, but when she really had him she stopped cherishing him anymore?

  It was Xiao Baoshan who was to blame because he used to be cold and distant to her. Now he had showed her his affection but she began to find him a bit too needy.

  The evening in the provincial capital was very busy and lively. The streets were decorated with Lanterns. There were also some snack shops where people could eat noodles, steamed buns and hot porridge.

  Ye Xiaoxian found a type of porridge made from aquatic produce acquired from rivers, cooked together with mint, ginger and spring onions and it had the effect of warming up the stomach.

  As for Xiao Baoshan, he ate whatever Ye Xiaoxian ate.

  After Ye Xiaoxian finished eating he still asked her, “Are you full? Do you want another bowl?”


  Ye Xiaoxian said, “Am I a pig or what? How can I eat that much!”


  Xiao Baoshan then became silent. Ye Xiaoxian finished eating and then went shopping.

  There were also some outfit sets being sold in the city. Ye Xiaoxian bought one set for herself, another one for Li Hongmei and finally also thought of buying one for Xiao Baozhu, but when she thought about her current situation, even if she bought one for her, Xiao Baozhu would have her things taken.

  Lastly, she also bought some things for Xian, Little Five and Little Six which were all wrapped in a big pack which Xiao Baoshan carried on his back.

  When Ye Xiaoxian handed the stuff to Xiao Baoshan, he was about to say something but finally did not utter a word. Ye Xiaoxian had bought something for everyone except for him.

  Still, he was unable to point it out. If he said something, he would appear petty and fussy. Maybe she would buy something for him after all.

  However, when they went back to the hotel Ye Xiaoxian still did not seem to have the idea of buying anything for him.

  Ye Xiaoxian did not notice this at all. She was thinking that as they were a couple, if he wanted something he might as well ask.

  On that day when they returned to the hotel, the manager of the hotel called her over and asked her about the recipe for the three courses she’d made. Ye Xiaoxian then started chatting with the manager. She taught him the skills and also highlighted the key points.

  Anyway, Ye Xiaoxian was able to cook a lot of dishes and did not care to give away the recipes for these courses.

  They chatted for a long time until late at night. Ye Xiaoxian then went back to her room where Xiao Baoshan was still waiting for her with affection in his eyes. She uncontrollably felt a prickling numbness in her scalp.

  Ye Xiaoxian pretended not to notice the desire in his eyes. She simply freshened up, got into bed with an exhausted look and went straight to sleep.

  After a short while she felt Xiao Baoshan approaching her. She then pretended to be asleep. Seeing that she was already sleeping, Xiao Baoshan dared not wake her, so he also lay down beside her and went to sleep……

  After Ye Xiaoxian went back to the town, she asked Xiao Baoshan to hang up the plaque right away in a conspicuous place where it could be seen by customers as soon as they came in the restaurant.

  Written on the plaque was: Winner of The Top Ten Chefs of Guang Province Competition.

  When others saw the word “winner”, they instantly felt that in this tiny restaurant actually had some outstanding people hidden there.

  It was no wonder that the dishes here were so delicious and no wonder that they could not have enough of their food. It turned out that the most excellent chef in the whole province was here.

  Ye Xiaoxian also took the opportunity and launched several new dishes which were the three courses she cooked at the contest.

  According to the rules of the contest, Wufu hotel could use her dishes and her own restaurant could use them also, as after all, they were her own recipes.

  During this time, more people had been attracted to their business. Liu Qianqian and Lord Liu also came, but of course it was not the main concern for the current story……

  That night, after closing up the restaurant, Ye Xiaoxian, Xiao Baoshan and Li Hongmei went back to the house they had recently bought.

  Along the way home, Li Hongmei found that Xiao Baoshan and Ye Xiaoxian seemed strange. Could it be that they went to the provincial city together and had already……done it?

  After Li Hongmei washed up she did not go to sleep immediately but extinguished the candle and kept an ear out for what was going on outside.

  She heard Xiao Baoshan whisper to Ye Xiaoxian, “Little Ye, shall I sleep in your room tonight? Or will you come to my room?”


  Li Hongmei was so surprised: Has Baoshan become that bold already?

  However, Ye Xiaoxian refused. “I think……maybe we’d better sleep separately.”


  “Why?” Xiao Baoshan did not listen to her this time.

  Apparently they had already shared a room before.

  Ye Xiaoxian did not then insist. She just treated it as a task and said, “Well……well okay, you come to my room then. I’m not used to sleeping in your room.”