Translator: Fan Translation Studio

  After they came back from the river bank, Ye Xiaoxian called Little Five, Little Six and Xian over to have a small meeting. Ye Xiaoxian looked quite like a chief manager.

  “Think about it, every one of you has been working for me for quite some time. How have you been doing recently? Are you happy working here? Do you feel that I, the manager, bully you or exploit you?”


  Little Five hurriedly said, “Of course not. Sister Ye, you’ve treated us really well, like your own family. We eat what you eat and I’ve eaten more meat here than I ever have before.”


  Everyone was roaring with laughter and Little Six also said, “Yeah, I think, I think I’m really happy here.”


  Xian felt a bit ashamed so she did not speak. She was worried that Ye Xiaoxian was holding this meeting to talk about her issue.

  However, Ye Xiaoxian did not say anything but kept asking, “So are you satisfied with your salaries?”


  Everyone was looking each other confused. Little Five said first, “Yes, I am satisfied.”


  Little Six also said, “Yes, Yes.”


  Xian nodded too.

  Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “You told me that you’re satisfied but you certainly lied. One tale of silver a month. How can that be satisfying?”


  They looked at each other again and did not know what Ye Xiaoxian had up her sleeve. Besides, having one tael of silver a month with free meals and accommodation, they could make some handsome savings.

  Ye Xiaoxian said, “Actually, when I hired you back then, I told you that I hope that you can improve yourselves. If I can make more money, you can earn more also. Have you already forgotten my words?”


  The rest of them did not speak and only Little Five scratched his head. “I seem……to vaguely remember this.”


  Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “If you don’t remember, I’m here now to reaffirm it. You’re with me and work for me and I pay you according to your abilities. When you first came here you were only able to wash dishes, wash vegetables and serve food, no different from other waiters in other restaurants, so your salary was naturally the same as others.

  But you’ve already made some progress. You can cook dishes now, so you’re worth more than you used to be. If you still earned the same as other waiters do, I would be exploiting you. Hence from next month your salaries will be raised to two taels a month each. Whether your salaries will be raised again in the future depends on your improvement.”


  Little Five, Little Six and Xian were all stunned. They could even get a pay rise working in this restaurant!

  Ye Xiaoxian then added, “Where there’s a promotion, there’s a deduction. From now on when you cook dishes for the customers you must guarantee to make them satisfied. If they are not satisfied I will deduct your salary. Bear this mind and don’t then accuse me of being unreasonable or say that I dock your salaries.”


  “Right, rest assured, Sister Ye. I will do my best!” Little Five was the first to support the idea.

  Little Six was the second. “I will also do my best.”


  Xian asked timidly, “Sister Ye, can I also have a pay rise?”


  Ye Xiaoxian smiled. “What’s the difference between you and them? Or do you think I won’t give you a raise because you’re a woman?”


  Xian immediately felt relieved and also tried to show her determination. “Sister Ye, rest assured, I will certainly do my best!”


  “Xianglin Hotel”.

  Sister Xiaing had been waiting for Xian for two hours.

  They had made a deal that if Xian agreed to come she would come at a quarter past seven and wait in Xianglin Hotel, however, Sister Xiang failed to see Xian show up. Sister Xiang could not control her temper and thumped a table.

  Xian only earned one tael of silver working for Ye Xiaoxian and Sister Xiang had offered her a promotion paying three taels a month, but Xian still did not agree to change jobs.

  As Xian did not show up she could only try other assistants of The Xiaos’ Cuisine. Where there were heavy rewards, there were informants. Sister Xiang found an assistant who was in charge of buying ingredients and asked him to keep an eye on the recipes and procedures of the dishes cooked by The Xiaos’ Cuisine and to relay to her all the details.

  Sister Xiang also had cooks in her hotel and had dined at Ye Xiaoxian’s restaurant for quite some time. As long as she tasted their food carefully she was not worried that she would not be able to make the same kind of dishes.

  After half a month, Ye Xiaoxian heard from some diners that Xianglin Hotel had launched the exact same dishes as theirs at much lower prices. For example, Taro Braised Pork was 40 coins per portion here in The Xiaos’ Cuisine but only cost 30 coins in Xianglin Hotel.

  Ye Xiaoxian felt confused at first. As Xian did not leave and Little Five and Little Six also worked very hard all day, how could Xianglin launch the same kind of dishes? They even hung the menu publicly outside of their hotel which was obviously to lure their customers away.

  After what Xianlin Hotel did, the customers of Ye Xiaoxian’s restaurant decreased a lot.

  Even Li Hongmei came to ask Ye Xiaoxian nervously, “What shall we do? They are rich and mighty and what do we have to fight them with?”


  Ye Xiaoxian thought about it and then said, “Ma, let’s go. We’ll get a table there and also taste their food.”


  Xianglin Hotel’s waiters did not know Ye Xiaoxian and Li Hongmei. As they were also customers, they just went over and served them.

  Ye Xiaoxian ordered several dishes which were the same as The Xiaos’ Cuisine and then waited for the food to be served.

  Being honest with themselves, this Xianglin Hotel looked rather big and fancy. The daily cost was quite high, so it was rare for ordinary people to come and dine here. Now the hotel had decreased their prices and had also made some new dishes, so the diners naturally came to eat here as soon as possible.

  It was not long after Ye Xiaoxian had sat down when the restaurant was filled with people. Ye Xiaoxian ordered a portion of braised pork, fish filets in hot chili oil and sweet and sour ribs.

  When the food was served, Ye Xiaoxian picked up her chopsticks and tasted the braised pork first. Li Hongmei also followed suit and took a chunk of pork.

  Once she put it in her mouth Li Hongmei could not help saying, “Eugh, what the hell is this? The fat is so hard that I can’t even chew it in. The skin is also overcooked and they still have the nerve to serve it!”


  Ye Xiaoxian originally was also worried about their customers being stolen away but after she tasted the food she could not help smiling. It turned out that the dishes in Xianglin only had the looks without the taste.

  Ye Xiaoxian was not stupid. Although she asked Little Five, Little Six and Xian to cook most of the dishes, still, she was the one who prepared the seasonings, such as the thirteen-spice seasoning powder which she prepared back at home and brought to the restaurant. The recipe for the seasoning was exclusively known by herself.

  Even though the others like Little Five, Little Six and Xian knew how to cook and the procedures, they did not know how to prepare the seasonings. Moreover, for Little Five, Little Six and Xian, after the conversation that night they were not likely to have betrayed her.

  Apparently Xianlin Hotel did not put their heart into it but launched the new dishes in haste.

  Li Hongmei also tried fish filets in hot chili oil. Once she put it in her mouth she spat it back out. “The way they slice the fish makes it tasteless inside and it only has some flavor on the outside, eugh!” Li Hongmei said.

  Ye Xiaoxian involuntarily reminded her, “Ma, please pay some attention to your manners. We’d better save them some face. The waiter is still watching us.”


  Ye Xiaoxian was then going to taste the sweet and sour ribs but when she put the rib in her mouth, she was unable to hold back and spat it out. “Hell, eugh!”


  Li Hongmei hurriedly asked her, “Little Ye, didn’t you say we should pay some attention to our manners? Why did you spit it out also?”


  Ye Xiaoxian quickly drank some tea and said, “Gosh, it’s far too sour. How much lemon did they use!”


  Li Hongmei also did not know what to say.

  When they left the Xianglin Hotel, Ye Xiaoxian and Li Hongmei felt rather refreshed.

  Li Hongmei scolded them while walking. “Bah, what do we call this? Taking a leaf out of someone else’s book!”


  Ye Xiaoxian said, “That’s right, they’re taking a leaf out of our book, aren’t they?”


  “I was worried that they would steal our customers away but now I’m so reassured.”


  “Customers are not stupid. Maybe at the start they will go there once or twice for the cheap price but will they still go a third time?”


  Not only Li Hongmei and Ye Xiaoxian had this thought but Sister Xiang also thought about it this way.

  Despite Sister Xiang launching new dishes in order to compete with The Xiaos’ Cuisine, after the menu had actually been updated and more customers were welcomed in, she began to feel very anxious.

  She also tasted the dishes cooked by her own chef which were not terrible but still, she felt every dish was missing something. But when she saw a lot of diners today she had second thought: Whatever, I’ll just lure them over first. The customers won’t only order the new stuff and must order some old dishes too, right?

  She had quite a few previous signature dishes.

  However, after many people tried the food that day, they ended up leaving unhappily and cursing.

  On the second day, the guests had decreased to the half the number of the first day and on the third day another half of the customers had disappeared. There were still some remaining who did not leave. Sister Xiang sent someone to ask the reason. They claimed that they did not care much about the taste. They only cared if they had enough meat in the dish. 30 coins for a big plate of braised pork made them very happy.

  Sister Xiang thought angrily. If this continued she would finally suffer losses. She had no other way out but to withdraw all the new dishes.

  In this way, her hotel lost a lot of profit. As there originally were not many diners and after she caused this big trouble for herself, fewer customers would come.

  Diners had returned to Ye Xiaoxian’s restaurant.

  Ye Xiaoxian asked the kitchen to make more sweet and sour plum soup, free to drink, which was highly praised by the customers who said that they not only had better dishes but also had a generous owner.

  Ye Xiaoxian did not make much effort to gain such a huge windfall.

  That night after they close The Xiaos’ restaurant, Ye Xiaoxian and Li Hongmei carried lanterns and came out of the restaurant.

  While they were passing an intersection they saw someone also carrying a lantern coming towards them.

  Ye Xiaoxian looked at the person clearly and saw that it was nobody else but Sister Xiang.

  Sister Xiang also saw Ye Xiaoxian. She was a bit taken aback and then said in an unpleasant tone, “Huh, here we are. Your business is going really well lately, isn’t it?”


  Li Hongmei was about to retort but was stopped by Ye.

  Ye Xiaoxian signaled Li Hongmei not to say anything while she slighty bowed to Sister Xiang in a polite way. Ye Xiaoxian then pulled Li Hongmei to leave.

  After they had walked far, Li Hongmei asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Why did you stop me from criticizing her just now?”