Chapter 47

Chapter 47: You can only hand over the gift money if you’ve filled out the right answers!…

After securing the 27th for her uncle's wedding banquet, Xie Shuang returned feeling very satisfied to report back to her mom.

Her mom, however, was a bit critical: “The 27th? I told you to go early. At least pick a weekend.”

Xie Shuang exaggerated her grievance: “Mom! Getting the 27th is already great—there’s only that one day left this month!”

By now, all the plates on the table were wiped clean. Even the elderly folks who had come prepared with plastic bags to pack leftovers stood up empty-handed.

Xie Shuang, a little envious, glanced at the other tables and tentatively asked her mom, “Mom, we’ve already given the gift money, right? If we’re still not full, can we go have a few bites at that table over there?”

Before her mom could respond, Jiao Yuqin had already stepped up.

“Had a good meal? Come on, come this way, watch your step!”

They were being guarded!

Jiao Yuqin had really opened her eyes today.

She was Old Jiao’s daughter from his later years, only in her forties now, but she’d hosted her fair share of banquets. Still, none of them had ever been this stressful!

At first, she thought as long as the seats were filled, it would be fine—after all, in rural white affairs, having too few guests doesn’t look good.

But gradually, she realized that the gift list included villagers from neighboring villages whom they barely interacted with, and some people even paid once and brought their whole family to eat.

Thankfully, she wasn’t the only one worried about freeloaders. Other guests were also alert.

With food this good, paying to eat was understandable—but for one person to pay and bring four or five kids to fight over lion’s head meatballs? Absolutely not!

Once that issue was resolved and all the seats were filled, another problem quickly emerged!

Some people paid once, ate at one table, then slipped over to a newly opened table and acted like they hadn’t eaten, ready to go again!

Jiao Yuqin was both furious and amused.

She grabbed a vaguely familiar young man—didn’t matter whose family he belonged to—called him “nephew” and started scolding: “Hey, nephew, you’re a grown man. How can you eat one table and then go for another? With food this generous, it’s not like you were starved! Aren’t you afraid of bursting?”

The young man she grabbed was quite straightforward—he pulled out his phone right then and there: “Auntie, I’ll pay again! Just let me have a few more bites. I just sat down, didn’t even touch the roast chicken yet!”

At the mention of roast chicken, Jiao Yuqin—who couldn’t eat meat right now—swallowed a bit involuntarily.

Unlike the guests enjoying the banquet, she had been running around and had personally watched how the roast chicken was made—she felt she appreciated its flavor even more.

She had even gone back to the kitchen to ask Chen Ran about it. This roast chicken was called “Shuangjue Roast Chicken”—“Double Excellence Roast Chicken”—and it truly lived up to the name!

“Alright, you big guy, just have a couple bites! Look at this table—it’s full of kids, and you’re trying to snatch food from children… have some shame!”

After dragging away the young man who tried to sneak in a second round, she spotted Xie Shuang also itching to move. For the first time, Jiao Yuqin realized that seeing off guests was more important than welcoming them!

Meanwhile, her own family kept coming to find her.

“Yuqin, those new tables are almost full too—what now?”

“Isn’t it a good thing they’re full? I just asked Xiao Shu—he said we can’t add any more tables, we don’t have enough dishes.”

“Oh, come on, stop being so rigid! If we’re short on dishes, we go buy more! Sure, the seats are full now, but your aunt’s entire family just arrived!”

Jiao Yuqin was dumbfounded and quickly followed her older sister outside to help greet the new arrivals.It was her first time dealing with so many tables of guests. Jiao Yuqin had been busy entertaining and hadn’t expected that the seats would be completely filled—and her own aunt hadn’t even gotten a seat yet?

“Yuqin, well done—you handled your dad’s arrangements perfectly!”

Her aunt sighed. She knew her elder brother didn’t have a good reputation, so she leaned in to ask, “I see you didn’t even put on a local opera. With this many guests, did you spend money to hire people? I don’t have much money either... but I can pitch in a little…”

“Oh no, really, I didn’t!”

To prove she hadn’t paid to pad the numbers, Jiao Yuqin forcibly squeezed two more people into each of the last few tables and personally helped her aunt to a seat, scooping a spoonful of lion’s head meatball into her aunt’s bowl.

“Auntie, have a taste!”

Her aunt was already eighty-nine this year. Her health wasn’t great, and she only had one tooth left—she usually only ate soft or liquid food.

She hesitantly poked the lion’s head in the small bowl with her spoon. But the moment she scooped it, the meatball fell apart, melting into a soft pile.

“This one’s good—I can chew it!”

The old lady cautiously placed the meatball in her mouth, gently pressing it with her gums. The juicy richness of the pork immediately filled her mouth.

“Xiao Qin, you really found a good cook!”

Being praised twice by her aunt should’ve made Jiao Yuqin happy, but she just couldn’t feel pleased.

More and more people were showing up to eat!

She had no choice but to go from accepting anyone at first to enforcing a real-name check at the door.

“Sorry, you look a bit unfamiliar. Are you from our Qiantang Village?”

Though the man had followed the smell of food, he was bold enough to hand over a gift and try to join the banquet, maintaining a calm demeanor.

He boldly tried to bluff: “Come on, Auntie, it’s only been a few years—you don’t recognize me anymore? Good thing I didn’t trust you back then to set me up with someone. If I waited for you, I’d still be single!”

Jiao Yuqin was momentarily thrown off by his act, but when she looked at the already packed tables behind her, she decided to dig deeper.

She really couldn’t let in any more strangers! They already had fifteen people crammed around one table—there was barely any space left for chopsticks!

“Then tell me—what’s my dad’s name?”

The freeloader didn’t miss a beat: “Come on, Auntie, who dares ask the elder’s name? Don’t we just greet him as ‘Grandpa’ when we see him…”

In just a short time, Jiao Yuqin had already intercepted several people trying to sneak in for a free meal. Though some handed over decent gift money, the available spots were just too limited.

“Alright, alright, quit bluffing,” Jiao Yuqin deftly shifted the issue. She pointed at Shu Jianmin, who was busy running around, “See him? He’s the one who took the bookings. Go ask him yourself.”

Seeing he’d been exposed, the man gave up and responded readily, “Thanks then! I’ll go ask!”

Unfortunately, Shu Jianmin didn’t have any spots left either!

“You want to book a table…? That’s doable, but not until mid-next month at the earliest. Not a single day is open before the 14th.”

“What about after the 14th? What days are available?”

“After the 14th, pretty much every day is open—depends which one you want.”

Seeing the man’s confused look, Shu Jianmin didn’t keep him guessing: “But just so you know—it won’t be the same cook after the 14th. If you’re only in it for a bite of this meal, forget it. But if you really want to host a banquet, still come to me—I’ll guarantee the service is top-notch!”

As soon as the man heard the chef would change after the 14th, he decisively dropped the inquiry.Shu Jianmin was about to get back to work when someone suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

“Ge, do me a favor—can you check for me which family booked the big banquet tomorrow?”

At first, Shu Jianmin didn’t quite catch on.

Most of the people who came to book big banquets today were really just looking for an excuse to enjoy Chen Ran’s cooking while it was still possible to book her.

To be honest, not just those people—even Shu Jianmin himself, who had only managed to sneak a taste of a small fried fish, had secretly set aside two days to give out favors or even hold a housewarming banquet of his own.

But this was the first person who caught on and directly asked for the list.

“You little rascal—pretty sharp, huh.”

Praised, Xiao Zheng grinned sheepishly.

He was a travel blogger who specialized in filming local folk customs across rural areas. But the field was crowded, and he still hadn’t found his edge.

Then one day, he filmed a rural banquet—and the views shot up. That helped him find his niche, and he started filming banquets all over.

But the more rural banquets he filmed, the more stagnant the traffic became. After all, most rural banquets looked pretty much the same.

Until today—when he caught a whiff of that pork knuckle!

Although he hadn’t managed to sneak into the banquet, he had locked his sights on this particular chef. He planned to film several more events showcasing her work.

“I do self-media. Do me a solid, and when I shoot the video, I’ll pin a comment with a link to your account—how about it?”

Shu Jianmin’s catering truck had its own media account too, but apart from one briefly viral video, it hadn’t really taken off.

He nodded, and while no one was watching, opened his little notebook for Xiao Zheng to see. “Alright, shoot quick. What’s your handle? Let’s follow each other.”

“I’m called ‘Little Xiao 140 Jin’—yep, that’s right, got it!”

But Xiao Zheng wasn’t the only sharp one. Others who noticed him sneakily filming Shu Jianmin’s notebook came over to inquire too.

“Hey handsome, give us a hint—which family is it tomorrow?”

“Don’t be stingy. If we go eat, we’re giving red envelopes too. It’s not like it matters whose envelope you take—we’re all neighbors…”

“I didn’t manage to book a banquet myself—at least give me a chance to tag along, right?”

Even Xie Shuang boldly sneaked a peek before leaving, then quickly ran back to her mom, only to get smacked.

“You’re a grown girl now—act proper… I told your grandma already, your uncle’s wedding is set for the 27th. Remember to ask for leave!”

Xie Shuang nodded.

Never mind that she still had leave days left—even if she didn’t, she’d resign just to come back for the banquet!

“But, Mom, let’s reserve a separate table for just our family that day—with fewer people…”

She was still thinking about it. She had only eaten half a lion’s head meatball, barely enough to register the taste before she swallowed it.

And that braised chicken—its texture and flavor were simply divine…

“Of course we’ll get our own table,” her mom readily agreed. “But don’t count on getting the drumstick—your niece will probably get it.”

That’s fine—who needs the drumstick? Even the chicken breast was incredibly tasty!“And also, did you ask just now where they are having the big banquet tomorrow?”

Xie Shuang pouted, unable to help but tease her mom: “Mom, you just said I’m grown but still act immature, so how come now you…”

Her mom gave her another smack, then she finally showed her phone album: “Look, tomorrow it’s still in our village. Aunt Li’s family is holding a first birthday banquet for their grandson early.”

Xie’s mom held back a sarcastic comment she wanted to make. In all her years of experience attending banquets, it was her first time hearing about a first birthday banquet being held early!

Chen Ran was hearing this for the first time too. She couldn’t help but ask Shu Jianmin, “Jianmin ge, can a first birthday banquet be held early? Is there any special reasoning behind that?”

After a long day’s work, Shu Jianmin almost wanted to worship Chen Ran, forbidding her from touching any cleaning or kitchen tools.

“There’s always something going on in the village all year round. Not just early banquets, there are also postponed ones. But this is the first time I’ve heard of a first birthday banquet being held early…”

This family had originally wanted to book three days later but came too late, so they could only get tomorrow.

“But after this, there won’t be a single day off. Ranran, you okay with that?”

“No problem.”

Although they had done over thirty banquet tables, for Chen Ran, this workload wasn’t too much.

The big banquet was time-sensitive—usually eaten at noon. Though the work was heavy, it only lasted one morning, so it was actually pretty easy.

Unlike when she worked in small restaurants at Yanglian Mountain or the White Swan Hotel, where it was a whole day’s work. This job was comparatively lighter.

Plus, this was the first time she created her own menu, and Chen Ran was still excited about it!

She even thought this double-specialty roast chicken had room for further improvement. She had the energy to make several hundred more to experiment!

Chen Ran actively discussed with the two assistant cooks, “Brother Liu, do you think there’s any way to improve my roast chicken?”

“…Actually, yes,” Brother Liu thought carefully and came up with a bold idea. “Chef Chen, don’t you think we should tear it apart before serving?”

“No need to call you ‘Brother Liu.’ You’re over ten years older than me! Just call me Ranran. I’m the one calling you Brother Liu.”

Chen Ran first seriously corrected his form of address, then humbly asked, “Why tear it apart before serving? Do you think the roast chicken might taste better cold?”

She pondered. This tender type of chicken did usually taste better cold…

Aunt Wang handed over a bottle of Chen Ran’s favorite soda. She drank it while thinking about what tearing the chicken open and eating it cold would feel like.

While she was thinking, assistant cook Liu spoke up: “No, I don’t think so. I just think, if it’s torn open before serving, I could sneak two chicken tails, right? Now it’s served whole—we’ve made roast chicken all day, it smells so good, but I haven’t gotten a single bite!”

“Yeah! I think if it’s torn open before serving, I could sneak a piece of chicken breast and nobody would notice!” Chen Ran almost sprayed out her drink. Shu Jianmin laughed helplessly, “Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense. Tomorrow let’s get a few more young roosters and specially make two extra for ourselves, okay?”

Today Chen Ran had actually made a few extra chickens, but with endless additional tables, not a single one was left.

“You two are talking nonsense. Look at Chef Chen—she’s been roasting all day and only had one bite of a vegetable pancake!”

Shu Jianmin wanted to buy something delicious for Chen Ran, but faced with her astonishing skills, he really didn’t know what to buy for her.

He could only pay more!

“Chef Chen, thanks for working extra tables today. How about this: besides the fixed thirty tables, for each extra table, I’ll give you an additional one hundred fifty yuan. How’s that?”

“Sounds good.” Chen Ran trusted Shu Jianmin a lot, especially compared to Wang Deshui—he was offering a much better price. “No problem. Has the menu for tomorrow been decided? Any special requests?”

After all, she had never done a big roast banquet before and wasn’t familiar with any special features for first birthday banquets.Shu Jianmin chuckled, “No problem, just do as you like. Their requirements are today’s pork knuckle, four-joy meatballs, plus roast chicken and fried fish must be included. Everything else is up to you!”

They were willing to hold the grandson’s first birthday banquet early just to get a seat at the feast—what other special requests could there be?

“Do they eat four-joy meatballs at first birthday banquets too?” Chen Ran was a bit stunned. She thought four-joy meatballs were only for weddings. “Alright then, but for the first birthday banquet, I’ll add one more dish—guobaorou (sweet and sour pork).”

Although they didn’t have many requests, she felt guobaorou fit well with the first birthday banquet theme.

“Okay, I’ll send you off to get some good rest. The first birthday banquet is in the evening; we can take it easy and go there tomorrow afternoon.”

It had to be said, Shu Jianmin was a principled person. Even though Chen Ran was very popular, he insisted on taking only one client per day and refused those nonstop three-day-and-night banquet gigs.

He firmly remembered what his own mother told him back then: This Chef Chen will definitely achieve great success in the future.

“Okay, Jianmin ge, got it.”

That evening, video chatting with her mother, Chen Ran felt somewhat reassured to find her mother’s confidence growing.

“Ranran, don’t worry. Lawyer Long told mom this case is a sure win! We don’t have to pay him a cent. Maybe we can even get some money back.”

Finally stepping out from the previous gloom, Lin Dan looked at her daughter’s thinner cheeks and couldn’t help tearing up a little.

Lawyer Long had also criticized her before — such a big matter, yet her daughter silently went to work, clearly still emotionally hurt. How could she, as a mother, ignore it?

“Are you still working? After this job, come stay at your maternal grandfather’s place for a while. He misses you.”

Chen Ran shook her head. She now felt that immersing herself in system tasks actually made her happier.

“Mom, don’t worry. I’ll keep honing my cooking skills. After this busy period, I’ll go visit grandpa.”

Having the system and not working hard on the tasks—that would be foolish!

Especially after personally creating the S-grade double-specialty roast chicken recipe, Chen Ran realized her passion for cooking was deeper than she’d imagined.

After making over thirty roast chickens, lying in bed that night with the video call ended, her mind kept replaying the day’s production process.

Where could it be improved further?

During the day, the two assistants joked that tearing it open lets you sneak a bite. Though a joke, since the double-specialty roast chicken was tender and smooth, maybe cutting it open was worth trying.

Since it was a banquet dish, though a whole chicken looked festive, diners might have trouble sharing evenly. Maybe cutting or tearing it open would be better?

Before the first birthday banquet the next day, she seriously asked the hosts, “For this roast chicken, would you prefer it cut or torn open?”

“Oh, Chef Chen, you’re a professional. Such a small matter doesn’t need asking! Just make it well!”

The hosts were unusually satisfied with Chen Ran’s attitude—such a skilled chef who also noticed these small details.

She had seen the menu. The guobaorou dish, different from yesterday’s menu, especially caught her attention.

Old Madam Li watched the guobaorou preparation in the kitchen. Seeing Chen Ran expertly tossing the wok and making the sauce shocked her speechless.

These days, even chefs with such skills go to the countryside to do big banquets? How profitable must these banquets be?

She decided that when her grandson grabbed the “first birthday” item during his ceremony, she would put a wok spatula in his hand! Becoming a chef in the future didn’t seem bad.

But just as she went to tie a red ribbon on the spatula, her daughter-in-law came over looking a bit flustered.

“Mom! At the wedding banquet over there, you’ll have to watch things for us—we can’t manage... we don’t even know anyone!”Old Madam Li slapped the spatula into her daughter-in-law’s hand: “How can you say you don’t know anyone? Didn’t you meet all these people at the full-month banquet?”

She kept nagging as she followed her daughter-in-law outside.

“They’re all the same kids. The full-month banquet was with that group of people, and the first birthday banquet is still the same group, right? What’s there not to recognize… Wait, who are you?”

Old Madam Li’s family was actually a long line of cattle breeders. Her daughter-in-law’s family also raised cattle, so their entire family background was very pure.

Most of their usual contacts were breeders, veterinarians, and such.

But today, looking at the people who came to give gift money, none of them looked familiar.

Especially the person at the front, dressed plainly like a city dweller, carrying a camera on his shoulder—could he be from a TV station?

Yesterday, unable to sneak into the banquet, Xiao Zheng came prepared with a big weapon today!

He had found out that for local first birthday banquets, most people gave a gift of about 200 yuan, which was pretty good.

Xiao Zheng directly gave 500!

Sure enough, when five pink bills were flashed, the old lady heard he was here filming a video about local customs and generously let him in.

He quickly found a seat and listened as the old lady continued dominating the registration desk.

“Oh, isn’t this Mrs. Wang? What wind blew you here? Back then you looked down on my son’s cattle raising, refused to let the two kids marry… Tsk tsk, look at my eldest grandson now! Good thing you didn’t agree back then!”

While eavesdropping on the gossip, Xiao Zheng eagerly kept watching the kitchen area, ready to secretly film some footage.

At this moment, several cold dishes were almost all served, and the guobaorou was about to be brought out. Chen Ran was doing the last step before braising the double-specialty roast chicken.

Xiao Zheng adjusted the focus and closely observed through the camera.

A ladle of hot oil was poured on, and the chicken skin, which had just started to turn yellow, instantly became an appetizing golden-red.

Chen Ran’s technique was extremely steady; whether rotating the whole chicken or pouring the oil, it was almost machine-like, flawless.

The whole chicken was lifted from the oil without a single burnt spot from over-frying, nor any uneven coloring from insufficient oil time.

Xiao Zheng couldn’t help himself and posted a teaser video first.

“Xiacun banquet, unexpectedly ran into such a superb chef. Truly, the masters are among the common people!”

An Ji Shan also saw this video and nodded approvingly.

Since joining Chen Ran’s fan group, she had been spending more time watching food videos every day.

What if she stumbled on Chen Ran’s latest update again someday?

“This technique really looks good, but it’s a pity it’s not Chef Chen’s classic fried chicken drumstick…”

Remembering the invitation Xie Shuang sent her before, An Ji Shan couldn’t help imagining.

“If one day I could eat a whole banquet cooked by Chen Ran, how amazing that would be…”

Xiao Zheng filmed two short videos: one of Chen Ran’s fried chicken, the other showing the dazzling sauce technique.

He posted the fried chicken first; the views were so-so, so he decided to wait until he posted the full banquet video before releasing the guobaorou clip.

He set up his camera, waiting for the first heavyweight dish of this banquet to come out.The shredded double-specialty roast chicken!

In the end, Chen Ran still chose to handle the roast chicken by tearing it apart. This method better preserves the crispy chicken skin and the tender, juicy meat.

However, this treatment also meant that within one minute of being served, the whole table’s roast chicken was completely snatched up!

Xiao Zheng had just adjusted his camera and looked up again— the roast chicken was already gone!

At his table, it was mostly old men and women from the village.

Maybe feeling a bit embarrassed, a middle-aged woman sitting next to him gave him a small piece of chicken neck: “Young man, have a taste.”

The same scene wasn’t only happening at his table; nearly every table’s roast chicken shared the same fate.

Old Madam Li was dumbfounded.

She didn’t get any!

She had to ask her daughter-in-law to go to the kitchen and, feeling a bit embarrassed, made a request to Chen Ran.

“Ah? What did you say?”

The daughter-in-law repeated her mother-in-law’s words with some embarrassment: “Chef Chen, could you try to make the following dishes a bit harder to eat and slower to finish? For example, please don’t cut the pork knuckle too much, and crush the little crucian carp a bit more… Tearing the roast chicken is good, but if it’s too easy to eat, it’s gone as soon as it’s served.”

“That… isn’t impossible.”

While Chen Ran was pondering in the kitchen how to increase the difficulty of eating the dishes,

the guests trying to sneak into the banquet encountered a new problem.

“Fill out a questionnaire?”

Shu Jianmin proudly took out a piece of paper: “Yes, you have to answer at least two of the following three questions correctly before you can hand over the gift money and join the banquet. What’s the child’s name? What’s the child’s father’s name? And what’s the child’s mother’s name?”