Chapter 45

Qian Jianing arrived at the entrance of Zibo City Hotel with Qian Guosheng and Li Wanzhen. Li Wanzhen tugged at Qian Jianing hesitantly, looking a little uneasy. “Xiaomi, I heard the food here is really expensive.”

Liu Junyue, who ran out to greet Qian Jianing, slipped and staggered a few steps before ending up right in front of Li Wanzhen. He gave her a speechless look—With the sky-high prices at your daughter’s shop, how do you even have the nerve to say our food is expensive?

Startled by Liu Junyue suddenly appearing in front of her, Li Wanzhen quickly stepped aside, giving him a wary glance. Something about him seemed overly excited.

Just a few days ago, Liu Junyue had brought his wife and Fatty Zhang to dine again at Qian Xiaomi’s shop, so he already knew Qian Jianing. He extended his hand to her, the grin on his face nearly stretching to the back of his ears. “Oh Xiaomi, we’ve been waiting for you! Fatty Zhang has been tearing calendar pages off in the kitchen every day, counting down the days. He’s preparing ingredients right now—if he knew you were here, he’d have run out to welcome you.”

Qian Jianing’s eyes curved as her dimples appeared. “I’m here to freeload a meal this time. You’d better bring out the signature dishes for me and my parents.”

“Absolutely. If you came here to eat every day, I’d be thrilled,” Liu Junyue replied with a full smile, then extended his hand to Li Wanzhen and Qian Guosheng. “You must be Brother Qian and Sister-in-law Qian. Welcome, welcome! Order whatever you like later. Oh right, we just got in a fresh batch of abalone today—big and plump. You must try our braised whole-shell abalone.” He glanced around. “Huh? Where’s your chubby boy? Our pastry department made some Western desserts—I wanted him to try them.”

Li Wanzhen quickly said, “No need to go to all that trouble, just something simple is fine.” She was a little uncomfortable with Liu Junyue’s enthusiasm, her smile starting to stiffen. “My son went to the movies with his classmates. They’ll eat lunch outside—don’t worry about him.”

“Ah, I really like that chubby boy. Thought I’d get to see him today.” Liu Junyue looked a little disappointed but smiled again. “No problem, just take some of the desserts home for him later—they taste just as good cold.” Noticing Li Wanzhen’s discomfort, he added warmly, “Please don’t be shy, Brother and Sister-in-law. Boss Qian here is someone we put in great effort to invite as our mentor. Only if you eat and drink well can we feel at ease. Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare ask her to come again.”

Li Wanzhen hadn’t expected the boss of such a big hotel to flatter her daughter so much. Feeling proud and relieved at the same time, her smile relaxed significantly.

Standing by, Qian Jianing watched as Liu Junyue chatted warmly and attentively with her parents and silently gave him points for his emotional intelligence. In a place like Zibo City, Liu Junyue’s business ranked among the top. Anyone who dined at Zibo City Hotel would brag about it for days, practically hoping the whole neighborhood and all their coworkers would find out.

As the hotel owner, Liu Junyue always kept up with the times. He had inspected restaurants in major cities like the Imperial Capital and Magic City. Upon returning, he implemented their rules, regulations, and hospitality procedures. Even the way people addressed him was trendy—employees called him Manager Liu instead of the more common “boss” you’d hear on the street. He thought that sounded more professional.

While building a solid hotel system, Liu Junyue also treated his staff humanely. For example, every dish in the kitchen was taste-tested—a policy that would make most restaurant owners flip out, especially considering the cost of ingredients like sea cucumbers and abalone. But Liu Junyue encouraged it. He often said, “If a chef doesn’t know what their dish tastes like, how can it meet customer expectations?”

It was precisely because of this openness that Fatty Zhang, who had worked under him for years, dared to invite Qian Jianing. He knew Liu Junyue wouldn’t scold him for it—if anything, he’d be even more excited.

And indeed, Liu Junyue looked absolutely delighted, constantly trying to build rapport with Qian Jianing’s family and even personally opened the main door for them.

These days, most restaurants didn’t stay open during the New Year holiday. Zibo City Hotel had closed on the 25th day of the lunar twelfth month. Today, they opened just for Qian Jianing and even ordered a fresh batch of premium ingredients.

Since Qian Jianing was here to offer culinary guidance, Fatty Zhang and his three apprentices were all in the kitchen. Liu Junyue had also brought in two servers to handle dish serving and pouring drinks.

Liu Junyue led the family to a luxurious private room. It was well-heated, with cozy sofas, a beautiful coffee table, and a big color TV on the cabinet against the wall.

Qian Guosheng had just begun to relax but tensed up again upon entering such a fancy room. The servers brought in plates of nuts, snacks, cakes, and fruits, along with juice and tea. Liu Junyue beamed. “Brother Qian, Sister-in-law Qian, please relax here and watch some TV. We’d like to invite Boss Qian to the kitchen to guide us a bit.”

Li Wanzhen looked toward Qian Jianing, who nodded with a smile. “Mom, just enjoy some snacks. If you need me, ask the staff to come get me.”

Liu Junyue led Qian Jianing to the kitchen, and the server, sensing the couple might want some privacy, closed the door behind her as she left.

Only then did Qian Guosheng relax, sinking into the soft sofa with a sigh of relief. He couldn’t help whispering to Li Wanzhen, “Why do you think such a big boss is so polite to regular folks like us?”

Li Wanzhen took a spoonful of cake, looking far calmer than Qian Guosheng. “Because our Xiaomi’s cooking is that good. What’s most valuable these days? Skill! Our Xiaomi has skills, so she’s treated with special respect.”
—

Zibo City Hotel’s kitchen was over seventy square meters. Seven stovetops were lined up by the windows, and two meters away were prep stations for ingredients. There were several large pots nearby, likely for making braised dishes—the rich aroma of the soup base filled the room.

Fatty Zhang was handling abalone. Seeing Qian Jianing, his face lit up like a blooming flower. “Xiaomi! Check out the abalone I bought today—what do you think?”

Qian Jianing leaned in for a look, smiling approvingly. “You’re an experienced chef—you obviously know how to pick good ingredients.”

“Well, I do have some experience,” Fatty Zhang replied proudly. He set the cleaned abalone aside and washed his hands at the sink. “Xiaomi, there are a few dishes where the flavor and appearance still fall short of yours. But when I watch you cook, it doesn’t seem like you do anything different. I just can’t figure out where I’m going wrong.”

Qian Jianing thought for a moment and guessed the reason, but didn’t say it outright. Instead, she walked to the stove, picked up a pair of chopsticks, dipped them in the sauce he had prepared, and tasted it.

Fatty Zhang watched her nervously. “It always seems like the flavor of my sauce is missing something compared to yours.”

Qian Jianing picked up the small spoon from the condiments, added a quarter spoon of sugar, and handed it to him. “Try it again.”

Fatty Zhang tasted it with a chopstick and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Just that little bit of sugar?”

Qian Jianing smiled gently. “Sometimes it’s just that tiny bit. This sauce is for braised prawns, right? Go ahead and make it now—I want to see.”

Fatty Zhang immediately had his apprentice bring over the prepared prawns and other ingredients. He heated the wok, added oil, stir-fried scallions and ginger, then tossed in the prawns. As the prawns turned bright red and glossy in the pan, Qian Jianing said, “Add the sauce.”

Usually, Fatty Zhang would wait until the prawns were even redder before adding the sauce. But now, without hesitation, he poured in the sauce as instructed and gave the prawns a couple more stirs before plating.

The fragrance rose with the steam, and the prawns looked noticeably brighter in color than before.

Qian Jianing said, “Your cooking is already excellent, but that small step up can be hard to achieve. A tiny bit off in timing, and the color isn’t vivid enough; a little off in the sweet-sour balance, and the flavor won’t shine. This isn’t something that can really be taught—it comes down to experience. Next time you run into this kind of problem, try experimenting more and see what works best.”

Fatty Zhang nodded thoughtfully. Qian Jianing grabbed some chopsticks and handed them to him and his apprentices. “Try the prawns.”

Fatty Zhang and his three apprentices each grabbed one shrimp. Liu Junyue, who had been craning his neck to watch, saw they’d all had a taste, and without hesitation, reached out and took the entire plate.

At that moment, Fatty Zhang didn’t even notice Liu Junyue’s action. He was focused on savoring the braised prawns—tender, savory, and sweet. They tasted even better than what he used to make, though still not quite up to the standard of Qian Jianing’s cooking.

“It’s still not as good as yours,” Fatty Zhang sighed.

Qian Jianing smiled. “That’s normal. Everyone stirs differently, has different cooking habits. Even slight differences in oil temperature or timing can change the flavor. You say mine is good, but compared to what my master makes, mine doesn’t even come close.”

Fatty Zhang smacked his lips. If Qian Jianing’s cooking already tasted this good but still couldn’t compare to her master’s, then her master’s dishes must be absolutely divine.

Qian Jianing grabbed a clean wok. “Let me make it again. Maybe you’ll learn something.”

She took a bowl and casually ladled in some cooking wine, salt, sugar, and other seasonings to mix the sauce. She lit the stove, heated the wok, poured in peanut oil, and added scallions and ginger to bring out the aroma…

Her movements were fluid and graceful. The spatula in her hand seemed like an extension of her own body, flipping and turning expertly to let the hot oil coat every cell of the shrimp evenly.

Silently, Liu Junyue returned the plate of shrimp made by Fatty Zhang, his eyes burning as he fixed his gaze on Qian Jianing’s spatula.

The bright red prawns were poured onto a plate. In an instant, several pairs of chopsticks and one hand appeared around the dish. Fatty Zhang had just dipped a shrimp in the sauce and was about to take a bite when Liu Junyue grabbed the plate and ran, disappearing through the kitchen door.

“Damn! I never realized Manager Liu was this shameless! He’s definitely using those prawns to curry favor with the boss’s wife!”

Qian Jianing, however, found Liu Junyue rather amusing and let out a laugh. “Your boss must be totally whipped.”

“Of course. Our boss’s wife is way better-looking than he is.”

After a bit of banter, Qian Jianing brought the conversation back on track. “What dish should we make next?”

“Braised sea cucumber with scallions!”

Braised sea cucumber with scallions is a well-known Shandong dish. Since sea cucumber has a strong fishy smell, the key to the dish is a richly flavored broth.

Fatty Zhang stepped up to the stove but paused and moved aside. “Xiaomi, I want to watch you do it first.”

Qian Jianing checked the ingredients and took a whiff of the broth that had simmered overnight. She nodded. “Pay close attention to the heat and the sauce.”

Qian Jianing’s control of heat was exceptional, thanks not only to the intense practice she had with the Food Elder in her dreams but also to the string of pit fruit beads she wore on her wrist, a gift from the Treasure Bowl. The beads came from a tree in the residence of the Sun True Monarch. They not only helped control fire but also enhanced the wearer’s sensitivity to it. As a result, Qian Jianing’s heat control was precise, which was one of the key reasons her dishes were more delicious than others’.

When the sea cucumbers were done, Qian Jianing plated them. Fatty Zhang craned his neck to check if Liu Junyue was around. Not seeing him, he beamed and called to his apprentices, “Quick! While Manager Liu’s not here, let’s eat all the sea cucumbers and leave him nothing!”

The braised sea cucumber was tender and juicy, rich and savory. There were ten pieces in total. Fatty Zhang and his apprentices each took two. Qian Jianing, having run around all morning and feeling hungry, ate the remaining two.

After he and his wife happily finished the plate of prawns in the manager’s office, Liu Junyue came back trying to sneak more food. Fatty Zhang licked his lips, handed him the empty plate with a wicked grin, and said, “You’re late, Manager. We ate them all. Want to lick the sauce?”

Seeing Liu Junyue’s devastated expression and darkened face, Qian Jianing chuckled and took the plate, setting it aside. “Uncle Zhang, your turn to cook.”

“Alrighty!” Fatty Zhang stepped up to the stove and lit the fire. “Xiaomi, I heard your parents are here. I’ll send this dish straight to their private room so they don’t go hungry waiting.”

“Sure, then you better give it your best!”

Fatty Zhang was already an experienced chef, with a natural talent for cooking. Watching Qian Jianing had sparked a lot of inspiration in him. Once he finished the dish, just by looking at the color and the thick sauce coating the sea cucumber, he could tell it was a huge improvement over his previous attempts.

He plated the sea cucumbers and handed the dish to one of his apprentices. “Take it to the private room.”

One by one, exquisite and refined dishes were delivered to the private room. At first, Li Wanzhen and Qian Guosheng were eating with great enthusiasm. But as the plates kept piling up, they began to feel overwhelmed.

Li Wanzhen looked at the new dish the server brought over and shook her head in embarrassment. “No more, we can’t eat this much. It’s such a waste.”

The server still placed the dish on top of the others. “Boss Qian and our chef Zhang are discussing cooking techniques. They each make a portion of every dish. The kitchen’s running out of space.”

Looking at the array of high-end dishes on the table, Qian Guosheng worried aloud, “You’ve used so many quality ingredients. Doesn’t your boss feel the pinch?”

Meanwhile, Boss Liu Junyue and the boss’s wife stood in the kitchen, their eyes shining as they watched Qian Jianing flipping the wok. “Boss Qian, one more dish, please!”
—

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Eve. Qian Guosheng loaded up the tricycle with everything they were taking home—braised foods made by Li Wanzhen, various snacks and side dishes made by Qian Jianing, each prepared in duplicate.

Bundled up tightly, Qian Jianing climbed onto the tricycle. Qian Guosheng came out with an old quilt and laid it over Li Wanzhen and the two kids. Though they made this trip every year, Qian Jianing couldn’t help but sigh, “It’s such a hassle. If only we had a car.”

“A car’s so expensive, and we hardly need it all year,” Li Wanzhen tucked the quilt around the kids and crawled under it herself. “Even if we do make money, we shouldn’t buy a car. Better to buy a storefront or a house—something practical. Right, Xiaomi?”

“Right!” Qian Jianing nodded, fully agreeing. “A car just depreciates every day. Buying property is a better investment.”

Qian Guosheng pedaled the tricycle south against the wind. By the time they reached town, it was already ten in the morning. First, they stopped at Jianing’s grandmother’s house to drop off the New Year goods, then continued on to Qian Guocheng’s home.

Zhao Xiu’e had already cleaned the whole house. The brick beds were lit, making the rooms warm and cozy.

Qian Guosheng parked the tricycle in front of Qian Guocheng’s gate and told Qian Jiafeng, “Open that gate too, so I can pull into the yard.”

Qian Guocheng’s house had been built after making money from pig farming. It was bright and spacious. After parking the tricycle inside, the family of four carried their things into the house.

Zhao Xiu’e was stewing chicken in the kitchen. Seeing them arrive, she quickly came to greet them. “Come inside and warm up. It must be cold out there.”

“It’s alright. We had a quilt over us, so it wasn’t too bad,” said Li Wanzhen as she brought the food into the kitchen. Then she turned and asked, “What did you prepare for the old lady for New Year?”

Zhao Xiu’e tossed some firewood into the stove and whispered, “I gave her twenty jin of meat and twenty yuan. What about you?”

“I didn’t plan ahead, so I’ll just give her twenty yuan. I didn’t buy her anything.”

“Doesn’t really matter. It probably won’t reach her anyway.” Zhao Xiu’e glanced outside, seeing Qian Guosheng wasn’t around. She leaned in and whispered, “The old lady’s having a rough time over there. Li Jie beats her every three days. That old lady might act tough, but when it comes to fighting, she’s no match for Li Jie. Her face is all scratched up.”

Li Wanzhen was curious. “Why are they fighting?”

Zhao Xiu’e chuckled. “The old lady complains that Li Jie doesn’t treat her son like a god. Li Jie says she’s the one earning money and keeping the house in order—Qian Guocheng should be treating her like a god.”

The two women couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Zhao Xiu’e added, “I think Li Jie is totally fed up with Qian Guocheng. Her house has three rooms: one for herself, one for her son. Whenever Qian Guocheng comes home, she drives him to go sleep with his mom. She doesn’t even want to see his face.”

Li Wanzhen snorted coldly. “That old lady must be thrilled.”

“That’s right! Last time we gave her money, she was even showing off to us, saying how Old Third was so filial and lived with her in the same room to take care of her. But when I went to her room and took a look—my goodness, it was filthy, who knows how long it’s been since it was cleaned. Later I went a few more times and found out that Old Third’s wife never cleans the old lady’s room. She doesn’t even wash the old lady’s or Qian Guocheng’s clothes. The old lady has to do everything herself.”

Li Wanzhen smacked her lips. “She could’ve lived a good life, but she had to ruin it and turn herself into an old servant. I don’t know what she was thinking.”

“She likes it that way.” Zhao Xiu’e lifted the pot lid, sprinkled in some salt, then remembered something. “Oh right, Er’gang from our town came back from the city the day before yesterday. He said you and Lao’er aren’t working at the factory anymore. What’s going on?”

“How’d he know?” Li Wanzhen looked surprised, then figured it out. “I got it. His sister works in our factory’s labor protection department.”

“What happened? I didn’t even dare tell your brother. I was afraid it would upset him.” Zhao Xiu’e looked concerned. “I heard your factory’s doing poorly and they’re laying people off. But you two are old employees. No way they’d pick you.”

“The factory’s doing badly, yeah. But it’s not that they laid us off—we quit on our own.” Li Wanzhen handed Zhao Xiu’e the marinated meat she brought. “I opened a braised meat stall. Business is pretty good. Sometimes I sell breakfast and snacks too. I make more than I did working. Later I realized it was too much for one person to handle, and the factory wasn’t paying wages anyway, so I just had Guosheng quit too and help me at home.”

“Still better making money on your own.” Zhao Xiu’e and her husband made their fortune raising pigs. She always believed self-employment beat any other job. She got up, washed her hands, took out the braised meat from the package Li Wanzhen brought, and saw it was pig head meat.

Zhao Xiu’e picked up some with chopsticks, tore off a piece, put it in her mouth, and after a few chews looked at Li Wanzhen in surprise. “This pig head meat is too good. None of the stalls in town make it as well as you.”

“Good taste is what brings in the money.” Li Wanzhen chuckled. “We’ll heat some up for lunch. It’s even better warm.”

As she cut the meat, Zhao Xiu’e asked, “If your mother-in-law finds out you’re making money selling pig head meat, will she ask you for money?”

“Even if she does, I won’t give her any.” Li Wanzhen snorted. “Besides, she wouldn’t dare. After what Xiaomi did to her uncle last time, I bet that old woman wouldn’t dare say a word to us for the rest of her life.”

Sure enough, just as Li Wanzhen said, at lunch when Qian Guocheng and the old lady came over, they looked a bit intimidated when they saw Qian Jianing. Qian Jianing, sticking strictly to the good New Year tradition of debt collection, opened her notebook and read off the money Qian Guocheng still owed the family. She told him to go back to work at the small coal mine right after the New Year and pay it back within a year—or get a punch for every cent missing.

Remembering how Qian Jianing smashed a cabinet with one punch last time, Qian Guocheng actually ran off without eating, claiming he wasn’t feeling well. On New Year’s Eve, he didn’t even show up for the reunion dinner, making some excuse. The old lady sat alone on the kang, sighing. Qian Guomao and Qian Guosheng, the two brothers, acted like they heard nothing and kept drinking while watching the lively Spring Festival Gala.
—

In the blink of an eye, it was the day before the college entrance exam. After seeing off the last customer, Qian Jianing put up a sign on the door: “As the shop owner is taking the college entrance exam tomorrow, the shop will be closed for three days.”

Back in her room, Qian Jianing double-checked all the things she needed for the exam, then went to sleep at ease.

That night, Treasure Bowl didn’t assign her any more lessons. Instead, once she closed her eyes, it placed a small fragrant pill beside her pillow. Breathing in the faint scent, Qian Jianing drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

At six in the morning, the alarm rang. Qian Jianing sat up in bed feeling extremely clear-headed. “I slept so well last night.”

Treasure Bowl gave a little hum but didn’t say anything.

Li Wanzhen had gotten up early to prepare breakfast for Qian Jianing. Over the past year and a half, she started learning to cook from chopping vegetables. Later, Qian Jianing taught her step by step. Now, she had mastered every dish Qian Jianing had made. Unfortunately, Li Wanzhen didn’t have a natural gift for cooking or much intuition—she relied on hard work and patience. To make her dishes more like Qian Jianing’s, she even measured out the seasoning for each recipe and practiced repeatedly until she could scoop out exactly the right amount in one go.

But while seasoning could be measured, heat control couldn’t be quantified, and stir-frying required both strength and technique. So although Li Wanzhen’s dishes were tasty, they still fell far short of Qian Jianing’s. That said, her noodle dishes and braised items reached about 70–80% of Qian Jianing’s level, which gave her a lot of confidence.

For breakfast, Li Wanzhen had prepared soup dumplings and wontons. When Qian Jianing came out and greeted her, then went to wash up, Li Wanzhen quickly put the wontons into the pot to cook.

After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and braiding her hair, Qian Jianing looked at herself in the mirror and felt full of emotion. “Treasure Bowl.”

“Hmm?” Treasure Bowl, sitting in her mind, was fiddling with a hand of cards, thinking about a new game. “What is it?”

“Thank you. Thank you for giving me a second chance, for letting me step into the college entrance exam room again.”

Treasure Bowl tossed out a few cards and finally looked up with its chubby little face. “Why so much chatter? Just finish the exam and go make money already!”

Qian Jianing smiled with curved brows. “Yes, sir, my dear Money Master!”