Transmigrated into the fat wife of the future prime minister

Chapter 112 He sought refuge at the Fragrant Su Pavilion
The shopkeeper was dumbfounded by the master's move. He called out to the man several times, but couldn't stop him. He was furious and plopped down in a chair, his face dark and silent.

Zhong Xin had originally planned to take advantage of the crowd at Jinxiuxuan to see if there was a chance to return, but she happened to see this scene and subconsciously entered Suxiangge.

A customer finally entered the shop, and the waiter greeted her warmly: "Miss, would you like to buy some snacks?"

Zhong Xin said confidently, "I'm not here to buy anything, I'm here to apply for the head chef position."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper laughed in anger and said in an unpleasant tone, "Where did this little brat come from? If you're not buying anything, get out of here."

Zhong Xin wasn't angry and said, "I used to work at Jinxiuxuan across the street."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up immediately, and he looked Zhong Xin up and down.

Although he had doubts about this suddenly appearing girl, he thought that since she came from Jinxiuxuan, she might really have some skills.

"You've worked at Jinxiuxuan? What kind of work did you do?" the shopkeeper asked, his tone softening slightly.

Zhong Xin was secretly delighted. She had always felt that she was no worse than Xu Xinting, and the pastries she was given were just as good as anyone else's.

“I can make several kinds, like jujube paste cake, mung bean cake, and the sponge cake sold over there,” Zhong Xin said.

Although Zhong Xin didn't master all the essential techniques at Jinxiuxuan, she was still quite proficient in the ones she handled. While the taste might not have reached the level of Xu Qingmeng and others, it was definitely on par with the others.

The shopkeeper frowned and thought for a while. Since there was no master chef available, he figured he might as well try it out, even if it seemed hopeless. Then he said, "Words are no proof. You have to make it and let me taste it."

Zhong Xin didn't say anything more and readily agreed: "Okay, no problem."

So, the shopkeeper led Zhong Xin to the kitchen, where the mess left by the chef's departure still remained, with various ingredients and tools placed in a disorderly manner.

Zhong Xin came to Su Xiang Ge because she was ambitious and thought she was no less capable. She wanted to show Xu Qingmeng that she would definitely do better than Xu Xinting.

She had only made a small mistake, and she had said she would correct it, but Xu Qingmeng still fired her. Although she didn't ask for compensation, she wasn't grateful to her at all.

Zhong Xin went to the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and began skillfully preparing the ingredients needed to make the desserts.

She first chose to make jujube paste cake. Zhong Xin first washed the jujubes, removed the pits, and put them in a pot to simmer slowly. With the control of the heat, the aroma of jujubes gradually filled the entire kitchen.

She focused intently on stirring the date paste in the pot, making sure that every date was cooked until soft and smooth.

The shopkeeper watched from the side, a hint of anticipation flashing in her eyes as she moved methodically.

Next, she began to process the flour for making pastries. She added oil, sugar, and water in a certain proportion and kneaded it into a smooth dough.

Then she evenly wrapped the cooked jujube paste in the dough, shaped it in a mold, and finally steamed it in a steamer. While waiting for the jujube paste cake to be ready, she started making mung bean cake.

She peeled the soaked mung beans, steamed them until cooked, then mashed them into a paste with a spoon. She added a suitable amount of sugar and oil, stir-fried until the mung bean paste was no longer sticky and had an appealing color and delicate texture.

Since there were no molds, they could only skillfully shape the mung bean paste into small cubes by hand and arrange them neatly on a plate.

Meanwhile, the jujube cake was ready. The moment Zhong Xin lifted the lid of the steamer, a rich aroma of jujubes wafted out. She took out a piece, let it cool, and then cut it into small pieces. The shopkeeper couldn't wait to pick up a piece and put it in his mouth. The instant it entered his mouth, he tasted the sweetness of the jujube paste, and the cake was soft yet elastic.

His eyes lit up with surprise, and then he tasted another piece of mung bean cake. The refreshing taste of the mung bean cake also pleased him.

The shopkeeper put down the pastries he was holding, stroked his goatee, and smiled, saying, "Good, young lady, your skills are quite good! Then why don't you work at Jinxiuxuan anymore?"

Zhong Xin's face darkened. "What's it to you? Just tell me, is this skill any good?"

“Okay, okay, why not?” the shopkeeper said hastily, afraid she would change her mind.

Zhong Xin breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, she only knew a few of these, and she couldn't do more than that. She was only half-baked in the rest.

After the shopkeeper and Zhong Xin reached an agreement, they went to a courtyard on East Street.

"Master, Jinxuan's pastries are priced extremely high, and the customers come in droves every day. Our previous lousy chef was really no good. Who would have thought that a young girl who claimed to have worked at Jinxiuxuan had such good skills? So I took the liberty of keeping her here," the shopkeeper said.

The man dressed in black had his back to him and his face was covered. He said in a low voice, "Very good. You did a good job. You'll be rewarded. I'll send someone else to help you later."

The shopkeeper was delighted to receive the reward money and upon returning to Suxiang Pavilion, he officially assigned Zhong Xin to take full charge of the kitchen.

A cold glint flashed in the man's eyes. Liu, the county magistrate, was now hiding his true strength and could no longer be relied upon.

But Gu Yunyi is clearly not capable of rising any higher! Otherwise, he would have taken Madam He to the capital sooner or later.

He picked up his pen and wrote a letter, then had it sent to the capital by fast horse.

Xu Qingmeng was unaware that Zhong Xin had already entered Suxiang Pavilion.

As June arrives, the weather gets hot, and fruits and vegetables become more abundant.

After Zhong Xin left, Madam Huang found someone to take over the next day. After the initial adjustment and adaptation, the dim sum shop's business and revenue have stabilized.

The kitchen staff had already prepared their respective portions of pastries very well, and Mrs. Huang also sent over two more people for drinks.

After more than half a month of observation and intentional or unintentional teaching, Madam Chen has gradually gotten the hang of some management matters. She herself knows a few words, and she also has people sent by Xu Qingmeng and Madam Huang to help her.

Madam Chen picked things up very quickly. Except for a few minor mistakes when making the accounts, she was very proficient at everything else.

Originally, Madam Huang had also sent people over to work as waiters and sell snacks. She only thought that since it was a newly opened business, she would send a few people to help for a few days and then leave it to the kitchen staff.

There were quite a few people in the kitchen, but who would have thought that the dim sum shop would do so well after opening, so they didn't have to remove the staff from the front of house.

There was a middle-aged man surnamed Yang among them, and Madam Huang appointed him as the manager. He was usually in charge of accounting and front-of-house matters, while Madam Chen was in charge of the kitchen. Their responsibilities were separated, which made management easier.

(End of this chapter)