"Just make something simple, any ordinary home-style dish will do."

"Then I'll go and have the main kitchen prepare it."

Xiao Yunying tied up the six lucky bags and stood up: "Make less, I'll cook two dishes for you."

"You've already worked so hard preparing this feast, no need to trouble yourself."

Xiao Yunying gestured with her chin to the side, indicating that he should look over there: "It's no trouble, I've already prepared all the ingredients."

What else could Chen Yuancheng say? "Okay."

After he left, Xiao Yunying used a kitchen knife to cut the cabbage leaves used to tie the lucky bags into uniform lengths, making them look neater.

Place the filling on a plate in a steamer and steam over high heat for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. The exact time depends on the size of the lucky bag. Steam until the meat filling is cooked through.

I picked up a piece of bamboo fungus that had been added to the chicken soup simmering in the clay pot on the stove next to me a quarter of an hour earlier, tasted it to see if it was raw or cooked, added an appropriate amount of salt, covered it, and let it simmer for a while.

I tasted it again and thought it was good enough, so I poured it into a porcelain bowl and asked the waiter to take it away.

"If the distinguished guest asks why the chicken soup is so late, just say that you originally planned to use ordinary dried bamboo shoots to make the soup, but this morning the owner got some top-quality bamboo fungus and rushed to send it over. He specifically instructed that it was for Mr. Wang's distinguished guest, so you changed the soup at the last minute, which delayed the time and made the distinguished guest wait."

Normally, the soup should be served first, but because of the poisonous mushrooms, Chef Li didn't dare use them in her dishes, so she had to remake them.

Unlike other dishes, soups can't be cooked just by being done. Chicken and duck soups need at least half an hour to an hour to extract the essence of the ingredients, making the soup more nutritious and delicious. So you can't rush it and take it out of the pot early.

It's easy to taste if the soup isn't cooked properly; she can't do something like that to fool people.

Some people don't care much about trivial things like the order in which dishes are served; they care more about the kindness others show them.

Even if the distinguished guest doesn't ask, offering an explanation can earn you a lot of goodwill.

Of course, this doesn't apply to people who are inherently bad and like to cause trouble; no matter what you say, they won't let it go.

Given Chen Yuancheng's personality, he would probably have someone ask him to leave immediately.

"Don't worry, young lady, I know how to respond."

The waiters who serve guests at Huiweilou are all seasoned merchants from all over the country, and naturally know how to speak to them to make them happy.

Chen Yuancheng listened quietly by the wall outside the door.

Yunying was truly considering Huiweilou's future, thinking of everything she could think of and doing her best to handle all matters for Huiweilou.

Therefore, what he did was not wrong; she wanted to invest in Huiweilou.

After giving instructions to the waiter, Xiao Yunying started boiling a small amount of water in a pot.

Wait for the cabbage fortune bags to steam until cooked, then transfer them to a plate and arrange them neatly.

Add a pinch of salt to boiling water (because the minced meat is already salty), along with appropriate amounts of oyster sauce and chicken bouillon. Stir well, then pour in the pre-mixed cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Pour the sauce over the cabbage dumplings.

"Come in and bring the dishes."

He placed the dish on the tray in the waiter's hand: "Has the braised bear paw from the main kitchen been sent up yet?"

The waiter replied, "It was just delivered upstairs."

"This is the last dish. When introducing it, you should mention that the final dish is called 'Hundred Fortune Bags'. There's no need to say anything else."

The pronunciation of cabbage is similar to "hundreds of fortunes," making it the best blessing for business people. I believe our distinguished guests will understand.

After the waiter took away the last dish, Xiao Yunying breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

She did her best, and hopefully she didn't hold Huiweilou back.

Chen Yuancheng, who was outside the door, took a wooden basin brought by a kitchen helper and gestured for her to leave. He then carried the basin into the small kitchen himself.

"Yun Ying, are you done with your work?"

"Now that I'm done with my work, I want to say that I didn't make all local dishes. Southerners and northerners have completely different tastes, and people might get tired of eating only northern dishes, so I made some dishes from other places."

Also, I didn't cook shark fin soup. I haven't cooked it much, and I was afraid of ruining it and wasting ingredients.

She wasn't very confident in her cooking skills alone, but with the help of seasonings, her confidence soared. Even the most ordinary home-cooked dishes tasted better than what most people could make, and she believed that Master Wang and the merchants from the south would be satisfied.

"It's alright. As long as it's your cooking, there won't be any problems. I've prepared some warm water for you. Come and wash your face."

How did you know I like to wash my face after cooking?

Chen Yuancheng placed the wooden basin on the table: "When I visit your home, I see that the eldest child will bring you water to wash your face after you finish cooking."

Xiao Yunying teased him, "You're so thoughtful. Whoever marries you in the future will be very lucky."

After saying that, she tested the water temperature with her hand, found it to be just right, and bent down to wash her face.

When she didn't see Chen Yuancheng, she was stunned for a moment, then gave a silent, bitter smile and looked at her washing her face with a complicated expression.

Xiao Yunying washed the oil and sweat off her face, and Chen Yuancheng promptly handed her a towel: "Here you go, this is new."

"Thanks."

Xiao Yunying wiped the water off her face with a flamboyant motion and draped the towel over the edge of the wooden basin: "I'm going to the main kitchen to see how the steamed dumplings and steamed cakes are."

Chen Yuancheng reached out and smoothed the stray strands of hair at her temples: "I'll go with you."

Chen Yuancheng's fingers touched Xiao Yunying's face, and he quickly withdrew his hand and hid it behind his back, not daring to look at her.

His actions were somewhat frivolous.

Xiao Yunying didn't seem to notice anything. She smoothed her hair in the water and turned her head left and right, saying, "It's not messy anymore, is it?"

"It's not chaotic anymore."

"Let's go."

The two went to the main kitchen side by side, first inquiring about the steamed dumplings, and learned that they had already been served.

She had prepared extra meat filling for the steamed dumplings, intending to have them with Chen Yuancheng at noon. She made one and tasted it.

He pushed the small steamer towards Chen Yuancheng: "It's not bad, would you like to try some?"

"good."

He said to the kitchen helper next to him, "Do you have chopsticks? Get a pair for your boss."

"No."

Chen Yuancheng imitated Xiao Yunying by pinching a steamed dumpling with his hands and eating it.

After he finished eating the whole thing, Xiao Yunying asked, "How did it taste?"

"tasty."

Xiao Yunying deliberately said, "But you didn't wash your hands."

Then he showed his hands: "I just washed my hands."

"ah?"

"Hahahaha." Xiao Yunying's big eyes crinkled into crescents as she laughed: "It's alright, it's alright. A little dirt won't hurt you. You won't be disgusted with yourself, right?"

Xiao Yunying patted Chen Yuancheng on the shoulder to comfort him, then went to find the kitchen helper who had helped her make the steamed cake: "Where's the cake?"

"Here, follow the young lady's instructions. After it's cooked, set it aside to cool."

One drawback of steaming cakes in a large pot is that some cakes may not fully rise due to water droplets dripping onto them.

So, to be on the safe side, she made fifteen at once, and carefully picked out the six with the most perfect shape, then used bamboo strips to remove them and plate them.

"Serve it up with other snacks after the distinguished guests have finished their meal and are about to discuss important matters."

The teacup was quite large, but she didn't put in much cake batter. After steaming, the cakes were only half the size of a typical modern cupcake, and a plate held just six of them.