Chapter 87 Competition Invitation

Yue Ning inserted a videotape into the VCR, and a picture appeared on the TV screen.

This is a news program. The host holds a newspaper in his hand and says, "This is a copy of the Yuecheng Evening News. It contains the following news: 'Fuyunlou and Gangcheng Baohualou have reached a cooperation agreement. Gangcheng Baohualou will give back to Fuyunlou and train chefs for Fuyunlou.' Let's take a look at the specific content of the article."

The report said that in the 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially in the past 10 years, time-honored restaurants like Fuyunlou have experienced a talent shortage, and many skills have not been passed down. Mr. Yue Baohua, who left Fuyunlou, learned about the situation Fuyunlou was facing and offered to help Fuyunlou train chefs.

The host put down the newspaper and said, "From this newspaper, we can know that the so-called chef invited by Baohualou is actually an apprentice trained by Fuyunlou. Let's listen to the street interviews in Yuecheng."

The reporter interviewed passers-by around Fuyun Building and asked them how Fuyun Building is doing now.

"I can't afford it!"

"It's expensive and tastes bad, who would spend this much money?"

An old man stopped and said, "Fuyunlou is no longer the Fuyunlou of more than ten years ago. When Chef Luo was still there, Fuyunlou was in Yuecheng and it was the number one brand of Cantonese cuisine. After Chef Luo left, his son took over and Fuyunlou declined..."

This clip was cut and replaced with a shot of the press conference for the signing of the contract between Baohualou and Hongan. Sophie said that three chefs arrived in Hong Kong and entered Baohualou and Ningyan. There was also a clip where Yue Ning said in public that the three chefs from Fuyunlou were all great chefs.

Cut back to the host's screen: "Mr. Yue Baohua of Baohualou has always been known for his taste. Baohualou is also a restaurant in Mong Kok that is famous for its moderate prices and good taste, and is deeply loved by Hong Kong citizens. After the tape incident of Baohualou, the citizens were also very sorry. Even though Baohualou suffered a heavy blow because all the main chefs except Mr. Yue Baohua had left, Baohualou was still sought after after reopening. However, Mr. Yue Baohua's granddaughter, Miss Yue Ning, is not as willing to calm down and cook as Mr. Yue Baohua. She has skills, even better than Yue Baohua, but she is too ambitious. When Baohualou has not yet recovered, she wants to open a high-end restaurant in one step. She promoted several chefs with average skills from a declining old restaurant in the mainland to chefs. I want to say, Miss Yue Ning, please cherish your feathers and take care of yourself."

That’s the end of the news.

This piece of news came out yesterday. With Yue Ning's popularity, it quickly became the focus of discussion on the streets. She now has many die-hard fans, and when they saw this kind of news, the fans simply didn't believe that Yue Ning was such a person.

However, the official newspaper of Yuecheng reported that Fuyunlou’s real reputation was indeed like this, which could be regarded as irrefutable evidence.

Yue Ning turned off the TV with a click, picked up an invitation letter from the table and handed it to A Ming: "Uncle A Ming, take a look."

Amin looked down at the invitation letter. Yue Ning picked up a piece of wood from the table and scraped it with a knife.

Seeing her like this, Ah Xing asked, "Ningning, what are you doing? It's really infuriating to hear the news say this about us, but it's not to the point of killing people, right?"

Yue Ning smiled: "I abide by the law. What's the big deal?"

She gave the wood to Ah Xing: "Smell it."

"What a nice smell!" Ah Xing smelled it again and again, and found it to have a special fragrance.

Yue Ning picked up the wood scraps from the table and put them to her nose to smell. The smell was so charming. She said, "This is the root of mountain pepper, a special seasoning for Yunnan rice noodles."

The people at the import and export company were so helpful; when they heard that she wanted to entertain her aunt and uncle who used to work in transport on the Burma Road, they got her a lot of seasonings, including some mountain pepper trees, and asked her to make rice noodles from Dehong, Yunnan.

After reading the invitation letter, Ah Ming asked tentatively: "Ningning, this is an invitation for you to participate in the Hong Kong and Macau Chef King Competition. Let me see, are you going to take me as your assistant?"

The invitation letter was from the annual Hong Kong and Macau Chef King Competition. Yue Baohua had no interest in it before, as he just wanted to cook his own food.

This time it wasn’t that Yue Ning was interested in such a show, but Yulongxuan was like an indestructible cockroach that kept pestering her.

Yue Ning took the invitation letter from A Ming and handed it to A Xing. She told A Ming: "Lou Jiafu went to Yu Long Xuan. Yu Long Xuan sent him to participate in the competition this year."

Ah Ming laughed loudly: "Does Guo Shijie of Yulongxuan have any brains? Last year, Lu Jinyong lost to Brother Rong, but he only lost a little bit. If Lou Jiafu competes with you this year, how miserable will his death be?"

Yue Ning took the mountain pepperwood from Ah Xing, knocked it on Ah Ming's head, and said angrily: "You read the news for nothing?"

Ah Ming was stunned: "What does this have to do with the news? We just need to cook good food and as long as the customers like it, that's enough."

Yue Ning turned to Yang Zhijie and said, "Ajie, analyze it for him."

Yang Zhijie stood up and said, "Brother Ming, the host said three things in the news just now. First, all the original main chefs of Baohualou have left. Second, the chef invited by Yue Ning from the mainland is incompetent. Third, Yue Ning is competent, even better than Uncle Hua. This means that apart from Uncle Hua and Yue Ning, there is no one else in Baohualou. Combined with this invitation letter and the news they released that Lou Jiafu will join Yulongxuan and participate in the competition. If Ningning participates in the competition, even if she wins, she cannot break the first two points. To break the first two points, the person sent by Baohualou must be you, Brother Wei or Brother Song, one of them, and one of the three people from Yuecheng Fuyunlou. One is to prove that you are not worse than Lou Jiafu, and two is to prove that the chef from the mainland is indeed a great chef."

Ah Ming's eyes widened. He finally realized, "Ning Ning, you don't want me to participate in the competition, do you? I can't compare with Lou Jiafu. I'm much worse than him. I..."

"How are you worse than him?"

Ah Ming shook his head like a wave drum: "Except for clay pot rice, I am not as good as him in other aspects. And the chef competition is not about competing with each other's specialties. Instead, the program team randomly provides ingredients and you cook according to the ingredients provided by the program team. There are many strange ingredients that I may not have encountered before and I don't know how to cook them. I definitely can't do it! Otherwise, you can let Ah Bang and Ah Xing go! Ah Bang has a great control over the heat, and Ah Xing's knife skills, except for you, probably no one can compare with him."

Yue Ning sighed slightly: "Uncle Ming, you don't even dare to mention Uncle Song and Uncle Wei?"

"This is the truth! Ningning, there are six brothers in my group. Among the three of them, Brother Rong is the best, and the other two are not bad either. The three of us used to follow behind them!" Ah Ming lowered his head, "Besides, I am the worst one. Except for the clay pot rice, I am not as good as them in other aspects. Ningning, now that you are here, I have tried my best. But I also know my own strengths and weaknesses. If I compare myself with him, I will definitely lose."

"You have no confidence in yourself. At least have some confidence in me, right? Did I just let you go on a whim?" Yue Ning said to him, "As long as you can make it to the finals and compete with Lou Jiafu, even if you lose, it won't be considered a loss of face."

Ah Ming looked up at Yue Ning and said, "You won't blame me if I lose?"

Yang Zhijie stood up and said, "Brother Ming, let me tell you, Ningning and I have discussed that Abang and Axing are the most suitable partners. Abang's cooking skills are already perfect, and everyone knows what level Axing's cutting skills are. They let you participate because they said that only three of Uncle Hua's apprentices are capable, and Ningning hopes that you can clear your names. She said that as long as you compete with Lou Jiafu and don't lose too badly, Baohualou still has Uncle Hua and Ningning. You are only the fifth-ranked chef in Baohualou, and Lou Jiafu is the second-ranked chef in Yulongxuan. We won't be embarrassed. Ningning is willing to give you a chance, but you backed down."

Amin lowered his head and said nothing. If he said he would not go, he would be disappointing Ningning's expectations of him. If he went and lost, it would be a disgrace to Baohualou, and Baohualou had a better group.

"I'm not asking you to die. Ah Xing is not an apprentice, but a very talented chef. If you two get together, you still have a chance of winning." Yue Ning looked at Ma Yaoxing.

Ma Yaoxing has already read the invitation letter and he is confident.

I've been with Yue Ning these two days. He was willing to learn before, but no one taught him, so he memorized a lot of recipes by rote.

When Ningning talked about Chongqing's braised duck, he said it was not the smoked camphor tea duck. He immediately remembered that a chef from Chongqing had come to Fuyunlou to learn and made Chongqing's white braised duck, which was different from their Chaoshan braised duck. Others didn't write it down, but he remembered the general recipe.

Ningning and I have been mixing the marinade repeatedly these past two days. After trying it today, it tastes very close to what I remember.

Besides, Ning Ning said that he was always on the chopping block, which delayed him from cooking. Cooking is like chopping, you have to keep cooking, and slowly learn it.

He is not good at this. He can learn those things that he has memorized by rote and have standards as long as he is given some guidance.

During these days at Baohualou, he became familiar with several chefs. A'ming's control of the heat was not as good as A'bang's, but Yue Baohua was not Luo Shichang. Yue Baohua taught his apprentices seriously, so A'ming did have some basic skills.

Ma Yaoxing was eager to try: "Brother Ming, I will be your assistant. I am not very good at cooking, but I remember a lot of recipes. Of course, Brother Bang and I can be partners. Ningning arranged this because she hopes that you will be the head chef of Ningyan or Baohualou in the future."

Yue Ning said: "You really have no confidence, my name is A Bang."

Several people told him so. Ah Ming knew how much Yue Ning valued him. If he insisted on not going, it would really disappoint Ning Ning. He raised his head with a firm look in his eyes, "I'll go."

Yue Ning looked at him. She knew that Ah Ming still lacked confidence. Yue Ning didn't want to put too much pressure on him: "As long as you try your best, winning or losing is not a problem."

"Yes. I will try my best. Besides, if I can compete with Lou Jiafu in the finals, no matter who wins between us, doesn't it prove that my master's craftsmanship is good?"

"That's the right thing to think about." Yue Ning said to Yang Zhijie, "Ajie, it's up to you how you respond."

"I'll go discuss it with Sister Sophie." Yang Zhijie nodded.

"Okay!" Yue Ning said to Ma Yaoxing, "Let's go and try the Dai rice noodles."