After hearing what Shopkeeper Liang said, Xu Yuanwei's indignant look immediately calmed down a lot, which made Su Qingluan sigh inwardly: It seems that Chef Xu really trusts Shopkeeper Liang very much. Although there is no evidence, Shopkeeper Liang's verbal promise is enough for him to believe.
Shopkeeper Liang was also an upright man. He said he would go get the contract and then sent the clerk who followed him back to get it.
Su Qingluan didn't intend to be the one who died unjustly, so she readily agreed to Manager Liang's request to go get the contract.
The man was very quick and in just a quarter of an hour he came back with the box containing the contract in his hand.
There were some other documents in the box, and Su Qingluan, to avoid suspicion, turned away when Manager Liang unlocked it. She glanced to the side and saw Xu Yuanwei already facing a bonsai in the corner, obviously to avoid suspicion of being in the wrong place.
Su Qingluan thought to herself: As expected, Chef Xu is an upright person. With such a character, it is amazing that he just pretended to be sick and sulked at home when he suspected that Manager Liang was going to fire him, instead of rushing over to confront him.
Meanwhile, Shopkeeper Liang had already taken out his copy of the contract and handed it to Xu Yuanwei with both hands: "Brother Xu, please take a look at this contract!"
Xu Yuanwei only glanced at it briefly before his face gradually changed from red to crimson purple. Shamefully, he handed the contract back to Shopkeeper Liang with both hands and bowed deeply to the ground, "I actually misunderstood you and Miss Su. I really shouldn't have played around like that!"
Manager Liang helped him up, and Xu Yuanwei turned around and saluted Su Qingluan again.
Su Qingluan had never received a bow from anyone before. She felt completely embarrassed, but because she was too short, trying to support the big and strong Xu Yuanwei would only make her look ridiculous, so she just waved her hand and said, "Master Xu, don't mind it. It's just a misunderstanding. Let's talk it over."
"That's not the case!" Xu Yuanwei still kept his head bowed and his fists clasped. "Although the words of those around me were also influential, I was jealous of Madam Su's cooking skills and felt resentful. That's why I was so anxious and worried. I always felt that Manager Liang wanted to fire me and replace me with Madam Su!"
Su Qingluan: ...Ah, should I say this person is so straightforward?
Although Xu Yuanwei solemnly said that he was jealous of her talent, Su Qingluan did not feel angry at all. Instead, she smiled and said, "Although I have felt that Chef Xu is a bit strange recently, I have never thought of it in this way. But Chef Xu's cooking skills are unique, and he has loyal customers in this county. Why would he be jealous of me?"
Xu Yuanwei whispered, "I'm already nearly forty years old. I've diligently learned my craft for many years. Even after joining Hongfulou, I've never been lazy or slack off just because I'm the head chef. I've worked hard day and night to improve my cooking skills, but I never expected..."
As he spoke, Xu Yuanwei's voice choked with sobs, but he buried his face deeper in his arms. "I never imagined that after working diligently for half my life, my knife skills, cooking techniques, seasoning, and even plating skills are still no match for a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl... Am I just too dull to be a chef?"
At the end, Xu Yuanwei's tone was almost as if he was questioning his life.
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Liang quickly stepped forward to comfort him: "Brother Xu, our 'Hongfulou' has been able to stand firm in this county for twenty years, and it is invaluable to you!"
As for Su Qingluan, she was simply petrified.
How could she explain that she wasn't some culinary genius, but was standing on the shoulders of giants?
Although he was only a teenager in this life, he had lived to be over 20 years old in his previous life; what's more, the reason why Xu Yuanwei's cooking skills were simpler than his was because they had undergone hundreds or thousands of years of evolution, and cooking techniques were constantly being updated.
However, Su Qingluan had no way to explain the bizarre experiences of her two lives, nor could she comfort the other party that he had only lost to the giant of time and it was not shameful.
After thinking about it, she decided to use her amnesia technique: "Um... Master Xu."
Su Qingluan's voice was not loud, but the girl's voice was very obvious compared to the low voices of the two middle-aged men, so Xu Yuanwei, who felt guilty and aggrieved, and Manager Liang, who tried to comfort him, both turned around.
After considering her words for a moment, Su Qingluan said, "Actually, I was said to have been mistakenly taken away by a wealthy family in the capital and raised there. I was only recently returned to my parents, but I developed a high fever and don't remember much about the past ten years."
"But my dear niece is acting normally and is an excellent cook. She doesn't look like she has lost her memory at all," Shopkeeper Liang asked curiously.
...It was a sharp criticism, Su Qingluan muttered to herself, but she continued according to the script she had given herself. "Sometimes, tiny images flash through my mind, like the food I made. If I were to recreate it in detail, it would be exquisitely crafted. So I wonder if this is how the family where I was taken away by mistake prepared their dishes—rich families always have unique cooking methods."
Shopkeeper Liang nodded. "Indeed, many chefs in wealthy families are already famous chefs, each with their own unique cooking techniques. I've seen one, in order to enjoy a fresh roast duck, let the duck drink the seasoning water in the oven. The oven is blazing, and the duck swallows the seasoning water until the skin is charred and the duck is finally cooked."
Su Qingluan frowned when she heard this: How can this be delicious?
Xu Yuanwei also shook his head: "This kind of taste can only enter the internal organs and not the skin. It must be tasteless."
Shopkeeper Liang nodded. "Although the taste isn't great, it's still novel."
Su Qingluan nodded quickly: "So I know those weird cooking methods, maybe I learned them because I saw and ate them before?"
Shopkeeper Liang nodded, obviously believing it. After all, although he was the shopkeeper, he didn't know much about cooking.
However, Xu Yuanwei, as someone with real cooking experience, was not so easily fooled: "But Miss Su's knife skills are so sharp, even my master is three points inferior to hers. How can she be so skillful at such a young age?"
This was not the first time he had watched Su Qingluan cutting ingredients up close.
Even if he deliberately slowed down his movements to allow the kitchen helpers to see clearly, every piece of food was evenly thick and thin when the knife was raised and lowered, and the wrist movement was smooth and effortless. The skill involved in these details cannot be learned in a short time.
As the saying goes, "experts know the ins and outs of the door." Since Xu Yuanwei also started out as a basic kitchen helper, he knows better how rare it is to have such skilled and stable knife skills.
Su Qingluan complained expressionlessly in her heart: How about it? As long as I start the Spartan devil training before dawn tomorrow and cut my wrists until I can't lift them.
Of course, it’s not just about hard training.
"Have a clear mind." Su Qingluan put her four fingers together and made a vegetable-cutting motion. "While knife skills can be improved through practice, your mindset is even more important. The more precious and complex the ingredients, the calmer you need to be. Otherwise, the more anxious you become, the more mistakes you'll make. I might have a better mindset."
Su Qingluan blinked: "That's why I acted so steadily."
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