However, when it comes to cooking, he has no originality at all, and he is unrivalled in copying other people's dishes.
Because of this, he feels very good about himself and thinks he is a genius in the culinary world!
Unfortunately, in the imperial kitchen of the palace, he did not have much room to display his talent. After all, he was not qualified to be the head chef and could only help the chefs or be their substitute.
If the dish is well prepared, the credit goes to the chefs and has nothing to do with him. Even if he receives a reward, he will not get any of it. But if the dish is not prepared well, all the blame will be on him.
Once, he prepared a dish for an imperial chef, but the dish was not good for the distinguished guest. The imperial chef then made him a scapegoat and beat him with twenty boards.
Fortunately, he gave some money to the person who beat him with the stick, otherwise if he had really been beaten with twenty sticks, he would probably have died in the palace.
Later, after his injury healed, he found a way to leave the palace and eventually came to Fengchi County.
After that, he became the master chef of the Imperial Kitchen based on the dishes he learned in the palace.
Over the years, he has firmly established himself as the head chef of the Imperial Kitchen thanks to his reputation as the Imperial Chef.
But the imitated dishes will eventually run out, and in order to maintain his status, he copied other chefs in the kitchen and the famous dishes of other restaurants.
The chefs in the Imperial Kitchen were angry but dared not speak out, because if they resisted, they would lose their jobs there.
Other restaurants were also afraid of the power behind the Imperial Kitchen, and could only swallow their losses.
How could the shopkeeper Cai Fu not know about these things? He just turned a blind eye. As long as the business of the Imperial Kitchen was good, those things didn't matter.
Anyway, the master behind him is the county magistrate.
"Don't worry, Master Gao. I'll get the chili peppers in two days."
Thinking of the booming business of Yingxianlou, his heart was filled with excitement. He even imagined in his mind the scene of the Imperial Kitchen flocking to the restaurant after he got the peppers.
Unfortunately, this time things did not go as smoothly as he had expected.
"What? Zhao Xiaoxian doesn't want to sell it? Didn't you say you were from the Imperial Kitchen?"
Cai Fu still had some ability, and he found out that the chili peppers came from Zhao Xiaoxian.
In fact, when Xue Huan signed the contract with Ye Diao, she asked Ye Diao to keep it secret and not to reveal to others that she was the supplier of chili peppers.
Ye Diao naturally agreed. After all, this would be beneficial to him.
Unfortunately, there are many smart people in this world. Xue Huan first went to Yingxianlou as Zhao Xiaoxian and caused a scene, and then made spicy dishes in public. Not long after that, Yingxianlou launched the same spicy dishes. Connecting the two, it is not difficult to think that she is the supplier of the chili peppers.
So it doesn’t really matter whether it’s confidential or not.
This is also the reason why Cai Fu found out about her.
After finding out, he sent someone to discuss business with Zhao Xiaoxian.
Xue Huan happened to be at home. When she heard that the visitor was from the Imperial Kitchen, she wanted to refuse entry directly, but after thinking about it, she let him in.
The person sent by the Imperial Kitchen was just a waiter, but this waiter was Cai Fu's nephew, named Xia Wei. Xia Wei himself had no special skills and entered the Imperial Kitchen entirely because of his relatives.
He usually follows his uncle Cai Fu around and has seen his uncle act domineeringly many times, so he has learned the same tricks.
After being led to the hall by the servant, he glanced at Xue Huan in an unruly manner. Xue Huan's face turned cold and she put the teacup heavily on the table. "What do you want from the Imperial Kitchen to see me?"
Xia Wei sat down on the chair like a great man, crossed his legs and shook them, acting like a big shot. He picked up the teacup and drank tea, deliberately making a slurping sound.
Xue Huan hated it most when others shook their legs in front of her, acting like a second-rate person. She already regretted letting that person in.
However, the most devastating thing was yet to come. Xia Wei put down his teacup and gave an order as if bestowing grace: "You are the one who sold the chili peppers to Yingxianlou, right? From now on, you can no longer sell the chili peppers to Yingxianlou. We at Yushanlou have taken them all."
Xue Huan was so angry that she almost laughed, but she didn't show it on her face. "Oh? Then what price do you guys at the Imperial Kitchen plan to buy it for?"
She wanted to hear what ivory this man could spit out of his dog's mouth.
"We at the Imperial Kitchen are willing to accept your chili peppers because we think highly of you. How much money do you have? Is this enough?"
Xia Wei threw out a piece of silver, which landed at Xue Huan's feet. It looked like it was worth less than one or two ounces.
Xue Huan no longer had the heart to play along and directly ordered the guests to leave, "Ah Man, get out."
Ah Man walked over, picked up Xia Wei, walked to the door and threw him out. At last, he clapped his hands, put his hands on his hips and said "Pooh" to Xia Wei who fell to the ground in a mess.
What a thing! How dare you act so arrogantly in front of a girl!
Xia Wei was so angry. As the grandson of the county magistrate's steward, when had he ever suffered such an injustice?
Zhao Xiaoxian, right? Wait for him!
Xia Wei tui towards the stone lion in front of the door and spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm.
What's the difference between their behavior and that of street thugs and scoundrels?
After taking two steps, he remembered that the dime he had thrown out was still inside. He turned around and shouted towards the gate of Zhao Mansion: "Give me my silver--"
Before he could finish his words, something shot towards him like a meteor and hit his front teeth.
A sharp pain came, and the silver and the front teeth fell to the ground together.
Xia Wei's face twisted in pain. He jumped up and started cursing, but when he opened his mouth, the wind rushed in and choked him.
In the end, he could only utter a cruel word in anger: "You son of a bitch surnamed Zhao, just wait for me!"
He picked up the silver and teeth on the ground and left.
After returning to the Imperial Kitchen, Xia Wei started gossiping in front of Cai Fu, "Uncle, I mentioned our Imperial Kitchen as soon as I walked in, but that woman didn't take us seriously at all. She even said she would rather give the chili peppers to Yingxian Tower for free than sell them to our Imperial Kitchen! Isn't that infuriating!"
He pointed to the gap between his teeth and said, "She even kicked me out and knocked out one of my front teeth!"
"Did Zhao Xiaoxian really say that?" Cai Fu began to doubt his words.
Didn't he know what kind of person his nephew was? Why would he kick him out and even knock out one of his teeth for no reason?
If this is true, then Zhao Xiaoxian is either stupid or has a powerful backer, so he doesn't take the Imperial Kitchen seriously at all.
Xia Wei's eyes flickered. "Uncle, you still don't believe me? I swear to heaven, if I tell a lie, I will be struck by lightning!"
He also made a gesture of swearing to the sky.
"Alright, alright, I'll go there myself." Cai Fu turned the two stone balls in his hands, his pair of eyes as big as green beans showing a bit of viciousness.
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