96 Recruiting Apprentices
◎Guess who the restaurant owner is?◎
The next day at 9:00 PM.
It was already dawn outside the window, but Song Jinyi was still asleep. She unconsciously pulled the quilt up to block out the glare. She was always self-disciplined and rarely slept until this time.
The reason was simple: she had stayed up all night with Zhang Yao the night before, and after sending that little girl away, she was so sleepy that she couldn't even open her eyes.
Suddenly, there were bursts of "bang bang" sounds. At first, she thought it was the sound of the night watchman's clapper. Later, when the sound continued, she realized that someone was knocking on the door.
Song Jinyi sat up suddenly with a grumpy look on her face. She looked at the surroundings, sighed, "You're always under someone's roof...", got out of bed and opened the door.
"Who is it?" Song Jinyi asked, suppressing her irritation.
"It's me."
Song Jinyi paused—it was Zhang Yao.
Why is she here so early in the morning instead of sleeping?
She pushed the door open and saw Zhang Yao, wearing an apricot-colored skirt and holding a lunch box. She showed no remorse for disturbing others' rest. Instead, she asked, "Why are you up at this hour?"
Song Jinyi pulled the corners of his mouth with a forced smile but didn't answer.
The two of them entered the house. Song Jinyi looked at the food box and asked, "You didn't bring food specifically for me, did you?"
Zhang Yao opened the lid of the food box, and a familiar smell lingered at Song Jinyi's nose. This was the pan-fried partridge she made last night.
She lowered her eyes and looked, and the color and fragrance were imitated about 70% of the time.
"I followed your instructions last night, why does the taste different?" Zhang Yao said distressedly.
Song Jinyi took a bite and said openly, "It's a little different from what I made, but it tastes good too. It's good enough for me to eat."
I secretly complained in my heart: When it comes to cooking, every dish has its own little tricks, which are called secret recipes. How can I let others see them?
While eating, Song Jinyi looked at Zhang Yao's self-doubt and an idea came to her mind.
She looked at Zhang Yao and said, "It's not impossible for me to teach you how to cook, as long as you are willing to take me as your master."
When Zhang Yao heard Song Jinyi wanted her to become her disciple, she refused without a second thought, "You and I are almost the same age. If I become your disciple, wouldn't it be a joke?"
Song Jinyi just said it casually, and she wouldn't do anything if the other party didn't want to.
She had just woken up and hadn't eaten yet. Seeing that Zhang Yao didn't want to eat, she unceremoniously enjoyed the pan-fried partridge. While eating, she asked, "How many times have you tried to cook this dish?"
"Twice," Zhang Yao answered, then asked her dejectedly, "Do I... not have the talent to be a chef?"
Song Jinyi was a little surprised that she would think like that. "Only twice! How can you tell whether you have talent or not? In my opinion, if you can achieve this level twice, you are already quite talented."
"What about you, Madam Song? How many times do you try to make a dish?"
Song Jinyi said modestly, "If it's as you say, then I'd be even less talented. When I was learning to make fruit, not only did I have to pay for the ingredients myself, but I also had to eat the failed ones myself because the master wanted us to remember the taste of failure.
"I still remember one time when I was making peach blossom pastry, I couldn't get the heat right, and I ate peach blossom pastry for three days. Since then, I've avoided peach blossom pastry when I see it."
Zhang Yao was stunned when she heard her say this. She thought that someone like Song Jinyi must be extremely talented.
Song Jinyi seemed to see what she was thinking and said with a smile, "Talent is like a rare treasure, rarely found in the world. There are many ordinary people without talent, but so what?
"Talent cannot be forced, but hard work is entirely within one's control. If a person is diligent and hardworking, even without talent, he or she can still make great strides, starting with small steps and eventually becoming something more than just an ordinary person."
Zhang Yao stared at Song Jinyi blankly for a long while. Although she was about the same age as her, she was more worldly-wise and mature in character than her.
Comparing the two, she felt ashamed. She was silent for a moment and then asked, "According to what Madam Song said, you have also tried more than once. Will your master scold you?"
"Occasionally, but most of the time, she would just point out the problem and tell me to be more careful next time."
When Zhang Yao heard this, she didn't know what she was thinking about, and her expression became a little gloomy.
Song Jinyi continued, "Are you really not going to take me as your master? Not only do I know how to pan-fry partridges, I can also make pickled goose feet and duck stomachs, roasted sea bass with eight treasures, and steamed pancakes with sugar..."
She has specialties in frying, stir-frying, stewing and boiling.
As for why she wanted to find Zhang Yao as her apprentice, one reason was because she had good talent, and the other was that Manager Zhang had helped her, and helping him train his daughter was a way of repaying the favor.
As expected, Zhang Yao's eyes flickered when she heard her name the dish, but unexpectedly she did not agree. Instead, she told Song Jinyi about her troubles, "My father had high hopes for me when I was young, but unfortunately I was still young and naughty at that time, and could not understand my father's painstaking efforts.
"After a setback in the kitchen, I gave up and refused to do it again. When I got older, I saw many famous chefs in Kyoto, whose skills were amazing. I realized my own abilities were mediocre and I was even more reluctant to cook.
"I even feigned disgust to mask my inferior skills. Now, my father is getting older, and the building is overwhelmed with work. Every time I see his hunched figure, I feel worried. I was ignorant in the past and let him down a lot. Now I am willing to do my best to please my father.
"If Madam Song can teach me the secret recipe so that I can make dishes that will satisfy my father, I would like to become your disciple."
Song Jinyi heard this and couldn't help but think: I didn't realize that Zhang is also a traditional Chinese parent, who wants his daughter to become a phoenix and has strict requirements.
As for the cooking skills alone, it is not difficult to guess from Zhang Yao's words what Manager Zhang requires of her - to succeed at once.
With such strict requirements, it's no wonder that she lacks confidence in herself.
After thinking about it, Song Jinyi's eyes showed more pity. There is no child who does not love his parents, but most parents have unreasonable expectations of their children. If they cannot meet them, they will be stingy and not give them any love.
Song Jinyi agreed to Zhang Yao's request.
******
From that day on, Song Jinyi always cooked the dish herself on the first day, teaching her all the key tricks. Taking Zhang Yao's sensitivity to repetition into account, she was extremely meticulous every time, such as where to add water, how long to cook it...
The next day, Zhang Yao cooked by herself. She watched from the side and did not point out the problem immediately. After the dish was out of the pot, they tasted it together. She then patiently guided Zhang Yao to find the problem herself.
Late that night, the restaurant closed, and the two of them sneaked into the kitchen as usual. Song Jinyi tied up Zhang Yao's sleeves with an arm rope. Yesterday, Song Jinyi taught her how to make Jade Hibiscus Meat, and today she inspected the results.
This dish uses green vegetable juice as the base, adding broth to adjust it to the color of jade, then mixing it evenly with finely chopped pork to form a lotus shape. When cooking, it is lightly stewed with clear soup.
While doing this, Zhang Yao secretly recalled the steps Song Jinyi had told her yesterday.
Half an hour later, Zhang Yao stared at the dish, still uncooked, with a grimace on her face. Her grip on the spatula unconsciously tightened, and she bit her lip, breaking it. She threw the spatula away, angrily saying, "I did everything you said. Why? Why is it so different?"
Song Jinyi could see clearly from the side that the soup base, which should have been clear green, was now turbid gray.
Song Jinyi came over slowly and pointed out her problem, "How long did you cook the vegetable juice? This flocculent substance is because you didn't time it well and cooked the vegetable tendons too long.
Also, I clearly told you yesterday to stew it lightly, what heat did you use?"
After hearing this, Zhang Yao was silent for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "I'll try again."
Song Jinyi pressed her hand and said, "Your biggest problem right now is not cooking, but your state of mind."
Zhang Yao looked confused. It was obvious that cooking and state of mind were two completely different words. How could they be linked together?
"You're only concerned with results now, and you're impatient. Not to mention you're a novice, even a seasoned chef like me would struggle to maintain my level of skill in making delicious dishes. I saw this problem yesterday when we were stewing ham and pork elbow.
"Yesterday's dish was not very good, but today's dish will definitely go wrong if you are not patient enough. You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. I'm sure you know this."
Song Jinyi looked at her expression and knew that she was not willing to listen to such great principles. She sighed and turned to talk about herself, "I have experienced the same state of mind as you before. I wanted to achieve something, but the result was often the opposite of what I wanted.
"For example, take this Jade Lotus Pork. When I was learning how to make it, I made just as many mistakes as you did. But my master didn't explain it clearly; he just told me to redo it. So I failed over and over again, and at night, I even dreamed about making this dish.
"I failed again on the second day, and on the third I got tired of it. I thought I could just give up on learning the dish, just cook it as I pleased and let go of the worry. The steps and details actually became clearer in my mind.
"On the third day, I made this Emerald Hibiscus Meat in one go."
After hearing this, Zhang Yao silently picked up the spatula. Not as nervous as before, she repeated the steps with ease, obviously taking her words to heart.
This time, the fish was a clear emerald green. After tasting it, Song Jinyi praised it, saying, "It has a light fragrance and a delicate texture. Not bad!"
Over the next few days, Zhang Yao learned a lot of recipes from Song Jinyi. Song Jinyi said to her, "Make the shrimp ball and chicken skin soup we made today for your father. He will definitely be surprised."
Zhang Yao shook her head. "Father hasn't had time to talk to me lately. He's been so worried about the restaurant that he can't even eat or drink."
After Song Jinyi asked, she realized that her observation that the restaurant's business was poor that day was not an illusion.
Since last year, a Zhaixing Tower suddenly appeared in Beijing. Manager Zhang's restaurant was called Juxing Tower, and the other party called it Zhaixing. The intention was obvious: to replace it.
At first, Shopkeeper Zhang didn't take it seriously. He relied on his family's long-standing reputation and taste and didn't take Zhaixinglou seriously. Later he realized that Zhaixinglou had the backing of a big tree.
Zhang Yao said, leaning close to Song Jinyi and whispering, "Guess who the restaurant owner is?"
Song Jinyi heard an unfamiliar name "Pei Ze" from Zhang Yao - the younger brother of Concubine Pei in the palace, and a member of the Hedong Pei family.
Song Jinyi understood it all at once. Ordinary people ate to enjoy the food, while dignitaries and nobles ate to make friends, so naturally there would be many nobles willing to curry favor with them.
But apart from the dignitaries who want to curry favor with the powerful, there are still many ordinary people who just want to eat. It shouldn't be like this. Song Jinyi told her her doubts.
Zhang Yao snorted coldly and slammed her hand on the table. "My father taught all the people in this restaurant their skills. He treats them like his own sons. Now that the restaurant is not doing well, they just wave at me like a lapdog."
I see.
"My father is in poor health and has not been in the kitchen for a long time. Now there are only one or two chefs in the restaurant who can do their job..." When she said this, she suddenly looked at Song Jinyi.
"But if you, Master, were to take action, you would definitely be more powerful than those random people in Zhaixing Tower."
Song Jinyi chuckled and said to her teasingly, "You changed your name to call me Master because you thought you could use me?"
Zhang Yao blushed slightly, poured a cup of tea, knelt down and handed it to Song Jinyi.
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