Xu Qinyu was willing to let Dongqian work as a helper in Xu's Restaurant and teach him how to cook, and the contract was signed that day.

Because Dong Qian is not only the assistant chef of Donglaiju, he is also the eldest son of the owner of Donglaiju. Because of his different status, the contract naturally restricts him from secretly giving the dishes he learned from Xu Qinyu to Donglaiju. But after leaving Xu's, he can naturally do whatever he wants with the dishes he learned.

Xu Qinyu doesn't care about this. She has so many dishes, and she is confident that even if Dongqian learns from her for a few years, the dishes he makes will be as good as hers with the same side dishes, seasonings and cooking time. This is also her greatest confidence in her cooking skills.

Others say that the master will starve to death if he is taught by his disciples, but this is impossible for her.

After reading the deed, Dong Qian pressed his fingerprint readily.

He is not an ungrateful person. Not to mention when he was learning from Xu Qinyu, even after leaving Xu's, he would not directly give the recipes to Donglaiju. Even if it was the dishes he learned from Xu's, he would create new dishes. He even added Xu Qinyu's name to the Dong family recipes. He would write down all the dishes he learned and created for future generations.

Moreover, even if he becomes the owner of Donglaiju in the future, he will not open Donglaiju and Xu Ji in the same place.

But Dongqian knew in his heart that when his father really stopped taking care of things, it was hard to say who would be the one to take over Donglaiju. But before that, if his father wanted him to learn the recipes of the dishes from Xu Ji, he would not give them to him.

After signing the contract, Dong Qian did not return to Donglai Ju, but stayed at Xu's Restaurant.

Although he was the assistant chef of Donglaiju, he was also the young master of Donglaiju and did not sign a contract with Donglaiju. He did not cook much when he was the assistant chef of Donglaiju. There were other chefs in the restaurant, as well as his father's apprentices.

After Dong Qian stayed at Xu's, Dong planned to leave.

Watching Dong get on the carriage, Dong Qian knocked on the door. Dong opened the curtain and said with a smile, "Brother Qian, is there anything else?"

Dong Qian smiled and said, "Mom, don't tell dad about these things when you go back. When I get back in the evening, I will tell dad in person."

He knew what his father was thinking. His father would never admit that his master, despite his young age, was a better cook than him. So he would be furious when he knew that he came to Xu Ji to learn cooking. He didn't want his mother to face his father's anger, as it would affect their relationship.

That is, he stayed in Xu's and learned skills from Xu Qinyu. Even if Miss Xu did not accept him as a disciple, in his heart, he was still his master and deserved a respectful title.

Dong hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Okay, then I won't tell your father when I go back."

After Dong left, Dong Qian went to the kitchen to help.

He is Xu Ji's first helper chef in more than a year, but because of his identity, everyone is inevitably wary of him.

Dong Qian knew it in his heart, and he originally thought that his master would let him help with the side dishes first.

Unexpectedly, when the master was preparing evening meal, he asked him to watch.

In summer, more customers ordered prawns and snails in sauce. Xu Qinyu explained the recipes of the two cold dishes to Dongqian in detail and showed him, "This is made by drying and grinding several kinds of mushrooms into powder, which can be used as seasoning. In fact, there are many things that can be used as seasonings, some fruits can be used as seasonings, and there are spices, including this kind of mushroom powder, and some other things that can be used as seasonings. Shiitake mushrooms and shrimps can be dried and ground into powder in a certain proportion to enhance the flavor. In addition, seaweed and dried scallops can also be used to make delicious seasonings, etc."

In fact, these are seasonings that can increase the flavor and can replace MSG.

In addition to the ones she mentioned, there are many other recipes for this kind of flavor-enhancing seasoning, and the seasoning used varies depending on the flavor and taste of the dish.

She currently has about five kinds of flavor-enhancing seasoning powders. Some are simply dried and ground into powder, while others need to be cooked and then go through some other processes. However, not all dishes require these flavor-enhancing seasonings.

Dong Qian couldn't help but wonder, could it be because of these seasoning powders that Xu Ji's food is so delicious?

It was not until he saw that at least half of Xu Qinyu's dishes did not contain this flavoring powder that he realized his guess was wrong.

Xu Qinyu told him: "These are just for enhancing the freshness, but not all dishes need to be enhanced. Some ingredients are already very delicious, and the highlight is the freshness of the ingredients themselves. You don't even need to add other seasonings, just some salt is enough."

Xu Qinyu also made a dish of bean sprouts in soup.

She grows the bean sprouts herself in hydroponics, and this dish is also the signature dish of the restaurant.

There are many ways to cook bean sprouts in soup. You can use only soup without side dishes. This is the most challenging part of cooking. The soup must be fresh, and the heat of the bean sprouts in the soup must be well controlled. This way of cooking bean sprouts in soup will make the soup base delicious, the bean sprouts crispy and tender. Even with the freshness of the soup, it will not take away the tenderness of the bean sprouts.

In addition, you can also add preserved eggs or ham to the bean sprout soup, the cooking methods are different.

Xu Ji now has two ways of cooking it. One is to cook it in broth and add only a little salt.

Another type is to add preserved eggs and bean sprouts in soup.

The ham cannot be used as a side dish until it is ready to be eaten.

The preserved eggs are pickled and fermented by her herself, and are a new dish that she just launched in the past two months.

Some people like preserved eggs very much, while others don't.

Just like ingredients with stronger and more intense flavors such as snail noodles, durian, watercress, coriander, etc., it depends on the diners' own preferences.

Preserved eggs are also called preserved eggs.

Because Xu Qinyu pickled a lot of century eggs, the restaurant also added a century egg and lean meat porridge for breakfast.

There was an additional dish of cold preserved egg for dinner, but it didn’t have chili in it. Otherwise, I would have made a dish of preserved egg with pounded chili, which would not only be delicious but also go well with rice.

At present, there are still many diners who can accept the taste of century eggs. At the beginning, there were not many people who tried it, but later the number gradually increased. After getting used to the taste of century eggs, they felt that this thing was quite delicious, a bit cool and refreshing, with a pungent but rich taste.

Dong Qian had been learning from Xu Qin in the kitchen for almost two hours and was already convinced.

The chef can use several stoves at the same time, so the dishes are served quickly without affecting the taste at all.

Even my own father can only control two stoves at the same time, and he still has to stew pickled mustard greens. Otherwise, when stir-frying or cooking soup, the taste will be wrong if he doesn't control it well.

Dongqian studies very seriously.

He finally understood that the reason why the chef's dishes were delicious was not because of the seasonings. Of course, every dish was seasoned with seasonings, but they were just ordinary ginger, scallions, soy sauce and vinegar. Some dishes even only had salt, but they tasted great. The chef was truly a great cook.

Xu Qinyu taught Dongqian how to prepare the evening dishes.

Dongqian was the one who prepared the evening meal for everyone in the restaurant that night.

One dish of shrimp in sauce, one dish of cold preserved egg, one dish of fish with fatty intestines and one dish of braised eggplant.

Xu Qinyu would ask him to cook all the dishes in the restaurant to see what kind of cuisine Dong Qian is more suitable for, and then she would teach him according to his aptitude.

After all, the same food can be made into many different flavors. Some chefs are talented in making heavy-flavored dishes, such as Sichuan cuisine. Some are good at highlighting the freshness and smoothness of ingredients. Still others focus on knife skills and precision, and are better at using ginger and scallions, making dishes that are more refreshing.

Xu Qinyu also ate the employee meal prepared by Dong Qian in the evening. It tasted good, worthy of being an assistant chef who had been in charge of cooking for several years. He only watched her cook once and told him about the proportions of seasonings and the heat, and he was able to learn about 50% to 60%. The rest was just to slowly control the heat.

After dinner, Xu Qinyu returned.

After a while, Dong Qian also returned to the Dong family.

After returning, he first went to his father Yue Weimin's study.

Yue Weimin had also returned from Donglaiju. When he saw Dongqian, he frowned and asked, "Where did you go today? Xi Ge'er said you wanted to go to Xu's Restaurant to learn cooking from the young cook? Did you go there today?"

Dong Qian said, "In reply to my father, I went to Xu's today and signed a contract with my master. I will stay in Xu's to learn cooking from my master for three years."

He had received wages in the past three years, but it was only five taels of silver a month. He was not short of money. In fact, after tonight, he didn't want to take the five taels of silver at all, because his master really wanted to teach him.

Yue Weimin was not angry, but asked curiously, "Is the young cook willing to teach you? Is she trying to fool you?"

Dong Qian said, "Father, you worry too much. Master is very good. When Master was making dinner today, she let me learn from her. She also told me in detail how to season and control the heat. Today, I learned how to cook shrimps with sauce, snails with sauce, fish with intestines, bean sprouts in soup, fried eel shreds, and some stir-fried vegetables."

Yue Weimin was a little shocked.

So what this little cook said is true?

Does she really want to hand over cooking skills to other people?

Isn't he afraid that his apprentice will starve him to death? Even if he accepts an apprentice, he won't teach him many of his specialties easily.

"Did she really teach you?" Yue Weimin still didn't believe it.

Dong Qian nodded, "Master made more than 20 dishes today, and I have been learning from him."

Yue Weimin couldn't help but ask, "Does she use any special, addictive seasonings when cooking?"

Dong Qian glanced at his father and said, "No, Master also has a few flavor-enhancing seasonings, but like the Dong family's, they are all made by thickening or drying ingredients, and they are not addictive. Father, Master's cooking skills are unquestionable. Her talent in cooking is unmatched."

This kind of seasoning for enhancing flavor is actually available in some big culinary families, and it is never passed on to others. The Dong family is no exception. Dong family uses seven or eight kinds of dried seafood broth to make its dish, which then goes through a series of complicated processes. The cost is relatively high, so the dishes at Donglai Ju are not cheap. Some small restaurants do not have this kind of seasoning.

Because the chefs of small restaurants all learn cooking skills from their masters, most chefs will not teach the recipe of this seasoning to others.

Just like back then, if Yue Weimin hadn’t married his mother and entered the Yudong family.

My grandfather would never give the recipe of this seasoning to my father.

Dong Qian even only knew the original recipe of the seasoning called "Seven Fresh" in the Dong family recipe book. The "Seven Fresh" seasoning used in Donglaiju now was improved by his father, and he was not told the recipe. As for whether his father told his brother, he never knew.

Many dishes on the Dong family's menu today were improved upon by my father.

Yue Weimin was speechless. If Xu Ji also had this kind of seasoning to increase the flavor, it was no wonder that Xu Ji's dishes were delicious and tasted even better than Dong Lai Ju's. It should be that Xu Ji's seasoning was better than his "Seven Fresh".

He couldn't help but ask, "Brother Qian, do you know how Xu's seasoning is prepared?"

Dong Qian glanced at his father and said, "I think I know. Master has five kinds of seasonings to enhance the flavor."

These cannot be hidden, his father will definitely find ways to get them from him, so it is better to tell him directly. However, he will definitely not give his father the seasonings or cooking recipes.

In fact, compared to the "Seven Fresh" at Donglai Ju, the flavor-enhancing seasoning recipes in the master's hand are really simple yet amazing. Two of them are particularly simple recipes, and the master directly told us that all we need to do is to dry the two ingredients and grind them into powder according to the proportion.

Yue Weimin's eyes widened immediately. "Five?"

He spent most of his life to improve the "Seven Fresh" seasoning and bring out the taste to the extreme, which attracted so many customers to Donglaiju. But how did a little cook have five kinds of seasonings? How did she do it? Could it be that the chef's master was a very good chef? And was he willing to teach these recipes to a little cook?

He remembered that the young chef's family came to Yuanbao Town suddenly. Could it be that the young chef's ancestor was also a chef?

Yue Weimin thought about it and said to Dong Qian after some hesitation: "Qian'er, since you know the recipes for two of them, as well as the recipes for those dishes, can you tell Dad about it? Don't worry, Dad will not use these recipes for the food in Donglaiju, I just want to study them."

"Father." Dong Qian shook his head. "If I tell you these recipes, wouldn't I be a traitor? Does father want his apprentice to betray his master? Besides, my master and I have signed a contract. Even if you take the recipes and don't use them, I will be betraying my master and violating the contract. So please forgive me, I can't tell you these recipes."

Yue Weimin was a little unhappy. "Why do you doubt me so much, Brother Qian? I am just curious and want to study it. I will not reveal the formula and make you a traitor."

Dong Qian sighed, "But, father, if I tell you the recipe, regardless of whether you will use it or not, I will have already done something treacherous."

Yue Weimin's face fell, and he waved his sleeves and said, "Forget it. If you are so suspicious of my intentions, I want to see what you can learn from that little cook. Will she really teach you her special skills?"

Dong Qian was a little sad, "Father, I will go back first."

Yue Weimin waved his hand and Dongqian left.

When he returned to the yard, he saw his wife, who was pregnant with a big belly, playing with her daughter in the yard. A smile appeared on his face, and he went to accompany his wife and daughter.

After a while, Dong came to find him, "Qian'er, have you told your father? Did your father scold you?"

Dong Qian told Dong Shi what happened in the study.

Dong felt uncomfortable when she heard this. In recent years, Donglaiju has been the only dominant family in Yuanbao Town. Now that Miss Xu and Xu's Restaurant have come, her husband must be feeling uncomfortable and unable to come to terms with it.

She said, "Don't worry about your father. I will persuade him. He is just being stubborn for the time being. He will figure it out in the future."

Dong Qian also nodded. After all, he was his father. His father loved him very much when he was a child. He often took him and his younger brother out to play, and held him and his younger brother in his arms while they admired flowers and ate snacks in the courtyard.

…

Dong Qian did not tell his master about what happened between him and his father.

All he could do was to learn the craft from his master, and he could also promise that he would not teach the recipe to his father or sell it to anyone else.

In fact, this kind of thing happens quite often. When a master teaches his apprentice, other restaurants and hotels will buy the recipe from the apprentice. Some apprentices cannot resist the temptation of money and will sell the recipe, breaking their promise.

Xu Qinyu knew Dong Qian's identity, but she didn't guard against him. She didn't have a smart brain like her fourth brother, and couldn't tell a person's character from his micro-expressions. All she could do was to have a clear conscience. Since he was willing to teach her cooking skills, she would definitely teach diligently and well.

However, because Dong Qian is the young master of Donglaiju, Xu Qinyu gradually got to know Donglaiju.

I know the Dong family recipes and that the chef of Donglai Ju married into the Dong family. The eldest son and youngest daughter took their mother’s surname, and the second son took his son-in-law’s surname.

When Xu Qinyu heard that the second son took the surname of the son-in-law who married into the Dong family, her heart skipped a beat.

We can’t say that everyone is selfish, but it’s strange that in some people’s eyes, surname is more important than blood.

Even in later generations, there are many such examples. When two families get married, the children they give each have a different surname. Both sides love the child with their own surname, and each side wants to leave the family property to the child with their own surname.

This situation is less common among mothers, because they are all born after ten months of pregnancy, and mothers' feelings towards their children are mostly the same.

Mothers are less likely to be entangled with their children's surnames, but there are still some mothers who do not love their children.

In short, human emotions are very complicated. Xu Qinyu doesn't know the situation of the Dong family, and the affairs of the Dong family actually have little to do with her. She only needs to teach Dong Qian cooking skills.

By midsummer, Dongqian already knew how to cook dozens of dishes from Xu's Restaurant.

Xu Qinyu found that he was better at cooking heavy-flavored dishes, such as fish with pork intestines, fish with pickled cabbage, boiled pork slices, and chicken with Sichuan peppercorns.

Xu Qinyu also talked to Dong Qian and told him that he was better at rich and mellow dishes, so he could work harder on these rich and mellow dishes, and in the future, he could be the chef of these dishes in the restaurant.

Dongqian himself felt that he performed better when making these heavy-flavored dishes.

Although Xu Qinyu asked Dongqian to cook dishes of this flavor, if he really wanted to be the chef, it would take several months of practice.

The taste of the dishes he cooks now is somewhat different from those cooked by Xu Qinyu.

Even women like Yuan and Lin, who didn't care much about food, could taste it.

Dongqian also practiced harder.

When it comes to cooking, apart from natural talent, the only thing you need to do is practice more and become familiar with the control of heat and seasonings.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and the winery became even busier. The grapes in the mountains ripened in large quantities. Fortunately, Xu Qinyu did not have to worry about these. Mrs. Lu asked the women nearby to go to the mountains to help pick wild grapes, then wash and dry them. She still took time to go there at noon every day to adjust the ratio of wild grapes to rock sugar, and then asked others to help fill the jars and seal them.

Tao Qi and his two companions also went up the mountain to pick grapes every day.

In addition to grapes, there are also hawthorns. If the three of them come across other sweet wild fruits, they will pick them and send them to Xu's.

Even though Miss Xu didn't want these wild fruits, they still wanted to send them to her so that she could taste them.

There are still many sweet wild fruits in the mountains.

Xu Qinyu saw that the dried hawthorns were enough to last until next summer, so she asked Tao Qi and the others to pick a little more every day, just enough for the restaurant to stir-fry the hawthorns and make hawthorn drinks.

Going to the mountains to pick wild grapes, if you are diligent, you can earn dozens of cents a day. This money is just a quick buck. In a month at most, most of the wild grapes in the mountains will have been picked.

The recipe for making wine is not difficult, it is even very simple, and the process is also extremely simple.

Therefore, many people have some ideas in their minds.

They already knew that this wine was expensive. The wine brewed by Miss Xu before cost one or two taels of silver per bottle, and there was about one kilogram in one bottle. In addition, they watched how wine was brewed all day long, and they could roughly estimate the ratio of grapes to sugar with the naked eye, so they naturally thought that brewing wine was very simple.

Two women in Otani Village came up with an idea and secretly asked their family members to go to the mountain to pick some grapes and buy some candy.

After washing and drying the grapes, they also learned to do as they did in the winery, placing the grapes and sugar in a wine jar and sealing it up. Because it was their first time, they did not dare to try too much, but a wine jar could hold at least several dozen kilograms. The grapes were free, and the sugar cost almost two taels of silver. They thought that as long as they could make wine, this jar of wine could be sold cheaper, even if it was a few hundred coins. It would be worth at least ten or twenty taels of silver, which was really a great profit.

So they waited for the wine to ferment.

Mrs. Lu also found out about this two days later. She didn't say much, but simply paid the two women their wages and let them leave.

The two were still a little unconvinced and asked Mrs. Lu, "Why did you dismiss us? Did we not do our job well? Or were we just being lazy?"

Mrs. Lu asked them directly whether they had secretly learned the wine-making method from the winery and whether they were making their own wine at home.

The two women argued, "Who learned this secretly? Winemaking is actually very simple. You can't stop others from making wine just because you make a lot and open a winery, right?"

"Is it that simple?" Mrs. Lu smiled and said nothing more. "In that case, you can go to the mountains to pick more grapes and bring them back to make wine, earning more money. Naturally, you won't look down on the wages of ten cents for these few days."

In the end, the two women just left muttering to themselves.

After the two left, Madam Lu stood in the winery and said calmly, "The method of making wine is indeed simple, and you can learn it at a glance. If you have other ideas and don't care about the dozens of coins you have to spend every day picking grapes, you can also go to the mountains to pick grapes yourself, buy some sugar and make your own wine. I won't stop you, but the winery will definitely not let you continue to work at this time every year. Although you only work for two months a year and earn three or four taels of silver, you should think it through."

Some people are still tempted because the profit from this wine is so huge that it is hard not to be tempted.

But most of them were very simple women, who said, "Boss, we won't leave, we will work hard for you."

There were also some smart people who knew that although brewing wine looked simple, it was definitely not as simple as it seemed, otherwise Xu's boss would not have made the trip every day. They were afraid that there would be problems with the wine brewing by the two women this time.

Seeing that no one was willing to leave, a few people who were a little interested gave up the idea and decided to wait and see how the wine the two women brewed tasted. If it tasted good and could be sold at a high price, they would brew the same wine next year.