Embarrassed, Xu Yuehuai tossed the half-finished embroidery into the drawer next to her, then sat up straight. She was a little surprised to see that it was A Qi who walked in.
"do what?"
“Grandma,” Ah Qi leaned closer to her, “Grandma, don’t you find it strange? Brother Qi is so powerful, he can practically get whatever he wants in the capital.”
Xu Yuehuai naturally found it strange, but Qi Guze had his own explanation.
Xu Yuehuai looked at Aqi and said, "He's an official. How could an official not have connections and abilities? Anyway, we just shouldn't accept help for nothing."
"I'm afraid that Grandma will never be able to repay the debt."
"How could that be? We'll keep working hard and become even more powerful in the future. Let's steadily build ourselves into the best people in the capital." Xu Yuehuai clenched her fist.
The other person laughed. "Should I investigate?"
So it turns out Ah Qi was trying to follow Qi Gu Ze.
In fact, Ah Qi has recently felt that someone is following him. He finds it very strange. This morning, he even set a trap. He deliberately walked into a small alley, but every time Ah Qi turned around, the spy disappeared.
As for who the voyeur is and where they are hiding, that remains to be seen.
Could it be that he's just being paranoid?
"He's our friend, you absolutely can't do this. Alright, go and get some rest." Ah Qi looked dejected and could only turn and leave.
Seeing Ah Qi close the door, Xu Yuehuai seemed to remember something.
"Seven, there's something I need you to investigate..."
She asked Ah Qi to investigate Jiang Mingfu and the Mingfu Hotel. It was really strange. Where did Jiang Mingfu get the money to open a hotel?
Ah Qi nodded happily and promised to give an answer soon.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, someone from Abao Tower delivered a letter, politely inviting Xu Yuehuai and the others to participate in the competition, and saying that they could completely "coward" to avoid "making a fool of themselves in public".
Xu Yuehuai sneered; naturally, she wouldn't cower like a coward.
When I arrived at the venue, it was already packed with people.
It's unclear whether Zhang Baolong went door-to-door inviting people to participate, but the venue was already packed with people, and the area outside was even more crowded. There were elderly people selling tea and tea leaves, and groups of people selling melon seeds. This competition has boosted the local economy.
"Excuse me, hot water, please make way."
Xu Yuehuai grabbed his tools and headed towards the venue. When everyone heard that there was "boiling water," they hurriedly dodged away, and Xu Yuehuai was pushed forward.
In that instant, the slicing knife inside the bamboo basket vanished.
The place was packed with people. As soon as Xu Yuehuai turned around, a group of people, half-crazy, swarmed around her. She wiped her sweat and was about to tell Zhou Wan to go home and prepare a slicing knife when Zhou Wan was pushed away by the crowd.
At this moment, Xu Yuehuai had no choice but to bite the bullet and go on stage.
Today's match is no small matter; even the county magistrate has been alerted.
The arrival of the officials brought a sense of solemnity to the people.
The old man first gave a series of introductions, such as how he wanted to share the joy with the people and how he was invited to be a judge here. Someone pointed to the local official.
"Lord Zhu is a true gourmand, and having him as a judge would further enhance the fairness of the process."
"Over there, you can see that Bai Xiaosheng from Yuelou has also arrived."
The Moon Pavilion is the most famous restaurant by the moat. It is famous for three things: first, its dishes are second to none and quite expensive.
Even though the famous dishes are very expensive, people still flock to eat them.
Secondly, the fruit and flower tea at Yue Lou is delicious. No one knows how it is made, but it is said that even the Emperor himself enjoys drinking tea at Yue Lou when he travels incognito.
The third thing that made Yue Lou famous was Bai Xiaosheng. He was a gourmet and would invite anyone who opened a restaurant to taste their food. In the local community, Bai Xiaosheng ranked restaurants into different grades.
At first, people thought that Bai Xiaosheng would be biased and would decide the quality based on his own taste.
But it was soon discovered that the ranking list set by Bai Xiaosheng was flawless. Gradually, Bai Xiaosheng became the most powerful judge in the culinary world. He never judged food based on kinship or established brand.
Someone once bribed him with five hundred taels of silver to spread the word about his shop, but all he got in return was a wry smile.
There was another judge, the one sitting first on the judges' panel, who was Wei Yixiao from the Imperial Food Bureau.
As for the other two, the last one was a dirty old beggar. The old beggar was holding a wine gourd and pouring himself a drink. It seemed that nothing could spoil his interest, and it seemed that nothing that happened in the outside world had anything to do with him. The world is vast and the days are long.
As for the last judge, she was a little girl who was eleven or twelve years old.
It is said that this little girl can tell how the dish was made just by tasting it.
He was nicknamed "Demon Eater".
Everyone took their places.
The referee was impartial and incorruptible.
The crowd outside was shoulder to shoulder, a sea of people.
Xu Yuehuai arrived, and so did his support team. Chun Sanniang looked at this group of opponents and felt a real headache coming on. She couldn't help but feel a cold sweat for Xu Yuehuai.
On the contrary, Xu Yuehuai himself remained calm and unmoved.
In a short while, the contestants arrived at their designated positions according to the signs.
The magistrate waved his hand, and the crowd immediately fell silent.
In that solemn silence, the master then began to ramble on and on, starting with the long history of the competition, before finally getting to the specific events of the competition.
"Today, the competition is nothing more than knife skills and other skills. As for cooking, we will start tomorrow. If any of you stand out, I will definitely commend you and recommend you to the Imperial Kitchen and the court. In the future, you will have your time to rise to prominence."
The old man then changed the subject.
"But if you lose, you will have to do whatever the winner wants you to do. I will handle this matter impartially, and you all need to understand that."
The group exchanged bewildered glances and could only nod.
Soon someone delivered the items.
In front of me were things like cucumbers and potatoes.
Someone lit incense.
Everyone was sweating profusely. Xu Yuehuai glanced at the cook next to her. The woman was very fast and could slice potatoes as thin as cicada wings, but she had trouble slicing cucumbers.
After all, cucumbers have seeds inside.
The audience was captivated by the intense competition.
But everyone quickly noticed that Xu Yuehuai remained unmoved. Aqi became anxious and scratched his head, saying, "Oh dear, what's wrong with Grandma? Can someone remind her?"
Xu Yuehuai stared at the table as if in deep meditation.
The works of the other people have gradually emerged.
Inside the carriage not far away, Qi Guze also felt curious, "This is strange, what is she doing?"
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