The achievement of Ye Jiayao challenging a Sichuan cuisine master with a Mapo tofu dish pushed her once again into the limelight after a group of busybodies spiced up the story and spread it around. Her popularity surpassed all the contestants in the culinary competition.

Some were grateful that this woman was married, otherwise, there would be one more strong competitor in the competition.

Some found it a pity that she got married so early. She would’ve made the cooking competition more interesting.

And then there were some who were vexed, namely Ye Ning, Ye Jinrong, and Princess Liu Li.

Ye Jinrong was so frustrated at Jinxuan’s growing popularity. She’s already married, why couldn’t she just settle down?

Wei Liujiang asked his family for some money to start his business. He heard that many people in Jin Ling collects precious stones and then start a shop to sell them. Unfortunately, he fell into a scam and lost tens of thousands of silvers. He tried to argue and get his money back but he only ended up badly beaten and bruised that he was forced to rest at home for a few days.

Mu Qi could not bear to see him like this further and pleaded with Assistant Minister Mu to give him a business doing oil and water. Coincidentally, the Ministry of Works was doing irrigation projects along the river from Jin Ling to Yang Zhou so if he does it well, the oil and water business would be quite profitable. It took Assistant Manager Mu quite some effort to help him get the contractual rights to the project.

Wei Liujiang didn’t find the title ‘chief labor contractor’ nice since it was not as elegant as a ‘precious stone collector’. However, he caved under the pressure from both his wife and his mother-in-law and took the job unwillingly.

On the 20th day of the 10th month, the long-awaited 5-day culinary competition officially began.

The first day of the competition was the test of basics.

Because Zhong Xiang was taking part in the pastry category, Ye Jiayao was more focused on pastries.

There’s a total of 96 contestants in the pastry category and half of them were from Shan Xi, a region famous for its pastries. These contestants were all filled with pride and confidence, as though they were sure to get the top three placings.

The assessment was wrapping dumplings. Dumplings are a popular pastry dish in both the north and south. A little dumpling encompasses a whole lot of basics necessary in making food from flour, i.e, making the dough, kneading the dough, rubbing into strips, dividing into portions, making of the skin, wrapping the fillings, many others.

All the ingredients were standardized. The amount of flour and water provided was the same and so were the tools for making the dumplings. No added seasonings were allowed – just purely dumpling-making.

Ye Jiayao brought Jiang Yue and Wang Mingde to watch the competition with her.

The more Wang Mingde watch the skillful techniques of the other contestants, the more nervous she got. “Second Young Mistress, do you think Brother Xiang can make it to the semifinals?”

Ye Jiayao’s brows knitted slightly. Although Zhong Xiang’s basics were not bad, he was up against some pretty powerful master chefs here. It will all depend on the final step which is shaping the dumpling. Hopefully, he could emerge successful with his skills.

Before the competition, they prepared various new pastries, tri-colored dragon’s beard noodles, gradual color-changing broad noodles, mandarin ducks steamed dumplings, rose steamed dumplings, butterfly steamed dumplings, and various buns and pastries.

No one expected the competition format to be like this. They couldn’t add their own ideas to the dumpling so it will all just boil down to shaping the dumplings.

Everyone’s hands were nimble as they divided the dough strip into 22 portions according to the rules. Staffs brought a plate over and took a portion from everyone, placing it according to the contestant numbers.

After they made the dumpling skin, one of the skin is taken again.

Which meant that every step was a vital part of the judging.

“They are adding the filling,” Jiang Yue commented, twisting the handkerchief in her hands nervously.

Ye Jiayao started to walk along the cordoned line, from the first row to the last. Her expression relaxing with each step, a slight smile starting to form on her lips.

When she returned joined her group again, Wang Mingde asked, “Second Young Mistress, what did you see?

She answered with conviction, “Zhong Xiang can win this.”

Most of the contestants were using the traditional dumpling-wrapping method, failing to display originality.

Seeing how certain the Second Young Mistress was, Wang Mingde and Jiang Yue began to calm down a little.

Zhong Xiang completed the task a little later compared to the rest. After all, the butterfly dumpling was more exquisite and complicated to make compared to a traditional dumpling.

This time, the dumplings were not taken away. Instead, the five judges would go over to take a look in a row, nodding their heads if they thought that the shape is fine enough. Afterward, a staff following behind them would take the dumpling away. The ones remaining were those who were eliminated.

It was without question that Zhong Xiang’s butterfly dumpling was very eye-catching. The judges stopped over in front of his table for the longest time, even asking him some questions.

Because they were too far away, they could not see the judges’ expressions and could not hear what they said. The only thing they saw was Zhong Xiang’s butterfly dumpling being taken away.

Jiang Yue clapped her hands merrily, saying, “They took it away! There’s hope for him.”

The five judges gathered around the front desk, surrounding the contestants’ dumplings, pointing and discussing for an incense stick’s time.

Finally, they announced the names of the chefs that qualified for the semifinals.

Ye Jiayao and her friends listened carefully. There were a total of 36 people and Zhong Xiang’s name was announced at the fifth place.

Ye Jiayao nodded in satisfaction.

Jiang Yue, however, was unconvinced. “I think Brother Xiang did the best. Why is he in the fifth place?”

Ye Jiayao smiled patiently at her and explained, “This is comprehensive judging, it is not merely based on the outer form. Zhong Xiang’s placing has already leveraged on the dumpling’s outer appearance. We have to be content, being able to move through the subsequent rounds is the main point.”

Zhong Xiang was extremely happy after winning his first war. When he got to the Second Young Mistress, he cupped his fist in his hand and said, “Second Young Mistress, I am glad to have not disgraced you.”

Ye Jiayao beamed at him proudly. “Congratulations in passing your first round! However, the competition later would be tougher so you better return and prepare with Wang Mingde.”

The pastry category ended early, but on the other side, the cooking category has just started to wrap up. Ye Jiayao went over there to wait for the announcement of the winners.

As expected, Lu Xiaotian, Duan Qilin, Niu Baoshun, and Zheng Sanduo all passed to the next round. Among the 48 winners, Jin Ling’s head chefs took up eight positions, which is not a bad result.

Back at the Jing An Marquis’ residence, she met the Manager Lin Kun who told her that the small kitchen had been finished today and Manager Zhong was currently inspecting the work.

Ye Jiayao rushing back to her courtyard excitedly.

A few workers were there knocking down the wall, shifting the bricks out.

“Second Young Mistress, please wait for a while. This place is quite messy and I don’t want you to injure yourself,” Manager Zhong cautioned.

“Don’t worry about me!”

Ye Jiayao passed through the debris carefully, entering the kitchen.

This kitchen was her territory, whether or not her family and business can both reap harvest would largely depend on this little kitchen. She has to personally inspect the place.

This stove was not the same as the usual ones as it was separated into from the furnace. There’s a big stove for steaming and two small stoves for cooking. The streamlined design made the stove unique, fashionable, and space-saving.

Ye Jiayao nodded in approval, extremely satisfied with how the mason has materialized her proposal wonderfully.

“How much is it in total?” Ye Jiayao asked.

Manager Zhong replied, “Madame said that all expenses would be taken from the family money.”

“I already said that I’ll pay for this myself!” Ye Jiayao knew that if Qiao found out about that, she’s just gonna pout and make more snide remarks against her.

Xia You’s approval of her little kitchen has already brought about many whinings from Sister Qiao. Now that Auntie Jiang and Jiang Yue has formed some relationships with the people around the residence, she was more in tune with the gossips around the place. She had heard whispers about Xia You being biased, Jinxuan being a suck-up, and how the construction of her small kitchen was just another plot to challenge Liu Li…

Qiao’s life must be either really boring or miserable for her to come up with all this stuff.

With her insistence, Manager Zhao finally relented and said, “The material fees plus labor fees totals up to 467 silvers.”

Ye Jiayao ordered Jiang Yue, “Bring 500 silvers over here. Consider the excess as tips for the mason and his workers.”

The mason was extremely grateful for the Second Young Mistress’ generosity. Not a lot of rich people bother to give them tips. He was definitely lucky to be working with this kind of employer.

Everyone worked doubly hard after getting their reward, and in no time, the wall was torn down and the courtyard was cleaned and tidied up.

Ye Jiayao wanted to get the cookware done immediately at the ironware street, but Cai Feng, Xia You’s servant, told her that the Madame was asking for her.

When she got to Xia You’s room, Qiao was already there.

Xia You started, “Chunfeng’s wedding day is approaching and the renovation at the courtyard is almost complete with only some potted plants as decorations left. I will leave this matter to Ming Xiu to settle tomorrow. Go take out a thousand silvers from the family expenses tomorrow and buy some pretty-looking peonies from the peony nursery outside town and some other flowers as well. Liu Li likes bright colors.”

Qiao smiled and swore, “Don’t worry, Mother, I will only choose the prettiest flowers.”

Xia You gave her a slight smile, not assured at all. She was sure that she would just pocket some silvers for herself.

“Jinxuan, I know that you are busy with the culinary competition in the next few days. However, you still have to get the things you need ready. Don’t let this affect the wedding,” Xia You reminded Ye Jinxuan.

Ye Jiayao replied “I have all the tools and cutleries ready, it would be delivered in the next few days. All the necessary ingredients are also set. The culinary competition ends on the 25th and the wedding is on the 28th, which gives us three days of preparation. It wouldn’t be a problem at all, Mother.”

“You have to put in your 120% in this matter.”

Qiao chimed in, “If Sister-in-law needs help, let me know. I can help you get whatever you need to buy.”

Ye Jiayao tried to give her a grateful smile. As if I would trust anything that came from you. “Thank you for your offer, but my staff are used to doing private feasts and are very experienced. They can handle it.”

“I almost forgot that you are in charge of the Heavenly Residence!” Qiao said, a bit embarrassed. She then turned to Xia You and bragged, “My family just released a new kind of cloth that is exceptionally exquisite. There are only a total of three bales produced and it is extremely expensive. I got a bright red one from my family and it would be perfect for decorating Third Sister-in-law’s wedding room.”

Xia You responded, “You are very considerate. I am sure Liu Li would love your wedding gift.”

Qiao choked on her spit. Didn’t they already prepare a wedding gift? The pair of pastel-colored vase decorated with children playing with lotus, an eight-fortune quilt, and eight bales of top quality cloth are more than enough. The cloth that she was talking about cost 400 silvers a bale! She couldn’t give that away for free without suffering a great loss!