The rise of the poor

"My lord, the menu for the victory banquet has been prepared. As you instructed, it includes delicacies from land and sea, as well as birds and beasts. Since Lord Hu is from Jixi, Anhui, I have also arranged a dish from his hometown for him—stinky mandarin fish. I guarantee that Lord Hu will taste the flavor of his hometown in one bite. Please review it, my lord."

Just as Zhao Wenhua was laughing in exasperation and the manager was cowering like a quail, the chubby head chef from the kitchen came in with a list to take credit.

This menu took him a lot of brainpower to come up with. It was luxurious yet down-to-earth, not only delicious but also showing Zhao Wenhua's special care for Hu Zongxian, even including stinky mandarin fish.

Speaking of which, stinky mandarin fish is not easy to make. The ingredients are not easy to obtain. He went to great lengths to find a chef from Huizhou all over the city and only managed to get five stinky mandarin fish. It smells stinky but tastes delicious and has a unique flavor.

The portly head chef, with a hunched back, handed the celebratory banquet menu to Zhao Wenhua for review, his hands clasped in a gesture of self-satisfaction.

Snapped!
Zhao Wenhua took the menu, angrily crumpled it into a ball, and slammed it hard onto the fat chef's face.

The chubby chef was so shocked by the attack that he questioned his existence, his brain went blank, and his small eyes revealed a foolish and bewildered look.

What's going on?!
What did I do wrong?!
What happened?! What's wrong with the master?! Why is he suddenly so angry with me?!

"A menu is not worth bothering me with. My energy is devoted to important national affairs, not to such culinary matters! Can't you see I'm busy with important national affairs? Get out of here!"

Zhao Wenhua, his face dark, pointed to the door and berated the fat chef, telling him to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Yes, yes, it's all because this servant was blind and disturbed the master's important military and national affairs." The fat head chef looked aggrieved and hurt, but to be able to become the head chef in Zhao Wenhua's mansion, he was very savvy in the ways of the world. He nodded and bowed and scurried out.

After he rolled out of the study, he was completely numb and bewildered. What had happened? Half an hour ago, Zhao Wenhua had specifically instructed him to prepare a celebration banquet and make Hu Zongxian realize his special favor from the banquet. He also specifically emphasized that the fat chef should prepare the menu and give it to him for review.

What? Only half an hour has passed, and the master has already forgotten what he said?!

The chubby chef's brain cells were completely exhausted, and he still couldn't figure out what was going on! Why was the master acting like this!

Has my embezzlement of kitchen procurement funds been exposed?!
That shouldn't be the case. Although I embezzled several thousand taels of silver from the kitchen, I made sure to settle every single transaction.

For example, the stinky mandarin fish I purchased this time cost fifty taels of silver per fish. I made a profit of forty taels of silver, but my receipt says it's for fifty taels of silver, and it has the signature and fingerprint of the chef from Huizhou on it.

I even gave the Huizhou chef a five-tael kickback, not to mention that the Huizhou chef was so happy to have made contact with me that he almost called me "Dad"!

He couldn't possibly have reported me!

Why is that?! Could it be that that brat Xing'er reported me for molesting her?! No way! Although she bit me a few times in the kitchen, she got a health-preserving recipe from me. It was all consensual. The recipe is said to be a folk remedy from the palace. Ever since she got the recipe, Aunt Liu's breasts have gotten bigger and bigger, and the master has been going to Aunt Liu's place more often. The effect is very good! She's even been promoted to a first-class head maid in Aunt Liu's household. What benefit would she get from reporting me?! If she reports me, she can forget about staying in the back courtyard anymore. The back courtyard can't tolerate someone as unclean as her.

Why is that?!

The fat chef was completely baffled and couldn't figure it out no matter what he did. But he couldn't afford not to find out the reason, otherwise he might offend the master again and not even know how he died!

Suddenly, he thought of the steward in the study, had an idea, and walked to the only way from the study to the front yard, waiting at the corner.

Soon, after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the chubby chef saw the steward walking towards him, wiping sweat from his brow in the cold wind.

"brother!"

The portly chef reached out and grabbed the steward's hand, pulling him over.

"what?!"

The manager had barely opened his mouth when the fat head chef covered it, saying, "Brother, it's me, Chef Wang."

"Holy crap, Fatty Wang, you scared me to death! I was already terrified, and then you pulled this on!"

The manager breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was the fat head chef, and as soon as his mouth was free, he started cursing.

He was cowering there like a quail, I was so worried, but thankfully he came out of the study unharmed.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, my dear brother, it's all my fault for making you frightened. This is just a small token of my respect, to help you calm down." The fat chef took out a fifty-tael silver note from his pocket, thought for a moment, and then took out another fifty-tael silver note from his sleeve, stacking the two together and stuffing them into the steward's hand.

The manager glanced at the two fifty-tael silver notes in his hand and immediately beamed with joy. "Oh dear, we're brothers, and you're still doing this? Don't do it again, don't do it again, really, you're being too polite."

As the manager spoke, he stuffed the two silver notes into his pocket and carefully put them away. Then, he looked at the fat chef and became enthusiastic.

"Brother, I have a favor to ask of you," the chubby chef said ingratiatingly.

"I know, you want to ask why the master was angry with you, right?" The steward knew what he wanted to ask just by looking at the fat chef.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what you wanted to ask, brother. No wonder you're in charge, Zhang-ge." The chubby head chef nodded repeatedly, leaned closer to the manager, and whispered for guidance, "The master clearly instructed me to wait until I finished drafting the menu and then show it to him. I don't know how I offended him. Please teach me, Zhang-ge, so that I don't ignorantly offend the master again and cause you trouble."

"Let me tell you, you can put your victory celebration on hold. Don't take the initiative to arrange it unless the master gives the order."

The steward whispered.

"Huh? Why?" The chubby chef looked surprised.

"Why else? What's the point of this celebration banquet?" the steward asked the portly head chef.

"What's the point of a celebration banquet if not to celebrate a victory?" the chubby chef blurted out.

"So, there's no credit to be made, are we still going to celebrate?" The steward looked at the plump head chef, lowered his voice, and asked casually.

"Huh?!" The chubby chef gaped in astonishment.

"Hu Zongxian suffered a major defeat at the front, losing two battles in a row," the steward lowered his voice, then warned, "Don't spread this around. Just keep it to yourself!"

"Ah!? I see, no wonder, no wonder, thank you, Brother Zhang, I understand now. Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut." The chubby chef suddenly realized. (End of Chapter)