Ch 109: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

The news that the Mid-Autumn palace banquet would feature chrysanthemum hotpot somehow spread from the inner court to the streets, causing a frenzy at Heguang Pavilion, where securing a seat became nearly impossible.

Seats in the second-floor private rooms became so coveted that rumors spread of people offering high prices to purchase reservations. If someone was willing to give up their pre-booked spot, they could easily make a few taels of silver by reselling it.

When Qin Xia heard about this, he found it both amusing and surprising. He had never imagined his restaurant would help spark a “scalping business” in Dayong.

To prevent people from exploiting this situation for profit, Qin Xia introduced a new policy requiring real-name reservations. On the day of the banquet, if the person who made the reservation or their immediate family didn’t show up, they wouldn’t be allowed inside.

Of course, he knew that where there’s a policy, there are always ways to circumvent it. If someone wanted to specialize in reselling seats, it would be hard to completely stop them. But he hoped this would at least deter some and help protect the reputation of Heguang Pavilion.

This single chrysanthemum hotpot had enriched multiple groups of people, from the coppersmiths who made the pots to the flower farmers selling chrysanthemums and the charcoal sellers supplying the fire.

The dish’s popularity spread throughout the city, and as expected, other restaurants began to imitate it. Establishments like Jixian Tower and Dongfu Lou, which prided themselves on maintaining their reputation, couldn’t simply copy the dish, so they introduced their own variations. Jixian Tower offered a nourishing fish maw hotpot, while Dongfu Lou served a black-boned chicken herbal hotpot.

Other more ordinary eateries were less sophisticated, brazenly putting “chrysanthemum hotpot” on their walls. Some diners, willing to settle for less, tried these imitations, but anyone who had tasted the authentic dish could easily tell the difference. The imitations had broths that were either too cloudy or too greasy, and the ingredients lacked harmony. Even the chrysanthemums used lacked the delicate fragrance of the original.

Everyone in the city knew that the young boss of Heguang Pavilion, though not yet thirty, was a culinary genius, blending the best elements of various regional cuisines. Yet no one could figure out where he had trained.

Like many of his signature dishes, the chrysanthemum hotpot seemed easy to replicate but was impossible to truly master. The secret lay in the chef’s own skills.

Qin Xia, being both the head chef and the owner, was someone no one could poach. It didn’t take long before people set their sights on hiring Gao Yang instead.

Jixian Tower was the first to make a move. Backed by a marquis’s estate, they had watched their biggest rival, Taiping Pavilion, shut down, leaving their owner, Master Qi, grinning for days.

Heguang Pavilion had never been on his radar. After all, they catered to very different clientele. Heguang Pavilion was located in the bustling southern city, in a humble corner. Though it had private rooms, the most affordable dish in its ground-floor dining hall could be ordered for just a few coins.

In contrast, Jixian Tower prided itself on attracting scholars and aristocrats, boasting that “only the learned and refined dined here.” What made them most proud was that the former emperor once dined there in disguise. To this day, the three signature dishes on their menu were the emperor’s favorites: honey-braised bear paw, red-stewed deer tendon, and peony turtle skirt.

Bear paws, known for their rarity and the fierceness of the wild bears from which they came, were exceedingly expensive. Deer tendons, sourced exclusively from sika deer, were tough and challenging to cook, yet Jixian Tower’s chefs could make them melt in your mouth. The turtle skirt, taken from the soft edge of a turtle’s shell, required ten premium turtles just to make a single dish. It was plated to resemble a blooming peony.

Any one of these dishes cost as much as an entire meal at Heguang Pavilion.

However, when Master Qi heard that the chrysanthemum hotpot had been served at the imperial table, he could no longer sit still.

He had long heard rumors that Qin Xia had connections with the Eastern Palace and even the city’s military patrol office. These connections must have helped him bring his recipe to the imperial palace and curry favor. Clearly, this Qin Xia wasn’t just a talented chef; he was also a savvy businessman.

If this continued, who was to say that Heguang Pavilion wouldn’t become the next Taiping Pavilion?

Master Qi weighed Qin Xia’s influence and felt that if he managed to lure Gao Yang away with money, it would be a mutually agreeable deal.

When it came to “connections,” Jixian Tower was certainly not lacking either.

Of course, Master Qi couldn’t personally handle the matter of poaching talent, so he hired a well-known headhunter in the capital to do the job. Earlier, he had tried to inquire about Gao Yang’s salary but couldn’t find out, so he estimated high, offering one hundred taels of silver per year.

He was confident that this price exceeded what Heguang Pavilion was paying, and if Gao Yang wanted to negotiate for more, he had room to increase it by five more taels.

Master Qi was pleased with his plan. If Gao Yang joined Jixian Tower, he would have at least half of Heguang Pavilion’s culinary expertise. With this addition, and relying on Jixian Tower’s long-standing reputation in the capital, neither Heguang Pavilion nor Dongfu Lou could pose any real threat.

In the past, the three major restaurants in the capital competed fiercely, but after this, Jixian Tower would undoubtedly take the lead!

To his dismay, the headhunter returned after his first attempt with a long face, reporting that Dongfu Lou had also sent a representative to recruit Gao Yang, offering one hundred and twenty taels of silver.

This news made Master Qi jump to his feet, nearly flinging the walnut he had been turning in his hands.

“One hundred and twenty taels for a chef? Has that Mao Laosan gone mad?”

Although Gao Yang seemed highly sought after now, he was ultimately just a protégé of Qin Xia. Offering him one hundred taels was already more than generous, enough to make Gao Yang’s ancestors smile from their graves. Yet Mao Laosan was making such a lavish offer!

Mao Laosan was the owner of Dongfu Lou and had been at odds with Master Qi for many years.

“Well, Jixian Tower is no worse off than that! If he offers one hundred and twenty taels, I’ll offer one hundred and thirty!” Master Qi declared.

The manager of Jixian Tower, who was standing beside him, was taken aback. The head chef of Jixian Tower, Master Liu, only earned ten taels of silver per month—one hundred and twenty taels a year. If they brought in a new chef, who was younger than Liu, and gave him an even higher salary, wouldn’t it cause a major uproar and chaos?

But Master Qi waved off the concerns, dismissing the manager’s worries. “This matter will stay between us. No one in the restaurant is allowed to discuss salaries anyway. And if needed, I’ll find an excuse later to give Old Liu a small raise. Problem solved.”

Seeing that Master Qi was determined, the manager reluctantly dropped the issue, silently hoping that the persuasive man in front of him could at least keep his mouth shut.

Little did they know, the loyalty of Gao Yang’s family to Qin Xia was worth more than any amount of silver, and no money could sway him.

The headhunter finally managed to “coincidentally” run into Gao Yang on the street as he was out shopping, inviting him to a roadside teahouse to talk.

The man was a silver-tongued orator, speaking so fervently he was nearly out of breath. Yet, Gao Yang simply lifted his eyes and said, “I appreciate your master’s interest in me, but I have a family to take care of, and I don’t mind telling you, whoever offers the highest salary is where I’ll go.”

The headhunter was momentarily stunned.

Could he have been misinformed? The price he quoted was already ten taels higher than Dongfu Lou’s offer, so why wasn’t the chef satisfied?

Gao Yang gulped down a cup of tea and, without holding back, continued, “Mao Laoye at Dongfu Lou has offered me one hundred and thirty taels a year. Just a portion of that is enough to let my wife live comfortably back home. I’m afraid your trip was in vain, so let me cover the tea. Do let Master Qi know on my behalf.”

With that, he stood up to leave.

The headhunter panicked and quickly grabbed his arm.

Despite relying on his eloquence for a living, every profession has its own rules. The headhunter was well-known, and he prided himself on being able to crack even the toughest nuts. Having been hired by Master Qi, he couldn’t afford to fail a second time after the first attempt had fallen through, or his reputation would be tarnished.

He managed to make Gao Yang sit back down, pouring more tea with a friendly smile. “Gao, no need to rush off. This all boils down to money, right? You’re not from here, so you might not know this: though Master Mao of Dongfu Lou seems generous, he’s not easy to deal with. Do you know how many staff have left Dongfu Lou in recent years? If you don’t believe me, just ask around.”

Seeing Gao Yang’s interest piqued, he pressed on.

“Let me tell you, Master Mao can’t compare to Master Qi. Master Qi treasures talent, always turning his walnuts in hand like a serene Buddha, and he’s known for treating his staff generously. Just look at the New Year’s bonuses—silver ingots for everyone!”

At this point, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and made a bold promise.

“Gao, how about this? I’ll up the offer by ten more taels—one hundred and forty taels. If you agree, I guarantee Master Qi can afford it. Forget about Dongfu Lou. You can just pack your bags and head to Jixian Tower as the new head chef!”

Jixian Tower already had a head chef, but the headhunter was desperate, willing to say anything true or not.

Gao Yang, acting as if money was the only thing that mattered, nodded and said that one hundred and forty taels didn’t sound good enough—he needed a bit more to seal the deal.

Internally cursing him for being so greedy, the persuader kept up his friendly facade, patting his chest and promising to get the deal done.

After the headhunter left, Gao Yang brought his groceries back to Heguang Pavilion.

Qin Xia had been showing two kitchen helpers how to crack crabs to prepare the first batch of crab roe sauce for the year. When Gao Yang returned, Qin Xia led him upstairs.

They entered a private room at the far end of the second floor, a room usually kept locked and reserved for Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque’s personal use.

Once inside, Gao Yang recounted every detail of the conversation with the persuader, leaving nothing out.

Qin Xia couldn’t help but laugh. “With this, they’ll start bidding against each other, like dogs fighting over scraps.”

He idly toyed with the abacus on the table. This particular abacus was a gift from Yu Jiuque, with its frame made of redwood and bamboo crafted from fragrant sandalwood, leaving a lingering scent on the hands.

“Those two restaurants may seem prosperous with their lavish performances, but when it comes to the food, it’s all a facade. If they keep running things this way, it’s only natural that others will come in and take a share of their business.”

Qin Xia knew full well that both Jixian Tower and Dongfu Lou, aware of their internal decline, had turned to shady tactics once Heguang Pavilion emerged as a serious contender.

Gao Yang, who had been hearing about the happenings in the capital, agreed deeply with Qin Xia.

“Especially with Jixian Tower. I’ve heard that their ingredients are all about being exotic. They don’t just use fish meat in their hotpots but only fish lips. As for bear paws, deer tendons, and camel humps, those are nothing. They even served fresh monkey brains in the past. But after scaring a noblewoman into fainting, the officials got involved and condemned the practice. Since then, they stopped serving such cruel dishes in public, though who knows what happens behind closed doors.”

Qin Xia shook his head.

“I’ve heard about their monkey brain dish too. People say it’s not even as tasty as pig brains, but it’s the gruesome process that attracts attention.”

Gao Yang curled his lip.

“In my opinion, these nobles in the capital just have too much money.”

Why else would they insist on cracking open monkey skulls instead of enjoying good fish and meat? Back in Qinan County, no one had ever heard of such absurdities!

In any case, secretly poaching talent was never an honorable thing to do. Qin Xia had instructed Gao Yang to purposely raise the bidding price with the headhunter to make things difficult for them.

Since they had tried to trouble him, Qin Xia didn’t mind turning the tables.

…

A few days later, Master Chef Liu at Jixian Tower “accidentally” found out that the owner and manager had been secretly looking for a new chef, offering a higher wage than his and intending to make the newcomer the head chef right away.

Feeling that his years of loyalty to Jixian Tower had gone to waste, he threw down his spatula early one morning and spat out three firm words: “I quit!”

As fate would have it, on the very day Master Liu staged his walkout, the restaurant had a party of important guests who had specifically ordered his signature fish lip hotpot and the “peony skirt” dish. In a panic, the manager had no choice but to let an apprentice handle the cooking. The fish lip hotpot turned out passable, but the peony skirt dish was a disaster—so tough it couldn’t be chewed. The infuriated guests slammed down their chopsticks and stormed out.

Losing such important patrons, Master Qi flew into a rage and took it out on Master Liu. The two had a heated argument and parted ways.

Seizing the opportunity, sly old Master Mao of Dongfu Lou swiftly moved in, quietly paying to lure Master Liu over, just as their aging head chef was preparing for retirement back to his hometown.

Master Qi was livid, calculating that in the end, only his restaurant had lost out.

He was so upset he fell ill, though that’s a story for another time.

This whole incident of chefs being poached became a long-running joke in the capital’s restaurant scene.

Meanwhile, Heguang Pavilion managed to stay out of the mess, with business booming as usual.

On Mid-Autumn Festival day, the restaurant closed early, and Qin Xia returned home to spend the holiday with his husband, who was on leave.

The normally understated Grand Attendant’s residence was beautifully decorated for the occasion, with lanterns and flowers illuminating the pathways, creating a scene as bright as the moon itself.

In the kitchen, everyone was on high alert, helping their master prepare a heartwarming Mid-Autumn feast for the night ahead.