Chapter 4 Going Out of Business
Early in the morning, the chefs who came downstairs stretched themselves, chatted and walked to the front door, ready to start their day's work.

"Yesterday a little brother came to ask me to be his disciple. I don't know if he succeeded."

"I don't think it will succeed. Given Shaoan's temper, can he tolerate a new junior fellow apprentice?"

"That's true. Alas, Shaoan is too ignorant. It would be great if there were more people to share our work, so that we don't have to suffer from backache every day."

"After Shaoan finishes his training in two years, things should be a little easier."

"Easy? I'm afraid it will be more tiring. Just think about it, working with Shaoan every day in the future, tsk tsk."

"Stop talking about it. It gives me a headache just thinking about it."

As they were talking, the two men noticed that the person who went to open the door was standing at the door motionless, and couldn't help feeling a little strange.

"Hong Xi, why don't you open the door?"

"Look."

The chef named Hong Xi turned sideways, and the others looked past him and forward.

There was a wooden sign hanging on the door handle of the downstairs building, which read...

"Closed today?!"

……

"Amu, Ke Ling, it's time for breakfast."

Breakfast is white rice porridge and buns. Although it is a simple dish, it tastes extraordinary after being carefully cooked by Chef Abei.

Liu Keling and Liu Maoxing, brother and sister, sat at the table, holding a meat bun in one hand and drinking porridge with a spoon in the other, doing both without even having time to talk.

The fragrant rice porridge has a refreshing sweetness, which perfectly neutralizes the saltiness of the meat buns. The salty and sweet tastes collide in the mouth, resonate with each other, and enhance each other. The sweetness makes the meat taste more delicious, while the saltiness highlights the smoothness and sweetness of the porridge.

The two kinds of food are like dancers with perfect coordination, dancing a moving melody together.

Liu Maoxing let out a long sigh after finishing the meal and said with great satisfaction: "The food my mother cooked is so delicious!"

Liu Keling also nodded repeatedly. The white porridge and buns not only satisfied her taste buds, but the hot dishes also made her whole body feel warm. It dispelled the tiredness in the early morning, brought abundant energy and made her feel refreshed.

Master Abei looked at the brother and sister with a smile on his face, his heart filled with happiness.

For a chef, the most satisfying thing is to see the smiles on the diners' faces and their enjoyment of the taste of the food.

At this moment, several people suddenly ran in from outside the door in a hurry.

Before I even reached the door, I heard someone anxiously ask, "Master Abei, are you okay?"

"Me?" Master Abei pointed at himself and said with a smile, "I'm fine."

Hong Xi and several other chefs finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was so scared. I saw a sign saying 'Closed' hanging downstairs at Ju's, and I thought Master Abei was sick."

"As long as it's okay, it'll be okay."

Liu Keling asked in confusion: "Mom, why are you closing the business today?"

Chef Abei said, "You all should know that yesterday a child wanted to learn cooking from me."

Liu Keling and the chefs nodded together. Liu Maoxing shook his head. He looked around at the people around him and quickly nodded.

Master Abei said, "I have decided to accept him as my apprentice, but Shaoan's reaction was quite intense. Last night, the two of them decided to have a cooking showdown. The winner gets to stay, and the other one has to leave and go downstairs."

Liu Keling shouted: "This is not fair!"

The other chefs also spoke up.

"Yeah, then Shaoan is sure to win, right?"

"Master Abei, Shaoan is bullying the weak! Shaoan is older and has been learning from you, Master Abei, for so long. His experience and ability are much better than that kid's."

"That's right, Master Abei, stop them quickly." "The new kid must have been forced by Shaoan to agree. Shaoan is such a hateful guy!"

Everyone was filled with righteous indignation. As chefs, cooking duels are inevitable. Through competition, one can gain knowledge and recognize one's own shortcomings.

Especially in Juxialou, cooking competition is a tradition since ancient times.

Each generation of the chef of Juxialou must first be appointed by the imperial court, and secondly, he must win a cooking competition against the previous generation's chef before he is qualified to serve as the new chef of Juxialou.

In Ju Xia Lou, cooking competition is a sacred thing. This unfair competition is completely tarnishing the tradition of Ju Xia Lou!
Chef Abei raised his hand to stop the shouting and said, "I understand. First, they both agreed to a cooking competition. Even if it's not here, they will compete somewhere else. Now that things have come to this, we can only let nature take its course. Second, Xu Qing may not lose to Shao An."

"This……"

Everyone looked at each other, and were extremely surprised.

Judging from what Master Abei said, could it be possible that the new guy could defeat Shaoan?
This is interesting!

Liu Keling's eyes lit up when she heard this. Could it be possible that Shaoan would lose? It would be great if Xu Qing could drive Shaoan away!

Chef Abei continued, "Due to the cooking competition, Juxialou is closed today. Everyone should go back and have a rest. Thank you for your hard work these days."

"That won't do, Master Abe!"

"Yes, this is a cooking competition. As chefs, how can we be absent?"

"I haven't seen a cooking showdown at Juxialou for years."

Normally, if we hear that the business is closed for vacation, everyone can't wait to go back and rest.

But today is different from the past.

If you don’t watch this cooking showdown, you won’t be able to sleep well at night.

Seeing that everyone said so, and everyone had an expectant look in their eyes, Master Abe had no choice but to lead everyone to the duel venue.

Xu Qing and Shaoan are already waiting here.

This venue is adjacent to the warehouse on the lower floor of Ju, making it convenient for them to obtain materials.

The tables in Shaoan are densely covered with various ingredients, including delicacies from land and sea. A rough count shows that there are at least a dozen kinds, which are shocking just from the visual point of view.

In front of Xu Qing was a deserted place. On the huge table were only a piece of pork belly, two green bamboo shoots and a few heads of garlic, which looked quite pitiful.

Everyone who came to the venue was also shocked by the extreme contrast.

"It seems that Shaoan is going to show his real ability this time."

"Shaoan uses so many ingredients. What kind of dishes will he make? I really want to try them."

"The kid on the other side is probably going to lose. How can a dish made with just two or three ingredients compare to one made with more than a dozen ingredients? Not to mention the taste, the visual aspect alone is enough to make it lose."

"Besides, Shaoan is Master Abei's disciple who has been taught by him for many years. Alas, Shaoan is sure to win this time."

When Chef Abei saw the ingredients selected by Xu Qing, he nodded secretly. It seemed that Xu Qing had found the dish that suited him best. Now it all depended on his own skills.

Hearing the discussions around him, Shao An's expression became even more smug. He snorted at Xu Qing, "Boy, you'd better admit defeat, so as to avoid embarrassment later."

Xu Qing looked him straight in the eye and said calmly, "It remains to be seen who will be embarrassed."

"You can only say a few big words now. When the result is announced, you won't even have time to cry!"

Xu Qing was too lazy to argue with him anymore. No matter how nice the words were, it was better to show the results with actions.

Chef Abei walked to the center of the arena and looked at the two of them. "The competition is to prepare dishes for five people, with no restrictions on the topic. Are you ready?"

They both nodded.

"Then, let the cooking showdown begin!"

(End of this chapter)