Chapter 116: I Don’t Want to Be Your Cook

No matter how Xie Yushan thought of it, the fact was still the fact: Wen Xiuqing saw his brows knotted and caught the look he gave Big Head—cold with disapproval—and felt a little upset.
A straightforward man cannot always voice his irritation, so he simply ignored him. From then on, no matter what Xie Yuran asked, Wen Xiuqing just muttered “hmm” in reply, often not hearing even what had been asked clearly.

Qiu Rongrong, for her part, was still baffled. The Wen family’s warmth made her suddenly feel, in this faraway town, the kind of festive, homelike atmosphere she used to know. Most of all, they did not treat her as Madam Xie but as Qiu Rongrong herself.

Watching Wen Yao at her side—the smiling, charming young girl, not yet old but carrying a maturity far beyond her age—Qiu Rongrong had the strange sensation that this was someone of her own age.

In Yunwu Town she had no friends. Her daily life had long revolved around the Xie family’s little stretch of land, outwitting the old matron, being deferential to Master, yielding in a thousand ways for her son. It felt as though not one day had ever truly belonged to her.

Even money she had earned herself had to be spent on the Xies. Even if she bought something good, if Grandmother found out she was either scolded for being wasteful or needled for caring only for herself and not for the household.
Little by little, this made her come to believe that any money she spent on herself was somehow wrong.

Wen Yao’s presence made her realize that being with someone could be easy and joyful, without rank or origin in between. Even if the Wens were only farmers, their every gesture toward her was sincere.
Even a simple, “Aren’t you tired? Are you thirsty?” from them carried kindness.

“Qiu, how did you all end up here?” Wen Yao’s question pulled Qiu Rongrong back.

Qiu Rongrong blinked in surprise. “This is my Drunken Immortal Inn. Didn’t you know?” Had Doctor Jin not told you?
Wen Yao’s mouth twitched, as if she wondered whether she was supposed to know.

“Sorry,” Qiu Rongrong said, slightly embarrassed. “I hadn’t explained clearly before. I spoke too quickly and thought Doctor Jin would tell you.”
“It’s all right,” Wen Yao smiled, “I didn’t ask anyway.”
She smiled again, easing the awkwardness, and then Qiu Rongrong suddenly blurted, “Yao Yao, your cooking is excellent. Would you like to come to my Drunken Immortal Inn? Don’t worry—you can make your own demands. The wage would be far better than working at the Xie household.”

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Wen Yao almost laughed. Why was this sister so eager to make her a cook? Even if she were to be a cook, she was still an ambitious one.

In truth, these past months Wen Yao had drifted in a fog. She had been told to tread the heroine’s path so the heroine would have no way forward, yet after months she had only one rough plan: she needed to earn money.
But how to make it and where to get it—she had no target at all. Qiu Rongrong’s suggestion now sparked a thought in her.

“Actually, Qiu, I can cook many dishes.” Wen Yao said suddenly.
Qiu’s spirits rose at once. “Then would you?”
Ah, how this sister insists on making me a cook—she’s only a ten-year-old girl, after all.

“Qiu, as you can see, this entire family depends on me,” Wen Yao said, with real vexation.
“… I’m sorry—I didn’t notice,” Qiu admitted.

Still, she understood the refusal in Wen Yao’s words. But she was reluctant to let this friend go. Instinctively, she wanted to keep her close, because here she was very lonely. She had finally found someone she liked, and she did not want to lose her.
For years Qiu Rongrong had been used to solving everything with money. She believed giving Wen Yao a job and a generous salary was kindness. But Wen Yao clearly did not consider it such.

Thinking this might be a misunderstanding, Qiu tried to explain: “Yao Yao, I didn’t mean anything else. I only assumed…”
Yao laughed. “So Sister Qiu thought I was short of money and wanted to give me a job, with good pay, to fix my money problem?”

Qiu fell silent. She had indeed thought exactly that.

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Seeing her so, Wen Yao leaned on one hand and said with a bright smile: “You guessed right. I am short of money. I like money, too. Who in this world could dislike it? And yes, the terms you offered are very tempting.”
“Then why won’t you take it?” Qiu asked. “I can give you generous pay.”

“But then you and I would become employer and employee,” Yao said, smiling. “You’d be my boss, I’d take your monthly wage, and I’d have to work for you. In status, I’d be a notch below you already.”
Qiu frowned; that was not what she meant.

Yao changed direction. “Still, we must earn money somehow. I have a better way than me becoming your cook. Will you hear it?”
“What?” Qiu sat up at once, eager. So long as it kept her friend near, and as long as it was not too much to ask, Qiu thought she could meet any request. After all, now all she really had left was money.

Yao continued, still propping her head on her hand: “You run a restaurant. I, by chance, can cook a little well, and when I’m free I like experimenting with new dishes. Why not partner with me?”

Being a businesswoman, Qiu understood at once. “What sort of partnership do you have in mind?”
Yao went on, “To make this establishment prosper, there is no magic beyond attention to flavor and menu. If everything never changes, the business may not be bad, but it will never be truly good.”
Qiu nodded. “That’s right. Today is the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day, and because the inn is in such a good location it is so crowded. On ordinary days the customer flow is much less. Yunwu Town has more than just my Drunken Immortal Inn, you know.”

“That is because there is no distinct identity. A restaurant needs its own character to draw people in. Suppose we launch a new dish every month—wouldn’t some people come just to try it? Or if we offer one or two special dishes at a special price each month, affordable even to ordinary folk, that too would bring in popularity, wouldn’t it?”
Although Wen Yao did not know the management side of inns and restaurants, one who has never eaten pork has still seen pigs run.
In her former life she had seen plenty of restaurants and hotels: for attracting customers, promotions and tricks were endless. Borrowing a few of those would keep one in good stead for a long time.