Chapter Thirteen: Transaction

  "Uh, that... recently it might not be possible, my mother is about to give birth soon, I need to take care of her at home for a while." Su Xiaofan furrowed his brow, looking troubled.

  "So when are you coming?" Deng Shoucai's words were laced with a hint of impatience, and the little girl in front of him didn't look like she had exceptional culinary skills.

  "For now, it's undecided, but can we discuss a deal?" Su Xiao Fan's eyes flashed with a hint of brightness. Businessmen are always profit-driven, and it could be seen from his gaze that he was in a bad mood at the moment, probably still reeling from the oppressive atmosphere of losing this match.

  "A deal?" Deng Shoucai raised an eyebrow, the displeasure between his eyebrows becoming increasingly apparent. The little girl in front of him, dressed like a beggar, had a tone that was different from her appearance, and her bright eyes revealed extraordinary confidence.

  "Ah, deal." Su Xiao Fan hooked his lips with a confident smile, and continued to say in the midst of Su Bing, Yu Xiao Xi, and Xiao Yi Mo's astonished gazes: "I'll help you win first place in this tournament, but I want that hundred taels of silver."

  Deng Shoucai listened and stared at Su Xiaofan with a pair of sharp eyes, originally wanting to say "you?", but facing her confident gaze, the words that were about to come out got stuck in his throat.

  "Xiao Fan..." Yu Xiao Xi tugged at Su Xiao Fan's sleeve, which was full of patches, and her expression was filled with unease. Having grown up together since childhood, she naturally knew that Xiao Fan had never learned how to cook and rarely did so.

  Su Xiaofan turned around and smiled at her, putting his hand on top of hers: "Don't worry."

  Su Bing's eyes had a hint of worry, but also a thread of excitement. If he could win the top prize, perhaps the two masters would return, and he could continue to learn from them. The restaurant's business might even recover to its former state, or maybe even better than before. But Su Bing, who had never learned cooking before, why was he so confident? His expression didn't seem like he was pretending to be mysterious.

  "Do you have confidence?" Deng Shoucai's face, full of wrinkles, was filled with seriousness. People say that when looking at others, one cannot just look at the surface. The self-confidence in the eyes of this little girl made him involuntarily want to believe her.

  "Naturally." Su Xiao Fan softly replied, his gaze sweeping towards the distant crowds of other taverns, as the saying goes "know yourself and know your enemy" in order to win every battle. Now he didn't understand anything about those people, even if he agreed, could he really emerge victorious?

  "Good." Deng Shoucai's eyes rolled around in circles, thinking that at most it was a dead horse being treated as if it were alive, and trying might still leave some hope.

  After Deng Shoucai finished speaking, Su Xiaofan smiled slightly and said that one wouldn't know the result if they didn't try. Considering it was for the hundred taels of silver, she must also go all out. Then, she took a few strides into the prepared ingredients area, her mind already having a rough menu. Finally, she walked to Deng Shoucai's side and asked him: "Who is the head chef?"

  Deng Shoucai frowned and replied: "There is no head chef at present."

  "So, can you all follow my instructions?" Su Xiao Fan glanced at the few dishes they had made, the color was not bad, but the aroma was slightly insufficient, and the combination was not very good, it seemed that everything needed to be remade.

  "Alright." Deng Shoucai nodded and shouted loudly at the crowd: "Everyone come over here!"

  After everyone had gathered around, Deng Shou stretched out his hand and pointed at Su Xiaofan, saying: "Next, all of you will listen to this young lady's instructions and cooperate with her."

  Everyone looked at Su Xiaofan with suspicion and then whispered to each other in low voices.

  Su Xiaofan knew her current image, and completely ignored the disdainful or dismissive glances from them. She walked past the crowd to the table where ingredients were placed and calmly said: "Throw away all the dishes you made earlier."

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, those were the big guys, the result of a busy morning, thrown away?

  Everyone was silent, no one moved, Su Xiaofan raised an eyebrow and looked at Deng Shoucai.

  Deng Shoucai coughed lightly: "Do as she says."

  Upon hearing the boss's order, only two people reluctantly walked out of the lineup and began to remove all the things they had made from the round table in the middle.

  Su Xiaofan looked at the empty round table with satisfaction, everyone in the wine house would put the things they made on that table, after everything was done, the evaluators would come and lift the table directly.

  "Does anyone know how to make White Sesame Balls, Fried Sugar Melon Seeds and Sugar-coated Peach Kernels?" Su Xiaofan asked while picking out the necessary ingredients and putting them aside.

  "After a long silence, a low voice came: 'I will make cocoa almonds.'"

  "Alright, thank you." Su Xiaofan handed over the peach kernels, white sugar, sesame oil and other things to that person, and then carefully told him the production method again.

  After listening to her explanation, the crowd's gaze at her no longer had the previous disdain. Someone who can explain the production method in such detail must not be someone who doesn't understand anything. Moreover, the method she mentioned was slightly different from the production method used by everyone in the kitchen before, which perfectly made up for the shortcomings.

  "I'll make the sugar-fried flatbread, tell me how to make it." A cook stepped forward and volunteered.

  "I'll make the White Date Paste Double-Color Soft Candy too, and please tell me how to make it." Another chef also walked out.

  "Alright." Su Xiao Fan smiled slightly as she explained the recipe and the ingredients needed to them. After watching them busy themselves, she began preparing for what came next.

  A slightly stout middle-aged chef walked over slowly and said to her, "Desserts are usually handled by us few people. Please tell us what needs to be done and also please instruct the method."

  "Uncle, you're being too polite, I'm just barely scratching the surface. " Su Xiaofan smiled lightly and hopped around the ingredients area, occasionally putting things she needed into a basket in her hand, then walked back to where she was before, categorizing them one by one into small baskets. She said to the slightly chubby uncle: "Since you're in charge of desserts, I'll trouble you with these three desserts: candied pineapple, candied red fruit, and candied grapes...then..."

  Several people started making after listening, and several others came over. Su Xiaofan continued to respond fluently, telling them what they needed to do and the production method. After everything was said, Su Xiaofan walked back and forth in the busy crowd with his hands behind his back, occasionally pointing out the places where they did not do well and the places that need attention.

  Deng Shoucai, who was standing outside, looked at Su Xiaofan with a gaze that was full of admiration. At such a young age, she already understood so much, and it was truly rare to find someone as talented as her. It seemed that he had to think of a way to keep her in his building, or else if someone else poached her, it would be a huge loss.