Gourmet: The Master Chef Just Wants to Leisurely Set Up a Stall - Chapter 61

Mid-Autumn Festival.

As Wen Yulan had mentioned, the construction site announced a holiday two days in advance. However, since most of the workers were from out of town and eager to finish the project so they could return home for a longer break, the holiday was symbolic—just one day off.

Sun Dehai, Geng Mingyan, and the others, whose families weren’t in Yang City, voluntarily stayed behind in the kitchen to prepare meals for the workers who chose not to venture out into the city.

Zhao Xiaojing wanted to stay as well, to help with the cooking, but all the kitchen staff unanimously insisted that she take the day off. They assured her that since most of the workers would be leaving the site to explore the city, there wouldn’t be many meals to prepare. Besides, staying behind came with extra pay, so Zhao Xiaojing should go home and enjoy the festival without worrying.

Feeling a bit guilty, Zhao Xiaojing thanked her coworkers. Despite not having worked together long, they had all been incredibly kind to her.

Later, Secretary Fan stopped by the kitchen on behalf of the company and handed out holiday red envelopes to each member of the kitchen staff.

Zhao Xiaojing noticed that hers and Sun Dehai’s envelopes were different from the others. When she opened it, she found 300 yuan inside—a pleasant surprise.

Since she planned to visit both Dong Mei’s house and the Wen family later, Zhao Xiaojing had informed the parents in the fried skewer group chat ahead of time, moving the Mid-Autumn Day orders up by one day and preparing two types of skewers at once.

The group chat exploded with orders. Even though it was just a one-day holiday and she was making double the usual amount, the customers acted like Zhao Xiaojing was about to disappear for a year, frantically ordering skewers—an average of five pounds per person.

Zhao Xiaojing ended up sacrificing two hours of sleep to finish all the orders.

When she was handing out skewers while waiting with her cart the day before Mid-Autumn Festival, many of the parents who had previously bought from her brought gifts as well.

Most of the gifts were various flavors of mooncakes, followed by small Mid-Autumn Festival trinkets and decorations. One particularly generous parent even brought her two boxes of hairy crabs.

Most of the parents dropped off their gifts and quickly left after picking up their skewers. By the end of the night, Zhao Xiaojing couldn’t even remember who had given her what.

In the end, she accepted everything, spending the entire evening thanking everyone profusely.

On Mid-Autumn morning, Zhao Xiaojing indulged in a rare luxury—sleeping in until six o’clock.

After waking up, she made a trip to the wholesale market, where she bought boxes of chicken wings, duck necks, duck gizzards, chicken frames, chicken cartilage, as well as whole chickens, ribs, and more.

The Wen family had many members, and Zhao Xiaojing figured the batch of food she had given them last time was likely already finished. She decided to make a new variety to bring over this time.

She also considered Dong Mei. Although their last encounter hadn’t gone smoothly, Dong Mei had seemed to enjoy the food Zhao Xiaojing had cooked for her. Strictly speaking, despite having been frying skewers for some time now, Dong Mei hadn’t tried any yet. Zhao Xiaojing decided to bring some for her as well.

While at the market, Zhao also stocked up on a large quantity of red beans, mung beans, and packaging supplies for her sweet soup. After receiving so many gifts from her customers, she felt it wouldn’t be right to accept them without giving something in return. Once Mid-Autumn Festival was over, she planned to treat everyone to summer sweet soups.

Although it seemed like a lot, Zhao Xiaojing had become quite efficient at shopping for ingredients. By 7 AM, she was already back home with a fully loaded cart.

She stored all the meat, red beans, mung beans, and other ingredients in the system fridge. When she got upstairs, she would take them out again. These days, she often used the system’s free transfer feature to avoid carrying heavy loads up the stairs herself—all she needed to bring up was some packaging.

Technically, she could also store everything in the stall cart and have it automatically transferred when recalled by the system. But since her rented apartment was too small to accommodate the stall cart, she relied on the fridge instead.

Once home, Zhao carefully washed the meat, seasoned it, and set it aside to marinate. After it was properly marinated, she fried everything and let it cool before packing it up.

She grabbed the mooncakes and hairy crabs that her customers had gifted her and headed over to Dong Mei’s house.

After knocking on the door for a while, she finally heard hurried footsteps from inside.

“You’re here,” Dong Mei said flatly as she opened the door, wearing an apron. She greeted Zhao Xiaojing with a neutral expression.

“Auntie.”

“Bringing all this stuff again? You must think you’ve really made it big now—so much money you don’t know where to spend it.” Dong Mei glanced at the bags Zhao was carrying and made another snide remark.

“Auntie, I made most of these myself. I wanted you to try them. The mooncakes and crabs were gifts from others—they didn’t cost me anything.”

Zhao quickly explained. Having mentally prepared herself after their last fight, she wasn’t as tense around Dong Mei this time.

“Made them yourself? So what? Did flour and oil fall from the sky? I told you before—you don’t need to bribe me with all this junk. If you really want to make me happy, bring a boyfriend next time instead of all this nonsense!

Fine, do what you want. Sit down if you want. There are snacks on the table—help yourself. I’m busy cooking.”

Without softening her expression, Dong Mei turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Zhao Xiaojing was ready for this reaction. With no hesitation, she followed her aunt into the kitchen, carrying her bags.

“Auntie, these crabs really aren’t from me. See how fresh they are? But it’s hot today, and they won’t last long. I can’t eat them all by myself. Since Cousin Yanyan’s family will be here for lunch, we might as well cook them together.”

Zhao placed the crab gift box next to the sink. Dong Mei glanced at it reluctantly before walking over to unwrap it. Seeing her aunt’s hesitation, Zhao tactfully fetched the steamer from the cabinet.

“Auntie, I also brought you some fried foods I made. Each type has its own seasoning. Just refry them or heat them on a skillet or griddle when you’re ready to eat—then sprinkle the corresponding seasoning on top. I’ll put them in your freezer for now.”

Having set up the steamer, Zhao quickly unloaded the fried food and started packing it into the freezer before Dong Mei could object.

Dong Mei stood still for a moment, staring into space. Then she turned her head slightly to glance at Zhao Xiaojing as she busily packed away the food.

“Why do you waste your time making all this nonsense? Do you think eating this will change anything? Will it make me fatter? I don’t need you to butter me up with food. What I want is for you to settle down and find a good man!”

“Auntie, I know you don’t need this. I just want to cook for you. And I know you don’t need money either—you’re not asking me to repay my debt; I’m doing that because I want to.”

Zhao Xiaojing picked up a brush and began cleaning the crabs as she spoke honestly from her heart.

She had made up her mind. In her previous life, she had been too afraid to speak her mind and had lived in constant fear of disappointing others. But now that she had taken that first step toward independence, she vowed not to hold back anymore. This time, she would be true to herself.

“It’s just that I owe you so much money—it weighs on me. Every time I disagree with you, I feel guilty and lack the courage to stand up for myself. Auntie, paying you back isn’t about the money—it’s about me reclaiming my confidence.”