The Female Supporting Role Shows Out Chapter 2
Mrs. Chi wakes up in the evening and begins to cry silently by seeing Lin Dan. It seems that she is not reconciled to Lin Dan's defeat. And she keeps saying, "You have followed your father to learn cooking since your age of seven. It has been five or six years until now. It is not too much to say you are an experienced cook. How could you lose to Yan's daughter? I have also no idea how those people out there comment on your father now, we fail to keep his reputation, how can we explain to him when we also die to meet him in heaven? Putin, I'm sorry..."
Looking at Chi who is weeping, Lin Dan thinks by herself--If the original Lin Dan were still here, she would probably feel torn with remorse. But she is no longer here, and I hold her position. The family of hers still needs to be supported.
The original Lin Dan is only 12 or 13 years old. She looks two or three years younger than her actual age with a slim and thin body and an immature face. However, she has to a.s.sume such a big responsibility so early, that it's not easy for her. If Lin Dan hadn't suddenly replaced her, she would be the one to decide what to do now.
Chi is also worried about how to cope with the situation afterward. Her sigh replaces her cry. Just then, two female servants come in and say they have brought a message for the Marquis. The Marquis lets Chi and Lin Dan just continue to live in his mansion. He will support their livelihood. Lin Putin has served the Marquis for more than ten years, and even followed him on the battlefield, because of which, they have a special bond of friendship. And the Marquis would never embarra.s.s Putin's descendants.
The Yongding Marquis is an epicure. His tongue is more sensitive than most cooks. Can't he taste the quality of two dishes? He said that the two dishes were similar just because he wanted to favor Lin Dan and also to preserve Lin Putin's reputation. But his son is also an epicure with a tongue more sensitive than his, and the son's character is so honest and frank that he forces Lin Dan to admit defeat.
On the day of the compet.i.tion, more than half of the city's epicures came, and there were a great many visitors. Lin Putin's reputation, which he had achieved only after years of hard work, could not be preserved. Now it has spread all over the place, everyone calls him an ungrateful villain who deceives his teachers and destroys his ancestors. If Chi and Lin Dan leave the mansion, they will be bullied to death definitely.
Chi is also afraid to face the gossip. She is relieved to hear that they could stay in the mansion.
Lin Dan is a calm and rational person and is also very good at judging the situation. She knows that it is the best arrangement to stay in the mansion with Chi. Neither she nor the original Lin Dan knows anything about the world outside the mansion. If she goes out rashly, she may not be able to support herself, then how could she support the silk Chi? But a stronger intuition tells her that plenty of bad things will happen if she does stay in the mansion. Although she does not remember her true ident.i.ty and past experience, she still chooses to believe in herself without hesitation.
After the woman servants left, she firmly says, "Mum, let's leave. You are afraid of the gossip outside, but what you should know is that the gossip in the mansion is the most terrible. After all, everyone has been jealous of our family for a long time. Now we are in trouble and will inevitably be squeezed out and oppressed. In the past, my father was valued by the Marquis, so we enjoyed a good position in the mansion, but in the future, we fall to the lowest position like the mud in the ground which anyone can step on. I lost to Yan Langqing, so I have to be a slave rather than a chef in the mansion if we want to stay, so do you. Even if the Marquis doesn't mention this, don't you have the courage to stay in the mansion as a guest? "
Unlike other servants, the chef in the mansion sells their work skills rather than their freedom, so Putin enjoyed a position even higher than that of the chief steward of the mansion. Thereupon, Chi and Lin Dan have stayed in the mansion as family members of the chef and been regarded as guests. Now the situation is different, they would like to live in the mansion with servants around them as they used to, but they can't without Lin Putin. They have to find something to do.
Chi is proud and arrogant. When she hears that she will have to be a servant if she wants to stay, she immediately begins to pack. She would rather die than be the people who once served her.
"Your father bought a house outside, and also opened a restaurant with his second and third brothers. It is said that your uncles run the restaurant well. Let's get out of the mansion and set up our own business. " Chi opens a box to tidy up belongings, with her sadness showing on her face fading away a lot. The defeat is a fact, ao it is better not to scold her daughter who must be the most miserable one anymore.
Lin Dan breathes a sigh of relief, then pulls out a gold-painted rosewood box hidden under the bed and whispers, "I will return the golden knife and the recipe book to Yan Langqing and visit the Marquis to resign by my way."
Chi stares at the box for a long time, then sighs helplessly, "Go."
Lin Dan does not open the box to admire the fascinating imperial golden knife and the legendary recipe book of the G.o.d of food, and sends it directly to the yard of the son of the Marquis. Now Yan Langqing is the son's personal servant girl and leads the exclusive kitchen for the son.
When Lin Dan arrives, Yan Langqing is pleading with the son of the Marquis to take the golden knife and the recipe book back for her. She is worried that Lin Dan will not be reconciled and will destroy them. The golden knife can be repaired even if it is destroyed. But what is the point of her deliberately entering the mansion if the recipe book is set on fire? Had it not been for Chi's fainting and Lin Dan's disappearance, she would have asked them to hand over the things on the spot.
The son of the Marquis knows Lin Dan slightly and thinks that she can really do this kind of revenge, so he promises to stand up for Yan Langqing. The two are about to set out, but a servant boy comes in holding a box, saying it is from Lin Dan. There are the golden knife and the recipe book in the box. Both are wrapped in red silk carefully and well preserved.
The son of the Marquis looks at Yan Langqing subconsciously who blushes with shame. Those words about preparing for a rainy day have now become vain and suspicious doubt.
They walk to the door and see a thin figure slowly moving away and walking in an unhurried way.
Although Lin Putin was very popular with the Marquis and received many rewards at ordinary times, he used them to support his two brothers or buy precious food materials without leaving much money. Chi searches all over the house just to find out some silver, 120 taels in total, which is so limited that she is dumbfounded. Fortunately, they still have real estate and shops outside the mansion, so they don't have to worry about their future life.
Lin Dan is not as optimistic as Chi. In her memory, Lin Putin's two younger brothers are hard nuts to crack--asking their elder brother for help if they have difficulties, but quietly slipping away when they get benefits. They are very selfish. They said they were running the restaurant for Lin Putin, but they did not send monthly income to the boss. Unless the restaurant's business declined and new dishes needed to be developed, they would humbly ask for help. Now Lin Putin's reputation as a "descendant of the chef with the golden knife" has been destroyed, which is also regarded as indirectly destroying the business of the restaurant. It is not possible that they can willingly accept it.
Sure enough, when Chi gets to the house purchased by his husband and wants to settle down, she finds that the house has already been occupied by the wives of the second and third brothers. They refuse to let them enter the house and take out the house contract with the names of the second and third brothers and tell them to get out of the house.
Chi wants to make a few remarks, but the wives of the two brothers do not care whether she argues with them or not. It is herself to worry about whether to further publicize the rotten reputation of her husband. Considering that, Chi stops arguing, wipes away her tears and heads for the restaurant. She knows that in all likelihood the restaurant is occupied by the two brothers-in-law, but she refuses to accept it until she sees it with her own eyes.
Lin Dan helps her by the arm silently without any comments. It is all to be blamed that Lin Putin trusts his two younger brothers too much to ask details or ask for doc.u.ments when buying houses, running a restaurant. Now they won't win even if they go in litigation. What's more, his reputation after death is bad enough for everyone to deny everything he has, so n.o.body will stand up for his widow and orphans.
Lin Dan walks while bearing all the people's slandering, but she is ready for the worst. When they get to the restaurant, they are stopped by the shopkeeper and are not allowed to enter. The shopkeeper also asks them to take out the contract or share certificates, or he would call the yamen (government office in feudal China).
Chi's eyes are colored with anger, but she could not find a verbal retort. Lin Dan caresses her trembling back to comfort her and finds that the signboard of the restaurant has been changed from "Lin's Restaurant" to "Yan's Restaurant" when looking up. The signboard with gold on the red bottom looks very magnificent.
The second brother of Lin Putin comes out and points at the signboard and says, "Sister-in-law, those disgraceful things my brother had done are really embarra.s.sing! Now my third brother and I have decided to give 50% of the shares belonging to our brother to Yan's family as atonement. It's no use arguing with me, one has to pay back what he owes. Let's pay back for what my brother did. It's better to do good and acc.u.mulate merit and so that my brother may go to heaven. If you really care about him and the reputation of Lin's family, just stop." A sigh follows those words.
Pa.s.sers-by applaud at those words, saying that the younger brothers of Lin's family are completely different from their eldest brother. They have conscience and righteousness which is very valuable. They will surely often support the business of the restaurant in the future.
Chi looks pale and faint, but Lin Dan bows her head and laughs grimly. The two younger brothers are really calculating, taking the widow and orphan of the eldest brother as tools, immediately take them out of the disaster of losing their reputation and keep the business of the restaurant. If Lin Putin had half of their shrewdness, he would not have let his wife and child fall to such an end.
But Lin Putin is actually dead, and it is useless to say anything now. It is only proper to think of ways to live. Thinking of these, Lin Dan wants to go away with Chi. Meanwhile, she sees Yan Langqing riding with her father and the son of the Marquis on a horse aside. The ostentation looks quite tremendous.
The two younger brothers rush up to meet them, bowing and stooping in a quite flattering way.
The poker-faced son of the Marquis gets off his horse, lifts the curtain of Yan Langqing's carriage slightly. Yan Langqing's cheeks blush and she smiles shyly. She catches a glimpse of Lin Dan standing to the side and couldn't help stunning.
Lin Dan helps her mother leave without looking at them. Perhaps Yan Langqing is provoked by her regardless att.i.tude, says with temper, "Lin Dan, since you have lost, please don't pretend to be the successor of the chef with the golden knife and stop cooking Yan's dishes."
Lin Dan is always with a cool temper, but it doesn't mean she is willing to tolerate bullying. Last time she chose to make peace because she knew that the situation was very bad for her own side no matter how she fought for it, so it would be better to save energy and think about what to do next. Now Yan Langqing wants to force her to a dead end, leaving her no choice. She can't stand it anymore.