I Awakened to a Farming TALENT

## Chapter 24: Chef Sun Backs Out – Who’s the Standby?

Ever since Qi Cong’s mother had tried the cured pork and vegetable rice last time and found it absolutely delicious, she came to Qionghua Restaurant to eat whenever she had time.

When she saw the announcement of the new jelly, made from the wild fruits she’d eaten as a child, she was very tempted. She decided to come buy some to take home.

When she arrived at the restaurant and saw Jiang Tingyun’s all-vegetarian menu, she couldn’t help laughing.

“Boss Jiang, no wonder your restaurant is so empty today. Looks like everyone was scared off by your menu.”

Jiang Tingyun laughed too. “I didn’t buy any meat. And my garden is having a bumper harvest right now. I need to use up some vegetables.”

Qi Cong’s mother had eaten here many times. She’d long noticed that Jiang Tingyun’s vegetarian dishes were outstanding. The cooking methods didn’t seem special, but the flavors were extraordinary.

She figured she needed to lose weight anyway, so going without meat for dinner was fine. Plus, her husband and son weren’t coming home to eat tonight. She might as well have dinner right here.

She looked at the chalkboard for a moment, then said, “I’ll have a bowl of loofah soup and a serving of dry-fried long beans. Less rice. Oh, and I have to try that jelly too.”

These vegetable dishes were quick to make, and the jelly was already prepared. Soon, the food arrived.

Qi Cong’s mother first tried the jam on top of the jelly. She took a deep breath. *This is the taste.* She hadn’t eaten it in years. And she didn’t know if there was something special about how the jam was made, but it tasted much better than the ones she’d eaten as a child.

Then she picked up a piece of dry-fried long beans. Crisp and tender, spicy and fragrant. She didn’t know how the owner did it—the beans looked oily, but they weren’t greasy at all. The outer skin was crispy and wrinkled, yet there wasn’t a single drop of excess oil left at the bottom of the plate.

She was supposed to be dieting and didn’t want to eat too much rice, but the dishes were so appetizing that before she knew it, she’d already finished half a bowl.

She took a small bowl and ladled out some loofah soup. The loofah had been cooked through but still looked bright green. It was smooth, warm, and sweet, with no trace of the green, astringent taste loofah sometimes had. *So you can make a broth this flavorful even without stock.*

After finishing her meal, she wasn’t in a hurry to leave. She asked Jiang Tingyun for a bag and started picking through the cluster figs in the burlap sack, thinking she’d buy some wild fruit to take home and satisfy her cravings.

When she saw Jiang Tingyun generously giving away jars of jam to customers, she couldn’t help saying, “Boss Jiang, you’re giving away something so delicious for free. What a waste. You should sell it instead.”

Jiang Tingyun smiled. “These were foraged from the mountain. They didn’t cost anything. And these are regular customers.”

Besides, the jam was a processed product. To sell it legitimately, she’d need a production license. Even though she knew her products were genuine and high-quality, without a license, they were essentially “unlicensed goods.”

The better her business got, the more careful she needed to be. If someone jealous reported her, she’d have wasted all her work for the past six months.

Qi Cong’s mother nodded. Before leaving, she also received a free jar of jam and went home satisfied.

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But as soon as she got home and hadn’t even changed her shoes, the housekeeper gave her a meaningful look.

“Go see. The master is losing his temper.”

Qi Cong’s mother hurried inside and heard her husband on the phone.

“What do you mean he’s too sick to cook? This was arranged long ago. Tomorrow is the old man’s birthday. Where am I supposed to find someone else at this point?”

Whoever was on the other end said something that made Qi Xiyuan shake with anger. He slammed down the phone.

“What’s going on?” His wife hurried over to pat his back.

Qi Xiyuan took a few deep breaths before explaining. “For tomorrow’s birthday family dinner, I booked Chef Sun from Boti Garden to cook on-site. Now they call and say he has health issues and can’t make it.”

His wife was stunned. How could this happen? Chefs for this kind of private event were booked a month in advance. You couldn’t just cancel at the last minute. And Grandpa was a Buddhist—the birthday meal had to be all vegetarian. In the whole city, there were only a handful of chefs who could do it well. To be notified this late—how could they possibly find a replacement?

Qi Xiyuan was furious. “This is completely unreasonable. It’s never happened before. Even if the head chef is sick, the sous chef could step in. But they’re all making excuses. This is intentional sabotage! And holding out until today to tell me—it has to be my older brother’s doing.”

His wife was speechless for a moment.

Unlike his wife, who came from a poor background, Qi Xiyuan was born into wealth. But his mother was the old man’s second wife, married after the first wife passed away. He had an older half-brother and a half-sister from the first marriage. His sister treated him decently, but his older brother couldn’t stand him and often targeted him.

Not wanting to fight within the family, Qi Xiyuan had left early to build his own company. He also didn’t seek a marriage alliance with a wealthy family, choosing someone he truly loved instead. That caused a huge fight with his father, and they’d grown distant ever since.

His older brother then fancied himself the sole heir of the family business, behaving arrogantly.

The old man’s birthday dinner was organized by the two sons in rotation. This year was Qi Xiyuan’s turn. He’d booked the well-known vegetarian restaurant Boti Garden’s Chef Sun far in advance. He hadn’t expected his brother to sabotage it. Probably afraid that if Qi Xiyuan did a good job, he’d win back the old man’s favor and eventually get a larger share of the inheritance.

The couple was at a loss.

His wife comforted him, “Dad doesn’t like ostentatious displays. The dinner is at home anyway. The whole family plus your sister’s family—maybe a dozen people at most. We could cook it ourselves and say it’s our filial gesture. They won’t have anything to say.”

Qi Xiyuan laughed despite himself. “How is that possible? We don’t know how to cook. Even if it’s just family, that’s ridiculous.”

His wife hadn’t seriously meant it; she’d only said it to lighten the mood.

Her eyes landed on the bag of cluster figs on the floor. An idea dawned on her. “Honey, I just thought of someone. What if we ask Boss Jiang from Qionghua Restaurant?”

Qi Xiyuan paused. “I’m not sure that would work. Even though it’s a family dinner, everyone in the family—old and young—has a very demanding palate. Boss Jiang’s cooking is excellent, but she does rustic farmhouse food. I’m afraid it wouldn’t measure up.”

His wife thought for a moment, then said, “Last time your brother hosted, he hired a nationally famous vegetarian chef to cook on-site—specialty creative fusion dishes. Top-tier ingredients, elaborate plating, tiny portions. All of us younger ones thought the vegetarian dishes couldn’t get any better. But I watched Grandpa’s expression—he didn’t seem to like it.”

“Especially the last dish—an imitation meat vegetarian Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Grandpa didn’t touch it at all. But the first course—a wild vegetable platter—he really liked and ate a lot of.”

Qi Xiyuan thought for a moment, then slapped his hand on the table excitedly. “You’re right! Dad often grumbles that if your heart still craves meat, why bother being vegetarian. And he’s very traditional—he doesn’t care about fancy frills. Normally he just eats a simple vegetarian dish the housekeeper makes for him. Maybe Boss Jiang’s cooking would suit his taste even better!”

*That’s it.* It was Grandpa’s birthday after all. As long as he was satisfied, nothing else mattered.

“But does Chef Jiang even take this kind of gig?” Qi Xiyuan wondered.

His wife said, “Let’s give it a try. A phone call doesn’t show sincerity. She’s probably still awake right now. Let’s drive straight to her place.”