My Fantastic Chef Wife

382. The Rich Young Masters

Translator: Kickassjo

Xiao Baocheng urged Xiao Tieshu to pass the plates in the kitchen.

Xiao Tieshu was confused, but he still did as Xiao Baocheng said.

When he came to the kitchen, Xiao Tieshu said to Wang Mudan, “Baocheng has made a few good friends who seem to be dandies instead of decent people.”

After hearing it, Wang Mudan went out to take a look.

When she saw those young masters who were dressed in expensive clothes, Wang Mudan said, “Alas, they are dressed better indeed but what’s the harm? Baocheng has been in the Capital City for a few months, so it’s harmless to make a few friends. Perhaps those friends can help Baocheng get used to the life here. Besides, Baocheng is old enough to make a few friends on his own.”

After hearing it, Xiao Tieshu didn’t say anything and could only ask Wang Mudan to make some signature dishes from the restaurant.

……

After they had eaten and drunk to their satisfaction, the rich young masters of the Capital City expressed their appreciation of the food in their restaurant to Xiao Baocheng, but they weren’t planning to pay.

Xiao Baocheng was a little annoyed since they had eaten three taels’ worth of food.

However, he was reluctant to ask them to pay for the bill since he wanted to get close to them and hung out with them so he could only comfort himself: they were used to spending a lot and he should not be too parsimonious. It was only three taels. He would consider it to be his treat.

As a result, he smiled and said to those young masters, “Brothers, this meal today is on me… I won’t charge you today.”

After he finished, those young masters looked at him curiously and said,

“What? You want to charge us?”

“We barely eat anything: just a few bowls of noodles, a few pancakes, and a jar of wine.”

“If you want to charge us with this small amount of money, how will we come again next time?”

“I told you. He doesn’t act like the General’s younger brother. How can a General’s younger brother be so parsimonious?”

He was rendered speechless.

Xiao Baocheng felt himself inferior and ashamed after being mocked at. He merely wanted to act generous, how come he ended up a parsimonious man?

One of the young masters took out three taels from his pocket and put them on the table. He said to Xiao Baocheng, feeling annoyed, “Here’s the money for the food.”

Xiao Baocheng hurriedly said, “No need, Brother, please take it back. I won’t accept your money.”

“You will keep it when I give to you. You are not running a big restaurant, it’s just a small business.”

However, Xiao Baocheng wouldn’t take it no matter what they said and tried very hard to thrust the money back into his hands, which nearly caused a physical conflict. When the young master saw Xiao Baocheng being so stubborn, he could only take back the money.

It was quite a scene.

Xiao Tieshu and Xiao Tongshu witnessed the scene but they didn’t dare to come up, only feeling that Xiao Baocheng were acting quite abnormal.

When did Baocheng know these people and when did he become generous?

Even though those young masters found Xiao Baocheng a little stubborn and poorly dressed, they knew that Xiao Baocheng wanted to make friends with them genuinely, so they said to Xiao Baocheng, “We are going to visit some places later. Do you want to come with us? It’s a good chance to enrich your experience.”

When Xiao Baocheng heard that those young masters were willing to hang out with him, he nodded quickly, “Yes, I’ll go with you.”

“Then hurry!” one of the rich young masters said.

Seeing that Xiao Baocheng was about to leave with them, Xiao Tieshu hurriedly asked him, “Baocheng, where are you going?”

“Father, I’ll come back soon. It won’t hinder our work here.” Xiao Baocheng replied and then went out with those young masters.

When Xiao Tieshu chased him to the door, he saw that they had already entered the carriage and headed towards the east of the city.

He felt uneasy and went back to tell Wang Mudan about it.

However, Wang Mudan still didn’t care, “Alas, now that our child has grown up, he will have his own life and we should not fret about it. He is new to the Capital City and doesn’t know anyone in the city so it is good that he has someone to hang out with.”

“But Little Ye told us not to associate with the young masters in the Capital City…” Xiao Tieshu said.

Wang Mudan said disdainfully, “We don’t need to take Little Ye’s words seriously. It’s impossible to stay away from them forever. She doesn’t allow us to associate with them but she still introduced a marriage for Baozhu? We’ll let nature take its course.”

Xiao Tieshu didn’t know what to say so he said, “Well, never mind, we’ll take it one step at a time.”

……

Xiao Baocheng followed those young masters to the east of the city. The carriage travelled through several streets and arrived at a place called “The Red House”.

After they got out of the carriage, those young masters strode inside while Xiao Baocheng was reluctant to go.

He had never been to these places. He was envious that these people could afford to go to such places frequently. He was so worried that he didn’t have the money to pay.

As soon as those young masters went in, a woman came out to greet them with a sweet smile, “Welcome, masters? Do you want to see a musical performance or do you want to do something else?”

One of the young master from the Duke’s family said, “It’s still early. We’ll watch a show first and we want to see Yilan dance.”

“Yilan happens to be here today. I’ll get her right away.”

Those young masters sat at a round table, facing the stage.

The stage was set up beautifully with all kinds of red and green curtains, making the people inside obscured.

After a short while, a few women came out: some holding the pipa, some holding the erhu, and some holding the Chinese zither. After they came out, the girls started to dance. At first, the performance seemed normal, but then later, they bagan to strip as they danced and beforelong they wore nothing but a thin veil and their bodies became partly hidden and partly visible.

This was the first time Xiao Baocheng saw such a scene and he blushed scarlet like that of a monkey’s butt.

However, when he saw that the other young masters weren’t flustered, he could only pretend to be calm.

When the girls finished dancing and came out of the curtain, they each chose a young master and then leaned against them and said shyly, “Young master, let me serve you.”

A girl called Little Red came to Xiao Baocheng’s arms.

As soon as Little Red leaned against him, he bounced away as if he had been struck by thunder, “Lady, you must not!”

His action caused a burst of laughter among the people beside him.

The girls laughed at him, “He’s new, right? I’ve never seen him before.”

Those young masters laughed at him, “He probably hasn’t touched any women, right? Alas, the people who comes from the general’s family are old-fashioned like that.”

“General, which general?” someone asked.

“His name is Xiao Baocheng. You tell me, which general is he?”

“The top-rank general? Xiao Baoshan?”

“Exactly!”

Once they heard that he came from the Xiao Baoshan family, no one dared to laugh at him.

The procuress consoled him, “Little young master, you’ll grow better at such thing once you’ve tried.”

Xiao Baocheng was shy and ashamed and he realized he had overreacted just now.

He feared that others would laugh at him so he allowed Little Red to lean closer to him.

Then, he watched the others and did as what they did. If he didn’t play, Little Red would tease him anyway.

Just like that, his virginity was taken by Little Red.

This time, he didn’t pay and the young masters payed for him.

……

Xiao Baocheng returned home the next morning, reeking of booze, and a fragrant scent on the clothes.

His families asked where he went and he said he had hung out with those young masters.

Xiao Tieshu was a little angry, “You have been out for one whole night, where the hell did you go?”

Seeing that Xiao Tieshu looked a little fierce, Wang Mudan quickly put herself in front of Xiao Baocheng and said, “Alas, what are you yelling him for? Why don’t we listen to what he has to say first? Baocheng has always been a good child and he knows the line.”

“Alright, let him speak.”

Xiao Baocheng said, “I went to… Alas, I didn’t ask to go there anyway, it’s those young masters’ idea. They said that all the young masters of the aristocratic families in the Capital City goes there to have fun and we can meet many people there. Father, do you know whom I hung out with yesterday? Some of their fathers work in the Ministry of Revenue, some in Hanlin Academy, and some whose families have been working as officials for generations. If anything happens to our family in the future, we don’t need to worry that we have no one to turn to.”

Xiao Tieshu felt that was wrong, “Not all of the high-rank officials or the young masters of the aristocratic families stay out till midnight, right?”

“Father, this is how it works. If you don’t play along, I won’t be able to fit in.”

“No, you’re not allowed to go to any places like that in the future.” Xiao Tieshu was worried that he would cause trouble for Xiao Baoshan’s family.

Xiao Baocheng naturally refused to obey.

Last night was fun. Little Red knew how to please him and besides, they didn’t ask him to pay so he played for free.

When Wang Mudan heard that Xiao Baocheng hung out with the young masters of the aristocratic families, she spoke in favour of Xiao Baocheng again, “Baocheng, go clean up and get some sleep first. You don’t need to work in the counter today. You’ll keep the accounts in the afternoon.”

Xiao Baocheng sneaked off right away.

Xiao Tieshu was very furious, “You keep spoiling him like that. He will be in trouble sooner or later.”

“What will happen? He merely made a few friends, and Baocheng had also said that those friends are either high-rank officials or rich people. If Baocheng is to stay in the Capital City, it’s not bad to know more people. For one thing he can enrich his experience; for another we can have more ways out if we come into any troubles in the future.

“Have you forgotten what Little Ye told us back then? She told us to focus on doing business.”

“Little Ye, Little Ye, why do you always talk about her? It’s true that she had helped us a lot and hopes that we won’t get into trouble, but she won’t be able to help us forever. We have to live our own lives and look for another way to get rich.”

Xiao Tieshu was rendered speechless by her words.

Originally, Xiao Tieshu was very obedient to Little Ye’s words, but his wife was not wrong either. There was nothing bad to have more experience if the child was to stay in the Capital City.

There was no way to know whether it was a blessing in disguise or not until it happened.

……

In two days, it would be Mid-Autumn Festival.

One night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ye Xiaoxian sent someone over to invite Xiao Tieshu, Xiao Tongshu and the others to drink tea and watch the performance in the tea house.

So, on that day, Xiao Tieshu and the others closed the restaurant early and the two families went to the tea house happily.

Ye Xiaoxian specially reserved half of the seats so that the Xiao family could see more clearly.