Ding Baozhen's Recommendation Letter, Heading North to Yangzhou!

"Hahaha... Good job, Nanxu, you did well this time!"

Inside the study, Ding Baozhen laughed loudly.

"With such overwhelming evidence, even the Jiang family can no longer deny it. This time, their plans have failed, and they've lost everything!"

Nan Xu also smiled. As far as he knew, the Jiang family had indeed been having a hard time lately.

First, their credibility was questioned, leading to the cancellation of many business collaborations. Then, the Jiang family members involved, including the three Jiang family chefs who participated in the cooking competition and Jiang Yuqiao, all received punishments ranging from minor to severe.

The one who suffered the most severe punishment was the Jiang family executive who met with Wang Yi. It is said that his fate was even worse than Wang Yi's, and he would not have survived if the Jiang family had not done everything in their power to protect him.

More importantly, once the Jiang family's ambitions were exposed, it became much harder for them to target Baiweilou.

Not only that, they even had to actively distance themselves from Baiweilou, otherwise if Baiweilou got into trouble again, they would be the first ones to be investigated.

"Unfortunately... we still haven't found evidence that most of the Jiang family's core members, including the family head Jiang Jiunian, were involved in this matter." Ding Baozhen suddenly sighed.

He didn't believe that the Jiang family head wasn't involved, but the Jiang family shifted all the blame onto that one of their high-ranking members, cleaning up the mess perfectly.

"It's alright." Nan Xu had already anticipated this. To think that the Jiang family could be brought down by a cooking competition was simply wishful thinking.

It's already quite good that this time they've dealt such a heavy blow to the Jiang family.

"I heard that Jiang Jiunian wrote a letter of apology for this matter and also sent a gift to your Baiweilou Restaurant to apologize. You should have received it by now, right?" Ding Baozhen asked again.

Nan Xu nodded. Although the letter contained only some useless platitudes, the apology was very sincere, which made everyone at Baiweilou very happy.

As a major contributor to this incident, he also received a large sum of money, amounting to over a thousand taels.

In addition, there were some rare ingredients of grade six or seven, such as the peach blossom mandarin fish that Jiang Yuqiao brought out that day.

Ding Baozhen pondered for a moment and said, "...Actually, the Jiang family head also prepared another apology gift, specifically asking me to give it to you, presumably with the intention of turning hostility into friendship."

As he spoke, he took out several small jars from the food pouch at his waist.

Nan Xu glanced at the item panel, and immediately, a purple light shot into the sky!

Fragrant Snow Salt

[Quality: Top Grade 4]

Quality Score: 93

[Note: This is a premium sea salt produced in the salt fields of Danzhou in the South China Sea. It has a delicate and mellow salty taste, a snow-white color, and a sweet floral aroma, hence its name.]

He raised an eyebrow and looked at the other small jars, and was surprised to find that all of these salts were Xiangxue salt, and none of them had a quality score of less than 90.

Salt is the foundation of seasoning.

High-quality salt is an invaluable treasure for any chef, especially for a chef like him who excels at seasoning.

Such high-quality Xiangxue salt is likely not in much stock within the Jiang family. This time, the Jiang family has truly gone all out.

Seeing his hesitation, Ding Baozhen assumed it was due to the young man's arrogance and quickly said, "So, what do you think? If you don't want to accept it, I'll help you return it to them."

"Lord Ding, you misunderstand." Nan Xu smiled. "Since it's an apology, I should naturally accept it graciously. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste to leave such fine salt in the Jiang family?"

"Moreover, I had no intention of fighting the Jiang family to the death. A mere salt merchant family is not worth me doing that."

Ding Baozhen paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, clapping his hands and saying, "Haha...that's right, what you said makes sense!"

Nan Xu carefully placed several jars of Fragrant Snow Salt into his food treasure bag and said, "Lord Ding, it's getting late, I should probably take my leave..."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ding Baozhen hurriedly called out to him, "I have something else to tell you."

"Actually, I should have told you about this a few times when we met before, but I just hadn't found the right opportunity..."

As he spoke, he pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to Nanxu.

"What's this?" Nan Xu asked curiously as she took the letter.

"It's my letter of recommendation." Ding Baozhen's voice softened. "It's such a waste for someone as talented as you to stay in Huizhou all this time; it's a complete waste of your talent."

"In the golden autumn of September, Yangzhou will host a culinary extravaganza, where literary figures and skilled chefs will gather."

"Take this letter to Liao Hong, the prefect of Yangzhou. He will take you to this grand event... I believe that you will shine brightest there," he said solemnly.

Nan Xu heard the "ding" of the mission notification sound and couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of fate.

He was already planning to go to the Jianghuai region, and passing through Yangzhou was just a side trip.

He had heard of this autumn food festival, but the threshold for such a grand event was quite high, and it would be a bit troublesome to participate, so he did not include it in his list of goals.

Ding Baozhen's willingness to give himself this opportunity shows that he truly has high hopes for him.

Thinking of this, he quickly accepted the task and clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, Lord Ding!"

"There's no need for thanks between us," Ding Baozhen said with a smile. "If you really want to thank me, then do your best at that grand event and don't waste the opportunity I gave you to recommend me."

Nan Xu clasped his hands in a fist salute and replied with a smile, "I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

……

Jiang Mansion.

In the lavishly decorated hall, a middle-aged man dressed in a crimson brocade robe and with a dignified face sat high on a grand chair, his expression inscrutable.

"Qiao'er, do you know what the biggest mistake you've made this time is?"

Upon hearing this, a look of resentment flashed across Jiang Yuqiao's face.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, "...I'm sorry, Father, I shouldn't have acted impulsively and accepted Nanxu's cooking challenge."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jiunian shook his head:

"No, that's not your biggest mistake."

He slowly rose, walked to Jiang Yuqiao's side, and looked down at him:

"Your biggest mistake was trying to prove you were stronger than your sister, without having the corresponding ability."

"Weakness or arrogance alone may not lead to destruction, but those who possess both of these flaws are destined for failure."

Jiang Yuqiao gritted his teeth, but still lowered his head and said, "Father is right."

Jiang Jiunian paced back and forth, calmly saying, "I hope you can truly understand this principle, and not just talk about it."

"Perhaps it's because I've kept you locked up at home all the time that you haven't properly recognized your own abilities... nor have you properly recognized the gap between you and your sister."

With that, he waved his hand and announced to the Jiang family members in the hall:

"I hereby declare that, effective immediately, Jiang Yuqiao is expelled from the Jiang family and will never be allowed to return unless he becomes a sixth-rank chef!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuqiao's face turned deathly pale.

"Father... Father..."

He looked up and met Shangjiang Jiunian's stern gaze.

"What, do you have any objections?"

"...No!" Jiang Yuqiao gritted his teeth.

He's just a sixth-rank chef, but his peach blossom mandarin fish dish is already a top-tier seventh-rank dish, not far from sixth-rank!

He was just going out to gain experience for a while... Thinking this, he bowed to Jiang Jiu Nian and strode towards the door.

Soon, his figure disappeared into the hall.

Jiang Jiunian watched the figure gradually disappearing into the distance at the doorway and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he let out a barely perceptible sigh.

"well……"