Publicly Struck at His Weak Spot
Dean Zhang's face flushed bright red with embarrassment. The Wutong Academy was the place he had dreamed of teaching at his entire life.
When Wutong Academy first opened, he had privately tried to seek a position through Elder Gu, but Elder Gu never even saw him and just sent a servant boy to dismiss him.
At that time, Dean Zhang was quite resentful, thinking that since he was at least a ranked scholar and had taught in Qingmiao City for many years, he should be able to get a position at Wutong Academy.
But who would have thought he was completely looked down upon!
Later, when Wutong Academy officially announced the list of teachers, Dean Zhang immediately checked it out, only to find that the names were either top scholars from the Hanlin Academy or contemporary great scholars — all first-rate faculty. He, a mere ranked scholar, didn't even qualify to be their shoe polisher.
So at that time, Dean Zhang gave up on the idea of teaching at Wutong Academy, knowing he simply wasn't qualified.
However, the matter eventually spread, and all the students at Qingmiao Academy knew that Dean Zhang wanted to go to Wutong Academy but was rejected because they didn't want him.
This became a painful, unspeakable sore spot for Dean Zhang. When Liu Hui publicly hit that sore spot, he was so furious he nearly had a stroke. Flipping his sleeve, his red face burning with embarrassment, he stormed off in a huff.
After noon, Su Li took Bailu out of the Vegetarian Bistro and stopped by Xiangmanlou on the way.
Recently, Su Li had her apprentices send new dishes to Xiangmanlou, but today she thought since she was here, she might as well visit Xiangmanlou and maybe bring Su Shirong back to the village in the evening.
Upon entering Xiangmanlou, Manager Zhang warmly greeted Su Li and quickly welcomed her inside, saying, "Boss Su, you must be very busy with your noble affairs. It's truly an honor to have you grace us with your presence today!"
Su Li and Manager Zhang were old acquaintances, so they skipped the formalities and went into a side room to drink tea and discuss Xiangmanlou's business.
Manager Zhang laughed and said, "Thanks to Boss Zhao, we've recently opened several branches in the west. Counting them all, Xiangmanlou now has over forty branches nationwide. Boss Zhao is even planning to expand into Chu State when the opportunity is right."
"That's great! The branches in Jin State are almost saturated, so expanding into Chu State is truly excellent! Boss Zhao is really extraordinary, with both ability and ambition!" Su Li praised Zhao Jinnian highly. Although her partner was a woman, her ambition and capability were no less than any man. The speed at which Xiangmanlou expanded was truly impressive!
"Hehe, that’s all thanks to Boss Su’s recipes. Without them, Xiangmanlou’s business wouldn’t be this good!" Manager Zhang said with a smile.
Su Li chuckled. As the second boss of Xiangmanlou, she received a share of the profits. Naturally, she hoped Xiangmanlou would make lots of money! That way, she wouldn’t have to lift a finger in management, just provide recipes, and sit at home counting money — it was perfect!
However, seeing Xiangmanlou’s expansion, Su Li felt her own Elegant Vegetarian Bistro was quite small-scale. So far, she only had one shop, no branches, and was miles behind Zhao Jinnian’s Xiangmanlou.
Su Li thought to herself that once she sorted out her current affairs and trained a few apprentices, she could open branches in other places, letting three of her apprentices, except for Lingdang, become head chefs at the branches, and then they could each take on their own apprentices.
She would gather apprentices and grand-apprentices, and she herself would become the founding matriarch of the Su culinary style!