Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 119 Industry Benchmark, Dream Lover
It is now the twelfth lunar month.

The weather is getting colder and colder.

But Li Hongbing noticed that he was seeing more and more smiles on other people's faces.

The year is drawing to a close, and the Spring Festival, which everyone is looking forward to, is not far away.

The thought of Chinese New Year always brings joy to both adults and children.

There always needs to be something to look forward to in life.

No matter how hard the past year has been, or what grievances have been suffered, the few days of family reunion during the Spring Festival seem to soothe the wounds of the past long time.

Laba Festival.

Because every household makes Laba porridge, many people get up a little earlier than usual.

As usual, Li Hongbing came to the courtyard to prepare for his morning exercise.

Despite the cold winter weather, Li Hongbing has not become complacent and continues to practice the Eight Pieces of Brocade.

Noticing Li Hongbing's actions and seeing that he didn't seem to be planning to cook, Aunt Yan couldn't help but ask, "Hongbing, aren't you making Laba porridge today?"

Those who know Li Hongbing know that once he starts his morning exercise, it takes him a long time to finish.

There's no problem cooking a simple meal normally.

But on this special day, if we only start preparing Laba porridge at that time, we probably won't make it to work in time.

"Aunt Yan, I'm too lazy to do it all by myself."

Knowing what Aunt Yan meant by asking that question, Li Hongbing smiled and replied, "My sister specifically told me a couple of days ago that I don't need to cook this morning, and that I should come to her place for Laba porridge."

Today is Laba Festival, and it is a traditional custom to drink Laba porridge on this day, which has been passed down for countless years.

If it were just Li Hongbing by himself, he wouldn't bother with it.

Since Li Hongmei had given the instructions, Li Hongbing could simply wait to receive the benefits.

The distance between the two sides is not far; even without riding a bicycle, it wouldn't take long to walk.

On days when Li Hongbing was off work, Li Hongmei would usually cook extra food for him in the evening so that he could come over and eat with her.

"You and your sister have such a good relationship!"

Upon hearing Li Hongbing's answer, Aunt Yan couldn't help but sigh.

It's rare to see a relationship as good as that between Li Hongmei and Li Hongbing after marriage.

When Li Hongmei got married, Li Hongbing prepared an extremely generous dowry for her. At the time, some people in the courtyard laughed at Li Hongbing for being foolish, but now Aunt Yan realizes that they really have a deep bond as siblings.

Upon hearing this, Li Hongbing smiled but remained silent.

When Li Hongbing first arrived in this era, his feelings for his older sister were more about responsibility and obligation.

It's no longer just a blood relationship.

Over the past six months, Li Hongbing has completely accepted Li Hongmei as his older sister from the bottom of his heart and has built a bridge of kinship with her.

The human heart is made of flesh.

After finishing his morning exercise, Li Hongbing went back inside to tidy up before pushing his bicycle out the door.

soon.

Li Hongbing's company arrived at Li Hongmei's side.

After greeting the neighbors in the courtyard, Li Hongmei had already cooked the Laba porridge by the time Li Hongbing came in.

"sister!"

"coming?"

Upon seeing Li Hongbing arrive, Li Hongmei smiled from the bottom of her heart and urged him quickly, "Come inside, it's cold outside."

"Brother-in-law."

Seeing his brother-in-law Zhao Weiguo serving Laba porridge inside the house, Li Hongbing greeted him.

"Hey~"

Zhao Weiguo responded and then handed the bowl of Laba porridge he had just filled to Li Hongbing's throat: "Here, while it's hot."

Li Hongbing naturally took it without any formalities.

Not long after.

The three of them sat around a table, drinking the sweet and soft Laba porridge and chatting.

"Brother-in-law, my sister is pregnant now, and it's her first child. You have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't do any heavy work."

After chatting for a few minutes, Li Hongbing seemed to remember something and directly instructed and reminded Zhao Weiguo.

Li Hongmei and Zhao Weiguo have been married for almost three months, and she recently found out she is pregnant. As her younger brother, Li Hongbing naturally has to remind her from time to time.

"Hongbing, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of your sister."

Even if Li Hongbing hadn't said anything, Zhao Weiguo would have done it anyway, but to put his brother-in-law at ease, he made a special promise.

Hearing their conversation, Li Hongmei, standing to the side, felt somewhat helpless and couldn't help but complain, "Hongbing, you're being too cautious. I've only just gotten pregnant, my belly isn't even that big yet, and it's still a long way from when the baby is born!"

Although she said that, Li Hongmei subconsciously touched her belly and a happy smile appeared on her face.

Compared to Li Hongbing, she was not as nervous.

In those days, it was common for people to continue working and producing while heavily pregnant; this was not an isolated case.

Because of a lack of professional medical knowledge, many people don't take it seriously, which has become a common phenomenon.

"Sis, that's why you need to be careful, especially since you're newly pregnant."

Worried that they weren't taking it seriously enough, Li Hongbing had to remind them, "I read in a book that the first three months of pregnancy are a crucial stage, and you absolutely can't underestimate it or be careless." "What kind of books are you reading?"

Upon hearing this, Li Hongmei was speechless.

"Well, it's useful anyway. I specifically went to the library to check it out because I knew you were pregnant."

Li Hongbing made up a lie and then instructed Zhao Weiguo, "Brother-in-law, when you're resting, remember to take my sister to the hospital for regular checkups and talk to the doctor to find out what she should pay attention to during her pregnancy, what dietary restrictions she should be aware of, and so on..."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Knowing that Li Hongbing, his brother-in-law, was well-educated and knowledgeable, Zhao Weiguo, despite being his brother-in-law, listened to his advice.

Moreover, Zhao Weiguo took Li Hongmei and her unborn child very seriously, and dared not be careless in the slightest.

Seeing the two of them like this, Li Hongmei felt both helpless and incredibly warm.

Having two loving and caring family members by your side is the greatest happiness.

"By the way, I heard that Qin Huairu from your department is pregnant too?"

Li Hongmei is now married and no longer lives in Li Hongbing's courtyard house; it has been renamed "your courtyard".

Perhaps because she was also pregnant, Li Hongmei was quite sensitive and attentive to information in this area. She just remembered it and asked casually.

Although she had a past conflict with the Jia family and they no longer had any contact, this did not prevent Li Hongmei from understanding the situation in their courtyard.

"Yes, it just so happens to be around this time."

Li Hongbing nodded.

It was quite a coincidence.

Li Hongmei had only been pregnant for a few days when news also spread from the Jia family in the Intermediate People's Court that Qin Huairu was pregnant.

The thought of the future Thief Saint about to be born already conjured up images of chaos and commotion in the courtyard in Li Hongbing's mind.

I wonder if Qin Huairu's child this time will be the same one that's popular in the show.

Although Qin Huairu eventually married into the Jia family, her presence somewhat altered the course of events within the courtyard.

If it's still the Thief King, then we've unlocked another "new" character in the courtyard house.

Li Hongmei suddenly remembered it and asked casually. She didn't really care about Qin Huairu or the Jia family. After receiving Li Hongbing's answer, she didn't ask any more questions.

Seeing this, Li Hongbing naturally wouldn't bring it up.

After finishing his Laba porridge, Li Hongbing didn't linger and quickly rode his bicycle to Fengzeyuan.

It snowed last night, and there is a lot of snow on the road, some of which is even icy.

Although the snowplows went out to work early in the morning to clear obstacles for everyone going to work, Li Hongbing was still a little late when he arrived at Fengzeyuan.

Fortunately, Li Hongbing wasn't the only one who was late.

Although there are regulations regarding commuting hours, there is currently no strict clocking-in system, and coupled with the influence of weather and road conditions, being late is not a serious problem.

Even under normal circumstances, no one would bother to investigate.

After all, no one comes here for breakfast early in the morning. Fengzeyuan only opens at noon, so there's plenty of time.

Many of the master chefs in the kitchen have a habit of being late, and those who can arrive on time are already considered model workers.

Of course.

The apprentices and their workers dared not be so relaxed.

As the official representative sent by the higher authorities, Gu Jianliang was in charge of the daily operation and management of Fengzeyuan. Apart from a few major changes at the beginning, he did not make any further major moves. He would just talk to the head chefs in the kitchen and do ideological work with them.

Their purpose, of course, was to get them to take on more apprentices and help Fengzeyuan train new people.

Normally, even if Gu Jianliang sees people being late, he won't say anything, let alone deliberately make things difficult for them.

It is worth mentioning that.

After the technical rating and salary changes, two relatively young master chefs left Fengzeyuan.

In fact, they had already expressed their intentions to Luan Xuetang the next day, and Gu Jianliang was aware of it.

In order to reduce the negative impact and stabilize morale, after negotiations, both parties allowed them to continue working for another half month before releasing them.

Li Hongbing only found out later.

However, none of this had any impact on Fengzeyuan.

Judging from the current results, the state's investment and control, along with the appointment of Gu Jianliang to oversee the reforms, have made the Fengzeyuan public-private partnership a successful pilot project.

With Fengzeyuan's brand and reputation standing out, and Gu Jianliang having preserved the core kitchen team to the greatest extent possible, coupled with support from above, Gu Jianliang has delivered a fairly satisfactory result.

Currently, his main focus is on building a talent pool for the kitchen's technical team and cultivating the younger generation.

Unfortunately.

The results were not very good.

Having lived through a chaotic period, many master craftsmen hold rather conservative views, believing that teaching apprentices can lead to their own demise. To extract their essential skills for survival from them, it's not enough to just talk about it.

Moreover, Gu Jianliang couldn't force the issue.

Actually, there is another very crucial issue.

Even if some master chefs are willing to take on apprentices, it is difficult to find suitable candidates among the apprentices in the kitchen.

Not everyone is Li Hongbing.

Because of Li Hongbing's previous performance, coupled with his rapid improvement in knife skills during this period, he has become an increasingly outstanding apprentice in the eyes of many experienced chefs in the kitchen.

Some even began to regret not acting first, allowing Guo Youzhong to "pick up" this "bargain".

(End of this chapter)