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

Chapter 138 Intermediate Cook, On the Eve of Centralized Sales (4k)

Time passes day by day.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and we have entered late autumn.

For the past six months or so, the courtyard has been very peaceful. Yi Zhonghai, the Jia family, and the deaf old lady have all been relatively well-behaved and haven't caused any trouble.

Just a few days ago, Qin Huairu gave birth to a son named Jia Geng, nicknamed Bang Geng. The legendary Thief Saint has been born.

Just a few days later, Li Hongbing also welcomed his little nephew, Zhao Jianjun.

Originally, the name should have been chosen by Zhao Weiguo and Li Hongmei themselves, or by Zhao's parents. However, after discussing it, Zhao Weiguo and Li Hongmei felt that Li Hongbing was well-educated, so they asked him to come up with the name for them.

When naming his nephew, Li Hongbing didn't try to be unconventional. Just then, news of the victory in the Korean War came at the end of July this year, so Li Hongbing helped him come up with a name that was quite in line with the characteristics of the times.

Things like founding the nation, loving the country, revitalizing China, and strengthening the nation...

These names were quite common in this era, even to the point of being ubiquitous.

However, Li Hongbing did not think it was outdated. Living in this era, it was a symbol and vision of peace and national prosperity.

In the middle of the year, shortly after the victory against the Japanese invasion of North Korea, Chen's father, who was already terminally ill, finally succumbed to his illness and passed away.

Li Hongbing accompanied Chen Xueru through those dark days. Afterwards, in order to alleviate the pain of losing her loved ones, Chen Xueru devoted all her thoughts and energy to the cloth shop business and changed the original name of Chen's Cloth Shop to Xueru Silk Shop.

Chen Xueru and Li Hongbing discussed it, and since they knew that she would only have two or three years to run the business freely, Li Hongbing did not stop her.

However, Li Hongbing gave a crucial piece of advice: while focusing more on the high-end silk fabric business and private customization, they should not abandon the business of low-end, inexpensive fabrics.

Although cheap, low-end fabrics have low profit margins, they represent the largest market and consumer base, forming the foundation.

The most crucial point is that no matter what we do now, we must not be detached from the masses.

Although Chen Xueru did not understand the deeper meaning behind Li Hongbing's insistence, she felt that what he said made sense, so she adopted it.

this day.

The kitchen of Fengzeyuan Restaurant.

After the workday ended at noon, instead of taking a break as usual, everyone gathered together, and both the public sector manager Gu Jianliang and the private sector manager Luan Xuetang made a special appearance.

the reason is simple.

After obtaining the consent and approval of his mentor Guo Youzhong, Li Hongbing went to see Gu Jianliang, the company's manager, this morning to apply for the intermediate-level cook assessment.

In fact, as early as the middle of the year, Li Hongbing's cooking skill level had already advanced from lv3 to lv4, and his cooking skills had reached the level of an intermediate cook in reality.

However, to be on the safe side, Li Hongbing spent several more months gaining experience points and honing his culinary skills before finally submitting his application for the assessment today.

Currently, there is no nationally unified standard for chef grading, nor is there a dedicated agency for assessing chef grading. Instead, chefs are primarily assessed and graded internally by their respective organizations or companies.

After the public-private partnership last year, Gu Jianliang introduced three levels of culinary skills assessment and evaluation standards: primary, intermediate, and advanced, and clarified the promotion mechanism. This allowed Li Hongbing to start the intermediate chef assessment so quickly after being promoted to primary chef.

of course.

Li Hongbing's abilities have already been recognized by his mentor, Guo Youzhong; otherwise, this assessment wouldn't be possible simply by applying.

For the past six months, Li Hongbing has been engaged in food preparation work, and his culinary skills have improved significantly, especially in knife skills. It can be said that he has made rapid progress. Therefore, for this intermediate-level cook assessment, Li Hongbing boldly challenged himself with stir-fried pork kidneys, which is quite a test of knife skills and heat control.

Li Hongbing is quite confident in his knife skills, but his control over the heat is relatively weak. It is unrealistic for him to reach the level of the master chefs in the kitchen. However, Li Hongbing is only participating in the intermediate cook assessment this time, so he only needs to make this dish to the corresponding standard.

I've made this dish not only at home, but also by visiting Guo Youzhong's house and receiving his personal guidance more than once, so the outcome was no surprise.

"it is good!"

"Truly, heroes emerge from among the young!"

“Our Fengzeyuan needs talents like Li Hongbing. Everyone should learn from him.”

"Don't think that Li Hongbing is just talented. He is also very hardworking and ambitious in the kitchen. He puts in just as much effort as any of you."

"In less than a year, he was promoted from junior cook to intermediate cook. His success was no accident!"

"Everyone, give a round of applause! Congratulations to Comrade Li Hongbing for passing the intermediate-level cook exam!"

"..."

As Li Hongbing's stir-fried pork kidneys earned the approval of many master chefs in the kitchen, Gu Jianliang's impassioned speech, amidst thunderous applause, also announced that he had successfully passed the assessment.

Next.

Gu Jianliang then approached Li Hongbing and once again affirmed, praised, and encouraged him.

at the same time.

Guo Youzhong, the mentor, watched this scene silently, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

"Old Guo, you've done something amazing! In less than a year, you've raised your apprentice's skill level to such a high level. How did you do it?"

At this moment, Guo Youzhong's friend Wang Mingli couldn't help but ask him how to teach his apprentices, his eyes filled with envy.

Upon hearing this, Guo Youzhong's face was filled with pride, yet he couldn't help but humbly say, "Hey! This kid is very talented. I didn't actually teach him much. It was all thanks to his own eagerness to learn and hard work. Take his knife skills, for example. Old Sun taught him more than I did."

This wasn't just modesty; it came from the bottom of Guo Youzhong's heart.

It's impossible to say that Guo Youzhong didn't teach or guide Li Hongbing, but Li Hongbing's progress over the past six months has still shocked him immensely.

What I've seen in my life!
Since he entered the culinary industry, he had never seen anyone with such high talent and such a fast pace of progress.

He'd be laughing in his sleep if he'd accepted this disciple.

Hearing Guo Youzhong's answer, which carried a hint of arrogance, Wang Mingli knew it was the truth. While he felt a little better, he was still somewhat annoyed and couldn't help but echo his words, "That's true. Geniuses can't be taught. Even if you change teachers, it probably won't make a difference!"

"You surnamed Wang...you're just jealous!"

He was just being modest, but Wang Mingli, that jerk, said something that completely erased his mentor's achievements, which almost made him furious.

What a loss.

"I'm jealous. If I had a disciple like that, I wouldn't dare wake up from my dreams."

Wang Mingli couldn't help but sigh.

Now, in the entire kitchen, how many people don't envy Guo Youzhong?

"Humph!"

Guo Youzhong smiled smugly, then gestured to Wu Jun, who was grinning foolishly not far away, and said, "I think Wu Jun is not bad either. If you train him well and put in more effort, he may very well become a talent in the future."

Wang Mingli glanced at Wu Jun, the new apprentice he had just taken on last month, and almost rolled his eyes. He complained helplessly, "This blockhead, I don't expect him to bring glory to the sect. I just hope he won't embarrass me after he graduates. How can he compare to your last disciple?"

Over the past six months, Gu Jianliang had spent a lot of time trying to persuade these master chefs. After Li Hongbing passed the junior cook exam, Wu Jun took the initiative to apply to take over the job of serving food. After nearly a year of observation, Wang Mingli finally decided to take him under his wing.

Upon hearing Wang Mingli's assessment, Guo Youzhong didn't refute it, but instead said without any modesty, "Compared to my last disciple, he is obviously lacking. However, this kid has clearly improved a lot since he first came in. He is a good prospect, so don't be too picky." Upon hearing this, Wang Mingli didn't even bother to reply.

……

Soon.

Li Hongbing received his new work permit. Apart from the change in his professional rating from junior cook to intermediate cook, and the change in his age and the date of issuance, everything else was basically the same as before.

This change directly increased Li Hongbing's salary from 350,000 yuan a month to 560,000 yuan a month.

only.

Li Hongbing's work didn't change much afterward; he still prepared the ingredients, but the difficulty of the ingredients he was responsible for was a bit higher than before.

There are plenty of master chefs in the kitchen, but if he wanted to work on the stove, he wouldn't even get a chance.

Perhaps he will be qualified when he passes the senior cook exam.

However, Li Hongbing is already quite satisfied with things as they are now.

Sooner or later!

Wu Jun, standing to the side, looked at Li Hongbing's new work permit several times and couldn't help but say enviously, "Brother Hongbing, you're amazing! In less than a year, you went directly from a junior cook to a mid-level cook, as easy as drinking water. I'm completely impressed."

"It's not as easy as you say, like drinking water."

Faced with Wu Jun's exaggerated analogy, Li Hongbing shook his head helplessly, took back his work ID from Wu Jun's hand, and encouraged him, "You're not bad now either. You've become Master Wang's apprentice, which can be considered as fulfilling your original wish. Keep up the good work, and you'll definitely do even better in the future."

"Even if I'm good, I can't compare to you!"

Speaking of this, Wu Jun couldn't help but feel frustrated.

He thought that now that he had Wang Mingli as his mentor, he was one step closer to Li Hongbing.

Before he could catch up, Li Hongbing surprised everyone again, widening the gap between them once more.

This is so despairing.

"Take things one step at a time, and you're already ahead of many people."

He himself was a person with a system; what did Wu Jun have to compare with him?

Even Li Hongbing didn't know how to comfort him. He just hoped that he wouldn't get stuck in a rut, otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to get out of it.

To be honest.

As long as Wu Jun follows the steps and studies and honees his skills in the kitchen of Fengzeyuan, with a master chef like Wang Mingli leading the way, Wu Jun's future development and treatment will definitely not be bad. When the new century comes, he might even be able to earn the title of Lu cuisine master.

If you can make a name for yourself before retirement, that's enough to build up your seniority.

The prerequisite is that you live long enough!
……

a few days later.

That's the day Fengzeyuan receives his salary.

This was certainly no coincidence. Li Hongbing deliberately chose to conduct the assessment a few days before payday, which resulted in him receiving 210,000 yuan more than before.

Li Hongbing doesn't lack this, but even a small mosquito is still meat.

If Li Hongbing hadn't wanted to increase his chances of passing the assessment, he might have already been receiving this salary by the middle of the year.

During his rest days, Li Hongbing went directly to a nearby grain store, bought 100 jin of flour, and delivered it to Chen Xueru's house.

"Hongbing, why did you buy so much grain?"

When Chen's mother saw Li Hongbing carrying a large bag of flour in one hand, she was completely stunned.

"Auntie, I just got paid a couple of days ago. I was thinking that your family's food was almost gone, so I passed by the grain store today and brought you and Xue Ru two bags over."

It's already October, and next month we'll officially enter the nationwide unified sales and purchase system. However, the restrictions in Beijing mainly apply to staple foods like flour.

As for rice and coarse grains, although they were quickly included in the policy of unified sales and purchase, the principle of "saving enough to eat" was implemented, and there was no forced restriction on the amount that could be purchased each month, unlike with flour.

The improvement of any policy is accomplished through gradual adjustments and follow-ups based on the actual situation.

In other words.

For a period of time after the implementation of the unified sales and purchase policy, the purchase of other staple foods by the people in Beijing was not significantly affected, except for restrictions on the purchase of flour.

"We bought so much this time, there are only two of us, Xue Ru and I, we can't finish it all."

Chen's mother was somewhat helpless.

However, she was extremely grateful and satisfied with Li Hongbing, her prospective son-in-law.

In the months since Chen's father passed away, Li Hongbing, the future son-in-law, has visited frequently, making his presence known to the neighbors.

As the saying goes, a son-in-law is like half a son.

Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru haven't registered their marriage yet, but Li Hongbing has proven it with his actions, preventing outsiders from seeing them as just the mother and daughter and wanting to bully them.

Even in the city, a family without a man is easily looked down upon.

In just a few months, Chen's mother had come to regard Li Hongbing as family.

"Then just leave it and eat it slowly! As long as it doesn't get damp, it won't spoil."

Li Hongbing responded with a smile.

If I don't buy more now, starting next month, even if I wanted to buy flour, I wouldn't be able to buy this much.

Li Hongbing helped Chen's mother carry the two bags of flour into the house, chatted with her for a while, and then said goodbye and left.

Throughout the entire process, Li Hongbing never mentioned the money for buying flour, and Chen's mother showed no intention of giving it to him.

Because Chen's mother knew that even if she gave it to him, Li Hongbing would definitely not accept it.

The only option is to wait for Chen Xueru to return, tell her about the matter, and let her daughter handle it, just like before.

Although she already considered Li Hongbing as family, they still lacked a marriage certificate. The family wasn't short of money, and Chen's mother didn't want to take advantage of Li Hongbing.

Chen Xueru's approach wasn't to give money directly, but rather to make Li Hongbing a couple of sets of clothes, or to buy some things and visit Li Hongmei to chat and strengthen their relationship.

After leaving, Li Hongbing went straight to the grain store near his home to buy more flour.

Before the flour supply plan was finalized, Li Hongbing wanted to buy more flour in advance. Otherwise, if everyone was short of flour next month but he wasn't, it would easily arouse suspicion.

However, just to be on the safe side, Li Hongbing not only bought flour, but also a bag of rice to take home.

(End of this chapter)