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

Chapter 15 Serving a Dipper
"Although saving lives was your personal act, it also brought honor to our Fengzeyuan. I've decided to give you a bonus of 100,000 yuan as a reward. I'll give it to you when you get your salary in a couple of days."

"Thank you, shopkeeper."

"This is what you deserve."

"Alright, get back to work in the kitchen!"

"..."

Li Hongbing was surprised by this unexpected turn of events.

Li Hongbing accepted the reward from Luan Xuetang without hesitation.

One hundred thousand yuan is nothing to Luan Xuetang, but it is more than half a month's salary for Li Hongbing.

"Hey, Brother Hongbing, Brother Liu said you came to work today, but I looked all over and couldn't find you. I thought Brother Liu was playing a trick on me. Where did you go?"

As soon as Li Hongbing stepped into the kitchen, a boy a little younger than him came up to him and couldn't help but say, "It's good that you're here. Now I don't have to scoop the spoons for you anymore, which saves me from getting scolded by Master Zhu and the others. I just don't understand why they don't yell at you when you scoop the spoons for the same job, but they only target me."

The other person's name is Wu Jun. He took the past two days off, and the other person temporarily filled in for him.

Faced with Wu Jun's complaints and grumbling, Li Hongbing couldn't say anything.

Although they were recruited in the same batch of apprentices, Wu Jun was two years younger than him and liked to talk to him whenever he had free time. The two had a pretty good relationship.

Strictly speaking, Li Hongbing was a little too old to become an apprentice.

In the past, many people would start learning their craft as apprentices at the age of twelve or thirteen, or even earlier.

It takes three years to become an apprentice, five and a half years to become a master, and seven years to become a master.

The saying that it takes three years to learn a craft is not just empty talk.

By the time they've mastered their skills, they're already quite old.

"I didn't go anywhere, but Manager Luan said a few words to me."

"The shopkeeper was looking for you. What did he say to you?"

"It's nothing, I'm just sick, I was just asking how I am."

"Oh, that……"

"Wu Jun, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and get to work!"

"Oh, here it comes..."

"..."

They had barely exchanged a few words when Wu Jun was called away.

Although they were both apprentices, they had different roles. Wu Jun's main job in the kitchen was to prepare the ingredients.

To put it simply, it's about selecting and washing vegetables.

As for Li Hongbing's "scratching the spoon," it belongs to the category of "hot pot utensils."

Wu Jun was so reluctant to use a spoon for free not only because it was boring and tiring, but also because it was easy to get scolded.

The large ladles used for cooking in the kitchen are all forged from wrought iron. The smallest weighs two and a half pounds, the average ones weigh three to five pounds, and there are even large ladles weighing six pounds.

At that time, there was no stainless steel. Although domestic production had begun, the output was not high, and it was mainly used for national defense and industry, and had not yet entered the civilian sector.

Fengzeyuan serves Shandong cuisine, which requires large ladles, which are divided into stir-fry ladles and soup ladles. Stir-fry ladles are used for frying, stir-frying, cooking, deep-frying, and braising, while soup ladles are used for stewing, poaching, braising, and roasting. To prevent flavors from mixing, each ladle can only be used once and must be cleaned quickly and carefully before being reused.

The key is that these wrought iron ladles are not easy to clean, especially those used for braising and cooking. Some ladles leave crumbs after use, so you have to soak them for a while, scrape them off with a spatula, and then use fine sand and ash to gently rub and polish them until they are very shiny. Then you have to wash them with water, boil them in boiling water, and then dry them over a fire before they are considered clean.

This whole process is not easy.

The kitchen staff, consisting of more than a dozen chefs, used over forty large ladles in rotation. The number of ladles each chef used corresponded to the number of dishes they prepared each day.

After finishing the first day, Li Hongbing could barely lift his arm the next day. As for being easily scolded...

The main thing is that this job requires not only strength and skill, but also keen eyesight.

Every time a chef finishes cooking, he throws the spoon under the counter and has to pick it up immediately, wipe it dry, and put it away. Then, when another chef needs it, the chef has to hand it over right away.

If you're clumsy or not quick-witted enough, you're bound to get scolded!
For these reasons, many apprentices are unwilling to do the job of scraping spoons.

Li Hongbing had "begged" to get in, so he worked very hard and never complained, no matter how hard it was. In addition, he was quick-witted, so the masters didn't say anything, but they still liked this new apprentice and scolded him less.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Fengzeyuan has a lot of famous chefs and it seems like you can learn real skills as an apprentice. In reality, many apprentices can't endure the hardship, and the master chefs don't easily take on apprentices, so it's not that easy.

In other words, we have now entered a new society that emphasizes equality and prohibits exploitation; apprentices even receive wages.

In the past, it was all about doing laundry, cooking, and taking care of the children. You had to do everything, and being beaten and scolded was common. Forget about wages; if you didn't do your job well, even getting enough to eat was a problem.

This is also the main reason why Li Hongmei felt sorry for Li Hongbing when he was an apprentice here.

"Hello, Master Zhu, Master Sun..."

Upon entering the kitchen, Li Hongbing's first action, as always, was to greet all the chefs.

"Hongbing, I heard you saved someone in the moat a couple of days ago?"

Just as Li Hongbing was greeting him, Master Sun suddenly asked a question.

"Just passing by..."

Li Hongbing did not take credit, but instead explained modestly.

Upon hearing this, Master Wang chimed in, "That's more than just passing by. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Little Li is good!"

"You flatter me, Master Wang."

After being praised by the chefs in the kitchen, Li Hongbing did not become complacent. He remained the same as always, which drew envious glances from the other apprentices in the kitchen.

Around noon, Li Hongbing's work also began, along with the chefs in the kitchen.

Li Hongbing knew how to use a scoop spoon, but this was his first time doing it. He was a little unaccustomed at first, but he gradually became more skilled.

While munching on the food, Li Hongbing didn't sit idle; he secretly observed the chefs' cooking steps and processes, silently memorizing them.

Steal a teacher!

Even if Li Hongbing had never had a master, there are some things that wouldn't be taught openly. He would have to observe, memorize, and comprehend them on his own.

How much you learn depends on your own abilities.

In addition, Li Hongbing also specially prepared a small spoon.

When the chefs finished cooking, the large ladles they casually placed under the counter were still clean when they picked them up, with only some soup residue on them. Li Hongbing scraped some off with the ladle and tasted it.

This way, you can know exactly what the dish the chef is cooking tastes like.

[Cooking Skill +1]

[Cooking Skill +1]

[Cooking Skill +1]

……

Seeing the system's occasional pop-up notifications and the gradual increase in his cooking skill experience points, Li Hongbing's mood grew increasingly cheerful.

A truly clever apprentice will not complain about the hard work of scraping spoons.

Being near the water tower gives you an advantage; this is a shortcut that others can't see!
(End of this chapter)