Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Sha Zhu arrived at the factory director's office, knocked on the door, and without waiting for Li Huaide's response, pushed the door open and went in.

Li Huaide, his face grim, glared at Sha Zhu and snapped, "He Yuzhu, what's wrong with you? Can't you even knock?"

"Director Li, didn't I just knock on the door?" Sha Zhu shrugged and pouted.

Li Huaide glared angrily at Sha Zhu: "He Yuzhu, what do you want? Speak up!"

Sha Zhu cut to the chase and said, "Director Li, I want to have a cooking contest with Qin Jingru. If I win, I'll have to cook for you again in the future."

Li Huaide glanced at Sha Zhu with disdain, waved his hand and said, "He Yuzhu, let me tell you, Comrade Qin Jingru's cooking is much better than yours. This is the result of a joint tasting by more than a dozen leaders in our logistics department."

"No... I don't believe it, Director Li! I don't believe my cooking skills would be inferior to a country girl! I must have a competition with her!" Sha Zhu shouted, his neck stiff.

Li Huaide nodded and said in a deep voice, "Alright, alright, He Yuzhu, I see you won't give up until you see the Yellow River. I'll give you this chance. If you lose, you'll obediently go to the second canteen to cook the big pot dishes. If you still dare to cause trouble, I'll transfer you to the foundry workshop."

"Okay, as long as Qin Jingru's cooking skills are really better than mine, I'll agree to anything." Sha Zhu nodded in agreement.

Soon, under Li Huaide's organization, the canteen director and Minister Ma of the logistics department also arrived at the third canteen.

Li Huaide walked into the kitchen and said to Qin Jingru with a smile, "Comrade Qin Jingru, He Yuzhu wants to have a cooking competition with you. I know that He Yuzhu's cooking skills are definitely not as good as yours, but He Yuzhu doesn't believe it. Today, you can have a competition with him and make him give up completely."

Qin Jingru nodded: "Okay, but I have one condition: if He Yuzhu loses, I don't want to see him in the third canteen."

"No problem. I already made an agreement with He Yuzhu. If he loses, he'll have to cook the main dishes in the second canteen," Li Huaide said with a smile.

Qin Jingru originally wanted to suggest that Sha Zhu go to the workshop, but since Director Li had already spoken to Sha Zhu, she didn't say anything more. As long as he wasn't in the way of the third canteen, it was fine.

"Silly Zhu, what's your best dish? Today we'll have a competition to see who can cook their best dish. I'll cook the same dish as you, and I'll make you admit defeat."

Sha Zhu knew how much this matter would affect him, so he stopped being polite and, after thinking for a moment, said:

"Just like hot and sour shredded potatoes, braised pork intestines, Kung Pao chicken, and braised pork belly."

Qin Jingru smiled and nodded: "No problem, we'll compete with these four dishes."

As she spoke, she looked at Liu Lan and said, "Sister Lan, could you please prepare these ingredients?"

"Okay, I'll go right now."

Liu Lan brought over the ingredients, and Qin Jingru began to prepare them.

Peel and shred the potatoes, blanch the pork chunks, dice the chicken, and clean the pork intestines by repeatedly rubbing them with salt and flour to remove any unpleasant smell.

When Sha Zhu saw Qin Jingru cutting potato shreds, he knew that her cooking skills were definitely not bad. At least Qin Jingru's potato shreds were better than his, with each shred being the same size and she was faster than him.

Only now did Sha Zhu truly believe that Qin Jingru's cooking skills might actually be better than his.

Sha Zhu no longer hesitated and focused on preparing the ingredients.

Qin Jingru was cooking on two stoves simultaneously, one for braised pork and the other for Kung Pao chicken.

Soon, the dishes that Qin Jingru and Sha Zhu had prepared were served one by one for the leaders to taste.

The first dish served was Kung Pao Chicken, one made by Sha Zhu and the other by Qin Jingru.

Li Huaide and several other leaders first tried the Kung Pao Chicken made by Sha Zhu. After eating, the leaders all nodded in approval.

Although Sha Zhu's cooking wasn't as amazing as Qin Jingru's, it was definitely delicious.

With Qin Jingru hosting them these past few days, these leaders have become quite discerning. As soon as they taste Sha Zhu's food, they realize that Sha Zhu is still quite inferior to Qin Jingru.

The leaders then tried Qin Jingru's Kung Pao Chicken, and soon, they all showed satisfied smiles.

The next three dishes were served one after another. After the leaders had tried them, Li Huaide said directly to Sha Zhu, "He Yuzhu, you lost."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

As he spoke, Sha Zhu picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of braised pork made by Qin Jingru into his mouth.

The moment the braised pork entered his mouth, Sha Zhu's eyes widened in disbelief.

Sha Zhu, refusing to believe it, tried three more dishes made by Qin Jingru. After trying them all, Sha Zhu muttered to himself in disbelief:

"How could this be? How is this possible?"

The canteen manager sneered, "Shazhu, what's impossible? You can't beat Comrade Qin Jingru's cooking even if you practice for ten years. That's a fact. Now, right now, you're going back to the second canteen to cook the big pot dishes. If you dare to cause any more trouble, believe me, I'll transfer you to the foundry workshop immediately."

The cafeteria manager finally felt relieved. Sha Zhu had previously relied on his good cooking skills to give him, the cafeteria manager, a cold shoulder. With his foul mouth, he often made sarcastic remarks to him. As Sha Zhu's superior, the cafeteria manager couldn't do anything about Sha Zhu.

Now finally someone has come whose cooking skills are better than Sha Zhu's. Let's see if he doesn't make Sha Zhu suffer this time.

Li Huaide looked at Shazhu and said in a deep voice, "Shazhu, are you convinced now? Go to the second canteen and work hard, or don't blame me for turning ruthless."

After saying that, Li Huaide left the third canteen with the canteen director and Minister Ma of the logistics department.

After the leaders left, Liu Lan laughed and mocked, "Hahaha, Sha Zhu, why aren't you going back to the second canteen? Be careful the director deducts your salary."

"Yeah, Sha Zhu, you should leave now and don't come to the third canteen again unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Silly Zhu, you miser! You only know how to hog the leftovers from the hospitality, unlike Jingru. Every time she hosts a dinner party, she shares the food with everyone and doesn't take a single bite for herself. We don't welcome you here. Get the hell out of here!"

Sha Zhu's eyes were bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead. He glared at the kitchen staff and left the third canteen without looking back.

Sha Zhu never expected that Qin Jingru's cooking skills were better than his, and by a significant margin. How did Qin Jingru develop such high-level cooking skills?

Sha Zhu comes from a family of chefs; three generations of his ancestors were chefs. He started learning to cook at the age of eight. Why is he still not as good as Qin Jingru?

Qin Jingru is a girl from the countryside. Where did she learn to cook? Is she from a family of chefs? Even if she is from a family of chefs, she wouldn't have that many ingredients to practice with, would she?

Even after walking a long way from the third canteen, Sha Zhu still couldn't understand why Qin Jingru's cooking skills were so good.