Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

After the Jia family's full moon celebration was over, Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong went to find Sha Zhu that very night.

The two men stood at Sha Zhu's door and knocked on the doorframe. Yan Bugui laughed and said:

"Pillar, drink up..."

Sha Zhu is enjoying a drink; he's in a great mood today because so many people have praised him.

When Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong came over for a visit, I had a premonition that they were coming to do something.

Sha Zhu stood up and greeted them with a smile:

"Oh my, what brings you two to my house today? Come on, let's have a drink together."

Then he called out to Qin Huairu:

"Wife, go lick two pairs of chopsticks and cut some meat to go with your drinks."

Qin Huairu quickly agreed: "Okay."

"Haha, thanks then, Pillar."

The two agreed, had a few drinks with Sha Zhu, and boasted for a while.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong showered the banquet with compliments, praising the feast served that morning.

Sha Zhu loves to hear nice things, and kept urging the two of them to drink.

Yan Bugui wasn't a very good drinker, so how could he compare to a young man like Sha Zhu? He then gave Liu Haizhong a wink.

Liu Haizhong nodded to indicate that he understood, having almost forgotten the important matter, and then began to speak:

"Zhu Zi, I'm here today on important business. Both the Yan family and I are holding a full-moon celebration, and we'd like to ask you to cook."

Sha Zhu cursed inwardly after hearing this, "You two should have told me sooner! You tricked me into drinking so much wine!"

Sha Zhu laughed and said:

"No problem, we're neighbors. Are you two registering together or separately?"

"Let's make this clear first, if we do it together, we'll charge twice the price."

Yan Bugui laughed and said, "Of course, we'll handle it separately."

"I heard that you charge 38 for a single banquet, Zhu Zi?"

"That's right."

"Okay, it's settled then. Old Liu's family will do it first, then mine."

That was settled; Sha Zhu would customize the menus for both banquets.

The two families hadn't had a wedding in a long time and wanted to make it more elaborate, so they raised the price to 10 yuan per table, with 15 tables for each family.

On the day of the Liu family's banquet, Jia Zhangshi still went to help out. What if there was a conflict?

Even if there are conflicts, it won't stop me from attending the banquet.

Besides, she invited both families to her grandson's one-month celebration.

Jia Zhangshi originally didn't want to invite them, but she had no say because she had gotten into trouble.

Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai both agreed that they should invite both companies.

They eventually came and even gave a gift, so you could say it was a case of letting bygones be bygones. They're all neighbors, and you see each other all the time. Some things can be laughed off and forgotten; there's no need for so much hatred.

When the Liu family held a banquet, Jia Zhangshi did not sit at the table; she ate at home with her daughter-in-law.

He kept cursing and swearing.

"What kind of establishment dares to host a banquet costing 100,000 yuan per table? Are they trying to outdo the Jia family?"

"Look how capable that fat Liu is, he'll be childless sooner or later."

"And there's Old Man Yan in the front yard, he also charges 10 yuan per table. With that kind of money, he can spend it on his mother. What right does that bastard have?"

"Mom, please keep your voice down, it's not good if someone hears you," Tong Jie advised.

"I..." Madam Jia wanted to get angry, but when she saw Tong Jie holding her grandson, she lost her temper.

She caused trouble last time, but weren't Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui at fault?

Liu Haizhong slapped herself in the face, and Yan Bugui stomped on her foot. Now, thinking about it, her face and neck still hurt.

Jia Zhangshi will remember what happened a few days ago for the rest of her life. She has only suppressed her hatred for the time being. She will definitely kick him hard when she gets the chance.

With the banquets for the Liu and Yan families finished, Sha Zhu's reputation was now firmly established.

He then took on three more orders from residents in Nanluoguxiang. He's really doing well.

The neighbors were incredibly envious; one trip cost 38!

Sha Zhu earned over a million in a month, who wouldn't be envious?

On their days off, when they chatted together, neighbors would come over and ask Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu if they were taking on apprentices, because they wanted their children to learn cooking skills from them.

They were rejected by Li Jiuzhou, not outright, but he explained the difficulty of learning to cook.

Three years after three years, and we still have to start from elementary school again, it's too time-consuming.

"You could go learn hairdressing from Old Wu. You can learn for a year or two and earn a good living once you're a master," Li Jiuzhou suggested, passing the conversation to his neighbor Old Wu in the front yard.

Old Wu is a barber, almost 40 years old. He has a shop in Nanluoguxiang, and his business is booming. He has two apprentices, and today his apprentices are busy while he rests.

"Yeah, Lao Wu, your shop is doing really well. You've practically monopolized all the haircut business in Nanluoguxiang."

"You must earn a lot a month, right?"

Li Jiuzhou smiled to himself when he heard his neighbors ask him that; he had a pretty good idea of ​​how much money Old Wu earned in a month.

Earning 3 a day is definitely possible, and possibly more, so it's true that Lao Wu can earn over a million a month.

Li Jiuzhou never expected that shaving heads could be so profitable. It was only because he was skilled that he could earn so much.

Once, when Li Jiuzhou went to his shop for a haircut, the aroma of meat kept wafting out from the back room. His family ate at the shop for lunch and dinner, except for breakfast at home.

Old Wu is a hidden millionaire in courtyard number 95; he really knows how to keep a low profile.

Seeing his neighbors asking him these questions, Old Wu wasn't angry. He just smiled and said:

"How much does a haircut cost? I make at most four or five hundred thousand a month, and I still have apprentices to support."

"Can't compare to a chef like Kyushu..."

Old Wu understands the principle of not flaunting wealth, so he has never shown off his riches.

On the surface, his family's living conditions in the courtyard were only on par with those of a middle-class family like the Jia family.

"Earning four or five hundred thousand a month is pretty good. When my son grows up, he can learn your trade from you, Lao Wu. You can't refuse him," a neighbor said.

"No problem, no problem. We're neighbors in the same courtyard. We can talk about it again if you want to learn later." Old Wu didn't refuse and agreed with a smile.

"Sister-in-law Jia, what trade do you plan to have your precious grandson learn when he grows up?"

The speaker was Wang Guilian, Liu Haizhong's wife, who was holding Liu Guangfu, who was just over a month old, in her arms.

She was very unhappy about Jia Zhangshi calling her son a "turtle grandson." She had no choice but to retort when she was in postpartum confinement, but now that she was out of confinement, she naturally had to say something to her.

Jia Zhangshi, holding the stick, looked at Wang Guilian with displeasure and said:

"I, Jia Banggeng, am going to school so I can go to university and become a high-ranking official."

"Who's going to compare with you? Learning a craft? When your son grows up, I can teach him how to sew shoe soles."

"It's a skill that can make a lot of money, so there's no need for him to become an apprentice; I'll just take him on as a student!"

"Hahaha..." The neighbors all laughed when they heard this. Jia Zhangshi's mouth is very sharp!

Wang Guilian was not one to be trifled with, and immediately retorted:

"No, this shoe-making skill is a family tradition. You should leave it to your son, Banggeng. I advise you to teach him as soon as possible. In case he doesn't get into university, he can come back and make shoe soles. That's how you become a professional."

"Professional roasted lamb!" Jia Zhangshi shouted.

"I'll roast tender lamb!" Wang Guilian retorted.

"Back off, back off, back off!" Madam Jia Zhang stood up, clutching the stick, and cursed.

The two old women were hurling insults at each other, and the neighbors watched with amusement.

There's no way to stop it; look at the smiles on Jia Dongxu and Liu Haizhong's faces.

There's a rule in the old women's quarrels in the courtyard: as long as the two women haven't started fighting, no one will intervene.

They'll stop when they get tired of yelling; if a fight breaks out, then we'll stop them.