Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Li Jiuzhou understood perfectly well that it was only 53 years ago, and yesterday even the deaf old lady, who didn't like to get involved, had made an appearance.

Moreover, minor conflicts between neighbors are constant, and a series of scandals were exposed yesterday, truly proving the saying:

"A small temple has a strong demonic influence; shallow water has many turtles!"

As July arrived, the weather in Beiping was unusually hot.

Speaking of Xu Damao, he graduated from high school and his academic level was exceptionally high for the residents of Building 95.

He was a cultured man, but unfortunately, he was useless. He didn't get into university and spent his summer vacation wandering around the streets and alleys with Liu Guangqi, who was a few years younger than him.

The two strolled to the overpass, where there were many stalls selling all sorts of things.

The two had no money in their pockets, so they could only watch the fun. They had just arrived at a crosstalk performance and were laughing heartily.

Seeing that Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi were dressed reasonably well, the street vendors who performed crosstalk put on even more enthusiasm.

After they finished speaking, Xu Damao shouted "Bravo!"

"Alright, give me another one. Well done, and I'll reward you!"

Liu Guangqi looked at Xu Damao suspiciously. "You're broke, aren't you? How dare you say that?"

Liu Guangqi had a vague feeling that something was wrong, so he shielded Xu Damao in front of him.

The crosstalk performers believed Xu Damao's words and continued their performance for over half an hour.

His mouth was dry, so he stopped, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards the two of them:

"Thank you both for coming."

After saying that, he looked at the two of them with anticipation.

Xu Damao remained completely calm, casually touching his pockets.

The comedian was immediately excited and reached out to accept Xu Damao's reward.

The two were dumbfounded when they saw what Xu Damao pulled out: two peanuts, and they weren't even cooked.

"Hehe, this is a reward from the master. It will make a good appetizer to go with drinks when you get home."

Even so, the comedian didn't immediately lose his temper; he still smiled at Xu Damao and said:

"Young man, please don't tease us. Look at us, it's not easy for us to set up a stall on this overpass in this sweltering heat."

Xu Damao waved his hand:

"I didn't say I'd give you money, just two peanuts, take it or leave it..."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

They were stopped, and Liu Guangqi was not spared either; the two were dragged to a corner and beaten up.

They then searched their bodies.

"Damn it, you're broke but you're trying to act like rich guys in front of me, you two idiots!"

After the two had walked away, Liu Guangqi couldn't help but complain:

"Brother Da Mao, why did you provoke them? If you don't have money, don't get involved in that kind of trouble."

Xu Damao leaned against the wall, and although he was beaten, he was quite happy about it.

Because both of them had been having a very difficult time lately.

Xu Damao failed to get into university, and Liu Guangqi failed to get into vocational school. The two, who shared the same fate, naturally got together.

Liu Guangqi was also unhappy, so he decided to give up for a while and started hanging out with Xu Damao.

Xu Damao patted the dust off his clothes and said:

"We've been having a run of bad luck lately. Let's find a fortune teller to predict our future."

"We don't have any money, Brother Da Mao!" Liu Guangqi said somewhat reluctantly.

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao laughed: "Guangqi, you don't understand. Let's find an older man."

"Let's run away as soon as he finishes calculating. Old Deng can't possibly catch us, can he?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangqi thought it was a feasible idea. Even without money, there are ways to survive; what's there to be afraid of?

So they went to another place where there were many fortune tellers. The two walked around and saw an old Taoist priest with a worn-out robe, a flowing white beard, and who looked to be about seventy or eighty years old.

So the two of them sat down on the small table at the stall.

After sitting down, Xu Damao said quite heartily:

"Master Daoist, tell us our future. If you're accurate, you'll get a good reward."

The old Taoist priest smiled when he saw two young men come to have their fortunes told, adopting the demeanor of a master, and asked the two men to write down their birth dates and times.

In short, the technical jargon he used left the two of them completely bewildered.

"You're not suited to continue your studies. Find a job in a factory; there's room for you to grow and develop your talents here."

"Your name is Liu Guangqi, right? Why don't you repeat a year? You still have a chance."

If Li Jiuzhou were here, he would be extremely surprised. The old Taoist's prediction was damn accurate; he's a master.

Xu Damao was a little unhappy when he heard the old Taoist's comments. Why should Liu Guangqi have a chance to repeat the year, while he, Xu Damao, had to find a factory job?

But it doesn't matter, since he doesn't plan to pay for the divination anyway.

As before, he took out two peanuts and handed them to the old Taoist priest.

The old Taoist priest accepted the peanuts and thanked him.

Xu Damao winked at Liu Guangqi and was about to leave.

The old Taoist priest then realized:

"Hey guys, where's my payment for the divination?"

"Didn't I give you two peanuts? We brothers are broke." Xu Damao spread his hands confidently.

Holy crap!

The old Taoist priest was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at her.

"If you don't have money, get out of here! You son of a bitch, I'm really not going to tolerate your misbehavior today!"

"You can die anytime soon, you son of a bitch!"

Xu Damao's temper flared when he saw the old Taoist priest scolding him.

"You old bastard, how dare you insult me? You think I won't smash your stall?"

The old Taoist priest didn't want to cause trouble, because Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi looked like students. He could just scold them a couple of times and let it go. But Xu Damao actually didn't know how to be polite.

So he glanced at them coldly, then slowly took out a short whistle from his pocket and blew it.

"Beep...beep beep~"

Xu Damao chuckled at the sight, put his hands on his hips, and laughed:

"Hey, Old Deng, are you calling for backup?"

"You think I'm afraid? I'll just wait here and see what you can do to me!"

Within moments, several Taoist priests dressed in tattered robes gathered around; they were all fortune tellers who had set up stalls nearby.

"What's wrong, Grandmaster Uncle?" a middle-aged man asked the old Taoist priest as he stepped forward.

The old Taoist pointed at Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi and said:

"These two little bastards didn't pay for their fortune telling, they just gave me two peanuts."

"So what if he has no money? He still dares to speak rudely to me, an old Taoist priest. I really can't stand this. Take care of him and teach him a lesson."

Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi were both terrified. Old Deng had actually sent people. It looked like they were going to get another beating.

The two of them didn't even want to explain anymore, and since they couldn't run away, they simply squatted down with their heads in their hands, ready to get beaten up.

Seeing this, the old Taoist priest was amused. So sensible!

There's an old Chinese saying that goes, "Those who understand the times are the heroes!"

However, I still need to punish him, otherwise my Daoist heart will be unstable.

Just as the old Taoist's group of disciples were about to make their move, they were stopped by someone.

The speaker was Li Jiuzhou. He and Shazhu had come out to buy ingredients for a secret recipe passed down from their master. They bought the materials and prepared the recipe themselves.

Unexpectedly, they saw Liu Guangqi and Xu Damao, who were about to be beaten up.

Li Jiuzhou led Shazhu forward and bowed to the old Taoist priest.

"Master, these two are my neighbors. I don't know how they offended you."

The old Taoist priest spoke frankly:

"These two brats didn't pay their fortune tellers. You're their neighbor, are you going to stand up for them?"

Li Jiuzhou said:

"I wouldn't dare to step forward, but I've already paid the divination fee for them. Could you please, venerable Taoist priest, show some leniency?"

The old Taoist priest sized up Li Jiuzhou and Sha Zhu. They had just come out of the kitchen of Fengzeyuan Restaurant, and the smell of cooking oil on them couldn't escape the priest's nose. His eyes lit up, and he said:

"Are you two cooks?"

"Yes." Li Jiuzhou nodded.

"Then you don't need to pay for the divination. Just treat me to a meal at your restaurant and we'll call it even," the old Taoist said with a smile.

Sha Zhu was displeased upon hearing this:

"Hey, old man, you really dare to ask for an exorbitant price. Do you even know how much a meal costs at our restaurant?"

"Their combined fortune-telling fees aren't even enough to order a single dish."

"That's none of my business. Are you going to answer or not?" The old Taoist stared straight at Li Jiuzhou.

Li Jiuzhou smiled:

"I will gladly accept your honor, venerable Taoist priest."

"Da Mao, Guang Qi, you two go together."

"Senior brother..." Sha Zhu cried out anxiously.

"It's alright, listen to me," Li Jiuzhou told Shazhu not to worry about it.

So the group headed towards Fengzeyuan.