Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

The liaison for No. 95 courtyard has been selected, and even the entire Nanluoguxiang area has been chosen.

Li Jiuzhou's guess was correct; most of them were middle-aged people, the kind who could talk to each other in their own courtyards.

After more than a month, the neighbors had gotten used to the presence of the liaison officer.

Of course, their titles were not changed because of their status as liaison officers. They were still called Lao Yi, Lao Xu, and Teacher Yan.

The advantage of having a liaison officer is that they will mediate any disputes between neighbors, which seems to be quite good so far.

Li Jiuzhou worked methodically, and in his spare time in the kitchen, he would read books. This time, he was reading "Journey to the West".

In my past life, I watched a TV series, and the memory is still very vivid. I even fantasized about when the four of them, master and disciples, would pass by my home on their journey to the West.

When they arrive, they must be served plenty of rice, and the salted tofu made by his great-aunt must be saved for Monkey King, as it was his favorite food when he was a child!

This isn't just a wild fantasy; I actually had such a dream.

They went on a pilgrimage together, and even had Dharma names, such as "Unable to Enlighten!"

Everything was fine on Li Jiuzhou's side, but Xu Damao started causing trouble again.

Didn't Xu Damao go to the steel mill to learn how to project movies from his father? With his status as a film apprentice, he was a standout among his classmates.

Xu Damao had always had his eye on a girl when he was in school. She was very pretty and he liked her a lot.

The girl's surname was Su, and her given name was Mei. After graduating from high school, she worked as a cashier at a bathhouse.

My home wasn't in the city, but outside the city, in what could be considered the countryside, but it was only half a mile from outside Beiping.

Xu Damao pursued her relentlessly, showering her with gifts, but nothing came of it.

Su Mei didn't think Xu Damao was bad, but she didn't like him either. She had been betrothed since childhood to a man who was three years older than her and was said to be doing business at the Tianjin port.

At that time, the arrangements made by parents and matchmakers were still highly valued.

But Xu Damao didn't care about all that. He liked what he liked, and since he was already eighteen, it was a normal thing for him to find a partner, so he pursued her with all his might.

Su Mei was also annoyed to no end, so she had a flash of inspiration and came up with an excuse that she thought was very correct.

"Xu Damao, my corn is ripe, so I won't be coming tomorrow. I need to take the next two weeks off to go back and harvest the corn. Don't come looking for me again."

Xu Damao panicked when he heard this: "No, Meizi, it's just picking corn, I'll help you."

After hearing this, Su Mei glanced at Xu Damao and gave him a disdainful smile:

"You? Skinny arms and legs, don't ruin my corn."

Xu Damao felt offended, and his voice became a little harsher:

"Plum, what if I'm capable?"

Upon hearing this, Su Mei grinned:

"Wow, being capable proves Xu Damao is a real man. I, Su Mei, admire you!"

Su Mei's words were as good as Su Mei agreeing to date him, and Xu Damao was immediately excited.

Then, pointing at Su Mei with his right hand, his tone left no room for argument:

"You're harvesting corn tomorrow, huh? Mei, you just wait and see how manly I, Xu Damao, really am!"

Su Mei waved her hand, a look of disgust on her face: "Alright, alright, let's go."

Su Mei didn't take Xu Damao's words to heart. After being classmates for so long, how could she not know Xu Damao?

His family was indeed well-off; they were city dwellers with comfortable circumstances, yet he had never done any manual labor and was as thin as a bamboo pole.

If Xu Damao comes tomorrow, I'll write Su Mei's name backwards.

Xu Damao rushed back to the steel rolling mill and told his father that he had something to do the next day and wouldn't be coming.

Xu Fugui didn't say anything. His son had already learned most of the technical skills of projecting movies, and he could get started after working at the factory for a year or two.

If you learn it in a month or two, it's easy for people to think, "I could do that too."

This is the foundation upon which the Xu family has built its livelihood; it cannot tolerate anyone else encroaching upon it.

Xu Damao rode his bicycle out of the steel mill again, went to a store and bought some things. He was going to Su Mei's house tomorrow, and he couldn't go empty-handed.

So the next morning, before dawn, Xu Damao went out.

Dressed in a Zhongshan suit, with shiny slicked-back hair, he first went to the market and bought five pounds of high-quality pork belly before riding his bicycle straight out of the city.

Xu Damao was eating steamed buns while riding his bike, his excitement was impossible to hide!

He arrived in about half an hour. He had been to Su Mei's house before when the school organized a spring outing, so he knew where she was.

The gate to Su Mei's yard was open, and the family was having breakfast when they were suddenly drawn by a jingling sound.

Accompanying this was Xu Damao's voice:

"Koh Samui, Koh Samui!"

Su Mei was stunned. She knew that voice all too well. Xu Damao had really come?

The whole family was staring intently at her.

"This must be my classmate," Su Mei said before leaving.

The whole family lost their appetite and quickly followed.

Xu Damao is very good at interpersonal relationships, which is a result of the good teaching he received from his father, Xu Fugui.

With a polite smile on his face, he greeted each of Su Mei's family members warmly and handed them the gifts he had brought.

As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face. Xu Damao was so polite that the Su family felt embarrassed to say anything and warmly welcomed him inside.

While carrying the things Xu Damao brought, Su's mother felt both nervous and happy.

"Hey, Damao, you're here, why did you bring all that stuff? Don't do this again!"

Xu Damao laughed it off upon hearing this:

"Auntie, I can't come empty-handed this first time, can I? It's alright, I'll definitely be more polite next time."

During their conversation, they learned the purpose of Xu Damao's visit. How could the Su family allow their guest to get down on the ground?

But Xu Damao is very eloquent. He talked about experiencing life, but he's too thin and needs to work out.

Just like that, Xu Damao changed into Su Mei's old clothes and went down to the cornfield.

But breaking corn cobs isn't as easy as it seems; it looks easy, but it gets tiring after a while.

Xu Damao regretted it in less than an hour. Damn it, why did I have to break off those corn cobs?!

But the Su family is watching, so he has to grit his teeth and persevere.

Su's mother secretly approached Su's father and whispered something to him:

"Honey, what are we going to do? Our Meizi is betrothed since childhood, and the Wu family isn't easy to deal with."

Upon hearing this, Su's father lit a cigarette.

"Many families want to marry a girl like me, but Da Mao hasn't explicitly asked for her hand in marriage. How can I possibly send him away?"

"As for the second son of the Wu family, he went to Tianjin Port several years ago and there has been no news of him. It's hard to say whether he's even alive."

"Let's wait and see."

Mother Su sighed: "Let's leave it at that for now."

What they didn't know was that Xu Damao came every day, arriving whenever their family went to work.

The key is that he didn't have anything in his hands. He didn't take Su's mother's advice not to bring anything on the first day to heart at all.

Being overly polite is never a bad thing, and the Su family couldn't bring themselves to say anything unpleasant.

Su Mei initially thought it would be remarkable if Xu Damao could persist for even one day, but he ended up doing it for a whole week.

This made even the hard-hearted Su Mei look at him in a different light.

If he lived in the countryside, he would definitely be a good young man; hardworking and resilient, everyone would like him.