Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

At noon, the three of them went to Bianyifang to eat roast duck. Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu ate and took some with them.

The three of them ate a roast duck and packed two more to take home for their families.

Xu Damao paid 24 yuan for one meal.

Luckily, he earned 200 million from the Wu family last time, otherwise he would be so poor he would urinate blood.

His father, Xu Fugui, knew his son's character and that he couldn't hold onto money, so he didn't give him much pocket money.

Time flies, and it was 1955 in the blink of an eye. Spring had arrived, and Li Jiuzhou's son, Li Chuan, was able to walk with difficulty.

Babies at this age are very fun and adorable; they eat and poop a lot.

The little rascal usually looks clean and lovable, but his poop really stinks.

Li Jiuzhou washed his son's bottom countless times, but he always found it disgusting.

Whenever Li Jiuzhou is home, he calls out "Dad, Dad!" and follows him around.

In early March 1955, the second set of Renminbi was issued, and the old currency was exchanged for the new currency, unifying the system.

In the old currency, ten thousand was equivalent to one dollar, and so on.

No one from No. 95 courtyard went to exchange money together because they were afraid to show off their wealth and didn't want their neighbors to know how much money they had.

Everyone knew the unspoken agreement.

Li Jiuzhou has spent a lot of money since last year, mostly on buying antiques. All the money he has left is only 1 Singapore dollars.

A genuine ten-thousand-yuan household.

Only after receiving the new money did Li Jiuzhou feel a sense of reality; before, when he had over 300 million in hand, he always felt somewhat unreal.

After exchanging for the new currency, Li Jiuzhou opened a savings account, withdrew only 1,000 yuan, and deposited the rest in the bank.

In other words, he was willing to do this, and many of the neighbors in the courtyard hid the money in their homes because they didn't trust him to deposit it in the bank.

Sha Zhu is also a millionaire, just starting out. Unlike his senior brother Li Jiuzhou, this is all his family's wealth.

There was also the deaf old woman, who asked Sha Zhu to accompany her to exchange money.

Old Deng exchanged over 8000 dollars, which made Sha Zhu grind his teeth in disbelief. He didn't say a word on the way back.

It wasn't until they returned to the deaf old woman's house that Sha Zhu couldn't hold back any longer:

"Grandma, you're really something, hiding so much money, more than 8000 yuan! It took me several years to earn that much."

The deaf old woman smiled upon hearing this:

"Money is something you can't take with you when you die, Zhuzi. Let me live a carefree life for a few more years, and I'll leave all the money I can't spend to you."

Sha Zhu waved his hands repeatedly after hearing this:

"Come on, with all the ways you spend money, I'm afraid I'll have to pay for your money before you even die."

The deaf old woman wasn't annoyed by Sha Zhu's words, because she knew he was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted; he wouldn't mistreat her. So she smiled and said:

"What are you saying? Shouldn't you support me? Didn't I leave you the house? You won't lose out."

"Hehehe... Of course, of course." Sha Zhu responded to her with a laugh, his expression changing very quickly.

"But you'd better keep your money safe, or it might get stolen," Sha Zhu warned.

"Okay."

In May, the neighborhood office issued a notice regarding the issue of household registration.

This is important because it means that a unified purchase and sales system is about to be implemented, which means the era of paperwork is about to officially begin.

This incident caused a disagreement between Sha Zhu and his wife Qin Huairu.

Sha Zhu meant that Qin Huairu should settle in Beiping City and become a city dweller.

But Qin Huairu couldn't bear to part with her few acres of land in the countryside, which yielded several hundred kilograms of grain a year.

As a result, the two had their first argument since getting married, and the whole courtyard knew about it.

Sha Zhu was so angry with his wife that he squatted down in front of his house and cried. The neighbors were both amused and exasperated when they saw this.

The tough and unyielding Sha Zhu actually cried because of his wife; it's like the sun has risen in the west!

Li Jiuzhou's family had just returned from his father-in-law's house when they heard about this, so they went to check it out.

I saw Sha Zhu sitting on the steps, with a pile of cigarette butts on the ground.

As Li Jiuzhou walked over, he saw Sha Zhu picking up cigarette butts, lighting them, and then taking three deep drags. The cigarette butt was so hot that he puffed on it three times, then inhaled it deeply. Sha Zhu was almost dizzy from the sensation; he was feeling a bit lightheaded.

Li Jiuzhou plopped down next to Sha Zhu and lit a cigarette.

Seeing this, Sha Zhu curled his lip and remained silent.

Li Jiuzhou didn't want to try to persuade them; he didn't want to get involved in their relationship, especially since they hadn't actually fought.

However, Li Jiuzhou still asked Bingbing to persuade Qin Huairu to register her household in the city, which would save her a lot of trouble in the future and be a very profitable thing.

Sha Zhu's income is not low, so he doesn't need to worry about those few hundred kilograms of grain each year.

Qin Huairu wanted to settle down in Beijing, but if she did, her family would lose several acres of land.

Urban residents are not allowed to cultivate land.

It wasn't just Qin Huairu; many people in the hospital faced this difficult choice.

One is an urban household registration, the other is land. Which is more advantageous?

Currently, having a rural household registration is more advantageous, as it ensures that the hundreds of kilograms of grain produced each year cannot be faked.

The Jia family had the most grain, and they could exchange it for some money every year.

Of course, they couldn't see the crisis that was to come.

After persuasion, Qin Huairu agreed to settle in the city.

The Jia family hadn't even considered the matter of settling down there.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law both agreed that as long as Jia Dongxu had a city household registration, it would be fine.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can continue living as rural people; they can't abandon the grain in the countryside.

Yi Zhonghai felt that the Jia family's situation was unacceptable. Both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had rural household registrations, and what if the policies changed in the future?

So they went to the Jia family to persuade them:

"Listen to me, it's best if one of you, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, has a city household registration, just in case."

After much discussion, the Jia family decided to let Tong Jie continue living as a countrywoman, because she owned more land than Jia Zhangshi and received more grain every year.

So, apart from a few families whose entire households were from the city, almost every other family in the courtyard had at least one member with a rural household registration, all for the sake of that little bit of food.

Li Jiuzhou wouldn't remind them of anything; they had chosen their own path, and they had to finish it, even if they had to crawl on their knees.

In September, Li Jiuzhou received a job that required him to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Others might not know why, but Li Jiuzhou did: it was because a grand state banquet was about to be held.

Top chefs from all over the country gather here.

Li Jiuzhou can bring one assistant, and Sha Zhu is naturally the number one henchman.

After signing the confidentiality agreement, Sha Zhu was so happy he almost jumped for joy.

The banquet commenced as scheduled on September 27th, and the scale of the event was unparalleled.

With over a thousand founding generals and marshals present, the scene speaks for itself.

Li Jiuzhou was only in charge of one dish, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, with Sha Zhu assisting him.

It was quite challenging, but fortunately, we had a lot of staff working together.

After completing the state banquet, you'll receive a service fee of 50 yuan, plus a medal.

This is a true honor. For Qinxing, being able to prepare state banquets is basically the pinnacle of the industry.

When Sha Zhu came back, he boasted about it endlessly, making his father envious and proud of his son.

Although it's a kitchen helper position, some people don't even qualify for that.

For example, about himself... I won't say anything more, it's all tears...