Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

The next morning around 9 a.m., Da Hu came to the kitchen to find Li Jiuzhou. Sha Zhu wasn't surprised to see him, because his senior brother had told him about it on the way.

Li Huaide would definitely not go to see Wang Dahu, so he arranged for his subordinates to take Wang Dahu to complete the onboarding procedures.

Li Huaide was drinking tea and chatting in Li Jiuzhou's office at this time.

"Jiuzhou, Feilong, please take it home and eat it this afternoon."

Li Jiuzhou was quite taken aback by his second uncle's words: "Didn't you say you were going to treat the boss to a nice meal?"

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide laughed and retorted, "Am I not a leader? Isn't the old man a leader?"

Li Jiuzhou curled his lip: "So you, the leader, wanted to have a treat? You should have said so earlier, I would have prepared it all this morning."

"Oh, so you've been drinking dragon soup this morning?" Li Huaide teased.

Li Jiuzhou responded with a smile:

"Hehe... Leaders need to treat themselves to something nice, and ordinary people like us need to eat well occasionally, don't we?"

"Alright, I'll give you whatever you want, I won't let you spend any more money." Li Huaide said, and then pretended to take out money from his pocket.

Li Jiuzhou quickly waved his hand: "Why mention money? Consider it a gift from your nephew. I'll get it in a bit and treat Auntie, Grandpa, and the others tonight."

Li Huaide was very happy to hear this: "Okay, nephew, you have to take care of me. I'll go back and get busy now."

After saying that, he left.

Li Jiuzhou dozed off for a while in his office and was in high spirits. He and Sha Zhu were making broth with their apprentice You Fulai at the small stove.

During this time, he constantly explained to his apprentice the precautions to take when preparing the soup.

Li Jiuzhou finished by the time it was almost time to leave work.

My second uncle's secretary brought over the insulated food container halfway through; it was huge, enough for him and his father-in-law's family to eat.

When Li Huaide returned home in the evening, he asked the housekeeper to heat it up, and the family sat down to eat.

The old man squinted after taking a sip of the soup, then ate a piece of dragon meat. He recognized what it was, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

"Flying Dragon Soup, Huaide, it's so delicious! Did Kyushu's kid make it?"

Li Huaide gave his father-in-law a thumbs up: "You're really something, old man. According to Jiuzhou, Zhu Zi thought about it for a long time before he remembered it when he tasted it this morning."

"You're quite something, you knew what it was after just one bite."

At this moment, Li Huaide's brother-in-law, who was in high school, couldn't help but ask:

"Dad, brother-in-law, what kind of riddles are you talking about, with all this dragon stuff? It's just chicken soup, but Zhou-ge's soup is just so delicious."

When his youngest son asked, the old man smiled with reminiscence:

"I lived in Northeast China back then and had the chance to eat pheasant a few times."

"Flying dragon is just an abbreviation; its real name is hazel grouse. My son isn't wrong to say it's chicken."

"However, this kind of chicken is different from ordinary domestic chickens."

"Father, please tell me quickly," Li Yushu urged, his face full of curiosity.

The old man nodded slightly and continued:

"The hazel grouse generally lives in Northeast China, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, etc., but it is most abundant in Northeast China."

"The Manchu people originated from Northeast China, and this pheasant is a traditional local wild game with tender meat and delicious soup."

"During the Qianlong era, the tribute from the Northeast was a fixed annual supply, which had to be delivered to the Forbidden City every year for the exclusive use of the imperial family."

Later, the common people used the analogy: "Dragon meat in the sky, donkey meat on the ground." This "dragon meat" refers to the flying dragon, also known as the hazel grouse!

The Li family members nodded silently after hearing this, realizing that's how it is.

Li Yushu murmured, "So that's how it is. Dragon meat is from a flying dragon... Father, then what is donkey meat?"

The old man chuckled after hearing this:

"Donkey meat, of course it's donkey meat, what else could it be? What did you think it was?"

"You love donkey meat sandwiches, right? Authentic donkey meat sandwiches are made with donkey meat."

"Hahahaha..." The old man's words made everyone laugh.

Li Yushu then asked, "And what about that 'illegitimate' donkey meat sandwich?"

The old man said:

"Donkeys are treasures in people's homes, and they cherish them very much. They would never sell them unless they were desperate."

"This has led many vendors selling baked buns to use other types of meat instead; in short, they use all kinds of meat."

"Even now, who sells donkey meat sandwiches? Don't they know how precious donkeys are!"

Li Yushu's eyes widened upon hearing this: "So, the donkey meat sandwich I ate didn't contain any donkey?"

The old man nodded: "You could say that..."

"Damn it..." Li Yushu cursed inwardly, but he also understood that his father was right.

With the country developing agriculture, the importance of donkeys is self-evident. Although they cannot plow the land, they are still very useful for grinding grain and traveling.

In some villages, hundreds of households share a single donkey, making it a treasure among treasures.

What kind of year is this where people still eat donkey meat sandwiches? Damn it, does it hurt if I hit you? You son of a bitch!

When Wang Dahu returned to the courtyard that afternoon, dressed in blue overalls, the neighbors were all very surprised.

The first to ask a question was Jia Zhangshi, who immediately uttered a phrase about national essence:

"Holy crap, you're dressed like a steel mill worker! Where did you pick up this sheep?"

"Yeah, Big Tiger, where did you get that? Tell us about it!"

Jia Zhangshi's words sparked a heated discussion among the neighbors, who all joined in the jokes.

Stealing? That's definitely impossible. Who would steal clothes from a factory if they weren't a steel mill worker? Anyone who did that would be an idiot.

Da Hu grinned, not angry at all. Who was Jia Zhangshi?

Over the years, all the neighbors have known that she's the kind of person who easily offends people with her words, and arguing with her is just asking for trouble.

It would be even worse if you managed to embarrass Jia Zhangshi. She might hold a grudge against you for a whole year. Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

So Da Hu pretended to be simple-minded and explained:

"Dear uncles, brothers, and aunts, you all know that I used to collect wild game in the countryside and sell it in the city."

"I've suffered a lot over the years, and I haven't saved much money."

"Now that the public-private partnership has been abolished, I can't do business anymore, so I gritted my teeth and bought a job as a purchasing agent at a steel rolling mill, which is a good match for my major."

"Well, today is my first day at the company."

"Oh, I see!" The neighbors in the courtyard thought it made perfect sense.

Everyone knows that Da Hu's business is not doing well. Although they haven't cracked down on him as severely as they've done, they've been gradually dissuading and cracking down on him.

If Da Hu really can't run a business anymore, it will be a huge blow to the Wang family.

They don't want to see their neighbors living too well, but they also don't want them to live too poorly.

Fortunately, Da Hu was clever enough to spend money to find a job at a steel rolling mill.

Buying a job now is still not a problem; as long as you have money, you can get it done, unlike a few years later when jobs will be hard to find.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai glanced at Li Jiuzhou, who was sitting calmly at the door. He had some doubts in his heart, wondering if Wang Dahu had been helped to get a job at the steel rolling mill.