Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

"Uncle Lou, you're the one who told me to say this, so don't get angry now," Li Jiuzhou said with a smile.

Lou Bancheng pointed at Li Jiuzhou and laughed and scolded:

"You stabbed Uncle Lou in the heart, and I can't even scold you a few times?"

"You agree, right, Pillar?"

Sha Zhu grinned and said, "Uncle Lou, don't ask me anything, I don't understand anything, but I think my senior brother is right."

"You have to give up something to gain something!"

Upon hearing this, Lou Bancheng also became furious with Sha Zhu: "You're no better than me."

"Hehe, hehe..." What else could Sha Zhu say but chuckle foolishly?

Lou Bancheng quickly regained his composure and asked again:

"Jiuzhou, is that really the case? What if the policy changes after I give it away? Wouldn't I be the biggest fool to have to return it?"

What do my business friends think of me?

Li Jiuzhou said, "Uncle Lou, why do you care what others do? Just do your own thing."

Upon hearing this, Lou Bancheng pondered for a long time:

"This concerns the future of my Lou family, so I need to consider it carefully."

"Why don't you, Jiuzhou, help me sound out what the old man is thinking?"

Li Jiuzhou shook his head: "If you want to donate all your assets, I will personally go to see the old man."

"I wouldn't dare do anything that's uncertain right now."

"I don't have that much power, at most I'm the old man's in-law, and I don't have any political background. What can I say? I can only act as a matchmaker."

"You'll have to discuss the specifics yourselves."

Lou Bancheng nodded and smiled, "Alright, we had a good chat today. Hearing what you said, Jiuzhou, put my mind at ease a lot."

"I need to think about this carefully. If it can be done, I'll need you, Jiuzhou, to act as a go-between."

Li Jiuzhou replied jokingly, "I'd go through fire and water for you, Uncle Lou!"

"Hahaha, you little rascal." Lou Bancheng laughed loudly, pointing his finger at Li Jiuzhou repeatedly.

Chatting with Li Jiuzhou really made his heart rise and fall wildly, it was really too frightening.

Lou Bancheng did not doubt what Li Jiuzhou had heard. His second uncle was Li Huaide, so it was perfectly normal for him to have heard something.

Also, we've been familiar with each other for many years, and this matter is basically public knowledge, so there's nothing that can't be brought up.

Then he laughed and said:

"You like collecting antiques, don't you? Today, your uncle will broaden your horizons. Go to my study and take whatever you like."

"Holy crap?" Li Jiuzhou exclaimed in surprise.

Lou Bancheng affirmed:

"More real than real gold. What good stuff can you find at a street stall? It's all junk."

"Let's walk..."

The two brothers followed Lou Bancheng up to the third floor. The study was very large, with an antique style, at least 100 square meters.

Li Jiuzhou was astonished and asked:

"Uncle, are these things of yours genuine?"

Lou Bancheng's smile faded upon hearing this:

"Although your uncle is confident in his ability to guarantee authenticity, I can't be sure about the complete authenticity of antiques."

"This industry is too murky; even experts can be fooled."

"Just like you chefs, no matter how skilled you are, you'll still cut your hand sometimes, right?"

After Lou Bancheng finished speaking, he glanced at Sha Zhu's left index finger and smiled.

Sha Zhu was extremely embarrassed when he saw Lou Bancheng blush like a monkey while looking at his fingers.

Li Jiuzhou laughed too. Sha Zhu really did cut his hand today. This guy was bored and used his left hand to practice knife skills, saying he wanted to practice the dexterity of his left hand. As a result, he cut his finger. He deserved it!

Li Jiuzhou stopped caring whether Sha Zhu's hand hurt or not and started wandering around the study.

Lou Bancheng smiled upon seeing this: "Jiuzhou, feel free to look around. Zhuzi, please continue drinking your tea."

Lou Bancheng's study also has a tea table that can be used to boil water and make tea.

Sha Zhu responded and went to have some tea. He wasn't interested in antiques, and if Lou Bancheng wanted to give him one or two pieces, it would be more practical to exchange them for money.

Li Jiuzhou was increasingly surprised as he looked; there were gilded Buddha statues and Ru ware from the Song Dynasty.

When Li Jiuzhou walked up to the row of cups, he was stunned. He gasped and whispered:

"Chenghua Doucai Chicken Cup!"

"And there's even a Three Autumns Cup?"

"Holy shit!"

"And Xuande incense burners,"

"This is a Jiajing blue and white porcelain bowl with a three-sheep design."

"Yongle blue and white porcelain bowl with chrysanthemum petal design".

Li Jiuzhou didn't want to keep nagging about it.

He carefully examined them, not sure if they were real, but about 80-90% certain.

Seeing too much caused Li Jiuzhou to have a wicked thought, an impulse to kill and rob.

He killed the Lou family and kept all the treasures for himself.

However, it was just a thought, and Li Jiuzhou quickly calmed down.

There were far more than a hundred antiques in this study; after browsing through them, Li Jiuzhou estimated there were at least five or six hundred.

The thought that these things weren't his own pained Li Jiuzhou deeply.

He himself has collected about 40 antiques, and he guarantees that each one is genuine.

However, it's still far inferior to the Lou family's.

After relaxing, Li Jiuzhou walked to the tea table and sat down, bowing slightly to Lou Bancheng:

"Uncle, I give up!"

Lou Bancheng burst into laughter upon seeing this:

"Hahaha, you've learned something new, haven't you? These are all collected by previous generations of my Lou family."

"I'm not really interested in these things, I just admire them occasionally, and they're not worth much money now."

"However, it still has some collectible value."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou nodded. Antiques are really worthless nowadays; for wealthy people, they're practically dirt cheap.

Not to mention someone like Lou Bancheng, whose fixed assets alone amount to hundreds of millions, not to mention his savings.

For them, buying antiques is no different from a child buying snacks; such a small amount of money is not worth mentioning at all.

Lou Bancheng smiled again: "Go ahead and pick out ten or so items, and I'll give them to you to play with."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou tentatively asked:

"Are you sure you don't need to be so polite?"

Lou Bancheng held up two fingers: "Twenty items!"

Li Jiuzhou felt he should still test the waters:

"I'll really take it?"

Lou Bancheng squinted, then added another finger after the two he had already raised: "Thirty pieces!"

Li Jiuzhou swallowed hard: "I'm scared... I don't dare to take it~"

Upon hearing this, Lou Bancheng waved his hand and said, "Just take it. Hurry up and choose one. I have to go out in a bit."

"Alright!" Li Jiuzhou happily went to pick one.

Regardless of the future value of these antiques, they are worthless now, and he felt no remorse whatsoever as he picked them up.

Li Jiuzhou went straight for the most precious items. Uncle Lou told him to pick whatever he wanted, and I really did just pick whatever I wanted...

Lou Bancheng watched Li Jiuzhou pick out antiques without blinking; these things were truly unimportant to him.

Why do we need so many? To open a museum?

Since Li Jiuzhou likes to give him some to play with, why not?

He still has important matters that require Li Jiuzhou's help in the future.

If the Lou family really falls apart, perhaps Li Jiuzhou can lend him a hand.

Lou Bancheng had his own calculations. Didn't Li Jiuzhou say when he was drinking tea in the courtyard that you have to give up something to gain something?

I'll just give up this mere antique shop.