Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

That high-ranking leader kept his word and stayed at the steel rolling mill for three consecutive days. He ate breakfast at the guesthouse and the other two meals at the steel rolling mill.

At noon, we ate the canteen's large pot of food, which was a perfect example of going deep into the grassroots.

Let's cook some extra food at the steel mill tonight!

This leader is from Guangdong Province, but his work is in Northeast China, which is also an important industrial region.

Before leaving, he really wanted to take one of Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu with him.

The two brothers could only thank their leader for his kindness, as their families were all here and they simply couldn't leave.

One noon, Li Jiuzhou, Shazhu, and his second uncle Li Huaide were chatting and sunbathing in the open space behind the kitchen.

Just then, someone jogged over from a distance to greet them:

"Brother Zhou, Zhu Zi, Director Li is here too!"

The person who came was Wang Dahu.

Li Huaide smiled and nodded at him. He quite admired Da Hu; he was clever and reliable.

Li Jiuzhou smiled and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry? What's the matter?"

Sha Zhu handed him a cigarette. After taking a puff, Da Hu's eyes gleamed, and he said:

"It's almost the end of the year, and I've received a batch of great goods from Northeast China. I'd like to tell you about them and see if there's anything you like."

"If it's available, book it as soon as possible."

Da Hu's words piqued the interest of all three, and Li Huaide was the first to ask, "Da Hu, tell us what good stuff you have."

Da Hu lowered his voice and said, "Wild ginseng, genuine first-grade old wild ginseng from Changbai Mountain!"

"And there's tiger skin, tiger meat and tiger penis, venison, venison, antlers, and venison penis."

"There are lots of pheasants and roe deer!"

"There are countless dried goods as well."

"I'm so dizzy from looking at it, I'm tempted to kill someone and rob them."

The three were very surprised after hearing this.

It's really hard to buy things from Northeast China in Beiping (Beijing), mainly because transportation is a huge problem.

Of course, you could buy it at state-run stores like Laoshan Ginseng, but it was sold out as soon as it was put on display.

Old ginseng is the kind of thing that's expensive but unavailable.

In Northeast China, the goods might be more widely available, and you could get them even if you spent more money, but it was a different story in Beiping (Beijing).

You can buy the younger ones, but the older ones are hard to find; you can't even find them anywhere.

Da Hu added, "We have two ginseng kings, each weighing over 50 grams, and each gram costs 98 yuan!"

After hearing this, Sha Zhu counted on his fingers and muttered to himself, then a look of shock appeared on his face:

"Holy crap, who the hell can afford this?!"

"Over five thousand yuan, tsk tsk tsk..."

Li Huaide naturally calculated the price as well, and was quite shocked. In the end, he gave a helpless smile. Well, he really couldn't afford it...

Li Jiuzhou remained calm. He had seen the price of ginseng at state-run stores, and it was exactly the same as what Da Hu had said.

Of course, this is just the price of state-run stores; they couldn't possibly get it for this price from dealers.

Therefore, Li Jiuzhou and his group had to lower the purchase price if they wanted to acquire it, because this item was traded in secret.

No matter how rare it is, you have to lower the price. Of course, lowering it by one or two percent is enough.

If the state-owned stores don't take a 40-50% cut from your purchases, I'll admit defeat.

So Li Jiuzhou smiled at Da Hu and said, "Da Hu, stop with the fluff and give me the real price."

"If it's a good match, I'll have your brother too."

Da Hu scratched his head: "I can't hide it from you, brother. My partner has been in this business for a long time."

"He told me when he came that if you need money for one, just give me the other one, and I'll consider it as making friends."

When Da Hu said this, his eyes were on Li Huaide.

The intention is obvious; they want to befriend Li Huaide.

Li Jiuzhou and his second uncle exchanged a glance, already understanding each other's intentions.

Previously, Li Huaide had taken a lot of goods from that person, who was very powerful, so that person wanted to befriend him.

Li Jiuzhou asked Da Hu, "Does your friend have any needs? We're not comfortable taking it for no reason."

Da Hu said, "Brother, he wants to have a formal identity like me."

Hearing this, Li Huaide laughed and said to Da Hu:

"Da Hu, bring him over this afternoon. I want to meet him."

"Okay, Director Li, I'll go tell him in a bit."

After saying that, Da Hu left first.

At this moment, Li Jiuzhou said, "Uncle, is this appropriate? Won't there be any problems?"

Li Huaide waved his hand dismissively: "It's just a factory quota; it's perfectly legal and compliant."

"What's wrong with him giving me some things? As long as he didn't steal them, it's fine."

"Other factories also have people going out to purchase goods. Don't worry, your uncle can handle this."

Since his second uncle had said so, Li Jiuzhou wouldn't stop him.

After all, my second uncle is a proper leader, and he needs quite a few people to help him with his affairs.

As the logistics director of the steel rolling mill, he was in charge of the entire plant's procurement, which required him to be highly capable and well-connected.

Relying solely on the purchasing department is simply not enough.

They only follow the rules; if they try to get anything else, they're not as useful as Da Hu.

In the afternoon, Li Jiuzhou and his second uncle met with the man from Northeast China.

His name is Zheng Luo, he is 22 years old, a very young man, over 1.8 meters tall, and has a very good build.

He's eloquent and quick-witted.

His hometown is in Changbai Mountain, but he settled in Beiping (Beijing). He still has uncles and brothers in Northeast China.

They were all hunters, the kind who lived off the land. Zheng Luo was able to get so much wild game to Beiping because of the help from people from his hometown.

He also paved the way; he, like Da Hu, used to collect goods and sell them in the city.

It's just that it's not easy to do now. Without a legitimate identity, it's impossible to get things done, and the risks are extremely high.

So this time, the pledge of loyalty is that old ginseng.

In fact, Zheng Luo was perfectly capable of finding a job in any factory, which would only cost him a few hundred yuan. However, this guy had extremely high standards and was determined to get close to a big shot before he would be satisfied.

His ultimate goal was to become the logistics director of the steel rolling mill, Li Huaide.

"Comrade Zheng, please sit down." Li Huaide gestured for Zheng Luo to sit down and talk.

Da Hu was very perceptive and went to pour tea for the group.

He didn't need to avoid it; he was Li Jiuzhou's man, which was equivalent to Li Huaide's man. What was there to avoid?

"Thank you, Director Li," Zheng Luo said, still a little nervous.

Li Huaide waved his hand and laughed:

"Hehe, don't be nervous. Now that you're in my office, you're one of us."

"From now on, we can work together without worry. I, Li Huaide, will never mistreat my own people."

Zheng Luo was very excited upon hearing this: "Thank you, Director Li. I will definitely do my job diligently."

"From now on, you'll have the official status of a purchasing agent at the steel rolling mill, so you can receive all the goods without worrying about the large quantities being too much for you to handle."

"The steel rolling mill can use up the materials that its sister factories can handle. I've told Da Hu that too."

Da Hu chimed in at the opportune moment, "Brother Luo, the director is right. We can just focus on purchasing for the factory from now on."

Zheng Luo gave Da Hu a grateful look, then took out the packaged old ginseng from the cloth bag.

"Director Li, and Brother Zhou, these are first-grade wild ginseng, this one weighs 65 grams, and the other one weighs 58 grams."

Several people went closer to look, and they could still smell a faint fragrance mixed with the earthy smell.

But the smell is so delightful, what a treasure!