Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

In early May 1957, Bingbing became pregnant with her second child, which was a cause for celebration. To allow his wife to rest more, Li Jiuzhou would occasionally take her to the factory.

However, Tie Niu spends more time at his mother-in-law's house. His two younger brothers are both in high school, so it's not fun anymore.

So the mother-in-law set her sights on her grandson.

The father-in-law, who loves to teach, gave the three-year-old Tie Niu his early education, giving him a head start at such a young age.

But do you think Tie Niu will study diligently?

Learn what?!

He was very curious for the first few days, but later he bluntly said that he would rather cook with his dad.

Father Fan wasn't annoyed. He chuckled and handed him a spoon taller than the iron ox, telling him to stand in front of the stove and swing it.

Then he'd say something threatening, like, "If you can stick it out, I'll call you grandpa."

It was obvious that Tie Niu couldn't keep it up; after less than five minutes of swinging, he obediently followed his grandfather's example.

Sometimes you can give your child a choice, but if you're willing to endure hardship, there will be endless suffering.

If I have a choice, why should I suffer?

After entering May, some problems arose in people's livelihoods.

Due to a decline in the number of live pigs and a tight supply of pork, the country implemented a nationwide policy of requiring pork purchases to be rationed for the first time.

Now we can't eat meat whenever we want anymore; we have to rely on receipts.

An average person might consume about 2 kilograms of it per month, while those in advanced professions might consume even more.

This means that the supply will be even greater in Beiping.

Take the Jia family as an example. There are five people in the family, but only Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhangshi have grain rations and meat ration coupons.

Their family only had 8 jin of meat coupons and 60 jin of grain coupons per month.

The incident happened so suddenly that Jia Dongxu was completely stunned, because the food rations were simply not enough to eat.

His wife, Tong Jie, and their two children have rural household registration and nothing.

Fortunately, food was still being delivered from the countryside, so there was no need for panic.

It's not just Jia Dongxu; several households are in the same situation.

However, Li Jiuzhou knew that this kind of food would soon be gone. During the collectivization period, he didn't even have enough to eat himself, so who would send him food?

Yi Zhonghai was different. In April, he made a breakthrough and was promoted to the eighth-level fitter, which shocked the entire factory!

Good heavens, when he returned to the courtyard, he was dressed in red and green, looking every bit the part of a newlywed.

He was incredibly impressive, and the factory leaders doted on him even more. After all, he was an eighth-level fitter trained by the factory, not someone transferred from elsewhere, so you can imagine how rare he was.

Li Jiuzhou knew that the factory had given out a lot of good stuff as rewards, including a huge pile of receipts, which meant Yi Zhonghai had made a fortune.

The three turns and one sound were given to Yi Zhonghai directly. Although he had them, these were given to him by the factory, so he could take them.

Moreover, the receipts for the "three turns and one sound" (a type of bicycle, a sewing machine, a radio, and a watch) are so valuable that they can be sold for a lot of money.

The neighbors in the courtyard are very glad that they sold their bicycles and other big-ticket items on a whim.

Buying tickets now is extremely difficult; there are simply no tickets available.

Unless you make an outstanding contribution, it's really impossible to get one. Buying it privately is even more dangerous; you'll get investigated because the origin of the invoices is unclear. Who knows if you're just speculating or profiteering? It's not allowed by policy.

The lack of meat has led to many family members looking pale and sickly due to insufficient nutrition.

If there isn't enough oil and water, people tend to eat more, and if grains are rationed, there isn't enough to eat, which makes it easy for people to lose weight.

The Jia family continued to live comfortably, because Jia Dongxu also made a breakthrough, successfully advancing to the rank of third-level fitter under Yi Zhonghai's careful guidance.

My monthly salary is 49.5 yuan, and with all the benefits, it comes to 52 or 53 yuan.

They can support a family of five without batting an eye.

He could even afford to buy Yijialiang (a type of grain), and with Tong Jie's careful budgeting, he could even save 20 yuan.

As for meat, the Jia family only had a little over 8 jin of meat coupons a month, which was definitely not enough.

But Master Yi Zhonghai has enough; his family can't possibly finish it all.

Because meat can also be bought at a premium; with a meat coupon, it costs 7 cents, and without a meat coupon, it costs 1 dollar.

If you have money and are willing to spend more on food, then spend an extra 3 cents. What is that to Yi Zhonghai?

It's nothing. You know, he only makes a little over 100 yuan a month. How could he possibly afford to eat all that?

Tell me how he's going to finish it?

The other neighbors in the courtyard had long since settled in Beiping, and once they ran out of meat coupons, they had plenty of other ways to get meat.

If you don't even have these basic skills, then you've truly lived in vain.

Therefore, the reduction in pork supply has no impact on the normal lives of the residents of Building 95, who continue to live comfortably.

Not to mention Li Jiuzhou, he has accumulated 500 jin of braised beef in his space over the years, which is far more than he can eat.

We have thousands of kilograms of fresh pork, as well as various kinds of wild game.

White flour and rice were piled up like mountains.

He can take it out whenever he wants to eat, and no one will think there's anything wrong with it. He's a leader, so isn't it normal for leaders to eat well?

No one complained about Yi Zhonghai, an eighth-level fitter, eating well, let alone Li Jiuzhou.

Li Jiuzhou's family also keeps several old hens in their small yard, so they don't need to raise eggs; they provide them themselves.

There are about ten chickens, forming a cycle. As long as the old hen doesn't die, you can eat the chicken whenever you want.

Many people followed Li Jiuzhou's example and built a small fence around their doorstep to raise a few chickens and ducks. They could only raise a few because their circumstances didn't allow it, and raising livestock also consumed grain.

Sha Zhu's wife, Qin Huairu, is more than six months pregnant, and her belly is quite big, yet she's still working at the steel mill's canteen.

Sha Zhu felt sorry for her and wanted her to stay home to rest during her pregnancy, but Qin Huairu refused. She had finally become a worker, and she cherished it very much.

Besides, she herself gave birth in the field, and her mother was still working in the fields when she was about to give birth. You could say that the mother and daughter are incredibly resilient!

Sha Zhu couldn't refuse her, so he took good care of her every day and didn't dare let her do too much work in the canteen.

The canteen staff understood and even lent a hand when Qin Huairu was working. Everyone has special circumstances, and they also hope that others will lend a hand when they or their family members are in trouble.

Because treating others with kindness is also a way of benefiting yourself.

There will naturally be instances where good people don't live long but bad people live for thousands of years, but kind and virtuous people definitely make up the vast majority.

Similarly, Li Jiuzhou set good rules, so there were no disputes in the cafeteria because he first looked at character when hiring people, and then at talent.

In this era, both good and bad people can endure hardship. Li Jiuzhou must choose someone who is unlikely to create conflict, which will also reduce trouble for himself.

This will make my work relatively easier.

There are bound to be some mischievous apprentices in the canteen, but that's alright; someone will eventually give them a good beating.

However, the learning atmosphere in the cafeteria is still very good, because a woman in her thirties passed Li Jiuzhou's assessment and was promoted to a head chef.

This was a huge stimulus for the canteen apprentices.

Because Li Jiuzhou gave them a fair chance; as long as you study hard and pay attention, you will have the opportunity to be promoted.

As for the steel rolling mill's large-scale cooking workshop, there are too many chefs to accommodate everyone?

Li Jiuzhou could only chuckle; those other factories outside were already poaching his people.

If the steel rolling mill can't accommodate Li Jiuzhou, they can easily recommend him to other factories. As long as his skills are good, he'll be highly sought after by other factories.

During this period, Li Jiuzhou released three chefs who cooked large-pot dishes, and they were treated well.

Those masters who went out did very well.

When someone asks you where you're from, it's similar to asking about the origin of your cooking skills.

Then these chefs will proudly tell them, "I came from Mr. Yu's team at the steel mill."

Wow!

Those who hear it will only say two words:

"Awesome!"

Because he's capable of making a living outside the home, his skills in cooking large pot dishes have been tested and proven by Mr. Yu.

If he says there's no problem, then there's definitely no problem. In Qinxing, Beiping, the name "Mr. Yu" is a golden brand.