Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

As the person in charge of security, Brother Lin is definitely not an ordinary person.

At just over 30 years old and holding the deputy director-general level position, he's truly an exceptional individual.

Why did he believe Li Jiuzhou could become a deputy director today? Because he already knew that all along.

He was promoted yesterday, and Li Jiuzhou was originally on the list, so of course he knew.

However, it just so happened that Secretary Nie called Minister Wang, saying that he would come to the ministry tomorrow morning and bring Li Jiuzhou with him.

Minister Wang then announced that the promotion list would be made public tomorrow afternoon.

So the heads of the Ministry of Metallurgy knew, Secretary Nie knew, and Brother Lin, the head of the security department, also knew.

He was in charge of security, and everyone who came to the Ministry of Metallurgy had to be screened by him. Unless it was a higher-ranking leader, it was beyond his scope of responsibility.

Li Jiuzhou and Brother Lin chatted and laughed while preparing the ingredients, so they didn't find it boring.

Secretary Nie spent a little money today, but it was definitely a small amount for him.

A turtle that's over ten years old; this can be braised.

Li Jiuzhou dared not prepare a highly nourishing soup for his superiors, as he could not bear the responsibility if it caused any problems. At most, eating it braised would only cause a minor heat rash.

A three-pound grouper, steamed.

Take a pork foreleg, braise it until it's tender, and eat it.

A duck, boiled.

A stewed old hen.

A pound of small river shrimp can be stir-fried and served with drinks.

Chinese spiny lobster is also steamed.

Crab is stir-fried.

Two pounds of cured pork stir-fried with garlic shoots.

Three pounds of beef were used to make a cold dish.

There was also two kinds of stir-fried beef tripe.

Five pounds of frogs directly grilled over charcoal

We also made three pounds of prawns with salt and pepper, and fried them.

Braised abalone.

Of course, a classic braised pork belly dish is indispensable.

Sweet and sour pork ribs.

Two servings of stir-fried giant squid.

One serving of spicy stir-fried clams.

One serving of blanched whelks.

Finally, there were two vegetable dishes: blanched okra and stir-fried bean sprouts.

There are a total of twenty dishes.

After Li Jiuzhou finished making each dish, Brother Lin would take a bite with his chopsticks.

He was having an incredibly good time, and he called it "testing poison"!

He was almost full after finishing the last dish.

Today's dishes are all fairly ordinary, except for the beef and seafood, which are a bit more expensive.

Therefore, even though Li Jiuzhou uses relatively common recipes, the dishes he makes are still top-notch, as the chef himself has to say.

Didn't you see Brother Lin swallowing his saliva like crazy?

Given his rank, he could have easily avoided coming in person, but he did anyway.

What's the purpose?

It's all so that I can have a bite of Li Jiuzhou's cooking.

He's a renowned chef, a master chef specializing in state banquets, the famous Mr. Yu.

During the morning meeting, a bunch of my brothers were practically fighting tooth and nail over who got to supervise Li Jiuzhou and help him out.

In the end, Lin Ge still managed to take him down. There was no way around it; a higher-ranking official could crush you!

Of course, Li Jiuzhou would save some from each dish, regardless of who it was for.

In short, Li Jiuzhou is definitely going to be at the table for dinner today.

If they don't allow it, Li Jiuzhou will go out and overturn the table.

Sure enough, someone came over to call for us as soon as all the dishes were served.

Li Jiuzhou greeted Brother Lin:

"Brother Lin, I'll head over now. I've left some food for you to eat later."

Brother Lin waved his hand with a smile:

"Go ahead, have a few drinks with the leaders."

Li Jiuzhou went to the reception hall, and as soon as he entered, he was met with the gazes of a group of big shots.

Of course, it wasn't a scrutiny, but rather a smiling look at him. It's not like they haven't seen him before; have they been to the Red Star Steel Mill less often?

Seeing Li Jiuzhou made them all happy.

Minister Wang gestured for him to sit down, as an empty seat had already been reserved for him.

"Jiuzhou, you've really gone to a lot of trouble cooking for us old folks. Please have a seat."

"Let's not talk about work now, let's talk about romance."

Li Jiuzhou bowed slightly.

"Thank you, Minister and all the leaders. I will gladly accept your invitation."

The other leaders laughed:

"That's more like it. When you're at the Ministry of Metallurgy, feel at home. Don't be shy."

Li Jiuzhou dared not sit down.

There was no other way; everyone present was a vice-minister, and there were also two ministerial-level officials.

It's quite extraordinary that Li Jiuzhou, a mere section chief (and future deputy director-general), could sit at this table.

The minister and leaders asked him to sit down, but he didn't dare. If he sat down, who would pour the wine? Secretary Nie, perhaps?

Logically it should be him, but now there's Li Jiuzhou too.

Li Jiuzhou didn't hesitate either, unscrewing a bottle of Moutai and starting to pour the wine from Minister Wang's side.

There were 11 people at the table, including Li Jiuzhou. One bottle of Moutai was only enough for 5 people, because they were using two-ounce cups.

Li Jiuzhou could only continue opening bottles of wine. There were two cases on the ground, and there was plenty of room to get more if that wasn't enough. The Ministry of Metallurgy's logistics warehouse wasn't just for storing grain and meat, so there was no need to worry about not having enough wine.

"Come on, I'm so glad that Old Nie and Comrade Jiuzhou are here today. I won't say anything more, I'll start by raising a glass!" Minister Wang said and then fell silent.

Upon seeing this, Old Li exclaimed in admiration:

"Good drinking capacity. I'll drink too, I'm dying of thirst." He then downed a glass by himself.

Seeing this, the other leaders all made excuses to down a glass first, as they were really thirsty!

Li Jiuzhou was a little confused because he hadn't expected the leaders to be so thirsty, but he still offered them a drink.

Actually, the leaders were really hungry. The food smelled so good. They wanted to have a drink to cleanse their mouths first. How to pass the level later was up to the little comrade Jiuzhou, so they needed to fill their stomachs first!

Otherwise, let them beat the game? How can we allow that?

Regardless of his official rank, Li Jiuzhou is a junior. Does he need to be taught how to do things?

Unless they don't drink alcohol, they won't force them.

Li Jiuzhou also figured it out and ate a few bites of the dishes he had made to fill his stomach.

The smiles on the leaders' faces were impossible to hide.

After filling his stomach, Li Jiuzhou raised his glass and cleared the level, starting with Minister Wang.

He stood up and raised his glass to Minister Wang:

"Minister, I've learned a lot today at the Ministry of Metallurgy. Let me toast you; please feel free to drink, I'll drink it all."

At this time, please don't say anything flirtatious. With so many leaders around, it's best to be proper and respectful.

Minister Wang remained seated, unlike Li Jiuzhou, and said with a smile:

"Jiuzhou, thank you for cooking for us old folks today. I'm telling you, I won't let you work for nothing."

"Take your promotion appointment letter back to the factory this afternoon. Come on, Jiuzhou, best of luck!"

"Wow!" Li Jiuzhou exclaimed excitedly.

"Then I have to have another drink, Minister!" After saying that, he poured himself another glass of wine and downed it in one gulp.

"Good, you've got guts, I like that!"

The atmosphere was exceptionally good. It is said that people are in high spirits when they are happy, and Li Jiuzhou was just like that.

Not only did I complete the game in the correct order, I also played it in reverse order.

One lap is worth two bottles of Maotai. After two laps, even Li Jiuzhou was drowsy.

Seeing that others have eight eyeballs, it's already amazing that they didn't collapse immediately.

Drinking so much, who the hell can stand it?

However, the leaders didn't blame him. They said that young people need to train more, and after vomiting a lot, they'll get used to it and their alcohol tolerance will improve.

By the time the dinner ended, Li Jiuzhou was already completely drowsy, and once he got in the car, he snored loudly all day.

Driver Xiaosong couldn't help but ask:

"Secretary, Director Li is having an off day. He's usually a good drinker, so why is he so drunk today?"

Secretary Nie smiled and said:

"Do you know how much he drank? He drank almost five bottles of Moutai. It's amazing that he could walk to the car by himself without you having to carry him."

"He even underperformed? He actually played exceptionally well today!"

"But this drunken stupor was fucking worth it; we got the deputy director position right away. What a talent!"

Xiaosong dared not say another word; he seemed to have received a lot of information.

Li Jiuzhou was sent directly home, and Secretary Nie also went to the neighborhood office to inform his wife Bingbing, which was very thoughtful.

After hearing this, Bingbing asked Director Wang for leave and took her daughter home in the stroller.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she got home and saw her husband fast asleep, then tucked her sleepy daughter into the kang (a heated brick bed).

The daughter, Xiaodoubao, seemed to smell something. Her pink nose twitched slightly, and she opened her eyes. She looked at the person in front of her and immediately started a small fight.

*Smack!*

Li Jiuzhou didn't react at all.

Little Bean felt a bit bored, so it placed its little hand on Li Jiuzhou's face, slowly closed its eyes, and fell asleep.