Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

The next morning, Li Jiuzhou was still half asleep, his face wet. When he opened his eyes, he saw his daughter, Xiaodoubao, hugging his face and nibbling on it, drooling all over his face.

The two, one big and one small, stared at each other, but the little one, in a better mood, gave Li Jiuzhou a smile.

"Oh my daughter!" Li Jiuzhou couldn't help but kiss the little bun a few times.

This made her giggle.

Bingbing heard the noise inside and came in.

"You're awake. Go wash up and then have breakfast."

Li Jiuzhou was a little confused:

"What? You should eat breakfast, not dinner?"

Upon hearing this, Bingbing said irritably:

"You slept from yesterday afternoon until this morning, how much did you drink?"

Do you remember who I am?

Li Jiuzhou suddenly realized that he had slept for so long, but he decided to tease his wife a little, so he pretended to be confused:

"Yeah, who are you? What are you doing in my house? And who is this little girl? What's she doing on my bed? She can't be my daughter, can she?"

Upon hearing this, Bingbing scrutinized Li Jiuzhou, and soon a smile appeared on her face:

"Yes, yes, I went to the wrong house. This is not my home. I will take my son and daughter back to my parents' home now."

After saying that, he reached out to hug his daughter, and Li Jiuzhou immediately surrendered:

"No, no, no, honey, I was just kidding. I'll get up right away."

After making a ruckus for a while, Li Jiuzhou went to take a shower. He was covered in the smell of alcohol and his stomach was growling with hunger.

I'm sober now, but the aftereffects are a bit hungry and thirsty.

Bingbing didn't go to work because she was worried about Li Jiuzhou not waking up, so she took leave to stay home and take care of him.

Breakfast consisted of porridge and steamed buns. Li Jiuzhou didn't eat much; he just wanted to have a light meal. He wasn't comfortable eating too much, as he was afraid the baby wouldn't be able to handle it.

It was almost noon, so Li Jiuzhou drove his wife and daughter to the neighborhood office.

Tie Niu's son was taken to the factory by Sha Zhu. He didn't drive there today, probably guessing that his senior brother would wake up in the morning, so he didn't use the car.

It's not suitable for him to use a car either. Although Sha Zhu's rank is that of a section chief, he doesn't even qualify for a bicycle, let alone a car.

You have to buy it yourself, unless you're a purchasing agent at the factory or a movie theater, in which case they'll be provided with a car.

Without Li Jiuzhou around, he really didn't dare to drive his car to work so casually.

He's not stupid; he knows he needs to maintain a good image after becoming a leader, so his night school education wasn't for nothing.

Li Jiuzhou specifically instructed the teacher to take special care of Sha Zhu.

Sha Zhu had no choice; he had to listen to his senior brother and do as he was told.

If he dares to disobey, his senior brother can promote him to section chief, which means he can continue to be a cook, even though he is still a cook now.

But they are very different when separated.

Being a leader has its advantages, and once Sha Zhu experienced them, he naturally couldn't bear to give them up.

The respect of others, the admiration of one's wife, the flattery of relatives, and so on.

Bai Lian, the second wife of his father He Daqing, is now treating him better and better, even to the point of being ingratiating.

Just kidding. He's a proper cadre, a section chief. Even if Bai Lian is stupid, she wouldn't offend Sha Zhu.

From now on, his sons and daughters will all have to rely on their elder brother, Sha Zhu, for support and assistance.

Their attitude towards He Daqing has also become increasingly better.

He Daqing knew perfectly well that the rise of his family's imperial status was also a benefit brought by his son, and he enjoyed it with a clear conscience.

It can be said that He Daqing is now a winner in life, with both a son and a daughter, and even a third generation. He would be willing to die now.

Now I work a regular job, earn a hundred or so yuan a month, have a few drinks, and live a carefree life.

Li Jiuzhou went straight to his office when he arrived at the factory.

His office had long since been moved to the office building.

After he went inside, people kept greeting him respectfully.

"Hello, Secretary Li."

"Hello, Minister Li."

"Hello, everyone." Li Jiuzhou replied warmly.

He already knows he's been promoted; his wife has already told him. He's now the head of logistics, deputy secretary, and canteen director—three positions in one, a heavy responsibility indeed!

Of course, he wasn't flustered; he was already quite adept at these tasks.

The only position he needed to consult with Secretary Nie for was the deputy secretary position.

Because the deputy secretary needs to cooperate with the real top leader.

Thank goodness I wasn't promoted to deputy factory director, otherwise I would have been begging for food under Yang Ligong, which would have been incredibly humiliating.

Clearly, the Ministry of Metallurgy also took Li Jiuzhou's position into account, which is why he was promoted to deputy secretary instead of deputy factory director.

The concern is that this might incite unnecessary conflicts and affect the unity of the leadership team.

Because the leaders of the Ministry of Metallurgy also knew that Comrade Li Jiuzhou was clearly not a well-behaved person.

What if the uncle and nephew team up to sideline Yang Ligong?

So, is he still considered a factory manager?

The position of deputy secretary is the only one that suits him.

Secretary Nie is no saint either; trying to sideline him is simply not going to work.

Don't forget, he's a vice-minister. To sideline a vice-minister is something that has never happened before, and it is absolutely not allowed to happen.

Yang Ligong sat in his office with some regret, not out of jealousy for Li Jiuzhou's rise to power.

He had long since let go of this matter that was a foregone conclusion.

The Red Star Steel Rolling Mill is thriving, and Yang Ligong is enjoying immense success, all thanks to Li Jiuzhou.

However, he really wanted to bring Li Jiuzhou over to be the deputy factory director.

Having someone like that under my command has many advantages.

He wasn't afraid of Li Jiuzhou flipping the table. Nobody dared to do that now. There were so many examples of people who flipped the table before, and they all ended up in jail.

What is Yang Ligong afraid of?

Li Jiuzhou went to his office first.

The logistics department has a dedicated office space. As soon as Li Jiuzhou entered, everyone stood up to greet him, including the leaders in the office.

Immediately, people came over to fawn over him and offer their concern:

"Good morning, Minister. Congratulations on your promotion! Your office has been cleaned thoroughly. What kind of tea would you like to have today?"

Li Jiuzhou smiled and said, "Comrades, everyone says that a new broom sweeps clean, but I'm not an outsider, and none of you are outsiders."

"Just do your usual work as usual. I won't make tea for now; I have to go talk to the secretary in a bit."

"Good job, boss!"

The previous logistics minister, Li Huaide, moved away long ago after Li Jiuzhou became the deputy minister.

He's a full-time deputy secretary with his own office; he's very busy.

Li Huaide had already paved the way for his nephew; he just needed to follow it normally, and there was nothing difficult about it.

This is the advantage of having connections in the court; it saved Li Jiuzhou a lot of trouble.

Of course, no one disagreed. If you disagree, then do something big yourself.

Since Li Jiuzhou joined the factory, every single thing he's done has been a major event.

You can get promoted if you complete a task; the factory does this very well.

The most typical example is Xu Damao, who was promoted for meritorious service.

While it's true that you could do it, the prerequisite is having the opportunity.

Besides Xu Damao, there are also groups of cadres like Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong who were replaced by workers.

They are all outstanding workers with high skill levels. Yi Zhonghai, a representative figure, is an eighth-level fitter, representing the pinnacle of technical positions.

To be honest, if he were younger and more educated, he could easily have a regular section chief position without having to scheme so meticulously.

We suffered because of the times; there's nothing we can do about it.

Of course, if you work hard now and achieve results, there is still room for advancement.

The factory's practice of rewarding merit fostered a strong sense of ambition among both workers and staff.

Because there wasn't much of a shady deal involved.

Some of them were related to the factory leaders.

Take Yang Guangming for example, was his promotion fast?

The answer is fast.

But then another problem arises: these people were originally cadres with administrative ranks, and they only graduated from vocational high school; they're just being promoted faster now.

If you're not convinced, go find a factory manager to be your uncle.

The workers had no objections whatsoever, and Yang Guangming couldn't control them anyway.

Do any of the senior staff members in the publicity department have any objections?

Of course there are. You want to get promoted, but you're not good enough and you don't have any connections. What's the point of getting promoted?

There's nothing wrong with seeking progress on your own; that's just the way things are.