Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

After the Spring Festival, the residents of No. 95 Courtyard were still immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the Spring Festival.

But they were soon met with a devastating blow when the neighborhood committee issued a notice tightening food rations.

This means that everyone's food ration is starting to decrease.

And those who took the lead were the cadres from government agencies.

No one could laugh anymore; even those who didn't understand the situation could see what it meant.

This clearly indicates a reduction in production and a shortage of food.

Otherwise, why reduce food rations instead of increasing them?

There wasn't enough food to begin with, and now they're cutting back even more; this is a serious problem!

After hearing the news, the neighbors all went out. What were they going out for? To buy overpriced grain and stock up on some food for future use.

But there are so many people who think the same way that it's impossible to buy any.

The long queue stretched as far as the eye could see; I bought a ticket.

The atmosphere in the courtyard immediately became quiet.

From that moment on, no one dared to look down on whole grains.

Some households in Nanluoguxiang, where only one worker lives, have experienced food shortages.

We definitely have the money, the problem is we can't buy any food!

Fortunately, there is a black market, which is plentiful at the foot of the city wall at night, but it is very expensive, so expensive that you can't afford it.

Therefore, the three liaison officers of Compound No. 95 held a meeting of all staff to discuss the matter.

Yan Bugui also specifically listed a price list for grain, comparing state-run stores with the black market.

The following prices at state-run stores are all rationed:

High-gluten flour (refined white flour): 0.18

Regular rice: 0.20

Cornmeal (the main whole grain): 0.11-0.12

Xiaomi: 0.09~0.10

Sweet potato chips (food substitute): 0.06

All of the above are in cents or dimes.

This is the most common food consumed by ordinary people.

The prices on the black market are much more interesting, and Yan Bugui is very well-informed about them.

The prices of grain without receipts on the black market are as follows:

High-gluten flour: 3.5-4.5

Regular rice: 4.0～5.0

Cornmeal: 2.2-3.0

Xiaomi: 2.0~2.8

Dried sweet potato: 1.2–1.8

Black market prices are calculated in units of yuan, and are 20 to 30 times more expensive than those in state-run stores!

The neighbors gasped in shock after seeing the price list, their teeth chattering.

Jia Dongxu immediately stood up and shouted loudly:

"Damn it, who can afford to eat this? Before the rationing was reduced, even though my family had two workers, we still had to buy more than ten kilograms of overpriced grain every month."

"Before, without a ticket, it was only a few cents more expensive, but now it's dozens of times more. We might survive, but we're fucking dead..."

Jia Dongxu's angry speech silenced everyone present; he was speaking the minds of his neighbors.

Yi Zhonghai sighed. Although the rations had been reduced, they could still survive. They would get hungry, but they would definitely not starve to death. It was just that the food would be worse. Yi Zhonghai understood this principle.

He endured countless hardships and witnessed countless situations in his youth, yet he remained composed, which stemmed from his own inner strength.

But some neighbors are different. They say that ordinary workers and laborers exert a lot of strength in their daily work and need to be well-fed.

With rationing now reduced and premium grain prices so high, many people will choose to save money, and save to the extreme!

As he pondered this, Yi Zhonghai looked at Li Jiuzhou, his eyes filled with pleading.

"Jiuzhou, you're the logistics minister, do you have any suggestions?"

As soon as Yi Zhonghai spoke, all eyes in the hospital turned to Li Jiuzhou, their eyes filled with hope. After all, he was a big leader in charge of the factory's logistics.

Li Jiuzhou shook his head:

"Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters. I can't help you all, but all I can do is remind you to use any means to stockpile some food, including coarse grains. Save as much as you can in normal times."

Upon hearing this, the neighbors all looked disappointed.

How can Li Jiuzhou help? It's not like he can't afford to live, what's the point of helping him?

Even if he were starving to death, Li Jiuzhou wasn't the kind of person to be heartless.

But it was obvious that the neighbors in the courtyard didn't need Li Jiuzhou's help. They had savings and wouldn't starve; at most, they would live a less comfortable life.

The meeting ended abruptly, and everyone went back to their rooms to discuss things with their families, each with their own concerns.

At the Jia family residence, Tong Jie's expression turned serious; she was about to start a meeting.

"Mom, Dongxu, from now on our family will have to be more frugal. We can't keep eating like this." After saying that, he stared intently at Jia Zhangshi.

Jia Zhangshi felt somewhat uncomfortable under Tong Jie's gaze:

"Daughter-in-law, why are you looking at me like this? It's just eating a little less, it's no big deal."

"From now on, our family will eat according to the rations in the food book. We absolutely won't be ripped off by buying overpriced food, otherwise I'll be heartbroken..."

Jia Dongxu wanted to say something more, but in the end he sighed and remained silent.

Tong Jie is a smart woman. She replaced most of the refined grains in her family with whole grains, ensuring that everyone in the family was well-fed.

Where can I exchange it?

Li Jiuzhou's house, Yi Zhonghai's house, Sha Zhu's house, Xu Damao's house.

Even if it's difficult, they don't want to eat coarse grains.

Two weeks later, the Jia family couldn't take it anymore.

Especially Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng, damn it, they eat coarse grain steamed buns every day, it's so hard for them to poop.

Some people asked, "Isn't there Yi Zhonghai? Why not ask him for help?"

Jia Zhangshi was sensible; she wouldn't let Yi Zhonghai help her with everything.

Others have also reduced their quotas, they need to save money too, everyone is in the same boat, why are you going to him?

Jia Dongxu still has some sense of shame; he can afford to live.

Despite the reduction in rations, the factory continues to provide lunch and dinner as usual.

After the New Year expansion was completed, the factory continued with the same old approach: overtime work and exceeding production targets.

The most important thing is that I can save more money by then.

Because of Li Jiuzhou's advance preparations, the factory was not afraid of running out of food at all, and continued to operate as usual.

The food is still incredibly good.

Li Jiuzhou is very confident in getting the credit. If their factory wanted to make a quick buck, they could simply sell the grain they had stockpiled.

Earning two to three times the money is entirely within reach.

But we can't do that, or we'll be in big trouble. They're a legitimate organization, not middlemen.

Besides, food is so precious these days, how could we bear to sell it?

Only a few leaders knew that the factory had stockpiled so much grain; no more than five people.

Furthermore, they issued a notice that they would not sign any more orders.

In other words, leading cadres can no longer buy grain from the factory; they have to use their own grain ration coupons to buy it from stores.

At this time, we must not be high-profile; we must keep a low profile.

If you were to boast that our Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill has stockpiled more than a year's worth of grain, then a lot of people would come over to leech off us or try to coordinate supplies, and we'd be driven crazy by it.

Making a fortune quietly is the best strategy, and Secretary Nie and others all understand this.

However, for meat products, the factory will still step in to coordinate if the management needs it.

Otherwise, what's the purchasing department for? Are they just sitting around doing nothing?

Often, the supplies needed are those required by the factory leaders.

If you need a certain amount of meat tomorrow, just let us know a day in advance, and the purchasing department will guarantee you fresh meat to eat, the really fresh kind.

If you want to eat some wild game, that's fine too, I'll get it for you.

Both Li Jiuzhou and Bingbing had to work, so he had Da Hu handle the meat purchases.

When Da Hu returned, he would deliver the meat directly to the house. Sometimes, Da Hu would bring the meat over without Li Jiuzhou having to tell him to.

Li Jiuzhou can just give him the money, it's very convenient.

Most of the hostages he and Bingbing received were given to his father-in-law's family; their family received relatively little.

Li Jiuzhou would never lack these things.