Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Because of the reduced food rations, the neighbors in the courtyard are no longer spending money lavishly.

We only eat meat once every ten days to two weeks.

Of course, pork, which required ration coupons, could only be eaten once every ten days or so, because there weren't many coupons available.

Furthermore, meat ration coupons were only valid for three time periods each month: early, middle, and late.

When pork is in short supply, you can't use up all the meat coupons for the month at once.

Even for urban residents, the monthly meat ration coupons were only a little over half a jin (250 grams).

Even if there are many people, if the whole family adds up to just a few pounds of meat, what the hell is that enough for?

No one is willing to cook so much meat at once. Usually, pork is bought, chopped into small pieces, and eaten over several meals. This is called oil and nutrients!

Pork was sold for 6.5 to 7 mao per jin (500g) with a ticket.

Black market pork costs 7-9 yuan per jin!

What a load of rubbish!

Haven't you seen the countless anglers fishing in the major rivers of Beijing every day?

Fish is still meat, and it provides nutrition and protein without costing money, but it takes time and effort to obtain.

Right now, everyone is working hard just to put food on the table.

The old deaf man in the backyard has been eating nothing but plain water and cabbage for days and he's almost delirious.

She loves eating meat; not eating meat would be like taking her life.

Of course, Sha Zhu didn't mistreat her; it's just that the neighbors in the courtyard were all cutting back on their food and clothing, so he couldn't go too far.

Things are different now than before; if you have money, you can spend it recklessly.

If we go all out now, there will really be rumors and gossip.

Although he doesn't need to spend much money to buy meat, the situation is what it is, and he has no choice.

Li Jiuzhou also became a little more frugal, but his son and daughter still ate eggs every day, and their milk and malted milk were never lacking.

No matter what, he is a leader, there's no need for him to act so pathetic.

Xu Damao doesn't pretend at all; he's willing to buy meat no matter how expensive it is, but the neighbors just can't see it when he brings it back.

Yi Zhonghai will not lack meat to eat; he has at least dozens of kilograms of meat coupons in his hands, so he has no worries at all.

If you run out, just ask Yang Ligong for it; sometimes he'll even give it to you himself.

To avoid gossip from their neighbors, many people in the courtyard started secretly cooking meat at night.

Anyway, once the door is closed, you'll have no idea what I'm doing.

As for where the meat comes from, they have their own methods.

Chicken, duck, fish and meat can be exchanged privately. Does the lack of pork mean we can't eat meat at all?

It's just a means of survival; if you have the ability, you deserve to have meat to eat.

Everyone in the courtyard is quite capable.

Li Jiuzhou also started planning for the factory canteen, and naturally, the supply of meat was reduced.

Now, there's basically only one meat dish a week, and the portion isn't large, but the taste hasn't changed. This is Li Jiuzhou's bottom line.

Moreover, the vegetarian dishes are rich in oil, so they won't cause nutritional deficiencies among the workers.

Although there are fewer meat dishes, the amount of staple food has not been reduced, and it is definitely enough to fill you up.

Of course there are leftovers in the cafeteria; how could there not be? It's impossible to be so precise.

Li Jiuzhou's rule is that you can only have more, never less.

It would be a real problem if we didn't produce enough food and the workers went hungry.

Leftovers are consumed internally.

Because we need to work overtime to meet production capacity, we'll eat the leftovers from lunch in the evening.

You can buy the leftovers at night to take home, but of course, the price will be half the cost.

These things are still being snapped up.

However, they rarely reach the workers; most of them are bought by the canteen staff.

Li Jiuzhou doesn't follow the rule that cooks can't accept grains if they don't steal them; if you dare to steal, he'll arrest you.

His cafeteria doesn't have the system where the head chef can bring leftovers.

You guys were practically raised by me, so you have to obey me.

The purchasing department is under a lot of pressure right now.

Pork is a hard currency and the most beloved meat among ordinary people, but it's really hard to find now.

The factory may have a lot of pigs (several hundred), but there are over 3 employees working there!

There are regulations that stipulate that the standard weight for pigs to be ready for slaughter is 180 jin (90 catties).

Slaughtering 20 pigs at once only yields 3600 jin (1,800 catties).

Each employee in the factory could only get a few ounces of meat at most, because the pigs still had bones attached.

The meat processing plant also raises several thousand pigs a day, but what they need to supply is the entire city of Beiping!

The amount allocated is a drop in the ocean, a pitifully small amount.

Big Tiger's hair has turned somewhat white from worry.

If you ask Da Hu to prepare delicacies from land and sea, there's no question about it; it's a piece of cake.

But if you ask him to bring in a hundred or so more pounds of pork, it would be better to just kill him and be done with it.

It's really hard!

However, a meal of meat once a week was a strict requirement, and Li Jiuzhou gave him a firm order that he had to fulfill it.

As long as it's meat, Li Jiuzhou doesn't care whether it's pork or fish.

In short, if you can get the meat, my cafeteria will have a way to cook it.

Da Hu rolled his eyes inwardly after hearing Li Jiuzhou's words.

I don't care what kind of meat it is, but if I bring dozens of sika deer, would you dare to cook it for the workers?

Li Jiuzhou would tell him:

"Go ahead and do it. If you manage to do it, I'll kill you first!"

Therefore, Da Hu's meat-making abilities are very limited; besides pork, he can only use fish.

Because these two types of meat are more abundant and easier to source.

Chickens and ducks are practically impossible to buy, and even if they are available, they are very rare.

Furthermore, the factory's management simply couldn't bear to kill the chickens and ducks they raised.

With seven or eight hundred eggs laid every day, you expect me to kill chickens and ducks?

You might as well just kill me.

No one could bear to kill them, and in the absence of meat, chicken and duck eggs were the most important sources of nutrition.

Absolutely, I won't support or refute it!

Wang Zhiguo suggested to Secretary Nie that since the workers had no meat to eat, why not kill the chickens and ducks and give the workers a treat?

Secretary Nie slapped him twice and told him to get out immediately!

I can't even bear to eat chicken or duck, but you're always talking about having a treat. You idiot.

Wang Zhiguo felt like the sky had fallen. He went back and complained to his father and grandfather that Nie Wuji had hit him.

However, both of them fell silent after hearing the reason.

Old Wang gave Yang Ligong a wink, then walked up to his son and slapped him twice more!

Old Wang was a little confused:

"No, I'm here to do good deeds, why did you hit my grandson?"

Yang Ligong was also a little confused:

"Dad, didn't you give me a look that told me to slap him twice?"

Old Wang covered his forehead, somewhat exasperated:

"I didn't tell you to hit him, I told you to reason with him!"

Yang Ligong sighed:

"Then why didn't you say so sooner? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

He then apologized to his son:

"Son, don't blame your dad. Blame your grandpa for not explaining things clearly."

Wang Zhiguo covered his face, feeling very uncomfortable. In the end, it was only after Old Wang came forward and explained it to him that he understood why he had been beaten.

To be honest, he deserved the beating.

Old Wang comforted him:

"Zhiguo, you really made a mistake this time, just like your father did back then."

"That old bastard Nie Wuji beat you because he was so disappointed in you, I... I can only think of him that way..."

Wang Zhiguo became interested after hearing his grandfather's words:

"Grandpa, what same mistake did my dad make back then?"

"Yes, Dad, when did I make such a mistake?" Yang Ligong asked in confusion.

Old Wang smiled at Yang Ligong:

"That winter solstice, you asked the steel mill canteen to make dumplings for the workers, have you forgotten?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Ligong immediately gave an awkward smile:

"Haha, Dad, why are you bringing this up? It's all in the past."

Upon hearing this, Old Wang's expression immediately turned serious:

"This is a matter of perception, not a joke, and must be taken seriously."

"You are the factory manager. A small decision can determine the direction of the entire factory. You can't be careless."

Wang Zhiguo became even more interested after hearing his grandfather say this:

"Grandpa, please tell me, what did my dad do back then?"

"Hahahaha..." Old Wang then revealed a hearty laugh:

"Back then, on the winter solstice, your dad demanded that the canteen make dumplings for all the factory workers, and as a result, his ancestors for eighteen generations were cursed."