Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill had heavy tasks in the first half of the year because it planned to complete its annual production capacity by August.

The production capacity generated after August is all extra.

The money from the sale goes into our own factory's pocket.

The workers are used to this workflow, and they can breathe a sigh of relief if they finish their production capacity as soon as possible.

The work in the second half of the year was relatively easy. I went to work on time and left work on time. I could even watch movies in the evening from time to time.

The food eaten during overtime work is relatively better than usual.

The workers were also well-informed; it was said that other factories had been eating coarse grain buns for more than half a month.

I don't even dare to think about white flour steamed buns anymore.

But many people had smiles on their faces because the autumn harvest was approaching.

The factory's loudspeaker also announced that there was a bumper harvest in various places, with yields of so many kilograms per mu.

What does this mean? It means there's more food available, so the rations will naturally increase, and we won't have to tighten our belts anymore.

Li Jiuzhou felt they were too optimistic. He knew that things would get even more difficult in the future.

Drought and floods are rampant across the country, and a shortage of manpower to harvest grain has led to crops rotting in the fields.

As expected, the quota was reduced again later.

Everyone understood what was going on, and a sense of unease settled in.

In order to complete their quotas, the grassroots in the countryside had to hand over grain to the commune, but the commune canteens ran out of food. There wasn't enough to begin with, and now that they had to hand it over, how were they supposed to eat anything?

Suddenly, food supplies became scarce throughout the country.

Li Jiuzhou is now almost unable to buy flour.

It was only thanks to the efforts of several high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Metallurgy that enough refined grain was obtained through extensive coordination.

Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is an important steel mill, and we cannot be harsh on our workers because of food issues.

The necessary meals must be provided; otherwise, insufficient nutrition could lead to serious problems during childbirth.

And in the courtyard, it goes without saying that many people drink corn porridge every day.

I can drink my fill, but I get hungry incredibly fast.

They even had to tell their family members to stay home and lie down whenever they had nothing to do, otherwise they would get hungry quickly from expending too much energy.

Li Jiuzhou also began to live a slightly more frugal life, at least on the surface.

He has some dried pork in his space, which he enjoys while drinking tea and munching on during his work hours—it's quite pleasant.

My son and daughter don't eat too much; three regular meals a day are enough to provide them with sufficient nutrition.

Occasionally, we can improve our meals.

Li Jiuzhou would pass by the market every day, and would buy a fish or a chicken to take home and eat whenever he had a spare moment.

If you can't buy pork, you can eat something else.

The neighbors in the courtyard who wanted to improve their meals felt the same way. If there was no pork, they could eat other things. A living person wouldn't let themselves die from holding in their pee.

Besides, what's in short supply is grain and pork. Chicken, duck, and fish are plentiful in the market; you can buy them if you have money, or you can barter with them.

Many of the chickens, ducks, and fish were brought from the countryside to the city in exchange for grain.

They're not picky; they'll switch between rice, flour, sweet potatoes, and corn.

They're not willing to pay you; if you do, you'll have to pay a lot more to buy it. Their main purpose is to exchange it for grain.

That evening, Xu Damao looked at his watch; it was already 10 p.m. He urged his apprentices to hurry up.

Xu Damao needed to direct operations on-site after just showing two movies to the factory.

By the time he finished work, it was already ten o'clock, but Xu Damao was used to it.

After taking one last look at the warehouse, he locked the door and went home.

Since it was the last one to leave the factory, there was no one left on the road.

"Section Chief Xu, please be careful on the road," a security guard reminded him from inside the guard post.

Seeing this, Xu Damao stopped the car, took out the peony from his pocket, and threw it in:

"Don't worry, do your job well. I'm off now."

He rode away without waiting for the security guards to thank him.

The summer evening breeze was very cool, and Xu Damao, for some inexplicable reason, wanted to go for a drive.

He wanted to go to the black market, just to take a look.

He had never been to this place, but that didn't mean he didn't know where it was.

With a goal in mind, he rode his bike even faster.

When we arrived at a dark alley, we heard someone shout "Robbery!"

Moreover, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Xu Damao immediately perked up, thinking to himself, "Damn, isn't this a sign of progress?"

So he rushed over without looking back.

hesitate?

That's disrespectful to a third-class merit award!

After all, he had tasted the fruits and benefited from them, so he was bound to seize the opportunity when it came.

As soon as they entered, they saw five people surrounding and kicking one person, with food scattered on the ground.

When Xu Damao saw the five people, he panicked. Turning around was impossible unless he abandoned the car and fled.

So, steeling himself, he charged straight into the crowd, shouting as he did so:

"Help! Robbery!"

Before Xu Damao could stop the bicycle, a person rushed out from the darkness and kicked Xu Damao off the bicycle.

The person who kicked Xu Damao over has spoken:

"Beat this meddlesome idiot to death!"

Xu Damao was punched more than a dozen times as soon as he got up, and he screamed in pain.

But he wasn't intimidated. Driven by his passion, he actually resisted, grabbing one of the men's groins with his right hand and squeezing him hard.

"Ah!" A heart-wrenching scream rang out!

"Big brother, my balls are broken..."

"Damn it, kill him already!"

"Bang!" A brick struck Xu Damao, knocking him unconscious.

Then all his belongings were taken from him.

Xu Damao had 50 yuan, various receipts, and a watch on him.

The bicycle was also smashed to pieces.

It has to be said that these people are ruthless.

As soon as the group left, the police arrived.

Xu Damao's behavior was witnessed by a passerby, who then went to the police station to testify on his behalf.

Of course, both Xu Damao and the person who was robbed ended up in the hospital.

At midnight, Xu Damao still hadn't returned, and Su Mei was extremely worried. So she went to Sha Zhu and asked him to go to the factory to check on things.

Sha Zhu went to find Li Jiuzhou, took the car keys, and went to the factory.

When he learned from the security guards that Xu Damao had left at 10:30, his heart sank.

Something's happened. Xu Damao is definitely in trouble.

Sha Zhu drove around for a while but couldn't find anyone, so he had to go back to the yard to tell Su Mei.

It was already 3 a.m.

Upon hearing this, Su Mei burst into tears.

Hearing the commotion, the Jia family members and Yi Zhonghai all came out.

"What? Da Mao has disappeared? Could he have been arrested for soliciting prostitutes like me?" This was Jia Dongxu's voice, and he sounded a bit gloating.

Yi Zhonghai glared at him:

"Dongxu, shut up!"

"Oh……"

However, he was still quite happy, and he and his mother exchanged a glance and smiled.

The police station didn't know Xu Damao's identity and couldn't notify his family, so they could only wait for Xu Damao to regain consciousness.

Yi Zhonghai came up with an idea:

"Go report it to the police, Zhu Zi."

Sha Zhu thought it made sense, so he went to the police station again.

Time passed quickly, and almost everyone in the Intermediate People's Court stayed up to keep Tong Jie company while she waited.

Li Jiuzhou was a little surprised to hear this when he woke up in the morning.

Xu Damao has disappeared, is it true?

Is this guy going to sneak into that young widow's bed?

He's a first-time lecher, a born pervert.

Although he got married and started a family, old habits die hard.