Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

In April 1960, food supplies became even more strained.

Li Jiuzhou is finding it increasingly difficult to obtain both wheat flour and cornmeal.

Most of the food was coarse cornmeal, which was shaped like steamed buns in the canteen. We ate them one bite at a time without making a sound.

Fortunately, the cafeteria has soup, and cornbread and steamed buns taste delicious after soaking in the soup. After all, the food in the cafeteria is quite oily.

Because the 25 dishes at Hongxing are basically made using Sichuan cooking methods, which are heavy on oil and salt.

Do you know how some of the factory's thrifty workers do it?

They dipped the steamed buns in the soup, but didn't eat the vegetables; they saved them to take home that evening to add some oil and flavor to their meals.

Li Jiuzhou was aware that some people actually did this.

But there's nothing he can do; he might be able to help one or two people.

But there are too many families in difficulty, and he can't help them all; he can only do his best to solve their problems.

Now all he needs to do is ensure the logistics and the food in the canteen are good, so that the workers can eat their fill and that each meal has enough oil and fat.

Of course, other factories in Beiping have also been up to their usual tricks lately, such as having a "bitter memories meal".

The bran and wild vegetable buns, and the oilless bitter vegetable soup were hard to swallow. What's even more outrageous is that some people mixed stones and mud into them.

Li Jiuzhou naturally wanted to curse when he heard such news, but he could only curse in his heart.

The leaders of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry did not say that the factories under your jurisdiction need to engage in this kind of formalism.

Whether it's about remembering past hardships and appreciating present happiness, or about ideological awareness, as long as the factory doesn't have any problems and can continue production steadily, that's good enough.

Li Jiuzhou doesn't oppose ideological education work throughout the factory, but it can't be done in practice.

From a worker's perspective, we've worked ourselves to the bone all morning, and this is what you give us to eat?

Is this even fit for human consumption?

Of course, the workers only dared to think it in their hearts, not say it out loud. Didn't they see that even the Party Secretary and the factory director were practically choking to death while eating, yet they still insisted it was delicious?

In short, almost every factory in Beiping started operations, but the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill remained completely silent.

This made the other factories restless. They all went to their superiors to complain, saying, "We've all become more aware of the situation, so why is Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill still acting so carelessly? We're not having it!!!"

The leaders of the Ministry of Metallurgy realized the problem, so they secretly passed on a message, implying that they should also try it.

Since the leaders have said so, we have no choice but to do it.

Because of the "remembering the bitter past and appreciating the sweet present" campaign, the factory had already held a meeting, and Li Jiuzhou, the deputy secretary, the head of the logistics department, and the canteen director were the first to oppose it.

Li Jiuzhou objected, and the leaders didn't say much either. They weren't happy to do it either, because they wanted to get involved themselves and take the lead. Who the hell wants to eat coarse food when they're eating white flour steamed buns?

But things are different now. Some people are unhappy. When the leadership found out, they wanted to curse. They just can't stand to see others doing well!

You guys can eat whatever you want, why are you dragging me into this? Damn it!

The meeting was convened again, and Li Jiuzhou had no choice but to take on the task.

He also realized that with Nan Yi around, even pig feed could become delicious, so he decided to let him do the job.

Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu went to find Nan Yi and told him about it.

Nan Yi did not refuse after hearing this, but instead asked a question:

"Sir, I've heard about this 'bitter-sweet meal' too. All the major factories in Beiping are doing it. I can make it too, but do you want it for pigs or for humans?"

Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu exchanged a glance; they hadn't expected Nan Yi to say that.

Seeing that his senior brother didn't speak, Sha Zhu hesitated for a few seconds before speaking first:

"This 'bitter memories and sweet presents' meal is something else entirely; even a dog would shake its head at it. It's probably made to taste as bad as possible."

"I heard that some factories even mix sand and mud into it."

Li Jiuzhou smiled mysteriously after hearing this:

Is it possible that the "bitterness-remembering meal" that looks like pig food is actually for human consumption?

"Nan Yi, is there any way to test your skills?"

Nan Yi wanted to curse after hearing this, thinking:

"What do you mean by 'the time to test his skills'?"

"Using ingredients meant for pigs to test a chef?"

"Fine, you're the boss, you decide."

In the end, Nan Yi agreed to give it a try:

"Boss, leave it to me. I'll give it a try today, and we'll get right to it tomorrow."

Li Jiuzhou nodded:

"Okay, let's do it that way. Just ask Director He to get you whatever materials you need."

The "Remembering the Bitter Past and Appreciating the Sweet Present" rally is not just about eating; it also involves holding a large-scale publicity campaign.

Banners were hung at the factory gate, slogans were posted on the walls, and the radio broadcast stories of those difficult years all day long.

Even at factory-wide meetings, older workers would be invited to the stage to recount their stories from back then, including tales of not having enough to eat and selling their children.

The entire audience was moved to tears when the story reached its emotional peak. Of course, this is a true story, and there were no actors involved.

Then everyone stood up and shouted slogans:

"We must not forget the Party after we have been liberated; we must not forget our roots while remembering the bitter past and appreciating the sweet present!"

Then came the most exciting part: dry rice!!!

The group of leaders, led by Secretary Nie, went to the canteen and smiled as they looked at the "bitter rice" in their bowls, which tasted no different from pig slop!

The smiles of the leaders looked incredibly fake to the workers… because when they saw them, they couldn't even laugh; they couldn't even cry. They all wanted to drag the cook out and beat him up, and then ask:

"Is this thing really edible?"

Secretary Nie's lips twitched as he looked at the contents of the lunchbox; it felt somewhat familiar.

He fed pigs during the war years, and the contents of this lunchbox are exactly the same as what the pigs ate back then.

That kid from Jiuzhou is really feeding me pig swill! I was so damn careless...

Yang Ligong looked down at the contents of the lunchbox and almost vomited. What is this thing? It looks... delicious.

Li Huaide was also a little confused, but after all, he had fought in wars and had even eaten tree roots, so it didn't matter to him. Seeing that none of the leaders or workers had eaten first, he stood up.

Li Huaide looked around and said loudly:

"Fellow workers, I am Li Huaide. I crossed snow-capped mountains and grasslands during the war."

"I've eaten wild grass and tree roots, so this 'bitter memories and sweet presents' meal is much better than I thought."

"I'll set an example for you all, let's start with some food!"

After saying that, he picked up a wild vegetable dumpling of unknown origin and took a bite.

Li Huaide's eyes lit up as soon as he took a bite. As a seasoned food connoisseur, he could taste the flavor in just one bite, and it didn't choke him at all.

Then he took another sip of the gruel that looked like pig feed, and Li Huaide's eyes lit up instantly!

Then he took a big gulp and licked his lips.

This scene left everyone in the cafeteria speechless.

The leadership team secretly admired Li Huaide's courage; he managed to make eating pig swill look like he was dining at a fancy restaurant in Fengzeyuan. His acting was impressive, I'm impressed...

The workers were wondering, is it really that delicious?

"Huai De, how's the taste?" Secretary Nie asked, his voice not loud, but everyone present heard him.

Li Huaide exclaimed in admiration:

"Delicious, absolutely amazing! Give me another bowl!"

Secretary Nie believed it, closed his eyes, and took a sip.

Then he opened his eyes, revealing a look of joy:

"Huh? That's good... What the hell is a surprise?"

"This is a pleasant surprise!"

Yang Ligong, as the factory director, also closed his eyes and took a bite. He planned to resist the urge even if it didn't taste good, but to his surprise, the taste was quite authentic and delicious!

With the leaders taking the lead, the workers had no more worries and started cooking.

The workers thought they were going to suffer, but to their surprise, the meal was surprisingly delicious.

It looks like food for pigs, and it is food for pigs, but Nan Yi just used some tricks to make it look like that.

Secretary Nie and the others called Nan Yi out to inquire, and were very surprised to learn that the ingredients were indeed no different from what pigs eat, marveling at his culinary skills.

Nan Yi became famous in this battle!

The campaign to recall past bitterness and appreciate present sweetness was to last for a week. The Ministry of Metallurgy also heard the news, saying that the meals served at the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill to commemorate past bitterness and appreciate present sweetness were very delicious.

They didn't believe it, but they came over and tried it, and they were pleasantly surprised because the ingredients don't lie.

Other factories didn't believe it, thinking that Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was fooling people by using good ingredients. What was the point of reminiscing about the past and appreciating the present?

So they all came over to eat, and once they started eating, they all fell silent.

The "bitter memories and sweet presents" rice made at their factory was truly no different from pig slop; once you eat it, you'll never want to eat it again in your life.

The "bitter memories and sweet presents" meal at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is different; you'll want to eat it again and again because it's really delicious.

So they wanted to ask for advice, but Li Jiuzhou ignored them completely.

You fucking dragged us into this mess, and now you've gotten yourselves into this mess, and you still want to learn some skills?

No way...