Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Liu Haizhong wasn't worried about his son not finding a wife; he wanted to find the person who had caused the trouble to eliminate any future worries.

So Liu Haizhong made preparations, finding a colleague's niece to play the opposite role, pretending to be on a blind date, and then tricking the person who was causing trouble in the courtyard into revealing the truth.

After hearing Liu Haizhong's explanation, his colleagues were very willing to help, though their motivation was mostly curiosity.

So he persuaded his niece to help. His niece had never heard such a story before, and she found it a bit exciting, so she agreed.

Meanwhile, the Liu family was also making preparations, spreading rumors that Liu Guangqi would be going on a blind date on his day off, and that the girl's family background was very good.

The neighbors were very excited after hearing this. Liu Guangqi had already gone on so many dates, if he still couldn't find a girlfriend, things would get really bad.

The neighbors didn't want the young man in the yard to be unable to find a wife; it would be too embarrassing if word got out.

A few days later, the weekend arrived, and the Liu family went to the market early in the morning to buy meat, including chicken, duck, fish, and all kinds of meat.

Seeing how much the Liu family valued it, the neighbors were itching to join in.

This indicates that Liu Guangqi's blind date this time was of very high quality.

Rumor has it that this girl's father is a department head, which is quite something.

Yan Jiecheng wasn't jealous at all, at least not now.

He's already ruined four blind dates for Liu Guangqi, why would he care about this one?

Whether you're the daughter of a section chief or the granddaughter of a department head, the worst that can happen is I'll just go out again. It's no big deal!

In the morning, the neighbors all cleaned the yard thoroughly, waiting for Liu Guangqi's blind date to enter.

They didn't know why they were so excited; they were just incredibly bored.

Even Li Jiuzhou was dragged over by Sha Zhu and Xu Damao to watch the excitement.

The three chatted and drank tea in front of Li Jiuzhou's house. Before long, many neighbors came over, and they started chatting enthusiastically.

A little after 9 o'clock, the matchmaker led a girl pushing a bicycle into the courtyard.

The girl was wearing a black coat and a hat.

She has a very good overall demeanor; you can tell at a glance that she is not a child raised in an ordinary family.

Many unmarried young men in the courtyard stared at him, their eyes wide with admiration.

Yan Jiecheng was so jealous his eyes were practically spitting fire; this girl's circumstances were just too damn good.

If Liu Guangqi succeeds, wouldn't his future progress be as fast as a rocket?

We have to get him, we absolutely have to get him.

As the girl entered the Intermediate People's Court, Li Jiuzhou's enthusiasm for chatting grew even stronger.

Yan Jiecheng quietly slipped inside, took out his cheap cigarettes from his pocket, and offered them to his buddies.

Li Jiuzhou said that since they were all brothers in the same compound, they could smoke whatever they wanted, he didn't mind.

This meant that no one would say anything if the brothers in the compound took the cigarettes as gifts.

Jia Dongxu was always lavish and never seemed ashamed. Occasionally, Yi Zhonghai would reward him with a few packs of good cigarettes.

You should know that only older people who have good cigarettes will smoke them themselves, or take them out to show off during holidays.

A young man with a pack of good cigarettes would love for all his buddies to know so he could show off.

This reflects the mindset of young people.

For example, today, Jia Dongxu's master gave him two packs of Peony cigarettes. When he saw his brothers chatting in front of Li Jiuzhou's house, he threw the economic cigarettes in his pocket to his mother, Jia Zhangshi, to smoke without saying a word.

He then took two packets of peony powder and went to brag to his brothers.

Sha Zhu and the others, after taking his peony, still praised him a few times for being generous.

Everyone knows that Jia Dongxu's wife, Tong Jie, only buys him economy cigarettes.

Anyone with a brain could guess who gave him the peony—it was Yi Zhonghai, right? So what? He's his father!

It's only natural to give him two packs of Peony cigarettes.

Let alone Peony, even if Jia Dongxu wanted to smoke Zhonghua cigarettes, Yi Zhonghai would have to comply.

It wasn't that Jia Dongxu couldn't afford Daqianmen or Mudan cigarettes; the main problem was that he didn't have the coupons for high-end cigarettes.

He's a level four fitter, and all he has are cheap cigarette coupons. What else can he smoke? They're cheap and good.

His mentor, Yi Zhonghai, liked to smoke economy cigarettes, saying they had a strong enough flavor.

Rich people smoking economy cigarettes is considered a sign of sophistication.

People who smoke cheap cigarettes when they're broke are called poor ghosts...

Of course, Yi Zhonghai usually carried two packs of cigarettes with him, one pack of economical cigarettes for himself and one pack of good cigarettes to give to others.

He's not the only one who does this; ordinary cadres do it too.

Xu Damao smokes peony flowers year-round and gives Zhonghua cigarettes as gifts.

Sha Zhu, on the other hand, alternates between Daqianmen and Zhonghua cigarettes.

Li Jiuzhou is different; he has lived in China for many years, so it doesn't matter who he assigns the task to.

Liu Guangqi pretended to be on a blind date with a girl in the backyard, while the younger generation smoked, drank tea, and chatted in the front yard.

The cigarettes kept coming in batches, one after another, they just wouldn't stop.

Especially when you're having a lively conversation, you need to smoke a budget cigarette, otherwise you won't feel anything.

As noon approached, the group reluctantly went home, and Jia Dongxu's two bags of peony tea were already empty.

When Jia Zhangshi saw her son humming a little tune as he returned, she glared at him.

"Hmph, you're really filial. You give the good cigarettes to others, but give the cheap ones to your old lady."

"Haha..." Jia Dongxu laughed and ignored his mother, too lazy to argue with her.

Besides, what decent old woman would smoke?

Cigarettes are free, aren't they?

What kind of class is this, trying to imitate the wives of wealthy families?

On Liu Guangqi's side, the atmosphere was quite harmonious. It was mainly acting, but that didn't prevent things from becoming real.

Both families agreed.

To be honest, Liu Guangqi had taken a liking to this girl. She was poised and generous, and he wasn't after her father being a section chief or anything like that.

Besides, what's wrong with being a section chief?

Can the department head make a decision to promote me?

The answer is no, there are procedures to follow and negotiations among various parties are required.

And Brother Zhou could decide his path to promotion to deputy section chief with a single word.

One sentence is enough; anything more would just mean that Brother Zhou isn't doing well.

Therefore, Liu Guangqi genuinely has no intention of marrying into a wealthy family. Now, besides getting married and completing this major life event, all he wants to do is focus on his technical work.

He couldn't let Zhou Ge's good intentions go to waste.

The girl also found Liu Guangqi agreeable and was somewhat inclined to continue chatting with him.

However, this is our first meeting, and we still have plans to implement to find out who caused the trouble.

The girl's surname is Zhou and her given name is Yue. Her father is indeed a section chief in charge of water conservancy, and her uncle is a section chief in Hongxing. He is friends with Liu Haizhong.

Today I'm here for a blind date, but also to help out.

The lunch was quite enjoyable, and Liu Guangqi reluctantly left after seeing the girl to the alley entrance.

Yan Jiecheng had already been waiting outside the alley.

He wasn't stupid, and he wouldn't stay near his home; instead, he followed the girl on his bicycle for a long time.

He appeared and stopped Zhou Yue when the girl was almost home.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Yue frowned as she looked at the person in front of her who was completely covered up.

Yan Jiecheng quickly spoke up to explain:

"Girl, don't worry, I'm not a bad person. I'm just reminding you that you shouldn't date Liu Guangqi, the guy you went on a blind date with."

"Why?" Zhou Yue feigned confusion.

Seeing that she had taken the bait, Yan Jiecheng said mysteriously:

"Liu Guangqi is missing an egg. You know what an egg is, right? It means he can't have human relations and can't have children."

"If you marry him, your life will be ruined."

Zhou Yue almost laughed when she heard this, but she held it in:

"How do you know such a private matter? Are you here to cause trouble? You don't even dare to show your true face."

Yan Jiecheng remained completely calm; he was highly experienced.

"I was his junior high school classmate. I touched his balls when we were playing around before. I have a grudge against Liu Guangqi and I don't want him to mess with people."

"If you don't believe me, then go ahead and marry him. You'll be the one left alone in an empty house, crying your eyes out. It'll be so damn miserable."

That's all I wanted to say. Goodbye!

Yan Jiecheng left as soon as he finished speaking, without looking back at all.

Zhou Yue didn't get a good look at Yan Jiecheng's face, but she remembered his bicycle license plate number.

The license plate reads: Beijing, Dongcheng 014567.

Zhou Yue grinned as she watched Yan Jiecheng ride away on his bicycle. With a license plate, this guy couldn't escape now.

You should know that bicycle license plates are now registered under real names, unless the person stole the bicycle.