A courtyard house, equipped with a fishing system, living in an era.

Before long, Ding Baichuan's voice came from outside.

"Old Zhao, it's been years since we last saw each other!"

"Old Ding..."

Upon hearing the sound, Wang Xia quickly picked up a dry cloth and wiped her hands.

"I'll leave lunch to you..."

"Don't worry, Aunt Wang, you go and greet the guests!"

Watching Wang Xia's retreating figure as she was about to walk out the door, Xu Pingan quickly followed up with a question.

"If there are four dishes, should we add more portions?"

"No need, as long as it's normal!"

People can eat a lot these days mainly because they lack oil and fat.

However, the lack of oil and water varies from person to person.

Even Xu Ping'an's two younger sisters are not short of money now, let alone all the people in this room.

If they could lack oil and fat, at least half of the people outside would starve to death!

Now that everyone had arrived, Xu Ping'an quickly prepared the materials and waited.

Slice the pork belly, slice the pork shoulder, dice the chicken thigh, mince the beef, slice the grass carp...

The preparation work is just slicing, slicing, and slicing again!

One good thing about Sichuan cuisine is that most dishes cook quickly.

After all, it's already sliced, so how could it not be fast?

Judging that it was about time, before Wang Xia could even speak, Xu Ping'an started stewing the sauerkraut fish for her.

In the living room, several old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time were chatting.

"Old Ding, you have no idea, I just arrived in Beijing and I'm completely clueless. I don't know anything about this place yet!"

Ding Baichuan made him tea while comforting him.

"Take it slow. Who doesn't start from the bottom?"

"That's true, but I'm still not sure!"

"What's there to be unsure about? Don't you think about how many old colleagues and comrades you have in Beijing? Do you think everyone will just watch you fight alone?"

"Besides, Minister Huang isn't in good health. Your superiors are sending you to the Ministry of Metallurgy as the second-in-command, which means you'll be in charge of the overall situation. You'll be the one making the decisions, so what are you afraid of?"

……

On the other side of the room, Wang Xia was chatting with Zhao Qi's wife.

They didn't talk about any sensitive topics; they mostly discussed parenting tips and everyday family matters.

As the group was chatting, they suddenly smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.

"This must be pickled fish, right? I just arrived in Beijing and heard that someone in the city had developed this dish... I never thought I'd get to eat it today."

Upon smelling the aroma, Zhao Qi was the first to praise it.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xia knew the other person was craving something sweet...

"Shall I go check and get Xiao Xu to start cooking?"

Ding Baichuan raised his hand to look at his watch. Time really flies; it was already 11:40.

"Alright, then go and let Xiao Xu begin!"

Upon receiving Wang Xia's notification, Xu Ping'an began cooking!

Xu Pingan, who had already prepared everything, finished cooking four dishes in about half an hour.

One cold dish of garlic-flavored pork belly, and three hot dishes: Kung Pao chicken, twice-cooked pork, and Mapo tofu.

With the addition of a nearly finished soup dish of pickled fish, the five dishes and one soup were served before 12:30.

When Xu Pingan helped Wang Xia serve the dishes, Zhao Qi was stunned when he saw him.

Zhao Qi asked Ding Baichuan, who was standing next to him, incredulously.

"This young man is so young? Where did you find a chef?"

Ding Baichuan smiled.

"From now on, I'll be your subordinate, the cook in the steel mill's kitchen!"

"With your skills, why don't you work in a fancy hotel?"

Xu Pingan was also stunned when he saw him.

Isn't this the powerful, overbearing leader with special abilities like Sha-zhu from the original drama?

However, he is still very young, only in his forties, probably no more than two years older than Ding Baichuan.

Hearing his words, Xu Pingan was puzzled.

How do you know the food is ready before the big boss has even tasted it?

Perhaps sensing Xu Ping'an's confusion, the other party immediately offered a smiling explanation.

"I know Old Ding well. If your cooking skills weren't good, he wouldn't hire you to cook!"

Xu Pingan smiled.

"Thank you for the compliment, sir. But didn't you already give me the answer? I'm too young..."

"this……"

Zhao Qi thought about it and agreed!

Youth is often an advantage, but when it comes to experience, people instinctively equate youth with unreliability.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying, "A young man with no beard is unreliable."

Xu Pingan politely declined the senior leader's invitation to sit down and eat with him, and instead took his leave.

After letting the others sit down to eat, Wang Xia escorted Xu Ping'an to the door and presented him with a thank-you gift that she had prepared beforehand.

"Aunt Wang, thank you for your kindness. Here's a box of pastries and a box of malted milk powder. Take them back for your two younger sisters."

Wang Xia had given this matter considerable thought.

It's inappropriate to give money to a couple given out of their status; bringing food makes it seem like charity...

Why not just get something that's hard to buy and tell the kids in the house...

Xu Pingan accepted it without hesitation.

Xu Pingan never truly understood the intricacies of human relationships in his entire life.

But judging from his own experience, he knew that sometimes being too polite would only push people further away.

To give a simple example, in his past life, he had a distant relative who ran a pharmacy near his neighborhood.

Every time Xu Ping'an went to his shop to buy medicine, he would argue and fuss for a long time, but he would never accept money.

Xu Ping'an wasn't actually short of money for the medicine; he felt embarrassed to buy medicine from Xu's house if Xu didn't accept payment.

The problem is, buying medicine from someone else's house requires traveling a long distance...

Even so, Xu Ping'an would rather go a little further to buy from someone else than go to his house.

There's no other reason; I simply don't want to take advantage of such a small thing!

"Thank you so much, Aunt Wang! My daughter, Xiaolian, has been wanting to eat malted milk powder, but I can't find it in any department stores! You've really helped me a lot!"

"Hehe, you've done me a huge favor!"

There were other people inside, and the two didn't chat for long before Xu Pingan left.

Since he was going to take this thing home, Xu Pingan didn't put it in his spatial storage. He just carried it home.

At the entrance of the courtyard, Yan Bugui's eyes widened when he saw the malted milk powder and pastries.

He leaned closer, staring intently at the object in Xu Ping'an's hand, and asked curiously.

"Ping An, where did you get this malted milk powder?"

Xu Pingan glanced at him.

"Stolen!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui was immediately taken aback. Behind his black-rimmed glasses, his two small eyes stared intently at Xu Ping'an.

"Really?"

"real!"

"Where did you steal it from?"

"The department store? Where else can you buy this stuff besides there? Let me tell you, just grab a brick in your pocket, go inside, see that glass counter? Smash it down, grab this can of malted milk powder, and run..."

Yan Bugui initially bent slightly and tilted his ear, appearing to be listening attentively.

As I listened, I realized something was off.

"No, are you making fun of your teacher Yan?"

"If you don't crack a few jokes, you won't even know what your job is..."

Xu Pingan was annoyed.

"You're so controlling, even my buying things is under your jurisdiction?"

The situation is different now.

Xu Pingan has been living in this courtyard for seven or eight months now.

When I first arrived, I had to answer whatever people asked me; there was nothing I could do about it, given the social environment I was in!

Now that things have come to this point, and Yan Bugui is still coming over like he's interrogating a criminal, Xu Ping'an decided to embarrass him.

After all, times change and the world changes!

"Hey! Did you forget what our resident liaisons' duties are during the meeting? It's...

Are you a resident liaison officer?

Xu Ping'an's single sentence effectively silenced all of Yan Bugui's arguments.

"You...I...!"

"Besides, it is indeed the duty of all citizens to screen suspicious persons, but to me you look like the suspicious person..."

"You...you're talking nonsense! Don't make false accusations!"

"I'm not making this up. Last time I saw you carrying a potted plant to that place... what was it again? You were lingering there?"

Yan Bugui swallowed hard and looked around.

"It's just a potted plant... an ordinary potted plant!"

Xu Pingan's lips curled into a smirk.

"Who knows if this is your secret code?"