Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

He Yuzhu saw Manager Hu off, then smiled and asked Xu Huizhen, "What did you call me?"

"Pillar...Pillar Brother!"

Xu Huizhen felt embarrassed the first time, but once she said it, it went much more smoothly.

"Brother Zhu, how did you do that? Aren't you a helper? How come you have another helper?"

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "This is a secret."

"Hmph, I thought you were curious." She rolled her eyes and asked, "What do I want to do?"

"Go and chop the scallions and ginger. Then chop whatever ingredients you're missing. You need to be observant and quick-witted when you're working. Don't wait for me to teach you."

He Yuzhu finally had a direct subordinate, so he no longer needed to do these low-skill tasks himself.

Xu Huizhen said somewhat dejectedly, "I understand."

He Yuzhu turned around to tend to the pot of braised pork, and then brought up the system panel.

The original plan was to accumulate experience first, then upgrade my Sichuan cuisine skills and improve my stir-frying skills.

But now that I've become a cold dish chef and am receiving a full-time chef's salary, my main focus for the time being is still preparing cold dishes and braised meats. So for now, I can only upgrade my seasoning skills, do my job well, and make my cold dishes stand out, before I can upgrade my Sichuan cuisine techniques.

In fact, He Yuzhu wanted to learn Shandong cuisine and Beijing cuisine more, but given his relationship with Zhang Zusheng and the others, they definitely wouldn't teach him.

Moreover, wouldn't learning Beijing cuisine from them be a betrayal of my master, Hong Henian?

I'll have to wait until I find a master of Beijing cuisine to learn this.

It's worth noting that both the Eight Great Halls and the Eight Great Restaurants primarily serve Shandong cuisine, which demonstrates the Beijing people's fondness for Shandong dishes – they are the most popular cuisine in Beijing.

Don't assume that Sichuan cuisine is popular in Beijing just because high-ranking officials in TV dramas like to eat it; that's not actually the case.

Currently, there isn't a single high-end restaurant that specializes in Sichuan cuisine. The renowned Emei Restaurant, for example, wasn't established until 1955.

The most popular cuisines across all levels are Beijing cuisine and Shandong cuisine, with Beijing cuisine itself originating from Shandong cuisine. In fact, it can be considered a large culinary system.

He Yuzhu saw that he had accumulated 1600 experience points, and then he invested all of them into seasoning.

【Seasoning Lv6 (1/3200)】

Having successfully upgraded to level 6, He Yuzhu gained a new understanding of seasoning. After tasting a sip of the braising broth, He Yuzhu made slight adjustments to the recipe.

Upon tasting it again, the aroma of the broth became even richer.

Although Manager Hu did not directly announce He Yuzhu's promotion, the fact that He Yuzhu suddenly had an assistant led many to speculate that He Yuzhu had successfully taken over.

Zhang Yong whispered, "Xiao Song, go ask He Yuzhu if he's become a master."

Wang Song was still confused: "You mean He Yuzhu got a permanent position?"

"Are you stupid? Why would you give him an assistant if you don't give him a permanent position?"

Wang Song then belatedly realized what was happening and came over to ask, "Zhu Zi, you've been promoted?"

"Yes, the shopkeeper saw that I made good cold dishes and made me the cold dish chef," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"I'm so envious. You've only been here for three months," Wang Song said, a little envious.

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "If you practice diligently, you can become a full-fledged employee very quickly."

"I hope so!" Wang Song returned home somewhat disappointed.

Xu Huizhen then understood and asked, "You mean you're a formal master now?"

"if not?"

He Yuzhu said with some pride, "It's only natural that I'm a cold dish chef because I'm so good at making cold dishes!"

"The shopkeeper discussed it with me this afternoon, and then I called your name and asked you to chop the vegetables. That way you won't have to wash the vegetables anymore. So please don't say I took away your vegetable-chopping job anymore, okay?"

"So how much do you earn a month?" Xu Huizhen had just arrived and was earning the same salary as He Yuzhu before, 10 yuan a month.

"Now I can still bring home a dish every day for 35 yuan a month," He Yuzhu said casually.

Xu Huizhen's mouth dropped open in surprise, as He Yuzhu had clearly joined as an apprentice on the same day as her.

Normally, an apprenticeship takes three years, but He Yuzhu became a cold dish chef in just two months.

Although I knew before that he was good at making cold dishes, the fact that the restaurant recognized his skills shows that He Yuzhu's abilities are quite extraordinary.

"Are you really only 16 years old?" Xu Huizhen asked with some doubt.

He Yuzhu was quite helpless. He had a rather mature face. He said, "Do you want to come home with me to see my household registration certificate?"

At that time, there were no resident ID cards or household registration books, only a household registration certificate with a stamp.

Xu Huizhen glanced at him: "Who's going home with you?"

She turned around and went to chop vegetables.

"Still acting all high and mighty? I'll bring you home sooner or later," He Yuzhu said softly.

"What are you muttering about?" Xu Huizhen asked, turning her head as she chopped vegetables.

"It's nothing." He Yuzhu was startled; he would be embarrassed if she heard him.

Previously, I would work half a day and finish at 5 pm because the kitchen staff would have dinner around 5 pm, and I wouldn't get to eat that meal if I only worked half a day.

This was the first time we ate dinner together, and then the evening's busy activities began.

After dealing with the first wave of customers, Xu Huizhen also learned how to make it, so she could be given free rein to prepare it.

Hong Henian beckoned He Yuzhu over: "From now on, you can help me with the kitchen in the evenings. If there are any simple dishes, you can also help cook them."

"it is good."

Most individual diners can eat in the main hall and have the food cooked by the second kitchen staff. However, if some dignitaries come to dine, they will be specifically marked with their names.

These dishes are all cooked in large stoves, and they are the kind of dishes that He Yuzhu wants in the main hall.

He Yuzhu's Sichuan cuisine level has reached level 5, and he is not afraid of stir-frying at all, which can fully meet the needs of individual customers.

After all, it's impossible to have all the dishes cooked by one chef alone.

Hong Henian quickly handed over the cooking to He Yuzhu, while he stood by, watching the key parts and giving a few pointers.

The same dish can be prepared differently by different chefs, and Hong Henian took this opportunity to pass on his experience to He Yuzhu.

For each dish prepared, Hong Henian would pick up a piece with his chopsticks, taste it, and only hand it to the waiter after he had satisfied it.

Everyone in the kitchen saw He Yuzhu cooking. This is how masters teach their apprentices, so no one said much. They were just secretly a little jealous of He Yuzhu for being able to cook so quickly.

Head Chef Zhang Zusheng, who had appeared behind He Yuzhu at some point, watched for a while and then asked, "Will this work? Are we moving too fast?"

Chapter 65 Exposing the Lies

Hong Henian said, "You can try the dishes Zhu Zi cooks; they're no worse than mine."

Even if Hong Henian were to cook a simple stir-fry himself, the taste wouldn't be much better than He Yuzhu's.

After all, there's only so much room for improvement in these dishes. Even if a master chef were to cook them, they wouldn't be much better. My advantage lies in my extensive knowledge, which allows me to prepare even the most difficult dishes and guarantee a good taste.

"Really?"

Zhang Zusheng was actually a little angry. If an apprentice wants to become a chef, the first thing he should do is to supervise the process.

Although He Yuzhu is Hong Henian's apprentice, he still needs to be informed first to confirm that He Yuzhu has the skills of a chef before the head chef can communicate with the manager.

However, the two sides only maintained a relationship on the surface, and there was still some hostility between them in secret.

Hong Henian bypassed me today and went directly to talk to the shopkeeper. He really doesn't take me seriously.

How will I manage things as the head chef in the future?

This is also why the manager didn't publicize it much after He Yuzhu was promoted; he had to save face for the head chef.

Zhang Zusheng picked up his chopsticks and tried it himself; the dishes He Yuzhu cooked did indeed taste quite good.

It seems he had been training for a long time before, and he agreed to be an apprentice when he wanted to join the company.

Unexpectedly, He Yuzhu kept his culinary skills hidden for two months before revealing them. It seems that he is quite shrewd and not as honest and kind as he appears on the surface.

Zhang Zusheng was very disgusted, but given the current situation, he couldn't just kick people out.

After all, He Yuzhu is currently nominally a master of cold dishes, so it's reasonable for Hong Henian to teach him how to cook stir-fries.

"Alright, keep a close eye on things and make sure nothing goes wrong."

Zhang Zusheng left those words and returned to his seat.

Hong Henian laughed and said, "Zhu Zi, you've established yourself here. From now on, have Xu Huizhen make the cold dishes for you as much as possible, and come with me to learn how to cook."

"Okay, thank you, Master."

Once you get past Zhang Zusheng, no one else will say much.

If there are dishes in a private room, Hong Henian will take over and cook them himself.

He Yuzhu assisted and learned from behind.

Cooking by yourself gives you experience with each dish. You can also gain experience by learning from a chef, but it's less of an experience.

I glanced over and saw that Zhang Zusheng's son, Zhang Jing'an, had left early.

He Yuzhu asked, "The kitchen is still so busy, and Zhang Jing'an has already left?"