Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Time flies, and another six months have passed in the blink of an eye.

That morning, after Lu Banxia went to work at the steel rolling mill, Director Zhu hurriedly came to Wang Feng's house, found Qin Jingru sitting at the door cleaning, and said:

"Jingru, a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Metallurgy is coming to our factory for an inspection this afternoon. I've already prepared the ingredients. If you have time, could you come to the factory and help out with the cooking? I heard from Director Li that the person coming today is the top leader of the Ministry of Metallurgy, so he's very important."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jingru nodded: "Director Zhu, don't worry, I'll be there at 2 p.m. and I promise to cook a delicious meal that will satisfy the leader."

Qin Jingru is also a person who knows what's important. The head of the Ministry of Metallurgy is none other than Mu Hongyan's father.

Upon hearing Qin Jingru's agreement, Director Zhu chuckled and said, "Alright, it's settled then. I'll be going now."

"Take care, Director Zhu."

Since Qin Jingru finished her postpartum confinement, Li Huaide has asked her to cook at the steel mill every now and then, sometimes once or twice a month, sometimes once every two months, and she has gotten used to it.

During her pregnancy, Li Huaide never came to see her once, but she was always paid her full salary. He had gone to such lengths for her, so what else could she say?

She had just put down the broom when Wang Feng came out of the house carrying the child and asked:

"Jingru, who was looking for you just now?"

In fact, Wang Feng had already used his spiritual sense to see that it was Director Zhu who had arrived, and he had also heard what they were saying, but he still had to ask.

Qin Jingru smiled slightly: "Brother Wang Feng, it's Director Zhu. He said that the top official from the Ministry of Metallurgy is coming to our factory for an inspection today, and he asked me to cook a meal for dinner."

Wang Feng nodded: "Then you go ahead, I'll take care of the child this afternoon."

"OK."

Qin Jingru smiled sweetly, took the child from Wang Feng's arms, and went back to her room to nurse the baby.

......

After having lunch and feeding her child at home, Qin Jingru handed the child over to Wang Feng and then rode her bicycle to the steel mill.

Qin Jingru was dressed in casual clothes, but the security personnel all recognized this famous chef from the steel mill. They greeted Qin Jingru with a smile and let her in.

Qin Jingru is still considered an employee of the steel rolling mill, since she receives a monthly salary. However, it's inconvenient to breastfeed while wearing the work uniform, and since she doesn't usually go to work, she doesn't wear the uniform.

When she arrived at the third canteen, Director Zhu was already waiting for her.

"Jingru, I just had Liu Lan pick up the ingredients. Dinner will be served at 5:30 PM. Just keep an eye on the time and start cooking."

Qin Jingru smiled and nodded: "Okay, Director Zhu, leave this to me. Don't worry, I'm familiar with this."

"Okay, Jingru, thank you for your hard work today."

Director Zhu smiled and nodded at Qin Jingru before leaving the third canteen.

The steel rolling mill has now expanded to 20,000 employees, and the number of leaders coming to inspect the mill has increased significantly. Qin Jingru is the mill's trump card; they're just waiting for the leaders to have a good meal and drinks while Director Li talks to them about business. They absolutely cannot afford to offend her.

Moreover, Qin Jingru is polite, unlike Sha Zhu. He genuinely likes such a capable yet humble subordinate.

After Director Zhu left, Qin Jingru walked into the kitchen and greeted the group of familiar middle-aged women with a smile.

"Aunt Wu, Aunt Li, Sister Lan, Uncle He."

Everyone in the kitchen liked Qin Jingru very much and responded with smiles.

Qin Jingru came to Ya Ya, patted Ya Ya's head, and said with a smile:

"Yaya, in just one month you'll be going to school! Aren't you excited? How about your older sister Jingru makes you something delicious later?"

"Yaya is happy, thank you Sister Jingru," Yaya said in her childish voice.

He Daqing smiled awkwardly: "Jingru, I'll leave this to you."

Qin Jingru smiled and nodded: "Uncle He, don't worry, I promise I won't let everyone down."

He Daqing had been cooking all his life, so he knew the rules for chefs: chefs don't like others watching them cook, especially fellow chefs. He said goodbye to Qin Jingru and then left.

After He Daqing left, Liu Lan came over and said with a smile, "Jingru, we're going to make eight dishes today. I've already prepared the ingredients, and I even prepared a little extra. You can take some back for Wang Feng to try later."

Qin Jingru smiled and shook her head: "Sister Lan, you know my brother Wang Feng is a great hunter, and we don't lack meat. How about this, the usual way, I'll cook all the ingredients later, and everyone can take some home to eat."

"Hehe, then thank you, Jingru." Liu Lan grinned.

The older women in the kitchen smiled happily when they heard Qin Jingru's words. Qin Jingru was different from He Daqing; she didn't want any vegetables at all, unlike He Daqing, who was so heartless that he would eat half of the food himself every time he prepared a meal for guests, and only then would he share the other half with everyone else.

After greeting everyone in the kitchen, Qin Jingru began preparing the ingredients.

Today's ingredients include pork, pork hock, lamb, pork intestines, fish, and a chicken, with pork and pork intestines making up the largest portions.

......

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Qin Jingru prepared all the ingredients and started stewing the soup. She always made the soup first, as it takes a long time, otherwise she wouldn't have enough time.

After the soup was cooked, she started making the other dishes. By 5:20 p.m., the last dish was ready.

Today, Qin Jingru prepared eight main dishes: braised pork belly, Dongpo pork knuckle, stir-fried mutton with scallions, braised lion's head meatballs, braised pork intestines, braised fish chunks, stir-fried three whites with fermented rice wine, and chicken stew with mushrooms.

After Liu Lan delivered the dishes to the private room, Qin Jingru took out a large bowl of meat and divided it into six portions for the six people to share.

This time it was Aunt Wu's turn, Liu Lan's turn, Aunt Li's turn, Old Liu's turn, and two other older women.

"Yaya, come and eat some meat!"

Qin Jingru smiled and waved to Ya Ya. Seeing this, the others didn't say anything. They had a good relationship with Ya Ya, so it was fine for the child to eat more meat. Besides, the child couldn't eat that much anyway. It was better than He Daqing, that black-hearted guy, right?

Ya Ya happily went to Qin Jingru's side and said in her childish voice, "Thank you, Sister Jingru."

Qin Jingru rubbed Ya Ya's little head and handed her a big bowl of meat.

"Eat quickly."

Seeing this, Aunt Wu's eyes reddened. Her family owed Wang Feng's family far too much; they could never repay it in this lifetime.

After finishing her work, Qin Jingru said goodbye to everyone, left the kitchen, got on her bicycle, left the steel rolling mill, and headed towards No. 95 Courtyard.