Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Li Jiuzhou never expected that Lao Fan would be such a scoundrel.

No wonder people say that scholars are particularly cunning.

Don't be fooled by Lao Fan's scholarly demeanor; he's actually a cunning devil.

But Li Jiuzhou was at a loss. He was the one who had his eye on the girl; he couldn't just flip the table, that wouldn't be appropriate...

His name is Li Jiuzhou, not Li Yunlong, the commander of the Second Division.

Li Yunlong could yell at his father-in-law, but he wouldn't dare...

Overall, the family dinner was quite enjoyable.

The Fan family was mainly grateful to Li Jiuzhou for his righteous act of saving their daughter.

Today we're just here to repay a debt of gratitude; we won't discuss anything else.

As they were about to part, Fan Bingbing saw Li Jiuzhou off at the door.

She bit her lip and said:

"Well, my dad is a bit old-fashioned, please don't take it to heart."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou waved his hand gently, a smile on his face:

"I understand, you old scholar. Uncle is very good, Aunt is very good, and Bingbing, you're the best..."

Fan Bingbing blushed and stomped her foot.

"Oh dear, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Li Jiuzhou really enjoyed teasing her; girls these days are so easily teased.

"Haha, okay, I'm just teasing you. Come visit me at Fengzeyuan sometime, I'll miss you..."

After Li Jiuzhou finished speaking, he rode away on his bicycle.

I hummed a song all the way back to courtyard number 95.

As soon as they arrived at the gate, they saw Jia Dongxu leading two people out of the courtyard.

Li Jiuzhou guessed that she was Jia Dongxu's blind date and matchmaker.

"Dongxu, don't bother seeing me off. I'm leaving with Xiaomei."

"Okay, Aunt Wu, you two be careful on the road," Jia Dongxu replied.

As they passed Li Jiuzhou, matchmaker Aunt Wu smiled at him and greeted him, while the girl following behind him also glanced at him.

The girl named Xiaomei trembled upon seeing Li Jiuzhou, thinking to herself:

"What a handsome young man, tall and strong. Jia Dongxu is far inferior to him."

Xiaomei only spoke after the two had walked quite a distance:

"Aunt Wu, who was that young man pushing the bicycle just now?"

Aunt Wu smiled upon hearing this:

"Girl, give up on that idea. He's only 18, he's still a few years away from getting married."

"She even brought her partner back to the compound a while ago."

"Oh..." Little Mei was a little disappointed.

Aunt Wu didn't say anything more. Li Jiuzhou was very famous in the neighborhood, and countless matchmakers were eyeing him.

We're just waiting for him to grow up. Aunt Wu's words just now were just to appease Xiaomei.

If you're going to introduce a potential partner to Li Jiuzhou, you have to bring out your top trump card.

Matchmakers would be too embarrassed to present their daughters to ordinary girls.

At the courtyard gate, Li Jiuzhou took out a cigarette and offered one to Jia Dongxu.

"Dongxu, how was your blind date today?"

"I think this girl is pretty good."

Jia Dongxu blushed slightly at the question, took a drag of his cigarette, and said:

"I'm quite satisfied, but let's see what the other women think."

The two chatted casually for a bit before entering the courtyard.

In the 50s, arranged marriages were popular, but of course, some people also found their own partners.

Blind dates happen very quickly; you meet today and there's usually a result by tomorrow.

After the woman returns home, she will tell her parents whether she is satisfied or not, and then her parents will tell the matchmaker.

If the girl is okay with it, then they can choose a date to get engaged, and then hold a wedding banquet and get married.

If the girl doesn't agree, the matchmaker will notify the man the next day.

Both men and women have the same right to choose.

If you're not satisfied, go on another blind date.

As expected, Jia Dongxu's blind date plan failed again, and the girl didn't like him.

This was Jia Dongxu's second blind date, and the two failed attempts were a huge blow to him. While the neighbors offered him words of comfort, they were probably secretly laughing at his family.

Jia Zhangshi and Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to try to persuade her with kind words.

Li Jiuzhou wasn't interested in the Jia family's lively atmosphere and continued with his work as usual.

A few days later, Li Jiuzhou was sleeping in the lounge when Mr. Guo came to find him.

"Jiuzhou, someone is looking for you."

Li Jiuzhou got up groggily and asked who it was.

"Lou Bancheng, the boss of the steel rolling mill!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou also came to his senses:

"What does he want from me? To cook?"

Mr. Guo waved his hand and said:

"How would I know? Boss Lou didn't mention it either. He just said he wanted to meet with you to talk about it."

"Let's go then."

Lou Bancheng was having tea with Manager Luan in the private room when he saw Li Jiuzhou enter and greeted him.

"Mr. Fish is here! Please have a seat."

"Hello, Mr. Lou."

"You two chat, I'll go out first." Manager Luan left when he saw Li Jiuzhou arrive.

Lou Bancheng must have something to discuss with Li Jiuzhou, so it's not appropriate for him to get involved.

"Mr. Lou, what brings you here?" Li Jiuzhou didn't know what to talk about with this big boss, so he decided to just ask directly.

"Haha, Mr. Fish, you're so straightforward, I like that."

"Here's the thing, I have a family dinner the day after tomorrow, and I'm inviting important guests, so I'd like to ask you to cook a table for me today."

Lou Bancheng pointed upwards when he mentioned the guests.

Li Jiuzhou's expression became more serious.

"A government official?"

"Yes." Lou Bancheng nodded solemnly.

"Mr. Lou, it used to be my uncle who cooked at your house, why is it like this today..."

"Mr. Yu, you may not know this, but I heard it secondhand from some leaders at a banquet, so I came to invite you."

Li Jiuzhou understood; he should cater to their preferences.

"Does Mr. Lou have any requirements regarding the ingredients or anything like that?"

Since it was about cooking, Li Jiuzhou had no doubts.

"Of course, the best is the best. I heard that the seventh master of the Bai family gave Mr. Yu a copy of the imperial chef's recipe book."

Li Jiuzhou understood. He wanted to eat at a royal banquet. Lou Bancheng, you're really something, aren't you? You're really not afraid of death.

Li Jiuzhou didn't mince words and provided a menu filled with expensive ingredients, which Lou Bancheng could arrange himself.

The broth will be kept hanging at Fengzeyuan for now, and we'll bring it over later.

On the morning of the day after tomorrow, Li Jiuzhou took Sha Zhu to Fengzeyuan to pick up the prepared broth, and then headed straight to the Lou family villa.

The family hadn't woken up yet when we went inside.

That's true, he's a boss at Renmin University, he simply can't get up at eight o'clock...

Li Jiuzhou and Sha Zhu were busy, and it wasn't just the two of them who were busy; all the servants of the Lou family were also busy.

Their master has important guests coming, so they have to clean the house thoroughly from top to bottom.

The Lou family's butler even asked Li Jiuzhou to make breakfast for the master and his family.

Sha Zhu was very unwilling after hearing this and wanted to curse, but Li Jiuzhou stopped him with a look.

It's just breakfast, no big deal.

Li Jiuzhou made a pot-side paste using dried shrimp, seaweed, and dried scallops.

The unique seasonings release a wonderful aroma.

They also fried dough sticks.

Sha Zhu downed two large bowls without hesitation, saying that he wouldn't hesitate to eat them if he could.

After washing up, Lou Bancheng and his family went downstairs and immediately smelled the fragrance.

This feels so good.

What would it feel like to wake up starving and suddenly be greeted by a delicious aroma?

Of course we should eat it!

The whole family, nearly ten people, rushed into the kitchen, their noses snorting incessantly.

"Hehe, Mr. and Mrs. Lou, how many of the young masters and ladies have woken up?"

"Mr. Fish, what are you making that smells so good?" Lou Bancheng asked first.

"For the Fujian-style 'Guobianhu' (pot-side-the-wall soup), please take your family outside first, and I'll have someone bring it over."

"Alright, alright, thank you for your trouble, Mr. Fish."

The small pot-side paste was all it took to win over the Lou family.

The ingredients were plentiful, and each of the Lou family's servants received a bowl.

Xu Damao's mother was stuffed with three large bowls of food by Sha Zhu and ate until she was full.

People who know each other naturally have special privileges; eating a few extra bowls is no big deal.