Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

At 10 a.m., while Li Jiuzhou was busy in the kitchen, he could hear cars continuously parking in the Lou family's yard.

I guess the guests have arrived; it seems they want to discuss something.

Lou Bancheng, this "red businessman," was highly valued by his superiors.

Just listen to the title: "Lou the Half-City!"

They actually dared to call themselves "Half-City Lou" in Beiping!

It's easy to imagine how wealthy he is.

As far as Li Jiuzhou knew, the Lou family owned much more than just the Lou Steel Rolling Mill; they also had numerous other businesses, including cinemas and rice shops.

Xu Damao's ability to marry Lou Xiao'e later on was practically a miracle!

If you go to Hong Kong to develop your career, you can become rich for a while.

Imperial cuisine, many of its dishes have names that include dragons or phoenixes, and other dishes in general sound very high-class!

Lou Bancheng invited Li Jiuzhou to cook because he wanted to show off in front of his superiors.

Li Jiuzhou listed sixteen dishes for Lou Bancheng, as follows:

Imperial Cuisine: Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Auspiciousness

Imperial Brush Monkey Head

Mandarin Ducks Playing with Flying Dragon

Phoenix tail shark fin

Imperial Concubine Chicken Wings

Royal Bear Paw

Imperial Golden Broth Sea Cucumber

Roasted deer tendons

Kirin perch

Kowloon Feast

Jade Belt Shrimp

Jade Tofu

Boiled cabbage

Jade Dumplings

珍珠翡翠白玉汤

Buddha jumping off the wall

When it was time to eat, a man with an extraordinary air entered the kitchen and took a bite of every dish.

Why do this? Those who know, know.

Lou Bancheng invited eight leaders, and their safety needs to be adequately guaranteed, so someone needs to test the dishes.

Li Jiuzhou didn't say anything, which was to be expected; he didn't want any accidents to happen.

After trying it, Sha Zhu personally served the dishes, loudly announcing each dish as it was served.

The leaders at the dinner table were all speechless with astonishment.

They harbored some discontent, but it was quickly suppressed.

Lou Bancheng was a patriotic businessman who made great contributions to the country and the Party during the War of Resistance against Japan.

They were being treated to nice things out of kindness.

It was truly luxurious, because they had never tasted it before, and there was a slight sense of anticipation in it.

Everyone has the desire for food and drink, and it has nothing to do with being in a high position.

After exchanging glances, the group all wore the same expression: "It's edible!"

Lou Bancheng was very satisfied, extremely satisfied. He was also secretly observing the expressions of the leaders, and was relieved to see that there was nothing unusual about them.

One of the leaders smiled when he saw Sha Zhu. That's right, he was Li Huaide's father-in-law.

Sha Zhu saw him too, and winked at him in surprise.

After serving the dishes, Sha Zhu returned to the kitchen and excitedly found Li Jiuzhou:

"Senior brother, do you know who I saw?"

Li Jiuzhou was washing kitchen utensils and replied without even looking up:

"Who did you see?"

"Our father-in-law, my second uncle's father-in-law, was one of the leaders invited by Boss Lou!"

Li Jiuzhou put down the kitchen utensils he had just washed, rolled his eyes at Sha Zhu, and said:

"You fucking know how to randomly claim relatives. That's my Li family's in-law, where did your He family come from?"

Sha Zhu wasn't angry at all upon hearing this:

"I don't care about that, I'm your junior brother, so you have to protect me, hehehe..."

Li Jiuzhou smiled and shook his head. After calling Xu Damao's mother, the three of them ate rice in the kitchen.

This dish, made with such precious ingredients, was the first time that Sha Zhu and Xu Damao's mother had ever eaten it.

I wanted to bury my head in the bowl; it smelled so good and tasted so delicious.

Li Jiuzhou prepared dishes for two tables, one for the leaders and one for the Lou family.

They ate in another hall.

At this point, one of the leaders spoke up:

"Mr. Lou, who was the master chef who prepared this table of imperial cuisine?"

You could tell from those words that the leader was very satisfied with the meal; I didn't hear him mention which famous chef made it.

Lou Bancheng smiled:

"Hehe, to be honest, I'm Mr. Fish from Fengzeyuan!"

"Oh, Mr. Fish, no wonder."

"Wait, Lao Li, isn't this your son-in-law's nephew?"

My second uncle's father-in-law laughed:

"Haha, that's right, it should be him," he then pointed to another dish:

"Only he can make this boiled cabbage in clear broth. It was served at state banquets, and also at the state banquet my children had recently."

"Although he didn't cook at my daughter's wedding banquet, he did list the menu, he arranged for the ingredients to be purchased, and the chef was his master and senior apprentice."

"Oh dear, we're really fortunate to have Mr. Lou with us today..."

The banquet was filled with laughter and joy; everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Midway through, the two brothers were invited out for a drink.

Li Jiuzhou and his companion behaved themselves well, immediately returning to the kitchen after finishing their drinks to do what they were supposed to do.

The Lou family's banquet lasted until 2 p.m., after which the leaders all left.

At this moment, Lou Bancheng, his face flushed and excited from the alcohol, walked into the kitchen.

His wife followed behind him, carrying a cloth bag and smiling.

Upon seeing Li Jiuzhou, he excitedly grasped his hand and said:

"Mr. Fish, thank you so much! You're the one!"

Having said that, he took the cloth bag from his wife and handed it to Li Jiuzhou:

"Here are some fruits; your payment is at the very bottom of the bag."

Li Jiuzhou did not refuse and smiled:

"Mr. Lou, there's no need for thanks. I was just doing what I was supposed to do."

"Zhu Zi, this is for you. You've worked hard." Lou Bancheng's wife handed a thick envelope to Sha Zhu.

"This..." Sha Zhu didn't know whether he should accept it or not, and looked at Li Jiuzhou.

"Hehe, since it's a pillar given to you by the madam, you should accept it."

"Thank you, Mr. Lou, thank you, Madam." Seeing his senior brother speak, Sha Zhu quickly thanked him as well.

After receiving their payment, Li Jiuzhou and his companion were ready to leave.

Li Jiuzhou, who was drunk, didn't want to argue with Lou Bancheng, so he said goodbye and rode his bicycle out of Lou's villa.

After returning home, Sha Zhu closed the door and impatiently pulled out the envelope given to him by Madam Lou from his pocket.

I was stunned when I opened it, and after counting it, I exclaimed in surprise:

"Holy crap, two million!"

"Huh?" Li Jiuzhou stepped forward to check, and damn it really was two million.

"Senior brother, the Lou family is too extravagant! They're offering two million for just a group of cooks?"

"Take a look at the cloth bag that Boss Lou gave you."

After Sha Zhu finished speaking, he went to the table next to him, took out a cloth bag, first took out a bag of apples, then some other fruits, and finally the money.

Sha Zhu went straight to the table.

A bundle of money fell directly onto the table.

Sha Zhu didn't have time to explain in detail, so he started counting the bundles one by one.

He just had four small stacks of money, each stack containing 50!

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten..."

The more he counted, the more shazhu's tone trembled.

"Ten million... oh my god..."

Sha Zhu's scalp tingled...

"Senior brother, what do you think we should do?"

Compared to Sha Zhu's surprise, Li Jiuzhou remained relatively calm, though he was still inwardly cursing Lou Bancheng.

"So what if he's rich? The government has just issued new banknotes, with the highest denomination being 5 yuan a note."

"You're paying all in cash? Can't you at least offer gold bars? It'll make you look rich, won't it?"

"Alright, stop making a fuss, let's put it away."

Despite his inner turmoil, Li Jiuzhou was in a good mood. He didn't plan to deposit the money; he'd just leave it at home.