Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Wang Shan's guess was correct; He Daqing brought his son over because he wanted Li Tielong to take him on as an apprentice.

At this moment, He Daqing handed Li Tielong a cigarette in the lounge, lit it, and then lit one for himself and enjoyed a good smoke.

After exhaling a puff of smoke, He Daqing slowly spoke:

"Senior brother, what about the matter of Zhuzi learning a craft from you, which I mentioned last time?"

Li Tielong laughed:

"Hehe, we've been brothers for so many years, so entrusting your son to me is no problem at all."

"You've been laying the foundation for Zhuzi since he was a child, so I have no complaints about getting such a good apprentice for free."

Hearing this, He Daqing smiled and greeted He Yuzhu:

"Zhu Zi, quickly kowtow to your senior master, oh no, your master."

No sooner had He Daqing finished speaking than He Yuzhu knelt down in front of Li Tielong.

Three crisp thuds followed, indicating that the head was being pounded quite effectively.

At the same time, he also said loudly:

"Master, your disciple He Yuzhu kowtows to you. If you ever need anything in the future, just give the order, and I'll do it without hesitation!"

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Li Tielong burst into laughter upon hearing this.

He had liked his junior brother's son for a long time; he was honest and kind, but a bit of a chatterbox.

However, he is still young and there is room for him to be trained.

What good son can He Daqing, that good-for-nothing, raise?

It's only because his wife left early that his son developed this kind of personality.

As for why He Daqing didn't teach his son himself while living in Fengzeyuan?

There are many factors at play. He has a bad temper and hits people at the drop of a hat, so conflicts between father and son are inevitable over time.

After much deliberation, He Daqing still felt it was better to have his senior brother teach him.

Moreover, his senior brother's cooking skills are better than his own, and he has mastered an additional cuisine.

Just look at Wang Shan, the eldest apprentice of the senior apprentice. He graduated from the apprenticeship and became a second-in-command in less than 6 years.

He Daqing did not believe that his son's talent was inferior to Wang Shan's. As long as Li Tielong taught him well, his son would definitely not be too bad in less than 6 years.

There's no need for an apprenticeship banquet. What era are we living in? We can just have a graduation banquet after the apprenticeship is over.

Li Tielong led He Yuzhu to the kitchen and introduced him to everyone.

He then instructed Li Jiuzhou:

"Jiuzhou, this is your junior brother. Show him the rules."

"Alright, you know, Pillar, right? Come with me."

"Senior brother is here..."

In the courtyard behind the kitchen, Li Jiuzhou told He Yuzhu some rules, and the boy listened very carefully, nodding frequently.

The two got to know each other and realized that they were about the same age, with Li Jiuzhou being a year older than him.

"Senior brother, come visit our courtyard sometime. Let me tell you, our courtyard used to be where high-ranking officials and nobles lived. It looks very grand."

Once they got to know each other, He Yuzhu became quite talkative and didn't hold back.

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou fell silent.

The courtyard is full of affection; that's a place he could go.

However, Li Jiuzhou was genuinely curious, mainly wanting to see what the characters inside looked like.

So he agreed.

"Alright, take me to your courtyard sometime..."

"Hehehe, that's great..." He Yuzhu chuckled憨厚ly.

Having worked at Fengzeyuan Restaurant for some time, Li Jiuzhou observed that the customers who came to eat there were indeed well-off.

They were all dressed smartly and were either successful businessmen or government officials.

These people are all about the spectacle of their meals.

With his silver tongue, Mr. Guo, the head of the hall, made those high-ranking officials and nobles feel very prestigious.

They were not stingy with tips at all.

It wasn't that Li Jiuzhou was envious; he just had so many mothers.

He and a group of apprentices, along with a young boy, secretly performed a fortune-telling for Mr. Guo.

The tips I receive every day are no less than 5 yuan.

A group of people were green with envy; he was truly a talent.

Most people can't learn this even if they want to. First, you need to be knowledgeable, and second, you need to be eloquent.

I may admire it, but I can't really learn it. I'll just have to stick to washing and chopping vegetables.

That evening, Hong Li Jiuzhou and his master went home together.

Li Jiuzhou had gotten used to this kind of life.

The two walked slowly; it was not yet 9 o'clock, and there weren't many people on the road.

At this time, there were still streetlights in Beiping, but only on the main roads; forget about them in the alleys.

The alleyways of Beiping were prime locations for robbery and plunder; if you wanted to do it, you could do it every time.

Just two turns before they reached home, several gunshots rang out, startling the master and apprentice so much that their legs trembled.

I almost couldn't walk anymore.

Li Jiuzhou felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the gunshot; he was terrified.

Bullets don't have eyes; if some heartless bastard shoots you, you're doomed.

He trembled and said:

"What should we do, Master?"

Li Tielong was also covered in sweat at this moment.

There's no way I can back out; there's only one way home.

If we retreat, we'll be blocked by those thugs, which will only make things worse.

If the real culprit isn't caught, they'll definitely use the master and apprentice as scapegoats.

Li Tielong gritted his teeth and said:

"Let's go home, hurry up."

After speaking, he walked quickly forward, with Li Jiuzhou following closely behind.

After turning a corner, there was a dark-skinned corpse and a pool of blood in front of me.

The corpse was still clutching a Mauser pistol in its hand.

The master and apprentice were stunned for a moment after seeing the corpse.

"Hurry up, quick..." Li Tielong pulled Li Jiuzhou forward.

As Li Jiuzhou passed by, he glanced at the corpse and noticed that its chest was bulging.

A thought flashed through his mind, and two large words popped into his head: "Loot the corpse!"

Just as the two were about to step over the corpse, Li Jiuzhou spoke:

"Wait a minute, Master..."

"What are you waiting for? Don't you want to die? Let's go!" Li Tielong shouted anxiously.

Li Jiuzhou gently broke free from his master's hand and quickly squatted down to grope the black-skinned corpse.

Li Tielong stared wide-eyed, looking around anxiously, stamping his feet in frustration.

"That damn bastard, how can he be so greedy? What the hell did I just accept...?"

In less than ten seconds, Li Jiuzhou emptied Hei Pi's clothes, stuffed everything into his pocket, grabbed the stunned Li Tielong, and ran away.

After turning a corner, he knocked on the door, and his teacher's wife cautiously asked from inside:

Who is it?

"Wife, it's me and Jiuzhou, open the door!"

"The head of the household."

After muttering something, the master's wife immediately welcomed the two inside, then bolted the door and patted her chest.

"I was so scared! There was a gunshot just now. I thought you two were just getting off work, and I was worried something might have happened."

"Amitabha Buddha, please protect us, it's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."

The master's wife looked as if she had survived a calamity.

The second brother, Shanhe, also looked worried as he held Jiaojiao in his arms.

At this moment, Li Tielong spoke up:

"Wife, you take the two little ones inside first, hurry up..."

"Oh, okay..." The teacher's wife, with a puzzled look, led the two children into the house first.

After the three entered the house, Li Tielong said to Li Jiuzhou:

"Quickly take that thing out of your crotch and hide it well, Blackie will definitely search the nearby houses in a while."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiuzhou felt that his master was very thoughtful, so he pulled down his pants and took everything out at once.

Li Tielong covered his nose with a look of disgust:

"You smell really strong, are you thinking about women, you little rascal?"

"Hehe..." Li Jiuzhou chuckled.

Li Tielong picked up a few bricks and tore a cloth bag to cover the things he had looted from Hei Pi.

Then he took a rope, tied it tightly, quickly walked to the well, opened the lid, and threw it in.

Seeing that he hadn't surfaced, Li Tielong breathed a sigh of relief.

He shouted into the house:

"Honey, order some more dishes, I'll have a drink."

"I, I'll go right away..." came the master's wife's reply from inside the house.

About ten minutes later, the master's wife prepared two small dishes and a pot of wine, along with a lunchbox that Li Tielong had brought back from Fengzeyuan.

Five people came to eat.

Just as we started eating, we heard footsteps and the cries of a neighbor in the alley outside.

Blackie came to search our homes. Every time something like this happens, ordinary people get ripped off.

They use the pretext of arresting people to swindle money from ordinary people.

Li Tielong and his wife were used to it...

Soon there was a knock on the door, and Li Jiuzhou went to open it.

A dozen or so arrogant and domineering black men entered.

Li Tielong quickly stepped forward, smiling ingratiatingly, and said:

"Team Leader Wu, it's your shift today. Could you ask the men to be a little quieter?"

"There are still some young children at home, don't scare them."

"A small token of my appreciation for the brothers, a cup of tea."

The dark-skinned man, nicknamed Captain Wu, could tell how many coins were in the account with a single tap of his right hand. He put it down and smiled, saying:

"Master Li, you're too kind. It's my duty. I'm just following orders to search, and I won't disturb your family."

"Then I'll have to trouble Captain Wu. I'll treat everyone to a drink at Fengzeyuan tomorrow," Li Tielong said with a forced smile.

Captain Wu's smile became even brighter:

"Hahaha, that's great! Brothers, this is Chef Li from Fengzeyuan Restaurant. Pay close attention during the search, understand?"

"Yes!" The group of dark-skinned men immediately understood and rushed into the house to search.

They finished searching in less than five minutes, without even glancing at the well.

"Captain, no."

Captain Wu nodded and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Li Tielong, saying:

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Li, thank you for your cooperation."

"Of course, of course..."

The whole family breathed a sigh of relief after the group of dark-skinned people left...