Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

He Yuzhu quickly skimmed through the article; the content was similar to the first draft he had read before, but some modifications had been made.

The first draft contained far fewer words of praise and focused more on objective descriptions in a simple and unpretentious style.

"How about it, happy?" Zhao Dezhu laughed. "The Beijing Daily, that's a major newspaper! Our Oriental Hotel hasn't had such positive coverage in a long time!"

He Yuzhu said with some surprise, "I thought we'd been stood up and wouldn't be publishing it!"

"Did they stand you up?" Zhao Dezhu didn't understand the joke.

"Well... I thought they weren't going to publish it anymore," He Yuzhu explained. "It's been a month, and there's still no news. I thought the reporter had gotten bored and stopped publishing it."

Zhao Dezhu laughed heartily and said, "How could that be? The Beijing Daily's reports are very rigorous. They definitely need to verify and review the articles. It's normal for the process to be a bit long."

"Several other departments called this morning to ask about you."

"The leaders from the Commerce Bureau also saw the report and called specifically to commend our hotel for its efforts in cultivating talent!"

He Yuzhu then realized just how significant this report was.

In this age of limited information, newspapers are the most authoritative media.

Being featured in the Beijing Daily is equivalent to gaining exposure throughout the entire city of Beijing.

"This is all thanks to you and the restaurant for your excellent management," He Yuzhu quickly said.

"Don't give me that!" Zhao Dezhu waved his hand, but couldn't hide the smile on his face. "It's because you're capable. But Zhuzi, you're really a celebrity now. You need to be more careful in the future and not tarnish the hotel's reputation, understand?"

"Understood, don't worry," He Yuzhu said solemnly.

Zhao Dezhu nodded in satisfaction, then remembered something: "By the way, how's your preparation for Wednesday's cooking competition going? Now that this report is out, even more people are paying attention to you, so you'd better do your best!"

"I've been preparing all along, no problem," He Yuzhu said confidently.

"Great!" Zhao Dezhu patted him on the shoulder. "If you can get a good ranking in the competition, plus this report, your future... will be really bright!"

He Yuzhu left the office with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, being in the newspaper is indeed a good thing, as it helps his reputation and future prospects.

On the other hand, now that he's famous, the people in that compound will know about him, which makes him anything but happy.

Back in the kitchen, several familiar chefs and kitchen helpers gathered around.

"Zhu Zi, that's impressive, you're in the newspaper!"

"Treat us to a meal!"

"Tell me quickly, what's it like being a reporter?"

Surrounded by the crowd, He Yuzhu could only briefly recount the interview he had given after the training that day.

"I answered the reporters' questions, and that was it," He Yuzhu shrugged. "Besides, didn't a lot of you see it that day?"

"Sigh, we thought it was one of your friends or something. If we had known it was a reporter, we would have at least shown our faces!" Master Wang said with some regret.

"The Beijing Daily's reports are never casual, Zhu Zi, you're going to be famous!" Master Li chimed in.

He Yuzhu chuckled twice and asked, "Chef Chen, what are the requirements for that table tonight?"

"A small reception team from the Commerce Bureau, six people." Chef Chen handed over a menu. "This is the menu Director Zhao ordered, please take a look."

He Yuzhu took the menu and glanced at it: four cold dishes, six hot dishes, and one soup—all standard dishes.

"Okay, I got it." He put the menu away. "Shall I start preparing now?"

"No rush, we can start at 4:30." Master Chen glanced at the clock on the wall. "You should rest and recharge!"

He Yuzhu did not rest. He had slept for half a day in the morning and had recovered most of his strength. He was full of energy at the moment.

He walked to his stove and began to check the knives and seasonings.

After checking, he picked up the abyss and began preparing the ingredients for dinner.

Washing vegetables, chopping, preparing sauces, making soup...

The familiar process gradually put him into the zone, and those worries were temporarily forgotten.

--------

The dinner at the Oriental Hotel ended earlier than expected in the evening.

After tidying up his stove, He Yuzhu glanced at the clock on the wall; it was just past seven.

"Zhu Zi, you've worked hard tonight, go home early!" Master Chen came over with a tea mug. "You don't look too well, go home and get some rest."

He Yuzhu nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm going to go back and find a public bathhouse for a soak."

He changed out of his chef's uniform, picked up his cloth bag, said goodbye to his colleagues in the kitchen, and walked out of the Oriental Hotel.

As soon as I entered the gate of No. 95 courtyard, I saw seven or eight middle-aged women standing in front of Yan Bugui's house, chatting about something.

The moment He Yuzhu appeared, the eyes of these middle-aged women lit up instantly.

"Hey, Pillar's back!"

"Pillar, come here quickly, come here quickly!"

"We've been waiting for you for ages!"

Several middle-aged women swarmed around and blocked He Yuzhu in the middle of the front yard.

He Yuzhu was startled by the commotion and instinctively took a half step back: "Aunties... what's going on?"

Qian Daniu's mother squeezed to the front, grabbed He Yuzhu's arm, and asked, "Zhuzi, you've really brought honor to our compound!"

"Huh?" He Yuzhu looked completely bewildered.

"Stop pretending!" Aunt Li slapped him on the shoulder. "The Beijing Daily is all over Nanluoguxiang today, saying that our courtyard has a chef who's been featured in the newspaper!"

"That's right!" Aunt Wang chimed in. "I heard it this morning, but I didn't believe it!"

"As a result, Teacher Yan went to the newspaper office to check the article, and when she came back, she told us, 'It really is you, and there's even a photo!'"

He Yuzhu then realized that the news had spread through the newspapers.

He scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Well... I just attended a training session with my superiors, and the reporter probably saw that I was young and asked me a couple of questions casually..."

Aunt Qian interrupted him, saying, "You're really good at hiding things, kid. The newspapers said you're only sixteen, but your skills are better than those veteran craftsmen!"

"Zhu Zi, how much do you earn a month now?" a plump middle-aged woman asked directly.

As soon as he said that, all the middle-aged women stared intently at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu felt a chill run down his spine from that stare and quickly laughed it off: "It's not much, it's just the salary of an ordinary apprentice..."

"Come on!" Aunt Li persisted. "The Oriental Hotel cooks for the leaders, how could their salaries be low? I heard the head chef there earns at least a million a month!"

"No, no, I'm really just an apprentice..." He Yuzhu said, trying to squeeze out, "Ladies, I just got off work and haven't eaten yet..."

"Oh, right, Zhuzi!" Aunt Wang suddenly grabbed him, "My nephew is getting married next month, and they'd like to invite you to cook at the banquet, what do you think..."

"And me, my daughter is getting married after the New Year!"

"My third child will also have a full-month celebration after the Lunar New Year!"