Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Before he transmigrated here, He Yuzhu wasn't this diligent. Or rather, he now enjoys the pleasure of his work.

Perhaps it's because of boredom, or perhaps it's because life is so comfortable now, the factory operates on a 6-day, 8-hour work week, and workers can go home as long as they work 8 hours.

No need for overtime, no need to deliberately keep people waiting, no need to make them dawdle and wait.

Only then do workers truly act like workers, and not like beasts of burden.

After the kitchen helper finished cutting the potatoes, He Yuzhu put down his work.

After all, a little training is enough; you really can't take over the jobs of those kitchen helpers.

Today's dishes are pretty much the same as yesterday's, except that radishes have been replaced with potatoes.

There was no other way. At this point, the fact that the factory workers could afford to eat some meat meant they were already living better lives than many ordinary people.

As for the Soviet experts we hosted yesterday, all I can say is that they were different, incomparable, and we shouldn't overthink it.

He Yuzhu has only been in the cafeteria for a few days, but his culinary skills have already made many people aware that a new chef has arrived at the Third Cafeteria, and his dishes are better than those of the other chefs.

Through word of mouth, more and more workers came to the third canteen.

With nothing else to do, He Yuzhu stood behind the woman serving the vegetables, watching her technique.

The auntie's technique was truly first-rate. With a scoop and a tilt, a slight tremor and a shake, wow, the vegetable was transformed into a perfectly flat spoonful, neither too much nor too little, complete with its own broth.

Just then, He Yuzhu suddenly spotted the deputy head of the security department he had seen before in the crowd.

He Yuzhu quickly stepped forward to greet him: "Section Chief Zhang, you've arrived."

"Comrade He, you've become so distant after just two days?" Old Zhang greeted him and, upon seeing He Yuzhu, chuckled and teased.

"No, no, no, how could that be? I'm just happy. Old Zhang, you can just call me Zhuzi. Old Zhang, what do you want to eat today?"

"I heard you're a good cook. Could you get me a serving of yours, and two steamed buns too?" Old Zhang pointed to the braised pork with potatoes, then took out some money and tickets from his pocket.

He Yuzhu glanced at it, then threw the money and tickets into two separate baskets before personally getting Old Zhang a meal.

Naturally, there was plenty of meat in the buns, and the steamed buns were large. When Old Zhang saw this, he just smiled and left the window without saying anything.

He Yuzhu then saw Yi Zhonghai and the other neighbors from the courtyard house.

He Yuzhu was very accommodating, giving them generous amounts of money.

This gesture warmed the hearts of Yi Zhonghai and his neighbors, who all expressed their gratitude.

Others saw it but didn't say anything. After all, truly selfless people are rare in this world; it's the norm to side with your own people regardless of right or wrong.

Actions like those of He Yuzhu will not cause any problems; on the contrary, many people will think that He Yuzhu is humane.

Just then, Jia Dongxu arrived. He was still the same as always, constantly calling him "Silly Zhu."

He Yuzhu's lips twitched, but he didn't want to lower himself to the level of Jia Donglu, a master of wall hanging.

However, today is an exception.

"Hey Sha Zhu, I heard you're in the cafeteria. I'm here to support you today."

A voice rang out in the cafeteria, and everyone could hear it.

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw a young man with a long face waving his arm with money notes in his hand.

"Hey Mao, you're here. What do you want to eat today? I'll get the food for you."

I haven't seen Xu Damao since I arrived at the courtyard house. I heard he went to the countryside. I didn't expect him to come today.

But as soon as Xu Damao arrived, He Yuzhu felt something was different.

"I just got back to the factory today and heard that a new cook had come to the third canteen. They said his cooking skills were pretty good, so I came over today. I didn't expect it to be you, Sha Zhu."

Xu Damao and He Yuzhu were talking, but when they talked about Sha Zhu, he deliberately raised his voice, as if afraid that others wouldn't know.

"Sha Mao, I went to the factory a couple of days ago, but I didn't see you, Sha Mao." He Yuzhu wasn't going to be outdone, and he shouted the name Sha Mao loudly as well.

"Silly Zhu! I'm a projectionist, I usually go to the countryside to serve the villagers." Xu Damao glared at He Yuzhu.

He felt that He Yuzhu was different today than usual, especially the way he kept calling him "Silly Mao," which made him grit his teeth in hatred.

"Silly Mao, I'm the head chef in the cafeteria now. What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you." He Yuzhu retorted without backing down.

"Silly Zhu, whatever you do, I want it."

"Silly Mao, no problem!" He Yuzhu said, picking up a spoon and scooping a spoonful of the braised pork with potatoes.

The spoonful was full of potatoes, as if afraid that Xu Damao would eat even a little bit of meat.

Seeing this, Xu Damao didn't say anything, just snorted, paid the money, and ran to Yi Zhonghai and the group of people in the compound with his lunchbox.

"Da Mao, can't you and Zhu Zi talk properly? Look at the meat dish in your lunchbox." Yi Zhonghai had just heard the two of them shouting loudly.

They're so idiotic, calling each other "Silly Mao" and "Silly Zhu" that it's impossible not to know.

"Uncle, that won't do. Others might spoil him, but I won't," Xu Damao said with a hint of smugness.

Yi Zhonghai was also speechless. He looked at the lunchbox full of potatoes, and then at Jia Dongxu, and the vegetable stalks in the lunchbox.

They're really evenly matched.

Today is Saturday, no need to work overtime tonight, and I have a day off the next day.

So today, everyone in the cafeteria was very diligent and finished cleaning half an hour earlier than usual.

Just when He Yuzhu thought he wouldn't be busy today, the cafeteria director came running over.

"Zhu Zi, Director Li asked me to keep you here so he can prepare a dinner for you tonight."

The cafeteria manager breathed a sigh of relief. He had just received the news and was afraid that He Yuzhu would leave early, so he rushed over.

However, He Yuzhu was really good; he stayed in the cafeteria and didn't leave early.

This made the cafeteria manager feel even better, especially since the other two chefs who cooked the large batches of food had left early.

"Alright, cafeteria manager, no problem. But did Director Li say which side's guests we're serving today?"

He Yuzhu has no problem cooking, but if he wants to cook good food, he still needs to find out where his guests are from.

"Go ahead and do whatever you want tonight. The guests come from all over the country, so you can decide what to do."

The cafeteria director told him to do whatever he wanted, which was not only an affirmation of his cooking skills, but also because before He Yuzhu arrived, the cafeteria's special dishes were just casually prepared by other chefs.

Even so, those leaders still enjoyed the meal immensely. Now that there's a professional chef like He Yuzhu cooking, no matter how he prepares it, they'll all praise it.

Hearing that he could do whatever he wanted, He Yuzhu's eyes lit up. That was great! If he could do whatever he wanted, it meant he could do whatever he wanted.