Siheyuan: The happy life of a little chef

Liu Lan is a very versatile person and a good gossiper. She knows a lot of things, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to determine that Li Jianjun was the new chef as soon as she came in. It was obvious that she knew the people in the third canteen.

"Hello, Comrade Liu Lan. They will go to pick up today's dishes soon. I need to cook some dishes for the leaders to try at noon. Can you take me to the small warehouse to have a look?" Li Jianjun decided to let Liu Lan take him there since he didn't know her after all.

"Okay, Master Li, I'll take you there later. There's nothing good in the small warehouse since the small kitchen stopped running. Most of them are vegetarian dishes." Liu Lan thought about it and decided to give Li Jianjun a shot of prevention first, so as to avoid embarrassment when he saw it.

"It's okay. Let's go see what's available and decide what dishes to cook then. You can go and ask Deputy Director Li how many people will be coming for lunch." Li Jianjun decided to see how many people were coming before deciding on the dishes.

Liu Lan came back soon. There were six people having lunch at noon, including Director Yang, Deputy Secretary Ma, and Li Jianjun. They had an idea of ​​the dishes and decided on them quickly. There wasn't much to eat, just potatoes, cabbage, tofu, radishes, and some mountain products.

Li Jianjun knew that there was nothing good, but he didn't expect there to be so little. It seemed that purchasing was not easy.

Thinking about the things in the space, I wonder if I can sell some of them to the steel mill. I need to think about it carefully.

It was almost noon, and Li Jianjun was about to start cooking. He had said before that he would not stop others from watching. Now a crowd of people gathered around him. A simple dish of shredded potatoes and a cabbage, but at the end he quietly put some spiritual spring water in each dish.

Although the spiritual spring water cannot prolong life, it can restore physical strength and prevent minor illnesses. When it came out of the pot, a strong fragrance spread, and everyone swallowed their saliva. Then they took the lunch box and packed their lunch first.

Soon all the workers went off work, and there were indeed not many people coming to eat in the third canteen. The kitchen helpers were responsible for serving the meals, and they remembered Li Jianjun's rules and did not shake the spoons.

While eating, the workers chatted in twos and threes, "Why are the dishes so delicious today? They are much better than those in the second canteen. Is the chef here?" Another person said, "Yes, I thought I was too hungry. It turns out it's so delicious. What a pity. I didn't buy more just now. I'll see if there is any left. If there is, I'll buy some to take home to try."

A worker next to him said, "Have you noticed that after eating this dish, you feel less tired at work in the morning? Maybe it's so delicious that you forget you're tired." The worker smiled.

One worker said, "A relative of mine works in the third canteen, serving food at window number two. He just told me that a new chef came in today and the dishes he cooked are so delicious. He asked me to come to the third canteen to eat in the future."

This was just a microcosm of the cafeteria. Everyone was discussing how delicious the food in the third cafeteria was today. Soon, Li Jianjun's arrival became known, it was that fast.

While the workers were eating, Li Jianjun was cooking for the leader: hot and sour potato shreds, mapo tofu, Chinese cabbage, black fungus and eggs, green vegetables and mushrooms, and a soup.

Liu Lan was in charge of serving the dishes. She would drool every time she served the dishes. She had to hold it back. After serving the dishes, she would immediately return to the kitchen, pick up her lunch box and start eating.

The leaders didn't talk in the small cafeteria. Under normal circumstances, they would have chatted a lot, but now they didn't have the time. They were all eating desperately. After more than ten minutes, they finally finished eating. This was still reserved. If the factory director and secretary were not there, they could have ended the battle in five minutes.

Li Huaide was the first to finish his meal. He looked at the other leaders who were still wolfing down their food and asked with a smile, "Everyone, how is it? How does this dish taste compared to Sha Zhu's? Am I bragging?"

The leaders who were still eating had no time to speak, and all gave him a thumbs up. Only Director Yang began to ponder. Now the struggle in the factory has begun. Deputy Director Li has a background and powerful means. He has Sha Zhu in his hands and can win over many people. Now Li Huaide has found someone who is much more powerful than Sha Zhu. It seems that it will be more and more difficult in the future.

Deputy Secretary Ma also finished eating and asked curiously, "Deputy Director Li, how come this guy, who is such a great cook, came to the steel mill? People with this talent are either recruited by famous restaurants or by higher-ups."

Li Huaide did not hide it, because he could not hide it. Besides, who in the factory did not have a relative, such as Yang Weimin? He told all the leaders in detail, and they all sighed. With such great cooking skills, he could almost starve to death. They also admired Li Huaide. This was his luck. A relative who fled to the disaster area became a superb chef. It was really dramatic.

After dinner, everyone left and it was not Li Jianjun's turn to clean up. He had nothing to do in the afternoon. If there was any overtime, the number of people would be reported to the Second Canteen, and Sha Zhu would prepare the food in the afternoon for those who worked overtime, which would not delay their get off work at all. The Third Canteen had never prepared overtime meals.

At this time, Li Jianjun came to Li Huaide's office and sat drinking tea. Li Huaide smiled happily, "Jianjun, you have made me proud. What I have to do next depends on you."

Li Jianjun was a little confused. "Uncle, just tell me what you need and I will do it beautifully." Li Jianjun patted his chest and promised.

Li Huaide expressed his thoughts. "I plan to treat the people from the grain station and the meat processing plant to a meal. You know that it's hard to get food now. With your cooking skills, I'll see if I can get some money from them."

"Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely show my skills. But what can I use to entertain you? There is nothing left in our small warehouse." Li Jianjun was a little worried that there were no good ingredients.

"Oh, I know that too, but what can we do? The purchasing department can't do anything either." Li Huaide had a headache. He couldn't say that he didn't have capable people under him. This was the way the world was. No matter how capable one was, one couldn't create food.

"Uncle, I'm very good at fishing. How about I take a leave in the afternoon to go fishing and give them a fish feast tomorrow?" Li Jianjun put forward his idea.

"Why ask for leave? You are doing work for the factory, so it can be considered a business trip. If you really catch something, you can get 20% more than the market price. This is the maximum authority I give you. Any more is unsafe." Although he said this, Li Huaide was actually thinking that fishing was not that easy. He didn't know how many people had gone fishing in the past two years.

"Uncle, let me do this. If I catch some fish this afternoon, I will rush back before getting off work and cook a fish for you and bring it back to my aunt to eat. This will be considered as my filial piety." Li Jianjun wanted to repay Li Huaide's kindness.

"Let's talk about it after you catch some fish. You can go out anytime. I'll write you a note, otherwise you really won't be able to get out." He wrote a note, signed his name and handed it to Li Jianjun.

Li Jianjun took the note and went to the third canteen without any delay to tell everyone that he had to go out to do something. He asked everyone to clean up the place, and then he rode out on his bicycle.