Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

"Why can't it be me?" As soon as Lou Xiao'e entered the kitchen and heard her voice, Sha Zhu knew it was her.

"No, I didn't expect your cooking to be so delicious."

"It's not like you haven't eaten it before?"

Lou Xiao'e expressed her feelings: "The food you cooked before was delicious, but not as good as it is now."

"Because we were in the courtyard at that time, the conditions were limited, and your family had a lot of seasonings and side dishes, so it was delicious."

"Why don't you be a chef in my house in the future? Your cooking is so delicious, my dad will definitely agree." Lou Xiao'e said casually.

"He agrees, but I don't. Why would I give up being a good worker and become someone else's servant?" Sha Zhu said coldly, and he remembered what he heard at the wedding banquet. With a clang, Sha Zhu threw the frying pan into the pot.

Lou Xiao'e suddenly woke up. She remembered that these were not the parents and nanny she faced every day. Those people loved her, and after she came back from her divorce, they were afraid of irritating her and never said a bad word, making her become the cared-for, simple-minded girl of eighteen or nineteen again.

The noise made by Sha Zhu and Sha Zhu brought Lou Xiao'e back to reality. She quickly apologized, "Sorry, that's not what I meant. I just want to eat your cooking more often. I really don't think that much. Don't be angry."

Listening to Lou Xiao'e's awkward apology, Sha Zhu, who had calmed down, felt embarrassed: "I shouldn't have lost my temper with you, I, I..."

"It's okay. I haven't thanked you for helping me last time." Lou Xiao'e stopped Sha Zhu from saying, "After my divorce, my mom always accompanies me every time I go out, so I don't have the chance to go find you and say thank you in person."

Lou Xiao'e then asked, "By the way, why did you come to my house to cook today?"

Just as Sha Zhu was about to answer, Lou's mother and the nanny came in together, "Master Wang from our family has something going on at home, and your father is inviting Mr. Le and his family to a banquet today. I heard that Master He also learned from Fengzeyuan, so he invited him."

Sha Zhu thought that he was invited because no one else would come. It turned out that the Lou family was very picky. They came because of the reputation of Fengzeyuan Shandong cuisine. No wonder they prepared a lot of seafood. It seemed that Lou's mother came to ask Sha Zhu to cook the following dishes according to Shandong cuisine. The dishes that were just served on the table were only the ones that Sha Zhu usually used for entertaining guests. Since Lou's mother mentioned Fengzeyuan, he couldn't let down the reputation and had to show his best skills.

After Lou's mother finished speaking, she took Lou Xiao'e to greet the guests. Sha Zhu was in the kitchen cooking braised venison. When the dish was just coming out of the pot, Lou Xiao'e came in again and said, "I don't want to listen to their chat. I'll just eat the latest dish here. Is that okay?"

"It's your house, you have the final say." Sha Zhu replied.

"Then please give me some every time, so that others won't eat my tiger meat."

After the last dish was ready, Lou's mother came to invite Sha Zhu, and the guest suggested toasting a glass of wine to the chef.

Everyone was surprised to see Sha Zhu was so young. Mr. Le, who was sitting at the main guest seat, said, "No wonder Old Lou said we would be surprised to see him in person. It's true. Master He, may I ask who taught you?"

"I learned cooking from Master Chef Sun Fuxiang of Fengze Garden when I was young."

"So it's Master Sun. A good teacher produces good students."

"Not only that, this is also a child's skill. Master He just said that he has been a disciple of Master Sun since he was a child."

"I don't know if I should ask you, why are you not at Fengze Garden but at the steel mill?"

Sha Zhu didn't want to say too much about him, so he said, "If I wasn't at the steel mill, I wouldn't be here to cook for you today."

"Oh? Why is that?" Everyone looked at Lou Zhenhua again.

"We'll talk about this later. Let's toast to Master He first."

Mr. Le saw that Lou Zhenhua didn't want Sha Zhu to stay here too long, so he followed the host's wishes and raised his glass to thank Sha Zhu for cooking them a delicious meal.

Seeing Sha Zhu carrying his things away, Lou Xiao'e felt a little disappointed. She hadn't spoken to anyone outside her family for a long time. She didn't want to be protected like a caged bird anymore.

A black car with the word "Dongfeng" on the front of the car stopped at the gate of the courtyard. An old man who was strolling at the gate was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth when he saw Sha Zhu getting out of the car.

"Zhu Zi, are you an official now?" The third uncle's tone was a little flattering.

"Uncle, I don't have the title of an official. I went to cook for rich people, and they sent me back out of kindness." Sha Zhu told the truth.

"Oh, I see. Which family did you go to cook?" The third uncle looked behind Sha Zhu and found that Sha Zhu was holding something in his hands behind his back. "Zhu Zi, we haven't had a drink for a long time. How about we go to my house and have a few drinks today?"

Sha Zhu chuckled and said, "Uncle, I can't drink your Erguotou diluted with water. I'm afraid I'll get drunk. Yu Li is still waiting for me, so I'll go back first. Take your time."

"Hey, kid, don't you know that Erguotou tastes better when diluted with water? The flavor is long-lasting and you won't get drunk even if you drink a lot." Although he was rejected, the third uncle couldn't stand anyone exposing his shortcomings.

"Another reception today?" Yu Li saw Sha Zhu holding a few boxes in his hands. "Didn't you say you won't bring food from the factory anymore?"

"It's not from the factory. I went to Lou Xiao'e's house today. This is what her mother prepared." Sha Zhu took out a red paper bag from his pocket. "Here, this is the salary. I didn't see how much money it is, but it feels like it's not a lot. You can keep it."

Yu Li opened the paper package and found that it contained 20 yuan. She then opened the boxes and found chicken, shrimp, and sea cucumber. "Zhu Zi, why are there so many seafoods? Did you take the wrong ones?"

"It can't be wrong, because they just prepared something for me, and it was handed to me by Lou Xiao'e's mother herself."

"Then why did they give so much? We have no relationship with them. You just went to her house to cook, and they paid you. This is already a settlement. Giving so much more would be weird."

"Maybe they were repaying me for the favor I did for Lou Xiao'e before, or maybe they had a good meal today and were happy so they gave me the leftovers. Who cares? You said before that we can't compete with them. Even if they are not as famous as us now, they are still rich and they still want us to work for them." As he spoke, Sha Zhu glanced at the twenty yuan on the table.

"If he gives it to us, we'll take it. Anyway, I earned it with my physical effort, and no one can say anything." Sha Zhu picked up the fat sea cucumber and said, "We can't usually eat these things. It's just right for you to replenish your body and let our son taste what seafood tastes like."

Yu Li smiled happily, "Okay, then I'll put them in water. Come back early tomorrow and we'll go to the old lady's house and have a good meal."

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Old lady: Let’s eat delicious food tomorrow, such as sea cucumber, so that I can play football.