Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

Just as He Yuzhu was looking for Qian Dafei in the crowd, the conversation of several people nearby caught He Yuzhu's attention.

"Nan Yi, what level of chef are you planning to take this time?"

"You are asking an unnecessary question. Our factory has signed us up for the Level 8 chef exam, so we can only take the Level 8 chef exam. We are a factory, not a restaurant. We don't need a Level chef to make a big pot meal."

Nan Yi, could it be the Nan Yi in the TV series "Man is Iron, Rice is Steel"? He Yuzhu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man who looked very similar to Teacher Feng, with single eyelids and thin body. It seemed to be the Nan Yi in the TV series "Man is Iron, Rice is Steel". I remembered that this man's ancestor was a royal chef, and his family conditions were good, but his background was not very good. However, in my memory, there was a mountain where Nan Yi worked. Could it be that Nan Yi worked in the mountainous area in the north?

He Yuzhu walked a few steps to Nan Yi and asked, "Comrade, which factory are you from?"

Nan Yi, who was in a daze, was frightened by He Yuzhu's words. When Nan Yi came to his senses, he found a tall and handsome man standing next to him and looking down at him. Nan Yi looked around, pointed at himself and asked uncertainly: "Are you calling me comrade?" The reason why Nan Yi asked this was because his ancestor worked as a royal chef in the Qing Dynasty. Later, the Qing Dynasty lost the restaurant run by his family, so when the class status was determined, he was classified as an exploiting class. From then on, everyone stayed away from him, let alone called him comrade.

He Yuzhu smiled and nodded, "Yes, that's what I'm calling you, comrade. You're here to take the chef grade exam, right? Which factory are you from?"

Nan Yi replied somewhat embarrassedly: "I'm from the steel plant, my name is Nan Yi, and I'm here today to take the Level 8 chef exam, what about you?"

"I'm from the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. My name is He Yuzhu. I'm here to take the chef grade exam, but I don't know what grade I can pass."

After listening to He Yuzhu, Nan Yi hurriedly said, "I know the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. Our factory is a supporting factory for your factory. We are a branch factory under your factory. How come you are so tall? You don't look like a cook."

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "I have been following a boxing master since I was a child and have learned boxing for several years. I didn't expect that practicing martial arts would make me taller. On the contrary, it's you. I see that you are skinny, unlike other chefs. Can you lift a big pot with your arms?"

Nan Yi couldn't help but retort when he heard He Yuzhu look down on him, "Don't look at me because I'm thin, but I'm very strong. Besides, cooking doesn't just require strength, it also depends on skills."

He Yuzhu laughed and then put away his playful smile and said seriously: "I know, I am also a cook. By the way, what kind of cuisine are you good at? I am good at Sichuan cuisine and Shandong cuisine."

Nan Yi rubbed his head and said, "I don't have any cuisine, I just learned it from my family. If we really want to talk about cuisine, it should be Shandong cuisine." Suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed across the night sky in Nan Yi's mind. Nan Yi pointed at He Yuzhu with an incredible look on his face and said, "You said your name is He Yuzhu? Are you from the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill?"

He Yuzhu looked at Nan Yi's shocked expression and asked curiously, "What's wrong? My name is He Yuzhu and I work at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. Is there anything wrong?"

Nan Yi was so excited that he stuttered: "You, you are He Yuzhu who wrote about how to cook a big pot dish?"

He Yuzhu immediately understood why Nan Yi was shocked when he heard what Nan Yi said. After all, the chef who made the big pot dishes in the canteen of the Sijiu City factory should be like this when he saw him. He Yuzhu nodded gently and said, "Well, I was the one who wrote how to cook the big pot dishes."

Nan Yi stared at He Yuzhu excitedly for a while and suddenly said, "That's not right. When you wrote about how to fry that big pot dish, weren't you the canteen director? Why are you still taking the chef grade assessment? Only workers need to take it, not leaders."

He Yuzhu couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard Nan Yi's question. This was not the first person to ask him this question, so He Yuzhu patiently answered: "Although I am a leading cadre now, I have learned to cook from my father since I was a child. When I was 12 years old, I entered Fengze Garden to learn from my master. At the age of 16, I graduated and entered the steel rolling mill. As for my position as the canteen director at that time, it was when I was 20 years old. You are right. With my current status, I don't need to take the chef level assessment, but I still came to take the chef level assessment today. I have studied cooking for so many years. I want to pass the chef level assessment to see what level my cooking skills are. This can be regarded as an explanation for myself for studying cooking for so many years."

After listening to He Yuzhu's words, Nan Yi couldn't help but think of the time when he learned cooking from his master. Unfortunately, his master is no longer with us. Nan Yi shook his head and said, "Then your cooking skills must be very good. You graduated from Fengze Garden at the age of 16."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "It's okay. You should work hard too. We can have a chance to communicate with each other in the future. If you can't work in your factory or are not happy with your job, you are welcome to come to our factory. I still have the right to hire a chef for the canteen. Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. People from our factory are looking for me. I have to go back." After saying that, He Yuzhu returned to the crowd at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. The reason why He Yuzhu stopped chatting with Nan Yi was because he saw Qian Dafei coming back.

Qian Dafei walked out of the crowd with sweat on his forehead, came to He Yuzhu and said, "Deputy Director He, I have asked the staff at the examination room. They say that the high-level chefs will be assessed first, and after the high-level chefs are assessed, the low-level chefs will be assessed last. I will find your application form later. You can go in with it." After that, Qian Dafei opened his briefcase, found He Yuzhu's application form and handed it to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu squeezed into the crowd with his application form. When he reached the entrance of the examination room, He Yuzhu said to the staff at the door: "Hello, comrade, this is my application form. I am here to take the chef grade examination."

The staff member took the application form handed over by He Yuzhu, looked at him suspiciously and said, "What's going on inside is the assessment of high-level chefs. Are you sure you want to go in and participate?"

He Yuzhu nodded seriously and said, "Yes."

Seeing this, the staff could only stamp He Yuzhu's application form and said to the person in charge of maintaining order at the door: "Let him in." After that, he returned the application form to He Yuzhu.

After He Yuzhu got the application form, he said to the staff, "Thank you." He turned and walked into the examination room. After entering the examination room, He Yuzhu followed the instructions on the wall to the inside of the examination room. When the judges saw a young man coming in, an older man looked at He Yuzhu and said, "Young man, have you come to the wrong place? This is the place for chef assessment."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "I'm not in the wrong place. I'm here to take the chef grade assessment." After that, He Yuzhu handed the application form in his hand to the old man for a look. The old man looked at He Yuzhu's application form and frowned and said, "Young man, the high-level chef assessment is about to begin. You are so young, are you sure you want to take the high-level chef exam? You should know that although this is the first chef grade assessment, if you fail the assessment, you will have to wait until next year."

He Yuzhu said seriously: "Yes, Master, I am here to take the high-level chef assessment."

Seeing that He Yuzhu still insisted on taking the exam after his kind reminder, the old man could only nod helplessly and said, "What dishes can you cook?"

He Yuzhu replied: "I am more proficient in Shandong cuisine and Sichuan cuisine."

The old man couldn't help but frown when he heard that He Yuzhu was good at two cuisines, but due to his identity as an examiner, he could only say helplessly: "Go and take a look at the ingredients over there, and when you have chosen, come and tell me what dish you plan to make."

He Yuzhu came to the food area and looked around, then returned to the old man and said, "Master, I want to make candied yam."

The old man nodded and said, "Then get ready and start."

He Yuzhu first came to the food area and picked up a yam, then peeled the yam, and then started to heat oil in a pan. The old man looked at He Yuzhu's skillful movements, and the expression on his face relaxed a lot. He saw He Yuzhu's age and heard him say that he was good at two cuisines, and thought he was a young man with unrealistic ambitions. When he saw He Yuzhu's cooking movements, he knew that the young man in front of him should have good cooking skills. As long as the taste was good, he could at least pass the test of a level 4 chef. As for a level chef, it depends on the taste of the dishes he makes.

Just when the old man was wondering how many levels He Yuzhu could pass in the exam, he suddenly smelled a fragrance. The old man looked in the direction of the fragrance and found that it was the fragrance of He Yuzhu's cooking. As an experienced chef with many years of experience, based on this smell, Lao Ze concluded that the dishes cooked by the young man in front of him were at least at the level of a third-level chef. Thinking of this, the old man felt his face getting slightly hot. He didn't expect that after being a chef for a lifetime, he had misjudged a young man.

While the old man was distracted, He Yuzhu had already prepared the candied yam. He Yuzhu brought the candied yam to the old man and said, "Master, please try this candied yam I made."

The old man came back to his senses after hearing He Yuzhu's shout. Looking at the perfect sweet potato on the table in front of him, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. After making sure that he was not mistaken, he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and said, "Young man, wait a moment. I will call the other judges." After that, the old man ran away.

After a while, the old man brought 4 other old men of the same age with him. They first looked at the candied yam on the table, then looked at He Yuzhu standing beside him. Finally, the eyes of the 5 old men were focused on the gray-haired old man in the middle. The old man could only take the chopsticks on the table and pick up a piece of candied yam. After picking it up, the old man found that the yam had long sugar threads, so he quickly dipped it in the cold water on the plate next to him. After putting the candied yam into his mouth, the old man was stunned, and then slowly chewed it and swallowed it.

Seeing this, several old men nearby quickly picked up their chopsticks and picked up a piece of candied yam and put it in their mouths. The result was that they didn't know until they ate it, and they kept silent. Finally, the old man who initially received He Yuzhu said, "Young man, you said you are good at Sichuan cuisine, right? Cook a Sichuan dish. Let me see how good you are at it. This time, you can make Mapo Tofu."

He Yuzhu nodded and turned to walk to the food area, picked up a piece of tofu and a piece of pork, and then went to the operation area to cook swiftly. The five old men stood by and watched He Yuzhu cooking intently.

After He Yuzhu finished making the Mapo Tofu and brought it to the table, the old man who had instructed He Yuzhu to make the Mapo Tofu took out a spoon and came to the Mapo Tofu made by He Yuzhu. Looking at the rosy red and white Mapo Tofu, the old man used the spoon to gently scoop a piece of tofu and put it into his mouth. The old man was stunned when the tofu was put into his mouth, and then he slowly chewed it. Seeing this, the other judges also took out small spoons and scooped a piece of tofu into their mouths. After eating the tofu made by He Yuzhu, the old men were silent again.

He Yuzhu looked at the judges who were silent while eating, and couldn't help asking, "Master chefs, how was my dish?"

After listening to He Yuzhu's words, the five elders looked at each other, and finally the elder next to He Yuzhu blushed and said, "Young man, we are not talking not because there is something wrong with your cooking, but on the contrary, your cooking is too good, far exceeding our expectations. We can't give you an answer about your rating for now, we need to discuss it, you go back first, and wait for us to discuss the result, then someone will notify you."

Seeing this, He Yuzhu could only turn around and walk out of the examination room. However, just after He Yuzhu took a few steps, an old man suddenly called out to him, "Young man, who did you learn Shandong cuisine from?"

He Yuzhu stopped, turned around and replied, "My master is Wu Baotian from Fengze Garden." After saying that, He Yuzhu turned around and continued walking out.