Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

He Yuzhu asked for the location of the kitchen, then stood up and went to the kitchen. The minister's wife, who was in the kitchen preparing to instruct the chef to cook, saw He Yuzhu appear in the kitchen and asked in surprise, "Xiao He, what are you doing in the kitchen? Aren't you in the living room talking to your factory director and our Lao Wu? Did you go to the wrong place?"

"Madam, I'm not in the wrong place. I came to the kitchen to make lunch for Minister Wu." He Yuzhu explained with a smile.

"Did I hear you correctly, Xiao He? You said you came to the kitchen to cook?" Minister Wu's wife said in shock.

He Yuzhu nodded and said seriously: "Yes, ma'am, I was actually the chef of our factory cafeteria before, and later became a leading cadre by chance."

"So what dishes can you cook?" Minister Wu's wife asked worriedly.

"I can cook Sichuan and Shandong cuisine. I heard from Director Yang that Minister Wu's hometown is Sichuan Province, so I will simply cook some Sichuan dishes for lunch today." After answering the question from Minister Wu's wife, He Yuzhu said to the chef who was preparing to cook, "Master, what is your name?"

"Just call me Lao Zhang. I don't deserve your surname."

"Master Zhang, please take a break at noon today. I'd like to borrow your tools."

"Please feel free to use it." Lao Zhang said politely.

He Yuzhu looked at the ingredients in the cafeteria and found a piece of good pork belly and a piece of tofu. He Yuzhu thought about it and decided to make a dish of twice-cooked pork, a dish of mapo tofu, a dish of fish-flavored pork shreds, and a dish of boiled pork slices. After deciding what dishes to make, He Yuzhu put on an apron and picked up a kitchen knife to start processing the ingredients.

After seeing He Yuzhu's skillful cutting of vegetables, Minister Wu's wife couldn't help but sigh in her heart: "Xiao He, judging from the way you cut vegetables, I believe you must be a good cook." She carefully observed every move of He Yuzhu and felt that his technique was very skillful, even better than the chef at home. So, she curiously asked He Yuzhu: "Xiao He, can you tell me how many years you had been a chef before you became a cadre?"

He Yuzhu smiled and replied, "I have been learning cooking skills from my father since I was a child, and later I became a disciple of a master. It has been at least eleven or twelve years. Madam, why do you suddenly ask this question?"

After hearing this, Minister Wu's wife suddenly realized: "I see! No wonder you are more skilled at cutting vegetables than our chef Zhang. It turns out that you come from a family of chefs and have been practicing cooking skills since you were a child."

At this time, He Yuzhu reminded Minister Wu's wife, "Madam, I'm about to start cooking. There may be some fumes in the kitchen. Please go to the living room to rest for a while while waiting for dinner."

Minister Wu's wife smiled, indicating that she understood and agreed with He Yuzhu's suggestion. She said, "Okay, then you must perform well. I am looking forward to tasting the dishes you cook and seeing how they taste." After that, she gently opened the door, left the kitchen, and went to the living room to wait.

On the other side, when He Yuzhu went to the kitchen to chat with Minister Wu's wife, Minister Wu and Director Yang talked about He Yuzhu in the living room. "Director Yang, this little He in your factory is really extraordinary. You must train such a talent well when you go back. You must promote him to a more important position. It will definitely be a good thing for you to use him well."

"Old leader, you are right. I let He Yuzhu serve as the director of the steel-making workshop because I saw that he performed very well during the construction of the steel-making workshop. As a result, he did not disappoint me. Under his management, our factory's steel-making workshop has reached full production capacity in less than a month. Originally, the department's task for our factory this year was 30 tons. I have done the calculations. Under his management, our factory should be able to complete about 42 tons this year, which is 40% higher than the task assigned by the department." Director Yang said with a smile.

"You have done a good job in appointing young cadres. We leaders must be brave enough to appoint young cadres, provide them with opportunities to exercise, and let them have the opportunity to show their talents."

"Old leader, you are absolutely right. I will implement your instructions when I go back. Minister Wu, what do you think the higher-ups will think of the article written by He Yuzhu?" Director Yang asked cautiously.

"How should I put it? The article written by He Yuzhu is very much in line with current needs. Since last year, there must have been a vague idea of ​​increasing investment in the steel industry, and He Yuzhu happened to write such an article. As long as we send this article he wrote up, there is a high probability that investment in the steel industry will be increased. Maybe by next year we can really surpass John Bull." Minister Wu said after thinking for a moment.

"With so many steel projects being launched at once, will our country have enough iron ore?" Factory Director Yang asked with a worried look on his face.

"Iron ore production is increasing faster than steel production capacity. It is easy to double our country's current iron ore production capacity by next year," said Minister Wu confidently. Director Yang chatted with Minister Wu for a while.

When it was almost 12 o'clock, He Yuzhu came to the living room and said to Minister Wu, "Minister Wu, the food will be ready soon. Why don't you and Director Yang go to the restaurant to eat and chat."

"Okay." After saying that, Minister Wu took Director Yang to the restaurant.

After arriving at the restaurant, Minister Wu enthusiastically said to Director Yang: "Sit down, sit down." After that, Minister Wu took the lead and sat down at the main seat. When he sat down, he looked at the dishes on the table and said with satisfaction: "It looks pretty good."

"Director He is very good at cooking." Director Yang said with a smile.

Minister Wu ignored Director Yang's words and took a bite of the fish-flavored pork shreds with chopsticks. After eating, he said to the secretary who was pouring wine next to him, "Go check on Xiao He. Why hasn't he come yet?"

As soon as Minister Wu finished speaking, He Yuzhu walked in with a plate of twice-cooked pork. "Minister Wu, this is the last dish. All the dishes are here. Let's eat quickly." He Yuzhu placed the twice-cooked pork in the middle of the dining table. After putting the twice-cooked pork down, He Yuzhu turned and walked towards the kitchen.

When Minister Wu saw that He Yuzhu did not sit down to eat with them but walked out instead, he quickly called He Yuzhu and said, "Xiao He, why don't you sit down and eat with us?"

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Minister Wu, I have some food left for myself in the kitchen, so I won't eat with you and Director Yang."

Minister Wu saw that He Yuzhu was so determined, so he did not try to keep him. After He Yuzhu left, Director Yang hurriedly explained: "Minister Wu, you don't know that before He Yuzhu joined our factory, he learned to cook from a chef in Fengzeyuan. There are rules in their profession, that is, you cannot eat with the host family when cooking."

"It tastes good, really delicious." Minister Wu's wife couldn't help but praise after taking a bite of the dish. She then tasted the other dishes and said directly, "It tastes good, delicious, and really good."

"Old Wu, you don't know that when Xiao He first entered the kitchen, I asked him if he was in the wrong place! When he said he went to the kitchen to cook, I doubted his ability. After all, he looked to be in his early 20s. I didn't expect his dishes to be so delicious. I feel they are better than those in authentic Sichuan restaurants. I really underestimated him."

"Madam, can you guess what level of chef Xiao He is?" Director Yang said mysteriously.

"Isn't he a cadre? How come he passed the chef exam? Isn't the chef exam for workers?" Minister Wu's wife asked curiously.

"It was only when I looked at Xiao He's file that I discovered that Xiao He had passed the first-class chef exams for Shandong and Sichuan cuisines in his worker grade assessment in 56. There are only a few first-class chefs as young as him in the country."

"Director Yang, have you ever eaten Xiao He's dishes before?"

"This is the first time I've eaten this today. Xiao He doesn't work in the cafeteria anymore."

"Okay, stop talking and eat quickly. The food will get cold soon and won't taste good." Minister Wu spoke when he saw that everyone was busy chatting and not eating.

He Yuzhu returned to the kitchen and took a sip of boiled water. Lao Zhang ran to He Yuzhu and said, "Director He, you are really good at cooking. I feel that I am a level 4 chef but not as good as you. You must be at least a level 2 chef."

After hearing what Lao Zhang said, He Yuzhu just smiled slightly while holding the teacup, and didn't say anything, looking like a man who had hidden his achievements and fame.