Siheyuan: The Qing Dynasty is back

In the front restaurant, Lou Zhenghua was explaining some of the rules of Tan’s cuisine to three guests.

The three men were wearing Zhongshan suits, sitting upright, and occasionally exuding bursts of pressure.

Especially the one sitting in the middle, he had a strong murderous aura and you could tell at a glance that he was a soldier with blood on his body.

They all listened with great interest to what Lou Zhenghua had to say about the Tan family cuisine.

To be honest, these people are not locals and have never been exposed to these things before. They can reach their current positions by fighting for their lives on the battlefield.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, they were in high positions and their experiences in officialdom still attracted their interest.

At this time, Lou Zhenghua's wife Tan Yali came over and whispered to Lou Zhenghua the reason why He Daqing was unwilling to come.

After hearing this, Lou Zhenghua could understand He Daqing's thoughts.

After all, ordinary people nowadays are unwilling to deal with officials. Even he would not rush to entertain these officials if the situation was not serious.

Then, Lou Zhenghua laughed and said, "It seems that we don't need to wait. Today's chef of Tan's cuisine is quite reserved. How about we start by ourselves and try his cooking?"

The three guests did not ask any further questions, after all, Lou Zhenghua was the host.

So the three of them began to taste these legendary Tan family dishes under Lou Zhenghua's introduction.

Not to mention that these people had never eaten Tan’s cuisine, even Lou Zhenghua, who had eaten Tan’s cuisine before, was shocked by He Daqing’s superb cooking skills.

Lou Zhenghua felt that the dishes made by He Daqing were more authentic and delicious than those he had eaten at Tan’s Restaurant before.

Even Tan Yali, who was born in the Tan family, admired He Daqing's cooking skills after tasting it.

With this table of delicious food, the atmosphere between Lou Zhenghua and the guests became increasingly better, and everyone was having a great time chatting.

He Daqing and Sha Zhu were eating the reserved dishes in the kitchen, and Sha Zhu's mouth was full of oil.

He felt that his cooking skills were getting further and further away from his father's.

In the past, he thought he had learned 70% to 80% of his father’s cooking skills, but now he feels that his father’s cooking skills are like a bottomless abyss, with no end in sight.

Every time He Daqing tasted a dish, he would tell Sha Zhu what to pay attention to and how to cook it correctly.

Sha Zhu was also listening attentively.

After they finished their meal, Sha Zhu started to clean up the kitchen.

At this point, if there is no notification from the restaurant ahead about additional dishes, then there shouldn't be anything else to do and you can basically just clean up and go home.

When Sha Zhu was almost done cleaning up, Lou Zhenghua walked in with a smile on his face.

He came up and said, "Master He, today I realized that your cooking skills are really amazing. No wonder you went to work as the head chef in the big house. With your level, I guess there won't be many people better than you in the whole city."

He Daqing smiled and replied, "Director Lou, you are too kind. There are always people who are better than you. There are many talented people in our great China. There are definitely many who are better than me, but you just haven't met them yet."

Lou Zhenghua is in a good mood today.

This lunch really made him proud, and the guests all praised the meal after eating it.

Seeing Sha Zhu still cleaning the kitchen, Lou Zhenghua said, "Come on, Master He, let's go to my study to have a cup of tea and chat."

After saying that, he pulled He Daqing to the study.

He Daqing could only ask Sha Zhu to clean up the kitchen carefully, and then followed Lou Zhenghua to the study.

Lou Zhenghua poured a cup of tea for He Daqing and said, "Master He, how about trying this tea? I spent a lot of effort to get this Longjing tea from Suzhou and Hangzhou. It's hard to get it now."

He Daqing picked up the teacup and took a sip. It was indeed delicious, much better than the Gaosui he had been drinking.

"If even Director Lou has a hard time getting something like this, then it must be good stuff. It really tastes good."

If Lou Zhenghua knew that He Daqing compared the Longjing tea he had obtained with great difficulty with the high-quality tea on the market, I wonder if he would get angry and become ill?

Lou Zhenghua also took a sip and said, "The current environment does not allow it. In the past, these things were easier to get and not that precious. Now the control is stricter and many things are hard to get."

He Daqing did not respond to Lou Zhenghua's words.

This is clearly a sign of dissatisfaction and complaints with the current system.

Lou Zhenghua could say this, but he couldn't. In today's society, if these words got out, He Daqing's family would definitely be in big trouble.

During this period, some signs of change began to emerge in the outside world. He Daqing felt that the most important thing at this time was to protect himself. He did not think he had the ability to go against this society.

However, as an old acquaintance of Lou Zhenghua, he felt it necessary to give him a reminder.

So He Daqing said, "Actually, I feel that Director Lou's vision is still a bit narrow. We have strict control here, but some places are still very open. People like Director Lou who are capable and powerful should go out and try their luck. You shouldn't be trapped here."

He Daqing's words startled Lou Zhenghua. He asked uncertainly, "Master He, what do you mean by that? I hope you can explain it clearly."

He Daqing smiled and shook his head and replied, "I'm just a cook. How can I have any other intentions? I was just talking nonsense for a while. Director Lou, don't take it seriously."

Lou Zhenghua had already realized by now that He Daqing definitely knew something.

So he straightened his attitude and said in a gentle voice: "Master He, to be honest, I have been running around for these things recently. Many of my friends have quietly left and gone to other places. They all advised me to make plans early."

"It's just that this is the result of the hard work of several generations of my family. I really can't make up my mind to leave. Over the years, I have gradually handed over many of my properties. I don't think anyone will kill me, right?"

He Daqing looked at Lou Zhenghua who was still holding on to his fantasy, shook his head and said: "Director Lou, I don't understand what you said, I'm just a cook. But I heard someone say this before, and I'll tell you today. If you save the land but lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost! If you save the people but lose the land, both the people and the land will be saved!"

After listening to this, Lou Zhenghua carefully recalled He Daqing's last few words.

He suddenly felt that his thinking had gone astray and that he attached too much importance to the glory of his ancestors.

Think about whether our ancestors also started from nothing and accumulated their current wealth bit by bit. Our current situation is much better than theirs.

However, he still needs to think about this matter carefully. Even if he wants to leave, he can't just leave like that. His position is such that even a small move can affect the entire body, so he must be cautious.

However, Lou Zhenghua really took the man in front of him who claimed to be a cook seriously.

How could a chef think of these things? He felt that He Daqing must know some inside information. As someone who had worked as a chef there, who knew what kind of connections he would have.