Siheyuan: Starting with one acre and three fen of land

Stepping into the gate of Fengze Garden again, He Yuzhu began his busy life.

In addition to being busy in the kitchen every day, he also communicated with Wang Yiren and inquired about the latest developments in the bank.

He also often shuttled through the bustling streets of Qianmen Dashilan, observing market changes and looking for the right time to sell his silver dollars.

Since the last successful sale of rice and flour, He Yuzhu's cash on hand has gradually accumulated. Now, after deducting daily expenses, he has as many as 170 silver dollars that he can flexibly mobilize.

But now the war in the South has not yet subsided and the coin market is still unstable.

He Yuzhu was not in a hurry to exchange the silver dollars for paper money. If he acted rashly, he would probably suffer losses due to exchange rate fluctuations.

He chose to keep the silver dollar for the time being and continue to work hard in the kitchen to accumulate more experience and skills.

In the early morning, the sunlight shines through the window lattices of Fengze Garden and shines on the copper and iron cooking utensils in the kitchen.

He Yuzhu and Wang Yiren were concentrating on their work at hand, and the sound of knives cutting vegetables sounded particularly crisp in the quiet morning.

The kitchen knife in He Yuzhu's hand was as smooth as flowing water. His movements were swift and precise, and the leaves quickly turned into even thin threads under his knife.

Wang Yiren watched from the side with admiration in his eyes. He felt that He Yuzhu's knife skills were more sophisticated than before, and his speed was obviously much faster.

He estimated the remaining materials and believed that He Yuzhu could easily handle them all by himself.

He greeted He Yuzhu and turned to the stove. He began to prepare side dishes for the chefs and was busy with various miscellaneous tasks.

Every time the chefs finished cooking a dish, he would actively run over to grab the spoon, trying to learn some cooking techniques from them.

He Yuzhu looked at Wang Yiren's busy figure and immediately understood his thoughts.

He knew in his heart that Wang Yiren wanted to learn cooking skills by using the spoon. After all, Wang Yiren did not have the same unique conditions as him.

As long as He Yuzhu continues to learn and accumulate, his cooking skills will increase, and he can ask He Daqing for advice on cooking techniques that are above his skill level.

After his skills are upgraded, the instilled knowledge and techniques will make up for his shortcomings, and his cooking skills will naturally improve.

He Yuzhu also has the ability to add points - he can add extra points to his cooking skills. This makes his skill improvement speed much faster than ordinary people.

To say that he is an "unprecedented" culinary genius may be a bit of an exaggeration, but to say that he is a "genius born with natural talent" is absolutely well-deserved.

-----------------

In the quiet rest room in the back kitchen, Mou Chaoming and Zheng Youmin sat side by side, with an exquisite tea set placed on the table beside them. The tea leaves slowly expanded in the boiling water, emitting a faint fragrance.

Sometimes they took a sip to savor the sweetness of the tea, and sometimes they talked in low voices, their voices echoing in the empty lounge.

Zheng Youmin put down the teacup in his hand, turned his gaze to Mou Chaoming, and asked with some curiosity: "Master Mou, have you planned to accept Xiao Wang as your apprentice recently?"

Mou Chaoming smiled slightly when he heard this and put down the teacup in his hand. He turned around and stared at Zheng Youmin with a smile.

"Well, I'll have to wait and see. Master Zheng, do you have the same idea?"

There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone, as if he wanted to test Zheng Youmin's true thoughts.

When Zheng Youmin heard Mou Chaoming's answer, he smiled indifferently and shook his head slightly.

"Master Mou, you are joking. I will not compete with you for your apprentice. Xiao Wang is a young man with potential, but I think he is more suitable to learn from you."

Mou Chaoming was secretly relieved when he heard Zheng Youmin's words. He knew Zheng Youmin's status and reputation in the culinary world. If he really wanted to take Xiao Wang as his apprentice, it would be difficult for him to intervene.

He asked in return: "Haha, Master Zheng, are you planning to teach the newcomer He Yuzhu?"

Zheng Youmin took a sip of tea, smiled and shook his head: "I do have some friendship with Master He, so I am willing to give Zhuzi some advice. But as for accepting him as a disciple, forget it.

After all, Master He has superb Shandong cuisine skills, and he has also learned the essence of Tan’s cuisine, so the cooking skills inherited from his family are enough for him to learn.”

The two continued their conversation, and the topic shifted from the apprentice's choice to their respective cooking experiences and insights.

It was not until the kitchen helper came over to report that the two stopped talking and went their separate ways to do their own things.

Mou Chaoming slowly walked into the busy kitchen. The firelight from the stove reflected on his face, adding a bit of calmness to the busy scene.

"Master Mou, this is your menu." When Toudun saw Mou Chaoming, he handed him the menu that Mou Chaoming needed to prepare.

Mou Chaoming took the menu handed to him by Toudun, glanced at the side dishes, confirmed every detail, and nodded slightly to Toudun.

"Then Master Mou, you are busy." Toudun also left consciously to do other things.

As the heat gradually reached the right level, Mou Chaoming heated the pan and poured in a suitable amount of oil. He gently shook the pan to allow the oil to evenly cover the bottom of the pan.

He quickly put the sea cucumber into the pot and gently stir-fried it with a spatula to ensure that the sea cucumber was heated evenly.

As the sea cucumbers roll in the pot, a rich aroma gradually spreads.

At this time, Mou Chaoming put the chopped onion segments into the pot and stir-fried them with the sea cucumber.

His technique is skillful and precise, and each stir-fry is just right, which not only ensures the freshness of the ingredients, but also allows the aroma of the onion to fully penetrate the sea cucumber.

As the frying progresses, the ingredients in the pot gradually take on an attractive golden color.

Finally, Mou Chaoming added appropriate amount of seasoning and continued to stir-fry for a few more times.

He carefully savored the aroma from the pot, making sure the taste was at its best, then he served the fried scallion-fried sea cucumber onto a plate.

Wang Yiren's eyes followed the plate of scallion-fried sea cucumber that had just come out of the pot in Mou Chaoming's hand. He seemed to be able to smell the tempting aroma of the sea cucumber and chopped green onions.

He couldn't wait to take two steps at a time and quickly walked to Mou Chaoming, carefully handing him the spoon that he had just polished.

Mou Chaoming glanced sideways and looked at Wang Yiren's expectant eyes. He took the spoon and nodded slightly to him.

In his eyes, although Wang Yiren is young, he is diligent and studious, and has a persistent pursuit of cooking skills.

Mou Chaoming knows very well that the road to culinary arts is not easy, so he plans to let Wang Yiren experience more hardships in the kitchen.

Wang Yiren is currently mainly responsible for cutting meat in the kitchen.

Mou Chaoming was thinking in his mind that he would wait until Wang Yiren could master the skill and become the first master before considering whether to accept him as his apprentice.

After all, the position of toudun is not easily obtained. It requires not only superb knife skills, but also a deep understanding of the performance, price and proportion of raw materials.

At the same time, the head chef is also responsible for the matching and production of semi-finished products of high-end dishes, and sometimes he needs to compile menus for banquets. This is a heavy task that tests both skills and requires experience.

Wang Yiren was completely unaware of what Mou Chaoming was planning.

He took the spoon from Mou Chaoming's hand and secretly tasted the taste of the spoon. The delicious taste intoxicated him.