Siheyuan, Me and the Yu Sisters

Zhang Renkang rode his bike slowly to the kitchen of the steel mill. Seeing that everyone had finished cleaning up the entire cafeteria, Zhang Renkang sat down with satisfaction when he saw Yang Weiguo and Secretary Liu coming in. Seeing Zhang Renkang, Yang Weiguo pulled him aside and said,

"Renkang, are you good at Sichuan cuisine?"

Zhang Renkang wondered why he was asked this question suddenly, but he still nodded firmly and said

"Director Yang, I am quite good at Sichuan cuisine. Just tell me what you want to eat and I will prepare it for you right away."

Yang Weiguo was also having a headache. He just received a call from his old boss's secretary asking if there was a suitable Sichuan chef, saying that the boss missed the taste of his hometown very much recently. Yang Weiguo wanted to ask Sha Zhu, but then he thought that Sha Zhu was cleaning the toilet and the smell on his body was too strong. Besides, Sha Zhu had made a mistake after all. If the old boss knew that he had asked someone who had made a mistake to cook, he would be very angry. So he had to ask Zhang Renkang first. When he heard that Zhang Renkang was also good at Sichuan cuisine, Yang Weiguo felt relieved and said,

"Pack up first and follow me."

Zhang Renkang was confused and followed Yang Weiguo into the jeep. Yang Weiguo told him:

"When you get there, don't ask anything or talk nonsense, just focus on making your dish."

Zhang Renkang thought, is he going to meet that big boss? That big boss is of high rank. Although he was affected a few years ago, he was called back to take charge of the work as soon as the storm stopped. He is still very capable and important. It turns out that he is Sha Zhu's benefactor. If it weren't for this big boss, Sha Zhu would not have been able to get by.

Zhang Renkang nodded silently and said

"Don't worry about that. I only cook, I don't open my mouth."

Yang Weiguo nodded when he heard him say that. In fact, he wanted to take Sha Zhu with him, but it was really inappropriate. In order to relieve the homesickness of the old leader, he had to let Zhang Renkang go first. Zhang Renkang must know the importance of this matter.

The car drove into a small villa. As soon as Zhang Renkang got out of the car, he saw Xu Damao waiting in the yard with a projector. Seeing Zhang Renkang coming, Xu Damao was very excited and said quickly

"Brother Renkang, you are here too? Do you know who we are meeting?"

Zhang Renkang knew it was impossible to tell him, so he shook his head and said nothing. Yang Weiguo said with a little dissatisfaction

"Xu Damao, watch your mouth. Don't ask questions you don't dare to ask."

Then he said to a young man who had just left the house.

"Xiao Wang, please take this projectionist to the projection room."

Then Zhang Renkang was asked to follow a female elder sister to the back kitchen. When Zhang Renkang arrived at the back kitchen, he looked at the relatively clean kitchen and nodded. The elder sister said

"The ingredients and seasonings are all here, what else do you need?"

Zhang Renkang said with a smile

"That's troublesome. Let me take a look and think about what to cook for dinner."

The woman nodded and left without saying anything. Zhang Renkang looked around and saw a chicken, a carp, a piece of pork, several rounds of pig intestines, radish, cabbage, tomatoes, etc. on the vegetable cabinet.

After thinking about it, I decided to make a dish called Kung Pao Chicken, Twice-cooked Pork, Jiangyou Pork Intestines, and Fish-flavored Shredded Pork. I decided to make boiled fish, which probably didn't exist at the time, and a tomato and egg soup.

After thinking of the method, Zhang Renkang began to prepare the dishes. He quickly shaved a piece of meat from the chicken breast, cut it into dices and put it on a plate. He quickly scraped the fish, removed the big bones, scraped it into slices and placed them on a plate on the side. He then cut the pork and was about to wipe his forehead when he heard a cry from behind.

"Young man, you have great knife skills!"

Zhang Renkang looked back and saw a middle-aged lady watching him prepare the dishes. Zhang Renkang smiled and said

"Thank you for the compliment. As a chef, knife skills are definitely a basic skill. You will become proficient with more practice."

"This Sichuan cuisine doesn't require much knife skills, but Shandong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine require more knife skills."

The middle-aged lady said with a smile

"How old are you? I don't think you are very old."

Zhang Renkang said with a smile

"I'm only 21 years old, and I've been practicing knife skills for several years, so I'm very skilled."

The middle-aged lady smiled and said

"Can I watch you cook for a while?"

Zhang Renkang said

"What's this? If you want to learn, I can teach you."

The middle-aged woman was surprised to see that Zhang Renkang didn't mind her watching and was willing to teach her. After all, she knew that at this time, they were all master-disciple relationships, and many people would be afraid of others stealing their knowledge. She asked in confusion:

"Won't your master be angry if you pass on your skills to others like this?"

Zhang Renkang smiled and replied

"I don't have a master. I figured it all out on my own. And there's nothing to be angry about. I teach everyone in the factory kitchen how to cook. After all, the country is still developing, and we still have to pass on our skills to more people."

"The more people who know this, the more innovations there will be, and the same skills will be better developed."

The middle-aged lady applauded

"Young man, you are really conscious. Thank you for teaching me cooking."

“I’ll learn it later.”

After saying that, he went out with a smile. Zhang Renkang didn't take it seriously. He didn't mind teaching his skills. His cooking skills were acquired through signing in. What was there to hide? It was not easy for others to surpass him.

Xu Damao set up the projector and asked the young man who brought him here flatteringly,

"Hello comrade, what shall we watch? I'll turn on the movie."

The young man said

"We have some films here. I'll get them later. You don't have enough films there."

When Xu Damao heard that the film source was ready, he asked with a smile:

"Brother, who is our leader?"

The young man replied unhappily

"Don't ask around. Didn't Director Yang tell you?"

Xu Damao replied angrily

"I don't ask, I don't ask"

The young man turned and left, leaving Xu Damao with an indignant look on his face, thinking

"Why are you so arrogant? You are just an errand boy."

The middle-aged woman from the kitchen came in and asked

"Young man, are you ready here?"

Xu Damao quickly changed his expression and said with a smile

"I'm here anytime, when do you want to start?"

The middle-aged woman smiled and nodded, then said

"Secretary Wang will bring the slices in a while. By the way, do you know the young man in the kitchen? How is his cooking skill?"

Xu Damao quickly stepped forward and said with an exaggerated expression

"Sister, you finally asked the right question. We are from the same courtyard. This man is so powerful that he has no skills. He is also brave and aggressive. He has beaten many of our neighbors."

The middle-aged woman frowned and thought

"It doesn't look like it. Is this horse-faced guy saying that serious?"

At this moment, a coughing sound came from behind the door.

The two turned around and saw Yang Weiguo standing behind a middle-aged man with a sullen face. The man frowned and said something displeased.

"No more watching, let him go"

Said he left

Yang Weiguo scolded with a sullen face

"Xu Damao, what nonsense are you talking about? What did I tell you to do? Hurry up and pack your things and leave."

He ignored Xu Damao and said to the middle-aged woman

"Sister-in-law, why don't you go and wait a little longer?"

The middle-aged woman glanced at Xu Damao and followed Yang Weiguo. Seeing them leave, Xu Damao regretfully slapped himself in the face. Why didn't this mouth listen to advice? Under the watchful eyes of Secretary Wang, he packed up the projector and left.

The leader's wife met the big leader and said

"Why are you so angry? Why?"

The leader said in a dissatisfied tone

"It is most despicable for such a villain to speak ill of others behind their backs."

The leader had bad memories in the Soviet area before, and was very angry and disgusted with those who spread rumors behind his back. Yang Weiguo quickly apologized and said

"It was all my negligence. I didn't expect the projectionist to have such a problem."

The big leader waved his hand and said indifferently

"It's okay, is the chef okay?"

Yang Weiguo quickly said

"His name is Zhang Renkang. He is indeed from the same yard as the projectionist, but he is the descendant of a martyr. He is 21 years old and just passed the eighth-level chef exam some time ago. His cooking skills are quite good. He is quite prestigious in the factory and is very popular among the workers."

The leader's wife also said with a smile

"This young master is very enlightened"

After talking about what happened in the kitchen, Le's boss said

"This kid is quite conscious. He said it well. Only by not caring about these sectarian prejudices can we develop an industry. Let's wait and taste the cooking skills of this young master."

The leader's wife smiled and said

"Then you wait, I still have to go and learn."

Then he went to the kitchen.