Six years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was late spring.
Forty-nine City, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, a canteen and a kitchen.
"Shazhu, let's start."
A middle-aged man with a paralyzed face and big puffy eyes directed a young man to wash, chop and stir-fry vegetables.
The other apprentice helpers in the kitchen all looked envious.
That young man is only sixteen years old, actually seventeen years old. He is younger than himself at this age, but now he has the opportunity to cook.
No matter how good this young man's skills are, at least no one would give him this opportunity except his biological father.
The middle-aged man is indeed the biological father of the young man.
But the young man knew that his own father would soon abandon him and follow a widow to another place.
But these are nothing to the young man.
After all, as a time traveler, it is standard for both parents to be dead.
Well, the time traveler also has a sister.
The young man thought of his sister, that little baby who was still crying. She was almost ten years old and couldn't even wash her clothes.
When he was eight years old, he took on all the housework at home.
In comparison, my sister is much happier than myself.
"Silly Zhu, what are you thinking about? You can't even afford the pot!"
The middle-aged man He Daqing interrupted the young man He Yuzhu's reverie.
He Yuzhu was not panicked and his hands were calm. He bumped the pot again with his hand, and then he easily lifted the large iron pot, which weighed more than 40 kilograms, including the pot and vegetables. He tilted his wrist slightly and poured the cabbage and vermicelli stew in the pot onto the vegetables. In the basin.
After waiting for the pot to start, a look of satisfaction flashed across the middle-aged man's expressionless face.
Of course, this expression was fleeting.
The young man was busy cooking a pot and didn't pay attention to the expression of the middle-aged man behind him.
The steel rolling mill became a public-private partnership this year and hired a lot of people. Now the total number of regular workers, apprentices, and temporary workers in the factory has exceeded 10,000.
In such a large factory, there are five canteens serving lunch.
The first canteen, because it is close to the guard, is where workers go to buy food when they go home, and the workload is heaviest on weekdays.
Usually at noon, four or five windows are prepared to cook ten to twenty pots of food.
He Yuzhu cooked five more dishes one after another, for a total of six pots of dishes, without blushing or panting.
Looking at the two chefs who were also cooking next to them, although they were not out of breath, they were sweating profusely and looked somewhat embarrassed.
He Daqing couldn't help but feel proud as he watched his son grow a face for him. After all the vegetables were put into the basin, he turned around and smiled at a man with a mustache next to him: "Director Ma, come and try it, Silly Zhu. How is this craft?"
The director of the canteen, Ma Guangyong, used a spatula to prepare a bowl of food one by one. After tasting it, he did not comment. Instead, he turned around and smiled at the chefs: "Come and try it, Xiao He." The craftsmanship of a master.”
The canteen director is in charge of five canteens, and each canteen has a foreman chef. The foreman chefs of canteens 2, 3, 4 and 5 are all present at the moment.
Hearing that the director of the cafeteria called He Yuzhu "Master Xiao He", the four foreman chefs all felt a little bit in their hearts: From now on, the four of them will not be on equal footing with a young boy, right?
Although they were thinking this in their hearts, several chefs ate very carefully, and then each of them tasted the stir-fried dishes made by He Yuzhu.
Jiang Liangchen, the chef of the Second Canteen: "Well, well, if I insist on mastering Master He's skills, I'm afraid I've already mastered Master He's true skills."
Chef Liu Dapao of No. 3 Cafeteria: "It is said that a tiger is out of reach. Master Xiao He's skills, tsk tsk... In a few years, the master will be better than the master."
Zhao Laoni, chef of the Fourth Canteen: "I won't comment. Anyway, I can't catch up in this life."
Li Xiaotang, chef of Wu Canteen: "Master Zhao is not even good, and I am even less good."
The director of the cafeteria, Ma Guangyong, did not expect that the four chefs would be so capable, and his face suddenly burst into laughter:
"It seems that everyone has the same opinion, so Master Xiao He will be tentatively appointed as a level six chef and the foreman of the first canteen."
Ma Guangyong picked up an audit form and an application form, asked the four chefs to sign their names respectively, and then left with their hands behind their backs.
I accepted the two hundred yuan from He Daqing last night, so I could save it with peace of mind.
After the canteen director left, the other four chefs expressed their joy to He Daqing, then turned and went back to their canteens.
There were twelve chefs, helpers, apprentices, and temporary workers left in the canteen, plus He Daqing and his son, fourteen people picked up the steamed buns and started to devour them.
It will be noon soon, and He Yuzhu's assessment cannot delay everyone's meal.
After lunch, He Daqing led He Yuzhu to the canteen director's office. After receiving the news that Director Li of the Logistics Department had approved the application form, the two began to stroll around the steel rolling mill.
Under the leadership of He Daqing, He Yuzhu visited more than a dozen department leaders.
He Yuzhu understood that He Daqing wanted to pave the way for himself.
Counting from the Japanese period, He Daqing worked in the steel rolling mill for almost sixteen or seventeen years.
That is, when his son He Yuzhu was born, he was working in the steel rolling mill.
Later, when his wife was pregnant with her second child, He Daqing left for a period of time when He Yuyu was born, but later Jianguo came back.
Having worked there for more than ten years, He Daqing accumulated a lot of contacts.
He Yuzhu used to follow He Daqing in making banquets for people, and he knew most of them.
However, they had known each other before, so these people only regarded He Yuzhu as a young boy and did not regard him as a piece of food.
Now, He Daqing takes He Yuzhu around to recognize people, which is equivalent to telling others that He Yuzhu will be the man in charge of the He family from now on.
After wandering around for a while, the two boxes of cigarettes in He Daqing's pocket were gone, and He Yuzhu followed him back to the kitchen of the first cafeteria.
The director of the canteen, Ma Guangyong, informed that there would be no reception today.
He Daqing took He Yuzhu out of the factory.
As a chef, working hours are very free.
After leaving the factory gate, He Daqing said to He Yuzhu:
"Silly Zhu, I still have something to do, you should go home first."
He Yuzhu understood it as soon as he saw his father's expression. He chuckled and said: "Going to see the White Widow again, right? I won't leave the door open for you tonight."
"casual."
He Daqing and He Yuzhu, the father and son, had already started an equal dialogue as early as three years ago, when He Yuzhu was able to earn and spend his own money.
Now, He Daqing is going to another place with the White Widow, and his dignity as a father in front of his son He Yuzhu is even more lost.
The father and son said goodbye, and He Yuzhu went to the vegetable market, bought some cooked food, and placed them in a necessary space for time travellers.
When he returned to the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluogu Lane, He Yuzhu saw the third uncle Yan Fugui repairing the mazaar.
"Third uncle, if this horse is broken, buy a new one. You will spend more than a hundred days tinkering with it all year round."
"Zhuzi, you really don't know how to live. Buy a new one so it won't break. If it breaks, buy a new one. If it breaks, buy a new one. How rich does your family have to be to make it worth building?"
The third uncle's principles were all calculations. He Yuzhu just said it casually. After saying hello, he walked through the front yard and arrived at the middle yard.
There are six households in the middle courtyard. He Yuzhu first greeted his neighbor in the east wing and said, "Auntie, you're cooking."
"Zhuzi, are you getting off work so early today?"
"I changed my job today. From now on, I will be the head chef. If the boss doesn't entertain me, I will get off work so early."
He Yuzhu said a few words with a smile, and his eyes began to drift to the left.
The two families living in the West House are named Jia and Chen respectively.
The person surnamed Chen is new here and is not very familiar with everyone.
The person surnamed Jia is the Jia Zhang family and the Qin Huairu family who are responsible for the popularity in the famous "Love Mansion Siheyuan".
Jia Zhang is about forty years old now, and her son Jia Dongxu is twenty-two, five years older than He Yuzhu.
It has been two years since Qin Huairu got married, and she just gave birth to Jia Gen, the grandson of Jia's parents, who later became the Thief Saint Stick Geng.
Little Banggan hasn't grown teeth yet, so he can only eat from Qin Huairu's granary every day.
Every time He Yuzhu passes by Qin Huairu, he can smell the fragrance of milk.
Just when He Yuzhu was sniffing the sweet milk fragrance in the air, a voice like an old bird's call suddenly sounded from his ears: "Silly Zhu, why are you standing next to my daughter-in-law?"
"Aunt Jia, haven't I seen my godson for a whole day?"
He Yuzhu chuckled and passed by Qin Huairu, leaving the furious Jia Zhang behind and turned around to enter the main house of his house.
In the yard, Mrs. Jia Zhang couldn't scold He Yuzhu, so she yelled at her daughter-in-law Qin Huairu: "Qin Huairu, why are you running into the yard with my grandson when you have nothing to do? Are you trying to seduce a wild man while my son is at work... "
"Mom, didn't you ask me to come out and wash Bangge's diaper?"
Qin Huairu looked miserable. Ever since she married Jia Dongxu, her relationship with her mother-in-law had not been good.
Every day I was either ordered to take care of the housework, or scolded for being a rural woman and not having a tutor.
"Don't you know how to take a basin of water and go back to the house to wash it?"
Mrs. Jia Zhang doesn't care about that. She is the mother-in-law anyway, so she can say whatever she wants: "There is no good person in the courtyard. Don't talk to other men in the future!"
He Yuzhu, who was hiding in the house, listened to Mrs. Jia Zhang scolding her daughter-in-law outside the house and sneered: "This old widow was widowed when she was young and did not follow the rules of a woman. For two or three kilograms of noodles, she can sleep with the men nearby. Now you still have the nerve to teach your daughter-in-law a lesson."
He Yuzhu was "intrauterine", and when he was just born, he awakened the memory of his past life.
Therefore, He Yuzhu has clearly remembered all the big and small things in the courtyard since he was a child.
Why did Mrs. Jia Zhang say there was no good person in the courtyard?
It is because more than ten years ago, after the death of Jia Zhang's man, in order to raise his son Jia Dongxu, Jia Zhang, a woman with no power to restrain a chicken, became a half-door woman.
When he was young, Jia Zhang had a fair appearance, many repeat customers, and was quite famous.
The men who had a lot of money in their pockets nearby, and the men who often went to the secret door to play, basically all had an intersection with Jia Zhang.
In this courtyard, people like Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, He Daqing, and Xu Damao's father Xu Fugui all had relationships with the Jia and Zhang family.
He Yuzhu had heard of these things long ago when he was walking through the streets and doing small business when he was a child.
Of course, these things all happened before the founding of the People's Republic of China.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, after Jia Dongxu went to work as an apprentice in the steel rolling mill, Jia Zhang stopped the half-open business and became a good person.
It's just that Jia Zhang didn't really live a clean life after becoming a good person.
Some old customers in the courtyard often ask Jia and Zhang to do business in the middle of the night.
This situation continues to this day.
Last month, when He Yuzhu came back from outside in the middle of the night, he saw Jia Zhang and a man crawling out of the cellar in the backyard.
Therefore, He Yuzhu despises the Jia Zhang family in his heart, why not let his daughter-in-law Qin Huairu inherit the fine tradition of their Jia family widows.
Just when He Yuzhu was sighing with emotion, the door was pushed open and a little girl ran in: "Brother, have you prepared the meal? I'm almost starving to death!"
"Okay, it's been done a long time ago."
When He Yuzhu saw his sister coming back, he quickly pretended to go to the kitchen, but actually took out five steamed buns, two hot dishes from the canteen, and half a pot of porridge from the space.
He Yuzhu set out the bowls and chopsticks, served a portion of rice, and said to his sister who was washing her hands: "Xiao Shui, you serve the rice first, and I will send it to the old lady. We will eat when we come back."
