Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

Jing Yu blinked and looked at the white ceiling, white sheets, and the slight smell of disinfectant.

A little dazed.

"Are you awake?" Jing's mother called out, and only then did he come back to his senses.

"What am I?"

"He was too tired from working and passed out. It's no big deal." Jing's mother said without any concern.

Jing Yu:......

Is this your biological mother?

"Why do you look like that?" Jing's mother opened a lunch box and handed it to him. The smell of rice immediately made his stomach growl: "Sit up and eat by yourself."

Jing Yu bared her teeth, sat up, took the lunch box, and ate it noisily, saying as she ate, "Mom, am I really your biological child? My goodness, when other children faint, their mothers would cry out loudly."

"You're just talking nonsense." Jing's mother rolled her eyes. "Thinking back to the days on the peninsula..." She paused. "Well, forget it. You're still far behind those predecessors. But are you going to order him around like this?"

Jing Yu paused, took two more bites of food, and shook his head: "It's not like I'm ordering him around. He's right. Some things always require pioneers. He's a civilian, and I'm an official. Whether his ideas are feasible or not is not something he should consider, but something I should consider. In order to verify whether his ideas are feasible or not, I have to work hard..."

At this point, Jing Yu paused, gnashing his teeth and said, "My uncle said that if it's like that in other countries, our country must catch up. How can the people in such beastly countries have such a life? It's not possible in our country! He is right. This is my responsibility. I am in this position, so I have to do the work that belongs to this position."

Mother Jing: ...

I want you to learn from others, not to be fooled by others.

"What on earth did he tell you?"

“He told me not to have any delusions.”

Jing’s mother: ???

No, this is different from what you tasted.

Jing Yu sighed, "He told me that we should do things step by step. Yes, seeing the gap between us and others, we should naturally catch up, but the result of having everything will not be very good, so it is better to change step by step. But no matter how to change, it is not my turn to say or make the decision. All I can do is to help him coordinate these things."

"Mom, to be honest, I don't know if the future he described can be realized, but I know that at least I did it. Things will always get better little by little, right?"

Getting better or not getting better.

Cao Wei didn't know, he only knew that to fool these chefs in front of him was not difficult, but not easy either.

Liu Sandao almost summoned half of the city.

They are all well-known figures, and they all have one thing in common, that is, they have tasted the food cooked by Cao Wei. After having tasted it, they no longer have any doubts about Cao Wei's skills. Cao Wei would not invite some well-known but unfamiliar old guys to come and spoil the show, as that would make him uncomfortable.

"Master Cao, if you have something to say, just say it." The oldest master, Master Ji, spoke first. The name "Master Cao" showed Cao Wei considerable respect and represented Cao Wei's status in the chef world.

Hearing what Master Ji said, everyone present couldn't help but sit up straight.

"My dear seniors, I have asked my master to call you all here today because I have something to discuss with you. This is it..."

After Cao Wei told the story about the food street, all the chefs present fell into silence.

No one spoke first.

To be honest, their working environment is not bad. They are all skilled masters, and most of them work in state-owned restaurants. At this stage, it is unlikely that they will leave the state-owned restaurants and open a restaurant, because there is no need for it. Cao Wei went to such lengths because he needed to practice at the steel mill. They don't have this need, so it's not so urgent.

It is not the late 80s now, and prices are slowly going up. They should not live too comfortably now.

There is a saying that goes, being half a step ahead is a genius, being one step ahead is a madman.

In their view, Cao Wei's current behavior is no different from that of a madman.

"Master Cao." The oldest Master Ji spoke up, "You are kind-hearted. So, explain to us old guys what you can arrange. Even if we old guys can't go, we have some apprentices with good skills who can go with us. Once we have explained it clearly, we can go back and talk to those apprentices. It can be considered a way out."

"Okay, then I'll tell you..."

This talk only lasted about an hour. Afterwards, Cao Wei went into the kitchen himself and prepared a sumptuous lunch before sending everyone away.

After everyone left, Liu Sandao patted Cao Wei on the shoulder and said, "It seems that they are not very interested."

"That can't be helped. Once I make some money, I'll be interested. But at least I'll be given some respect and have more people come."

"That too."

Shazhu was the first to return home.

As soon as I got home, I discussed it with my wife.

"How is it? Are you full? Do you need me to get you some more?" Qi Su said while chewing a white flour bun. They had just started eating.

Cao Wei also asked Sha Zhu to take two dishes home. Now was the perfect time for them to eat and talk.

"Give me two more steamed buns. The senior brother was here just now, so I didn't dare to eat more." Although he is old, Sha Zhu is still timid when he should be.

"to make."

Qi Su gave Sha Zhu two more steamed buns. The family sat down to eat. Qi Su spoke up, "Boss, what did Master Cao say?"

"He said, there are two main options. One is to open a restaurant by yourself. Everything is already set up there, there are small restaurants and larger ones. You can talk to Lou Xiao'e about it then. Another option is to simply join his Samadhi House, which means working under him for a living. Wife, tell me, which of these two options is better?"

"How much does Master Cao give?"

"There's no set number, but he said that with his eldest disciple's cooking skills, the starting price is 200. I know his eldest disciple has solid basic skills, but he can't handle some dishes well. He still needs to practice. Compared with me, he is still far behind."

Sha Zhu was not bragging. He had good talent, otherwise he would not have made a name for himself after He Daqing left.

"So how can we develop it?"

"Hey, there is something to this. I have asked everything clearly." When Sha Zhu talked about this, he didn't even bother to eat the steamed buns. He rubbed his hands and began to talk in detail about the chef classification of Cao Wei.