Silly Zhu's Moving: The Old Neighbor's Nightmare

When both master chefs got up to get busy...

Sha Zhu then noticed that there were still more than half of the potatoes left uncut on Xiao Zhang's cutting board.

Sha Zhu checked the time; there was still time.

In the past, the kitchen knife was taken from Xiao Zhang's hand.

The sound of "crackling" echoed on the cutting board.

Sha Zhu kept talking, "Kid, did you see that?"

This is how you cut dirt! You're dawdling over cutting potato slices here.

When will this be finished? By the time you finish cutting the potatoes, we'll both be fired.

If you don't have the skills, don't create problems for yourself; it'll only cause you trouble.

Sha Zhu glanced at the kid. Sha Zhu's words nearly made him droop his head to the ground.

"Watch carefully how I cut it, and look in which direction."

Learn carefully. Don't even think about becoming an apprentice now; how much you learn depends on your own abilities.

I'll explain it to you once. Just watch how I cut vegetables and memorize how to cut each type.

I've memorized it, and I need to practice constantly. This knife skill for cutting vegetables comes from cutting a lot of vegetables.

Once you've memorized the technique, the rest is just a lot of practice. This is the foundation of a chef's skills.

"If you can't even chop vegetables properly, you can forget about being a chef."

Sha Zhu shut his mouth after speaking; he needed to hurry.

While cooking, Chef Yang was watching Sha Zhu's performance.

Master Yang's mouth was agape, and he even forgot to stir the pan.

"Hey, the pot's burnt," Sha Zhu pointed out.

While reminding Master Yang, he didn't stop working. The people in the kitchen were all dumbfounded as they watched Sha Zhu's performance.

That's incredibly fast! Xiao Zhang just finished an hour's worth of work in a few minutes, and Sha Zhu did it all.

In no time at all, Sha Zhu had finished chopping the vegetables prepared on the cutting board.

Xiao Zhang quickly and observantly moved the chopped vegetables to the stove.

Just as Sha Zhu finished cooking the large pot of vegetables, it was lunchtime for the workers.

Sha Zhu didn't care about serving meals to the workers, as long as there were enough people in the kitchen.

Sha Zhu never even considered going to the food window to serve the workers.

After finishing his lunch, Sha Zhu told Xiao Zhang to notify him if any leaders came over, and then went to find a place to rest.

As long as no leader comes to inspect the work, and no leader assigns work on short notice.

There was basically nothing for the head chef to do; he was just cleaning up the kitchen.

Cleaning is the job of apprentices and temporary workers; there are no overtime arrangements, so they just wait to get off work.

Sha Zhu thought the workload was too easy. After Chef Yang finished cooking,

He's exhausted; that's because he's getting old and can't keep going.

I'm a young man, in the prime of my life, and I don't know where to direct all my strength.

If you could cheat with your mind while cooking, this job would be too easy.

If I train a few more apprentices and they cook for me, I'll become useless.

I don't know what to do when I come to work every day.

Okay, bring a backpack with a few books in it when you come tomorrow. Just to show it off and pass the time.

It wasn't until almost time to leave work that Xiao Zhang came to inform Sha Zhu, who was fast asleep.

Disturbed by Xiao Zhang, I opened my eyes and asked him, bewildered, what was wrong and if a leader had arrived.

Xiao Zhang stared at Sha Zhu, somewhat speechless.

"Master He, after lunch, a leader from the logistics department came over."

The workers finished their shifts normally in the evening; there were no overtime arrangements. Our canteen staff can go home now.

As he spoke, he handed a lunchbox to Sha Zhu.

"Master He, this is the leftover food from lunch for the workers. This is your portion. Master Yang said it was for you."

Sha Zhu stared at the lunchbox being handed to him, a little bewildered. He was getting a lunchbox on his very first day.

Sha Zhu opened the lunchbox and looked inside. It was mostly filled with cabbage and potato slices, and two steamed buns.

"Fine, what would I need it for?" I looked up at Xiao Zhang and said, "Xiao Zhang, where's yours?"

Xiao Zhang was staring at the food in Sha Zhu's lunchbox when he heard Sha Zhu ask him a question, so he quickly replied.

"Master He, only a few senior chefs and older women who have worked here for a long time have it."

Unless there's a lot of food left over, we apprentices who help serve the food can get a share.

"Won't the gatekeeper check if I take this lunchbox out?" Sha Zhu asked.

"They won't check. Many workers got lunch to take home, and some even brought food from home."

The guard at the gate wouldn't ask any questions once he saw it was food. "When your father was alive, he could pack five or six lunchboxes and the guard wouldn't care," Xiao Zhang said enviously.

"Alright, you can take the food. Just wash the lunchbox and give it to me tomorrow."

You don't need to give me leftovers anymore; I've been eating at my master's house for the past few months.

"You guys divide it yourselves, I'm leaving now," Sha Zhu handed the lunchbox to Xiao Zhang and left without paying attention to Xiao Zhang's expression.

When Sha Zhu left the steel rolling mill, some people in the logistics department had already left for the day.

The factory workers are still working hard in the workshop. You know, working in logistics is so comfortable!

But when it came time to get paid, he was unhappy, while Sha Zhu didn't seem to care. He rode his bicycle to school to collect rainwater.

When I arrived at the school gate, there was no one there because I had gotten off work so early.

Only the old man on duty would occasionally look up at Sha Zhu before continuing to read his newspaper.

With forty or fifty minutes left before school ended, Sha Zhu pulled out a Zhonghua cigarette, lit it, and began to think.

That can't be done. They arrive at the factory at eight in the morning and then cook for the workers around ten.

I slept until almost four o'clock after finishing lunch at noon, and then had to wait another forty or fifty minutes at the school gate.

Life is so hard. I can only work for about an hour around noon each day.

All the rest of my time is wasted; it's so boring. And these boring days will continue for a very, very long time to come.

How should we plan this out? Sometimes the cafeteria schedules overtime in the afternoons to prepare dinner for the workers who work overtime.

This is also a problem; if I work overtime, I won't even have time to come and collect the rainwater.

While Sha Zhu was pondering how to schedule his overtime work and how to catch the rainwater...

More and more people were picking up their children at the school gate, and soon the sound of school being dismissed was heard.

When Sha Zhu met Yu Shui and his friends at the school gate...

Just as he was about to pull Liu Guangtian aside to ask him some questions, someone suddenly slapped him on the back.

"Shazhu, you didn't even say goodbye before moving, you just left without a word," Shazhu said, startled.

"Hey, Uncle, you can scare people to death. Can't you be a little gentler?"

"What do you mean, 'Third Uncle'? What are you talking about, Sha Zhu?" Yan Bugui asked Sha Zhu, bewildered.

Sha Zhu was startled. Damn, Yan Bugui had really hit him hard; even the Third Uncle had come online ahead of time. Sha Zhu quickly tried to come up with a way to defend himself.

"I heard that you're electing a steward in the courtyard this weekend, and I heard that there are different ranks for these stewards."

Uncle Yi Zhonghai and Uncle Liu Haizhong in this compound have some influence in the factory and the compound.

"That's the eldest uncle, the second eldest uncle, and the rest are only third, Teacher Yan, since you're somewhat educated. So, it's just the third eldest uncle."

"Shazhu, who told you that? Aren't all the old men supposed to be equal? ​​Each old man only cares about what's in his own yard."

"Even if I'm the manager, I'm still the manager of the front yard," Teacher Yan asked doubtfully.

"Really? That can't be right, Teacher Yan. I'm currently staying at my master's house on Qianmen Street."

Their four-courtyard house has four stewards, namely the First Steward, the Second Steward, the Third Steward, and the Fourth Steward.

The eldest uncle is the most authoritative; if any conflict arises, he basically has the final say in the entire compound, and the other uncles can only obey his orders.

Sha Zhu started spouting nonsense. Before Teacher Yan could speak, Sha Zhu continued,

"Teacher Yan, I have some news for you. Today, in our department—oh, not our department—..."

I've already moved out. It's Yi Zhonghai, Uncle Yi, from your compound.

I fell down the stairs at the steel rolling mill this morning and broke my arm.

That was awful. I wanted to go and help, but there were too many people, so I didn't have a chance.

"No, Shazhu, how did Lao Yi fall down? What happened?" Yan Bugui asked hurriedly.

"How would I know what happened? It's in the office building next to our kitchen."

Our cafeteria manager and Uncle Yi both tumbled and fell from the second floor.

You'll have to ask Uncle Yi for the specifics.

I reckon Uncle Yi won't make it into the selection process for the head of the household this time.

In our compound—no, in your compound.

"Only Uncle Liu with bangs and Teacher Yan have a chance to compete for the position of the eldest uncle,"

Sha Zhu glanced at Liu Guangtian and the others beside him.

"Liu Guangtian, Jiefang, you two go back first. Be careful on the road. Teacher Yan and I will chat here for a while."

After the children left, only rainwater remained nearby.

Sha Zhu said to Yan Bugui, "Liu Haizhong is just a big incompetent fool, all he thinks about is becoming an official."

The key issue is a lack of education; they can't even speak clearly.

Teacher Yan, isn't this your chance?

Perhaps, not only the title of Second Uncle, but even the title of First Uncle, Teacher Yan, you have a chance to compete for.

As long as Teacher Yan makes good use of your strengths, when it comes time to elect the grandpa...

Give everyone a good impromptu speech, and this old man will handle it perfectly. Uncle Liu doesn't have your ability, does he?

By then, Teacher Yan, you'll be the big boss of the compound, practically the local emperor, wielding absolute power, controlling everything, and having the final say.