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

"I'm just a cook, how can I help you? Tell me first," Sha Zhu said, wanting to get rid of her as soon as possible, so he could only listen to what Liu Lan had to say.

"I have a good friend who is my neighbor, and she's getting married soon."

She said the groom's family didn't want a big wedding, so they just hired a random cook.

My sister felt uncomfortable just dealing with the neighbors, and she kept complaining to me during our conversation.

I heard from Aunt Liu and the others that you learned to cook at Fengzeyuan Restaurant.

"I wanted to ask how good your cooking is. Could you help me out, my friend?" Liu Lan looked at Sha Zhu with her big eyes, as if to say, "Such a good thing, you should agree quickly."

"Liu Lan, are you married?" Instead of answering Liu Lan's question, Sha Zhu asked a completely unrelated one.

"Master He, why are you asking me this? Let me tell you, I don't even look at you."

You didn't even bother to find out; the whole factory is practically talking about your family's situation.

Although you and your sister are a bit pitiful, you are too young, and besides, my family is arranging a marriage for me.

Given your family's situation, even if I were willing to wait, my parents would definitely not agree.

Sha Zhu was dumbfounded. Was that what I meant?

"Liu Lan, what are you thinking? What I mean is, you're not young anymore, and your family has started arranging marriages for you. Can't you use your brain for once?"

"What do you mean I don't have a brain?" Liu Lan stared at Sha Zhu with a fierce look in her eyes.

Sha Zhu wasn't afraid at all, and said nonchalantly,

"Your friend is getting married, and the groom's family is holding a banquet. You yourself said that the groom's family doesn't want a big celebration, so why are you worrying about it?"

"Why would I worry about that? She's my best friend, do you think I want to get involved?" Liu Lan said anxiously.

"Yes, yes, yes, let's put it this way: the groom doesn't want a big celebration, but your sister thinks it's a once-in-a-lifetime event."

If you want to have a big celebration, and you drag me along, wouldn't that be putting the groom's family in a bad light?

Did the man agree to you hiring a chef? Aren't you just meddling in other people's business?

"How am I meddling? I'm just looking out for my sister. If you're a good cook..."

We're all colleagues. I'll talk to my friend, and she can tell you to lower your wages a bit.

Sha Zhu thought to himself, "Yeah, why am I wasting my breath talking to you like this?"

"Um, Liu Lan, I'm sorry, my cooking skills are just so-so."

I worked odd jobs at Fengzeyuan for over two years, and the only thing I could manage to cook a decent large pot of stew, nothing else.

I'm still living at my master's house, learning my craft from him. My master forbade me to accept any banquets before I completed my apprenticeship.

"Master He, you can just say your cooking skills are no good, why waste so much breath on me?" Liu Lan said angrily.

Sha Zhu thought to himself, "This is also my fault. It's not like I was the one who went to find you."

"Yes, yes, it's my fault. Go ask Master Zhao and Master Yang. I can't help you with this," Sha Zhu said, waving his hand.

"What kind of person is this? First, they ask me if I'm married, then they say I'm meddling and don't have a brain."

"I think you're the one who's brainless, your whole family is brainless." Liu Lan said, then turned and walked away.

Sha Zhu had originally planned to help Liu Lan see the true colors of her fiancé and dump that scumbag when he had more time.

He's looking for a new, better husband. Well, I guess I was just being presumptuous. I should mind my own business.

After Liu Lan left, Sha Zhu got up and left the kitchen, running to the vicinity of the toilet. Finding no one around,

He took out paper and pen from the space and wrote on the paper in regular script.

"Liang Zhipeng, a temporary worker in the cafeteria kitchen near the office area, has serious problems."

He may have been carrying poison, and the workshop technician who helped Liang Zhipeng get a job in the kitchen may have been his accomplice.

The target may damage the workshop's machinery and equipment; the timing is unknown. "This name, Liang Zhipeng, was something Sha Zhu casually asked a cafeteria worker about."

After writing it, Sha Zhu put the note in his pocket, smoked a cigarette, and then...

He took a detour to the office area, scanning Director Lou's office with his mind as he went.

After walking about thirty or forty meters into the office area,

The scanner only detected a sign on the wall outside an office that read "Factory Manager's Office."

In the office, a little girl of about ten years old was lying on the sofa, engrossed in reading a comic book.

There was no one else there. The scanning continued, and in a meeting room on the first floor, a dozen people were having a meeting.

The speaker must be Lou Bancheng. He looks about 70-80% like his character in the TV series, but much younger and dressed smartly.

Sha Zhu listened for a while, and the gist of it was that everyone should arrange their work and work overtime to complete the assigned tasks.

Sha Zhu used his mind to slip the note into the crack of the door to Director Lou's office on the second floor.

As soon as you open the door, the note will definitely float down in front of you, and you'll see it at a glance.

Sha Zhu hid in the space and observed until more than 20 minutes later, when Lou Bancheng finished his meeting and returned to his office on the second floor.

Sha Zhu used his mental scan to see Lou Bancheng open the office door and pick up the note from the floor.

After reading the above, he instructed the little girl not to leave the office and then hurriedly left.

Sha Zhu then left the space, used his mind to retrieve the note Lou Bancheng had put in his pocket, and then left and returned to the kitchen.

As for what Lou Bancheng would do next, and how the note in his pocket suddenly disappeared, Sha Zhu didn't care.

Sha Zhu's departure went unnoticed by the kitchen staff.

They assumed Sha Zhu had gone to the toilet, and not long after they sat down, Squad Leader Zhao came over from outside carrying two fish.

Squad Leader Zhao walked up to Sha Zhu with the fish in his hand and said with a grin,

"Zhu Zi, how about these two big grass carp? I specifically asked the purchasing agent to help me pick out two bigger ones." As she spoke, she held the fish up to Zhu Zi's face and waved them around.

"Great, it's quite big. You bought it so early. Squad Leader Zhao, are the other side dishes ready?" Sha Zhu asked.

"Everything's ready. Let's go to the small canteen. Zhu Zi, you'd better explain things carefully later." With that, Squad Leader Zhao led the way to the small canteen.

When Master Yang saw what was happening, he quickly followed us and came to the small canteen with us.

Upon entering the small canteen, Squad Leader Zhao saw Chef Yang also come in. He glanced at Sha Zhu, and at this moment, Chef Yang spoke up.

"Squad Leader Zhao, I've already spoken to Zhu Zi. This is a rare opportunity, so I'd like to learn from him too."

When Squad Leader Zhao heard what Master Yang said, and saw that Sha Zhu didn't react or object,

He said with a smile, "Okay, then let's learn from Master He together."

Next, Sha Zhu began his teaching session, starting with boiled fish and then moving on to sauerkraut fish.

How to choose the fish, how to prepare it, how to marinate it, and how to cook it—besides the seasonings that Sha Zhu brought—were all covered.

Sha Zhu explained each step in detail. Squad Leader Zhao watched and listened attentively.

Holding a notebook, I wrote down all the steps and asked detailed questions about anything I didn't understand.

It wasn't until both dishes were finished that the two of them snapped out of their dazed state.

"Zhu Zi, this smells amazing! But it's also incredibly spicy. Did they put in too much chili?"

Squad Leader Zhao beamed, inhaling the aroma of boiled fish and pickled fish wafting from the kitchen. Chef Yang looked exactly like Squad Leader Zhao.