stjorthotic Chapter 86 Liu Lan's Initiative
Chapter 86 Liu Lan's Initiative
He Yuzhu had mixed feelings about Lou Xiao'e. Her relationship with the simple-minded He Yuzhu was a complete accident; through the machinations of the deaf old woman, they had ended up having a child together.
It's certain that Sha Zhu wronged Lou Xiao'e. The other party used Lou Xiao'e to provoke Xu Damao, ultimately leading to him directly targeting the Lou family.
Two mortal enemies fought, yet they made the kind-hearted Lou Xiao'e a victim of their war.
He Yuzhu definitely wouldn't be interested in Sha Zhu. If he didn't have a relationship with Lou Xiao'e, that would be fine. But if he did, he would definitely have to figure out a way out for Lou Xiao'e.
No matter what, he couldn't let her suffer that pain. He had met Lou Xiao'e since she was a child, and He Yuzhu had practically watched her grow up.
Adding to the troubled past of Sha Zhu, He Yuzhu naturally felt uncomfortable around Lou Xiao'e. Having taken over Sha Zhu's body, He Yuzhu naturally had to bear the consequences of Sha Zhu's actions.
However, his current relationship with Lou Xiao'e makes it difficult for He Yuzhu to say many things.
All he could do was try his best to make Lou Xiao'e happy.
"Brother Zhu, what do you think about me finding a job too?"
"What, suddenly remembered you need to work?"
"I'm so bored staying at home every day. I'd rather go out and work so I'll have something to do."
Have you discussed this with your family?
"I talked to my mom, and she disagreed."
"Since your mother disagrees, you should listen to her."
"Sigh, I just don't want to stay at home every day. I don't know why, but Mom and Dad are very worried every day now."
Lou Xiao'e, a naive girl, also has her own troubles.
Because they had known each other since childhood, and He Yuzhu had also attended several banquets at the Lou family's home, the two were quite familiar with each other.
Lou Xiao'e didn't know why, but she felt a special affinity for He Yuzhu when she saw him. The way he looked at her was full of love, just like a parent would.
Lou Xiao'e could easily confide her worries to He Yuzhu.
Seeing the girl's furrowed brows and pitiful appearance, He Yuzhu felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He's not stupid; he doesn't necessarily have to cause trouble.
Knowing the plot well, when he faces Lou Xiao'e, this unfortunate woman, he can't help but think of her bumpy future life.
Betrayed by Xu Damao, the key issue being that her ex-husband led a group to attack the Lou family. In the end, she went far away, returned with her son, only to be tricked by Sha Zhu and Bai Lianhua into being left to care for the animals in the courtyard.
Bai Lianhua's daughter, Xiao Dang, also schemed to take He Xiao's money, wishing she could seize Lou Xiao'e's property for herself.
Sha Zhu, this man, plays no role whatsoever; on the contrary, he is the culprit who forces Lou Xiao'e into this situation.
These consequences will naturally fall on him, and even in order to atone for his sins, He Yuzhu must protect Lou Xiao'e in the future.
He Yuzhu knew very well that whatever Lou Xiao'e and Lou Bancheng did now was ultimately pointless. The best way out for the Lou family was to leave as soon as possible and then return to invest later.
Instead of the current situation, where one is reluctant to donate everything, yet feels anxious and insecure about not donating, and is forced to take the initiative to do things to prove oneself.
Marrying Lou Xiao'e to Xu Damao, a worker, had little effect, but not much. People won't forget your history as a major capitalist because of this, so it still needs to be dealt with.
He Yuzhu simply couldn't say these things. Or perhaps it would be useless to say them; Lou Bancheng wouldn't listen to He Yuzhu.
Their relationship is now just that of acquaintances, so how could Lou Bancheng possibly trust He Yuzhu completely?
Unless he causes a major disaster, Lou Bancheng won't trust him. Ah, what a twist of fate!
Looking at the pretty girl with bright, hopeful eyes in front of him, He Yuzhu could only offer a few words of comfort in a soft voice.
"Xiao'e, I'll cook you a few dishes for lunch. What would you like to eat?"
"Ah, Brother Zhu, I like Grandma's cooking, twice-cooked pork."
"Okay, I'll make you these two dishes for lunch. You'll feel better after eating them."
Lou Xiao'e smiled sweetly, temporarily forgetting her previous melancholy. She didn't know how to explain it, but just talking to He Yuzhu, or even just looking at him, made Lou Xiao'e feel happy.
This is also why she took the initiative to come to the guesthouse to find He Yuzhu. She has known him since childhood, and she always feels at ease whenever she sees him.
Liu Lan quickly came over and handed over a slip of paper, which clearly stated the standards for eight dishes.
He Yuzhu directly prepared the necessary materials and asked Liu Lan to collect them from the warehouse.
The guesthouse didn't have a warehouse; when needed, people would get supplies from a small storage room by issuing a slip. Even the materials He Yuzhu usually sold to the steel rolling mill were mostly stored in the small storage room.
Seeing the note, there's no need to ask; this table of food must have been eaten by Lou Bancheng, Secretary Zhang, and Director Yang.
Although Lou Bancheng is no longer the factory director, he remains the largest director of the steel rolling mill.
When Lou Bancheng comes to the factory, Secretary Zhang and Factory Director Yang will definitely treat him to a meal.
This can be considered normal work under the public-private partnership model, and the leaders don't necessarily want to distance themselves from Lou Bancheng.
Most importantly, Lou Bancheng is now a key figure in helping the factory purchase advanced machinery from outside. Director Yang and Secretary Zhang certainly can't let Lou Bancheng down.
He Yuzhu left Lou Xiao'e in his office and went downstairs to the small kitchen to prepare food.
This noon, we received a total of three tables of catering duties. If it were when Guo Wei and Lu Yi were around, He Yuzhu would have had it much easier.
Having spent a long time with He Yuzhu, the two of them were quite skilled at preparing the side dishes.
They basically know the process of those recipes, but not giving them secret recipes doesn't mean we won't tell them the recipes.
This is also why Guo Wei and Lu Yi can occasionally go out to prepare banquets. Aside from the taste not being comparable to a professional chef, they at least know the recipes.
The four new kitchen helpers who have joined the kitchen are constantly rotating, with a new batch arriving approximately every three months.
Three months is generally enough to learn how to cook large-pot dishes.
Over three months, He Yuzhu focused on teaching them the technique of cooking large-pot dishes. Once they were basically qualified, they would be transferred to the front canteen to work as large-pot dish chefs.
Several new large canteens were built, but there was a shortage of chefs to cook large batches of food. This task naturally fell to He Yuzhu, since he had a good relationship with Li Huaide.
If Li Huaide speaks up, He Yuzhu certainly won't object.
Today, eight of the six canteens in the steel rolling mill are run by chefs who learned their skills from He Yuzhu.
This is the last batch this year. According to Li Huaide's plan, from now on, the chefs who cook large-pot dishes will have to learn slowly from the chefs who have already learned in the large canteen.
There are six large canteens, each with five chefs specializing in large-pot dishes.
The previous few, plus the eight that He Yuzhu trained in this intensive training session, are almost enough.
Now that these four kitchen assistants have completed their two-month training, the small kitchen will arrange for two new kitchen assistants to come over.
If nothing unexpected happens, the two new kitchen helpers will stay at the guesthouse for a long time. He Yuzhu was still wondering if he would run into Ma Hua and Fatty.
He Yuzhu thought this was a good thing, but the constant turnover of his kitchen helpers also brought a lot of trouble to his work.
In other words, He Yuzhu knew that the factory leaders had no choice; otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have accepted such a task.
Do you really think that cooking large-pot dishes is worthless? From apprentice to expert in cooking large-pot dishes, you can go out and cook for banquets directly.
It's easy to make a meal for one or two yuan; you could say they easily learned a family craft from He Yuzhu.
In other words, He Yuzhu had long since transcended the level of an ordinary chef, and he also held a leadership position.
If it were Sha Zhu, or just an ordinary chef, He Yuzhu definitely wouldn't teach him.
Don't be fooled by how these people addressed He Yuzhu as "Master" when they were learning his craft; once they left, they completely forgot He Yuzhu's kindness.
Even later, when he went out to cook and was looked down upon, people would complain that He Yuzhu hadn't passed on his true skills.
He Yuzhu has lived two lives, totaling over seventy years, how could he not understand human nature?
He only chose to compromise because of his identity and circumstances.
He Yuzhu prepared the dishes for lunch, and Lou Xiao'e also came to the private room to eat with Lou Bancheng.
After finishing her meal, Lou Xiao'e took a moment to thank He Yuzhu in the kitchen before leaving with her father in a car.
He Yuzhu stood at the second-floor kitchen window watching Lou Bancheng's car drive away, and sighed inwardly that some things were truly beyond his control.
"What, they're gone, and you're still reluctant to let them go?"
A strong scent of face cream wafted over.
He Yuzhu knew it was Liu Lan without turning around; the other four kitchen helpers were all men.
He Yuzhu ignored the other party, while Liu Lan often liked to joke.
He Yuzhu isn't stupid; he's not sarcastic, but he also doesn't want to have a frivolous argument with Liu Lan.
He Yuzhu took off his apron and walked towards the innermost guest room on the third floor.
This is also his base of operations, and room service staff generally do not assign guests to stay in this room.
This room will only be assigned if there are too many guests on a particular day and no other rooms are available.
As the director of the guesthouse, He Yuzhu naturally knew how many guests stayed on each day.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, He Yuzhu had no suspicions. Liu Lan and the two operators from the telephone room were also taking a temporary rest in a nearby room.
He Yuzhu opened the door, entered the room, and turned to close it.
A figure suddenly pushed He Yuzhu into the house, and then the person threw themselves into He Yuzhu's arms and hugged him tightly.
"Zhu Zi, I like you, I think about you every day."
Looking at the woman's flushed face, He Yuzhu knew that some things had changed.
Liu Lan stayed in He Yuzhu's room for half an hour before hurriedly returning to the room next door.
In other words, no one is wandering around on the third floor right now, and He Yuzhu's chosen room is on the innermost side of the third floor.
He Yuzhu lay on the bed, looking up at the sky, pondering whether his current situation was good or bad.
However, he certainly wouldn't choose to refuse or let go of anything.
To put it bluntly, if I were to actually become an ascetic in this era, that would be truly suffering without any real hardship.
As long as you maintain your principles and don't intentionally harm others, you'll be fine.
He's definitely not going to be a moral exemplar; he'd better just enjoy life while he can.