Chapter 3

"Well, okay, then let's do this: come, I'll take you to the cafeteria, you make a few of your signature dishes; if it works, I'll appoint you as head chef." Actually He Daqing left, Lou Dong knew about it, after all He Daqing had arranged a job for He Yuzhu.

Although He Daqing had He Yuzhu go directly to find the cafeteria director, whether to agree or not ultimately still required Lou Dong to make the final decision.

So before leaving, He Daqing went to see Lou Dong, hoping that out of their past friendship he could give He Yuzhu a meal; constrained by He Daqing's relationship with his current wife, Lou Dong had already agreed, after all it was just an apprentice position, but he didn't expect He Yuzhu to come directly to him, and from what he said it sounded like He Yuzhu's skills were not much worse than He Daqing's.

Of course, what Lou Dong considered wasn't greed, but who could refuse a good cook? It also gives face at some banquets.

Lou Dong led He Yuzhu toward the cafeteria, looking at the bustling factory area, he said to He Yuzhu, "Our factory now has over 1,300 people, and there are two cafeterias; your father previously worked at the second cafeteria, so let's go to the second cafeteria."

"Okay, Lou Dong, I'll follow your lead; I can work anywhere, I know those masters in the second cafeteria, and it'll be convenient to work there too."

Just as Lou Dong was leading He Yuzhu toward the cafeteria, not far away Yi Zhonghai was walking with Jia Dongxu toward the office building, "Elder Yi, is that Sha Zhu? Hey, who is that person next to Sha Zhu?"

"Don't point randomly, that's Lou Dong," he said, then grabbed Jia Dongxu's hand that was pointing at Lou Dong and stopped it. At the same time, Yi Zhonghai also looked at He Yuzhu and Lou Dong, wondering how they could be together.

"Hurry up and go, today we still need to take you to complete the paperwork for work; don't forget what I told you earlier, although apprentices currently have no wages, if you work hard with me, I guarantee you'll finish your apprenticeship in a year."

"All right, from now on I'll start calling you Master, Elder Yi; just treat me like your own son." Then they walked toward the office building.

Inside the cafeteria, Lou Dong said to the second cafeteria cook Lao Jiang, "Lao Jiang, go call Director Liu over; Zhuzi will start working in your second cafeteria from today, let's do a trial cooking."

"Okay, Lou Dong, I'm going now," he said while walking out, Jiang Dahai thought, "What's there to test for an ordinary cook?" Before leaving, He Daqing had found Jiang Dahai, told him that He Yuzhu would come to work in the cafeteria, and asked him to look after He Yuzhu a bit.

Upon hearing that He Daqing was leaving, Jiang Dahai readily agreed, "Don't worry, Zhuzi is our nephew, how could we not look after him?" Actually he was thinking that with He Daqing gone, the position of head chef in the second cafeteria would be his, and he even had a few extra drinks that night. But now Jiang Dahai has a bad feeling, though he doesn't know where it comes from; after all, how good could a teenager's cooking be?

But Jiang Dahai didn't know that the current He Yuzhu is a person from a past life, no longer a teenager.

Arriving at the director's office, Jiang Dahai knocked and pushed the door open, then said to Director Liu sitting behind the desk, "Director, Lou Dong has brought He Yuzhu for a trial cooking; please come over."

"He Yuzhu? He Daqing's son, why is Lou Dong bringing him? Lao Jiang, do you know what's going on?"

"How would I know, Director? I just arrived at the cafeteria, and Lou Dong brought He Yuzhu over, saying he wanted a trial cooking and asking me to call you over; I'm still wondering how an ordinary cook could possibly get Lou Dong to do a trial cooking."

"Let's go take a look," he said, and the two headed toward the cafeteria.

Inside the cafeteria, Lou Dong said to He Yuzhu, "Zhuzi, this way you make three dishes you're good at; what do you want to make?"

He Yuzhu looked around at the ingredients in the cafeteria and said, "Well, Lou Dong, I'll make one dish of sour and spicy shredded potatoes, one dish of pickled vegetable shredded pork, and one dish of twice-cooked pork; what do you think?"

"Okay, Zhuzi, go ahead," Lou Dong nodded and said to He Yuzhu, then sat down.

Just as He Yuzhu was selecting ingredients, Director Liu and Jiang Dahai arrived at the cafeteria; Director Liu hurried over and said to Lou Dong, "Lou Dong, why did you come so early? If you have something, just give me a word."

"Well, it's nothing; Zhuzi found me early this morning, saying his skills aren't worse than his father's and he wants to take over his father's position, so I brought him over," said Lou Dong, sitting in a chair.

"He Yuzhu went directly to you? That's really clueless; He Daqing had already arranged it, I was planning to bring He Yuzhu over these days to see you, but he went straight to you instead," said Director Liu.

"Lao Liu, a teenager just woke up in the morning and his father left with someone; who could bear that? You need to understand, okay, don't overthink it; what does a kid know? Go find someone to give Zhuzi a hand," Lou Dong said to Director Liu.

"Okay, Lou Dong, Xiao Zhang, go give Zhuzi a hand," then he said to Lou Dong, "Lou Dong, let's wait in the side room; I'll pour you some water and we'll wait while drinking," and after saying that he led Lou Dong to the side room.

As He Yuzhu was selecting ingredients, seeing Xiao Zhang approach, he said to him, "Brother Zhang, thanks for the trouble."

"Hey, what's the trouble? I've also studied with Master He for a few days, counting as his apprentice; I say you're capable, kid, going straight to see Lou Dong and even doing a trial cooking—I say you've got what it takes!" Xiao Zhang said to He Yuzhu.

"Brother Zhang, you'll find out soon whether it works; okay, Brother Zhang, I won't stand on ceremony, help me peel the potatoes, and then help me peel the pickled vegetables—does that work for you?"

"Sure, leave it to me; you go handle something else."

He Yuzhu also didn't pretend; after speaking he went to prepare the seasonings at the stove. The stove was still an earthen one, and early in the morning it hadn't been lit yet—He Yuzhu was about to light it when he heard Jiang Dahai say, 'Zhuzi, go prepare something else; I'll have them light the fire.'

'Okay, Uncle Jiang, thanks for the trouble,' He Yuzhu said to Jiang Dahai, then started processing the quick meat.

Two meat dishes: one to be shredded, the other needs to be boiled then sliced. He Yuzhu blanched the pig's hind leg meat, washed it clean, then put it in the pot to boil. After He Yuzhu finished processing and marinating the meat, Xiao Zhang came over carrying the processed pickles and potatoes and said to He Yuzhu, 'Zhuzi, does this look okay?'

'Okay, Brother Zhang, thanks for the trouble.'

'Hey, don't be polite, Zhuzi—do you want me to shred it for you?'

'No thanks, Brother Zhang—I'll do it myself; just watch from the side.' After saying that, He Yuzhu took a porcelain bowl, scooped a bowl of water and placed it in front of the cutting board. He took over the processed potatoes and pickles from Xiao Zhang, picked up a potato and began to shred it.

'Hey, Zhuzi, your knife skills are great!' Xiao Zhang standing nearby exclaimed.

He Yuzhu just smiled and didn't speak, thinking to himself, 'Buddy, I've been a cook for two lifetimes—how could my knife skills be bad?'

After finishing the potato shreds, He Yuzhu also shredded the pickles, then said to Xiao Zhang, 'Brother Zhang, help me watch the fire; let's start now.'

'Okay, leave it to Brother Zhang, you can relax, Zhuzi,' Xiao Zhang said, then took a small stool and sat in front of the bellows.

When He Yuzhu brought the ingredients over, he said to Xiao Zhang, 'Brother Zhang, turn up the fire.'

'Okay, Zhuzi, you watch!' Xiao Zhang said, then added a bit more and pulled the bellows.

He Yuzhu scooped a spoonful of lard from the jar into the pot; the pot over high heat grew hot, the lard sizzled and melted quickly. Seeing the oil temperature about right, he poured a plate of pork shreds into the pot, quickly added the seasonings, then added the pickles, and in a moment the pickled pork shreds were done.

After frying the pickled shreds, He Yuzhu scooped out the boiled pork hind leg meat and placed it in the prepared porcelain bowl, then said to Xiao Zhang, 'Brother Zhang, could you help me serve the dish? I'll clean the pot and prepare the second course.'

'Alright, Zhuzi, I'll serve the dish.'

After Xiao Zhang took the dish away, He Yuzhu poured some water, scrubbed the pot with a bamboo brush, poured out the water, and looking at the clean pot interior sighed, 'It really has to be lard—without anything else the pot can be cleaned this clean.'

Next, He Yuzhu sliced the pork; Xiao Zhang had also come back; He Yuzhu said to Xiao Zhang, 'Brother Zhang, we still need high heat now.'

'Okay, Zhuzi, you watch,' Xiao Zhang said, then sat down again and pulled the bellows.

After finishing the twice-cooked pork and having Xiao Zhang serve it, He Yuzhu began scrubbing the pot to make potato shreds; when Xiao Zhang returned, He Yuzhu started stir-frying the potato shreds, and after a few moments they were done. He Yuzhu brought the dish over and said to Xiao Zhang, 'Brother Zhang, thanks for the trouble—I'll handle the last dish; please clean the pot.'

'Okay, go ahead quickly,' Xiao Zhang said, then picked up a water bucket and poured water into the pot.

In the cafeteria's small private room, He Yuzhu knocked and entered with the dishes, seeing Lou Dong, Director Liu, and Jiang Dahai sitting inside eating and talking, but he didn't see the CD operation. He Yuzhu felt a pang of conflict inside.

After all, Lou Dong, as a big capitalist before liberation, had eaten all kinds of delicacies, and Director Liu and Jiang Hai, constrained by Lou Dong, couldn't just indulge in big eating.

He Yuzhu placed the potato shreds on the table and said to Lou Dong, 'This is the final dish, sour and spicy potato shreds—please try it.'

The three of them tasted the potato shreds together, then put down their chopsticks. Lou Dong said, 'Mm, Zhuzi, not bad—your skill is even better than your father's. Moreover, the serving order is quite thoughtful: first the pickled pork shreds, not greasy or heavy; after finishing, eating the twice-cooked pork, a rich oily dish, won't affect the palate; finally the sour‑spicy potato shreds cut the grease—mm, not bad, not bad.' After saying that, Lou Dong added two more chopsticks' worth of potato shreds.

After taking a sip of tea, Lou Dong said to the two beside him, 'You've also tasted Zhuzi's skill—it's indeed very good. How about this: Zhuzi, you stay as head chef in the second cafeteria, with a monthly wage of 32 yuan. What do you think?'

He Yuzhu hurriedly bowed to Lou Dong and said, 'Lou Dong, thank you—never mind the 32 yuan; even if you gave me not a single cent, just providing a meal would be a great help to me—how could I refuse?'

Hearing He Yuzhu's words, Lou Dong laughed heartily and said to the somewhat listless Jiang Dahai sitting nearby, 'Old Jiang, our factory will be hiring a batch of people next year; the existing cafeteria will definitely not be enough. I plan to convert the storage warehouse for miscellaneous items into a third cafeteria—how would you like to be head chef there?'