Chapter 1: Seventeen-year-old Head Chef
It was late spring, the sixth year after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In the kitchen of a canteen in the Red Star Steel Mill in Sijiucheng.

"Zhu Zi, let's start."

A middle-aged man with a paralyzed face and big puffy eyes was directing a young man to wash, cut and cook vegetables.

The other helpers and apprentices in the kitchen all showed envious expressions.

The young man was only sixteen years old, seventeen in age, younger than himself, but now he had the opportunity to cook.

No matter how good this young man's skills are, at least if he is not his biological father, who would be willing to give him this opportunity?

Middle-aged people are indeed the biological fathers of young people.

But the young man knew that his biological father was about to abandon him and run away to another place with a widow.

But these are not a big deal for young people.

After all, as a time traveler, it is standard for both parents to be dead.

Well, generally speaking, a time traveler also has a younger sister.

The young man thought of his sister, the crying little girl who was almost ten years old and couldn’t even wash her clothes.

When I was eight years old, with the help of the system, my physical fitness was comparable to that of a normal adult.

Because I was tall and strong, my father threw all the housework on me.

In comparison, my sister is much happier than me.

"Zhu Zi, what are you thinking about? Why don't you start the pot yet?"

The middle-aged man He Daqing interrupted the young man He Yuzhu's reverie.

He Yuzhu was not flustered and his hands were not confused. He shook the wok again and finally lifted up the large iron wok weighing more than 40 kilograms with the wok and vegetables.

With a slight tilt of his wrist, the cabbage stewed with vermicelli in the pot poured into the vegetable bowl.

After waiting for the dish to be taken out of the pot, the middle-aged man's expressionless face finally showed a hint of satisfaction.

Of course, this expression was fleeting.

The young man was busy frying the next pot and didn't pay any attention to the expression of the middle-aged man behind him.

The steel rolling mill started public-private partnership this year, and because of the expansion, a lot of people were recruited again.

Today, the total number of regular workers, apprentices and temporary workers in the factory has exceeded 10,000.

In such a large factory, there are five canteens providing lunch.

The canteen is close to the gatehouse and is where workers buy food on their way home, so it has the heaviest workload on weekdays.

Usually at noon, we have to prepare four or five windows and cook ten to twenty pots of dishes.

He Yuzhu cooked five more dishes in succession, a total of six pots of food, without blushing or panting.

This physical strength is far beyond the normal level, but none of the onlookers are surprised. It is obvious that they are no longer surprised by the young man possessing such extraordinary strength.

I still remember that four years ago, when He Yuzhu was twelve years old and just started working as an apprentice in a steel rolling mill, he easily threw a wild boar weighing more than 300 pounds onto his shoulders with his two hands, scaring a group of kitchen helpers.

At that time, everyone was talking about it, saying that if He Yuzhu had a physique twenty years earlier and was born in the war era, he would have been born to make a living by force.

Unfortunately, when He Yuzhu grew up, the world had already become stable.

He Daqing couldn't help feeling proud when he saw his son bringing honor to him.

After his son poured the food from the pot into the basin, he turned around and smiled at the mustache man beside him: "Director Ma, come and try it. How is this kid's cooking?"

Ma Guangyong, the canteen director, picked up his chopsticks and tasted the dishes one by one. After tasting them, he did not comment but turned around and smiled at the other chefs next to him:

"Everyone come and try Master He's cooking."

As the canteen director, Ma Guangyong manages five canteens. Each canteen has a head chef. At this moment, the head chefs of the other four canteens are on the scene.

Hearing the canteen director calling He Yuzhu "Little Master He", the four head chefs immediately understood what he meant: from now on, the four of them would probably have to be on equal terms with a young boy.

Although they thought so in their minds, the chefs rinsed their mouths very carefully before starting to taste the food with chopsticks.

Jiang Liangchen, the head chef of the second canteen, said: "Well, well, Master He's cooking skills are really good. I'm afraid he has inherited Master He's true skills."

Liu Dapao, head chef of the third canteen: "They say that a family of generals produces a tiger. Chef Xiao He's cooking skills are so amazing... in a few years, he will be even better than his master."

Zhao Laoni, head chef of the fourth canteen: "I won't comment on it. Anyway, I will never be able to catch up with them in my lifetime."

Li Xiaotang, head chef of the Fifth Canteen: "Chef Zhao can't do it, so I can't do it even more."

Canteen director Ma Guangyong did not expect that the four chefs would be so awesome, and his face immediately wrinkled with smile:

"It seems that everyone has the same opinion. In that case, Chef He will be temporarily appointed as a Level 6 chef and also the canteen foreman."

Ma Guangyong picked up an audit sheet and an application form and asked the four chefs to sign them respectively to indicate that the assessment was open and fair.

After everyone had signed, Ma Guangyong said hello to He Daqing and then left with his hands behind his back.

I accepted the two hundred yuan from He Daqing last night, and now I can feel at ease with it.

After the canteen director left, the other four chefs congratulated He Daqing and turned back to their own canteens.

There were twelve people left in the canteen, including the chef, helpers, apprentices, and temporary workers. Together with He Daqing and his son, fourteen people in total picked up the steamed buns and began to wolf them down.

It’s almost noon, and we can’t let He Yuzhu’s assessment delay everyone’s lunch.

After lunch, He Daqing took He Yuzhu to the canteen director's office again. After receiving the news that Director Li from the Logistics Department had approved the application form, the two began to stroll around the steel mill.

Under the leadership of He Daqing, He Yuzhu visited leaders of more than a dozen departments.

He Yuzhu understood that this was He Daqing paving the way for himself.

Counting from the Japanese period, He Daqing worked in the steel rolling mill for about sixteen or seventeen years.

That is, when his son He Yuzhu was born, he was already working in the steel rolling mill.

Later, when his wife was pregnant with their second child, He Yushui, He Daqing left for a while. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he came back.

Having worked in the place for more than ten years, He Daqing has accumulated a lot of connections.

He Yuzhu used to follow He Daqing in preparing banquets for others, so he knew most of these people.

However, although they knew each other before, these people only regarded He Yuzhu as a young man, and did not regard him as a dish. Now, He Daqing took He Yuzhu to meet people everywhere, which was equivalent to telling others that He Yuzhu would be the man who could be the head of the He family in the future.

After walking around for a while, the two boxes of cigarettes in He Daqing's pocket were gone, and He Yuzhu followed him back to the kitchen of the canteen.

The canteen director Ma Guangyong informed that there would be no reception today.

He Daqing took He Yuzhu out of the factory.

As a head chef, I have very flexible working hours.

After leaving the factory, He Daqing said to He Yuzhu:
"Zhu Zi, I have something else to do, you go home first."

As soon as He Yuzhu saw his father's expression, he understood and said with a chuckle, "You're going to see the White Widow again, right? I won't leave the door open for you tonight."

"casual."

As early as three years ago, when He Yuzhu was able to go out and earn money by hosting banquets, He Daqing and He Yuzhu, father and son, had already started to have equal dialogue.

Now, He Daqing is going to follow a widow to another place, which is tantamount to abandoning his children. His dignity as a father in front of his son is completely gone.

The father and son said goodbye, and He Yuzhu went to the vegetable market, bought some cooked food, and put it in the space required by time travelers.

When he returned to the courtyard at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, He Yuzhu saw the third uncle Yan Fugui repairing a stool.

"Uncle, this stool is broken, just buy a new one. You have been fiddling with it for more than a hundred days in a year."

"Zhu Zi, you really don't know how to live. Buy a new one, and it won't break. If it breaks, buy a new one. If it breaks, buy a new one. How rich does your family have to be to be able to build something like this?"

The Third Uncle’s principles are all calculations.

He Yuzhu just said it casually, said hello, and then walked through the front yard and went to the middle yard.

There are currently six families living in the middle courtyard. He Yuzhu greeted the neighbor in the east wing first, "Auntie, are you cooking?"

"Zhu Zi, why are you getting off work so early today?"

"I changed my job today. From now on, I will be the head chef. If the boss doesn't entertain me, I will leave work so early."

He Yuzhu said a few words with a smile, and his eyes began to drift to the left.

The two families living in the west room are named Jia and Chen.

The one with the surname Chen just moved here and is not very familiar with everyone yet.

The family with the surname Jia is the popular family of Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu in the famous TV series "Love in the Courtyard".

Mrs. Jia Zhang is now about 40 years old, plump and fair. Her son Jia Dongxu is 22 years old, tall and strong, not inferior to He Yuzhu who is 1.8 meters tall.

The future "Pretty Widow" Qin Huairu has been married for two years. At the beginning of this year, she gave birth to Jia Geng, the eldest grandson of the Jia family, who later became the Thief of the Holy Stick.

The little terrier hasn't grown teeth yet, so he can only eat from Qin Huairu's granary every day.

He Yuzhu had just passed by Qin Huairu when a voice like the cry of an old crow suddenly rang in his ears:

"He Yuzhu, why are you standing next to my daughter-in-law?"

"Aunt Jia, I haven't seen Banggeng for a day. Don't you miss him so much?"

He Yuzhu chuckled a few words, passed by Qin Huairu, left the furious Jia Zhang behind, and turned back into his own main house.

In the courtyard, Jia Zhang knew that He Yuzhu was a scoundrel, so she didn't dare to scold the He family, so she yelled at her daughter-in-law Qin Huairu:

"Qin Huairu, why are you running around the yard with my grandson in your arms when you have nothing to do? Are you trying to seduce a strange man while my son is at work..."

"Mom, didn't you ask me to come out and wash Banggen's diapers?"

Qin Huairu looked miserable. Ever since she married Jia Dongxu, her relationship with her mother-in-law has never been good.

Every day I am either scolded for being a country woman or for having no manners or something like that.

"Can't you get a basin of water and go back to the house to wash?"

Jia Zhang didn't care about that. She was the mother-in-law anyway, so she could scold her however she wanted:
"There is no good person in this courtyard. You should stop talking to other men in the future!"

He Yuzhu, who was hiding in the house, listened to Jia Zhang scolding her daughter-in-law outside the house, and sneered: "This old widow, who was widowed when she was young and did not observe her husband's virtues, can sleep with a man nearby for two or three pounds of noodles, and now she has the nerve to teach her daughter-in-law a lesson."

He Yuzhu was born with the memory of his past life awakened when he was just born.

Therefore, since childhood, He Yuzhu remembered all the big and small things about the Siheyuan clearly.

Why did Jia Zhang say that there was no good person in the courtyard?

It was because more than ten years ago, after Jia Zhang's husband died, in order to raise her son Jia Dongxu, Jia Zhang, a weak woman, became a half-open woman.

When she was young, Jia Zhang had a fair and clean appearance, had many returning customers, and was quite famous.

Basically, all the men in the neighborhood who had some money in their pockets and who often went to play around in secret places had connections with Jia Zhang.

People like Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, He Daqing, and Xu Damao's father Xu Fugui in this courtyard all had connections with the Jia Zhang family.

He Yuzhu had heard about these things when he was a child, walking the streets and doing small business.

Of course, these things happened before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, when Jia Dongxu went to work as an apprentice in a steel rolling mill, Jia Zhang stopped her half-open business and became a good person.

However, after Jia Zhang became a good woman, she did not really live a clean life.

Some old customers in the hospital often made appointments with Jia Zhang to do business in the middle of the night.

This situation has continued to the present.

Last month, when He Yuzhu came back from outside in the middle of the night, he saw Jia Zhang and a man in the backyard crawling out of the cellar.

Therefore, He Yuzhu despised Jia Zhang for her hypocrisy.

Just as He Yuzhu was sighing, the door was pushed open and a little girl ran in: "Brother, have you cooked yet? I'm starving!"

"Okay, it's already been done."

When He Yuzhu saw his sister coming back from school, he hurried to the kitchen, opened the lid of the pot, and actually took out five steamed buns, two hot dishes from the cafeteria, and half a pot of porridge from the space.

He Yuzhu set the table and served a portion of rice. He said to his sister who was washing her hands, "Xiaoshui, serve the rice first. I'll take it to the old lady and we can eat when we come back."

　The timeline of "Love in Siheyuan" is a bit confusing, so I changed it here. He Yuzhu was born in 1940. Qin Huairu married into the Siheyuan in 1953.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)