Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 167 Banquet Preparations
When Yan Jiekuang returned home, he saw that his mother had put several children on their beds. Yongchang and Yongxin were curiously looking at two children younger than them. Big Fat was okay and didn't make any noise, but Little Fat kept yelling, which made Yang Ruiping laugh.

Yongchang also imitated Xiaopang and responded with "ah ah". As soon as Ji Lian entered the door, he went to find Shi Xiaoya.

Yan Jiekuang said, "What dishes do you have at home? Do you want me to cook?"

Yang Ruiping rolled his eyes at him and said, "Can't you see I'm busy? If you don't cook, you'll have to eat Xiaoya's cooking tonight."

Yan Jiekuang said quickly: "Let me do it, Second Sister-in-law's taste is too strong."

Yang Ruiping said to Yan Jiekuang: "If you have ever been hungry, you will also have a strong taste."

Yan Jiekuang stopped talking and went to the kitchen. He simply cooked four dishes in the evening: pot-fried tofu, shredded potatoes with vinegar, shredded pork with fish flavor, and stewed potatoes with eggplant.

Seeing that there was two scoops of flour at home, Yan Jiekuang made steamed buns and some corn porridge.

Yan Jiekuang was very satisfied with his masterpiece. Just as he was about to shout, he saw the whole family coming in together. Yan Jiekuang thought, they are just waiting for dinner. They are really enthusiastic about eating.

The whole family sat around a large table, and the two little ones also ate some tofu and shredded potatoes and drank a large bowl of porridge.

Several people praised Uncle San's cooking and said that it was still delicious, which made Shi Xiaoya just lower her head to eat, feeling a little embarrassed.

Yan Jiekuang said: "Everyone has his or her own specialties. We cannot judge a person by his or her one skill."

Yan Bugui nodded while eating and said, "That makes sense. Everyone has different strengths, but everyone has their own advantages."

The two little guys nodded in confusion. Yan Jiekuang guessed that they didn't understand, so he stopped talking.

Yan Jiekuang sat at home drinking tea after dinner. Yan Bugui asked curiously, "What's wrong with you? Is there anything else?"

Yan Jiekuang said, "He Yuzhu asked me to cook a meal this weekend. I wanted to give him the menu today, but I've been waiting for him. He hasn't come back yet."

Yan Bugui said, "Then don't wait any longer. He probably won't be back until around eleven or twelve o'clock. It's been like this for a while now."

"Isn't he the canteen director? Why is he so busy?" Yan Jiekuang said.

Yan Bugui said a little unhappy: "Do you think that everyone is like you, with a lower job? He is now the director of logistics, with a lot of things to do. I heard that he is also in charge of the construction of the cafeteria to be expanded, and he is busy all day long."

Only then did Yan Jiekuang realize that he had been promoted. No wonder he was so busy that he couldn't go home. He had just taken office and was very motivated.

Yan Jiekuang did not wait any longer. He went to Yan Bugui's study, took out a piece of paper, and began to write. After he finished, he handed it to Yan Bugui and said, "This is a family dinner for the minister. Give it to He Yuzhu when you see him. I will not wait any longer. The child is too young and needs to go back to rest."

Yan Bugui took the menu, looked at it, and said, "I haven't eaten any of these. You are just taking advantage of outsiders."

Yan Jiekuang rolled his eyes and said, "How about you go get the ingredients and I'll cook it for you? I can't get them."

When Yan Bugui heard this, he immediately stopped and said, "Okay, leave it to me. You can take my grandson back quickly. Da Pang is dozing off."

Yan Jiekuang took his wife and children back to Yuer Hutong. Ji Lian curiously asked Yan Jiekuang what dishes he was going to cook.

Yan Jiekuang told him about his arrangements. Actually, he didn't want to prepare any big dishes. Thinking that the man was in a high position, it would not be good to cook too homely dishes. So he borrowed the dishes from the Yanchen Banquet and prepared four dishes, plus two Sichuan dishes and two palace dishes.

At the courtyard, when He Yuzhu came back, it was Yan Bugui who opened the door. After opening the door, he said to He Yuzhu, "The third brother has been waiting for you for a long time," and then handed the menu to He Yuzhu.

The yard was a little dark, so He Yuzhu went home without even looking around. When he got home, he saw He Xiao acting like a spoiled child and he forgot about the menu.

Time passed quickly and it was the weekend. Yan Jiekuang arrived at the courtyard at noon. The banquet was scheduled for the evening, so Yan Jiekuang planned to go to the minister's house after lunch because some dishes would take a long time to prepare.

When he arrived at the courtyard, he still didn't see He Yuzhu. Yan Jiekuang didn't know what to do. He was thinking about whether he should go to the steel rolling mill. At this time, a jeep stopped in front of the courtyard. A middle-aged man wearing glasses got out and walked straight into the courtyard.

The middle-aged man first saw Yi Jun, who was playing with the child. The middle-aged man politely asked, "Excuse me, does Yan Jiekuang live here?"

Yi Jun didn't even raise his head and said without thinking, "He doesn't live here." The middle-aged man was stunned and didn't know what to do. He said, "No, He Yuzhu said Yan Jiekuang was waiting for me here. What's going on?"

Yi Jun then raised his head and saw the middle-aged man, and said quickly: "I got it wrong. Yan Jiekuang's family is indeed not here, but he is here today, in that room."

As he spoke, he pointed to Yan Bugui's house. The middle-aged man hurriedly thanked him and then walked towards the west wing of Yan Bugui. Just as he reached the door, Yan Jiekuang came out. He was planning to go to the steel rolling mill.

The middle-aged man blocked his way and asked, "Excuse me, is Yan Jiekuang here?"

Yan Jiekuang looked at the middle-aged man he didn't recognize and said, "I am him. Who are you?"

"Hello, hello, I am Minister Wang's secretary. He asked me to come and pick you up." The middle-aged man said quickly.

Yan Jiekuang suddenly realized that everything had been arranged, and quickly said, "Let's go, I do have a lot of things that need time to prepare."

Yan Jiekuang got into the car with the middle-aged man. After the driver saw that he had picked up the person, he drove straight to Minister Wang's home.

As the car drove on the road, the two introduced themselves. The secretary's surname was Zhao, so Yan Jiekuang called him Secretary Zhao. Secretary Zhao said, "Don't be so polite. I'm older than you. Just call me Brother Zhao."

"Brother Zhao, have you looked at the menu? If there is anything unsuitable or you have food allergies, I can change it." Yan Jiekuang said.

Secretary Zhao was stunned and said, "I'm worried about this too. I didn't receive the menu."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he knew that He Yuzhu must have messed up the menu issue, so he quickly said, "It's okay, it's only noon now. I'll write it to you later and ask the leader to take a look."

Secretary Zhao also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm just worried that we don't know what dishes will be served, and Minister Wang won't be able to tell the guests."

Yan Jiekuang said, "Don't worry, I'll write it to you in a moment."

When the car entered the compound of the Ministry of Industry, Yan Jiekuang realized that this was indeed the superior of the steel rolling mill.

When they arrived at Minister Wang's house, Yan Jiekuang didn't go anywhere and asked Secretary Zhao to take him directly to the kitchen, saying that this was the rule for chefs, and when cooking for the host, they could only work in the kitchen. Secretary Zhao nodded in appreciation and took Yan Jiekuang to the kitchen.

The kitchen is very large, with two stoves and a gas stove. It is fully equipped with kitchen utensils, and condiments and sauces are arranged in categories. There is a shelf next to the sink with seasonal vegetables.

Yan Jiekuang was observing when Secretary Zhao came back with a piece of paper and a pen and handed them to Yan Jiekuang. Yan Jiekuang rewrote a recipe and gave it to Secretary Zhao.

Secretary Zhao was a little confused when he saw it, as he had never heard of the dish before. Yan Jiekuang explained it to Secretary Zhao so that he could explain it to his leader.

There are eight dishes in total on the menu, but there are four appetizers, namely honey peanuts, candied golden dates, chestnut cake, and sweet and sour melon.

The main dishes were shredded chicken and white fungus, king prawns, stir-fried beef tenderloin with scallions, and chicken in oyster sauce.

Next were two Sichuan dishes, which were also the two dishes that Yan Jiekuang often ate in his previous life: boiled beef and pickled fish.

The last two dishes are palace dishes, namely box tofu and spring snow. Of course, the bird's nest was prepared by Yan Jiekuang himself, which is one of his few reserves.

Secretary Zhao listened carefully, his eyes lit up, and after understanding the whole story, he left with the recipe.

Yan Jiekuang started picking and choosing ingredients in the kitchen. Time passed little by little, and when it was almost five o'clock, Yan Jiekuang finally finished all the previous work. The appetizers were ready, and he was just waiting for the notice to start the meal.

Yan Jiekuang sat down to rest and was drinking tea when Secretary Zhao came hurriedly and said, "Brother, you have helped me a lot. Let's not talk about anything else. Let's start eating and I will help you."

When Yan Jiekuang heard this, he stood up and said, "This is what I should do."

Yan Jiekuang started to get busy as a banquet was about to begin. What Yan Jiekuang didn't know was that this banquet changed the trajectory of his life.

(End of this chapter)