Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 248: Pillar's Request
Yan Jiekuang had no idea how he got home. When he woke up in the morning, he sat on the bed for a while, thinking about what he said after he was drunk, but he couldn't remember anything at all. As for who sent him back, he had no idea. After a while, Ji Lian walked in from outside with a basin of water.

"Hurry up and wash yourself. You smell of alcohol and I don't know how much you drank." Ji Lian complained.

Yan Jiekuang also felt a little apologetic, but he said, "How did I get back yesterday?"

Ji Lian looked at Yan Jiekuang in surprise and said, "Weren't you still awake at that time? It was Brother Cai who brought two young men to bring you back."

Yan Jiekuang was stunned. He didn't remember it at all, but then he put the matter behind him. He went downstairs to wash his face, then took the bowl of porridge handed to him by Ji Lian and started drinking it.

Yan Jiekuang drank his porridge and asked, "Are there any plans at home today? Did you go to the old man's place?"

Ji Lian said, "I just came back from a trip. There's nothing going on at home. The kids are all playing outside. Oh, and mom said we're going to a garden party."

Yan Jiekuang lost interest instantly and said, "I won't go. There are too many people there and I can't see anything. Otherwise, you can persuade our mother."

Ji Lian rolled her eyes and said, "I dare not. My mother has several grandchildren and is very excited. I can only go along with her. I heard that my father is going too."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiekuang said, "Then go. It's rare for our dad to go. By the way, you are not allowed to bring money. Let our dad pay for it. He has money."

Ji Lian rolled her eyes at him and said, "You are such a fool. You only know how to laugh at our dad."

Ji Lian turned and left. Yan Jiekuang thought to himself, "Now that she has left, I am free again. Why don't I go too?" While Yan Jiekuang was struggling with this dilemma, He Yuzhu showed up. He didn't even knock before entering the house. It was unknown when he would change this bad habit.

After He Yuzhu came in, he sat down across from Yan Jiekuang. Yan Jiekuang looked at him, who had just gotten up and came over with messy hair. He asked, "Brother Zhuzi, what's the matter? Why are you running over here so early in the morning?"

He Yuzhu did not shy away from the topic and said directly, "Today, the Sijiucheng Steel Plant came to our plant to discuss the merger. Is this a big deal?"

Yan Jiekuang was stunned and said subconsciously, "Big."

He Yuzhu continued, "The factory leader asked me to find you because Minister Wang has eaten your food and highly recommends it. The leader asked me to cook a meal for you. You can't refuse. This is related to the life and death of our steel mill. You can't just stand by and watch it die."

Yan Jiekuang was unhappy when he heard this. What does your steel mill have to do with me? I am not from your steel mill. No, my whole family is not from your steel mill. He immediately replied, "Brother Zhuzi, this matter has nothing to do with me. Besides, I am not familiar with your steel mill."

When He Yuzhu heard this, he knew that he had gone too far, and he softened immediately and said, "No, brother, I have made a guarantee with the leader. Please help me, just for your second brother's sake."

Yan Jiekuang thought about it and decided that it was nothing to do. Besides, his family still lived in the area of ​​the steel mill. So he decided to help. He then said, "Okay, I'll give Brother Zhuzi a favor. Have you prepared the ingredients?"

He Yuzhu said happily: "Of course, we prepared it half a month ago. We prepared everything that can fly in the sky, run on the ground, and swim in the water. But there is a difficulty. Each table must have four dishes and one soup. No more. This is the rule."

Yan Jiekuang thought for a moment and said, "Is it enough? Isn't it too little?"

He Yuzhu said in embarrassment: "So I came to you, isn't it because I want you to find a solution? Can four dishes and one soup be enough for ten people?"

Yan Jiekuang got angry and said, "What can I do except stew it in a big pot."

He Yuzhu lost his temper, and Yan Jiekuang said, "How about some Northeastern dishes? They are all big pots and will definitely be enough for everyone. Prepare some delicate cold dishes."

He Yuzhu's eyes lit up, and he understood instantly, and said, "That's settled, then you come with me in a while, this stew takes a long time."

Yan Jiekuang nodded, and He Yuzhu left contentedly. Yan Jiekuang was now thinking, has this formalism become so serious? Strictly four dishes and one soup. After a while, Ji Lian came in. Yan Jiekuang told Ji Lian the purpose of He Yuzhu's coming here, and then said, "You guys go play today, I'll go to the steel mill to help."

Ji Lian had no objection, so the couple tidied up the house and went out.

Yan Jiekuang followed He Yuzhu and went straight to the steel rolling mill. Yan Jiekuang had been there before, but he did not expect that it looked increasingly run-down in just a few years. The vacant lot was overgrown with weeds, and the guards were two old men. He Yuzhu greeted them and took Yan Jiekuang in.

It took the two of them more than ten minutes to ride their bicycles to reach the cafeteria under He Yuzhu's jurisdiction.

Yan Jiekuang followed He Yuzhu into the cafeteria. The cafeteria's kitchen utensils were really complete. Yan Jiekuang took a look at the ingredients, turned around and said to He Yuzhu: "The ingredients are quite complete. Now we are still missing something. Let's see if we can buy it."

He Yuzhu frowned when he heard this. He had spent half a month preparing the materials, so they were already complete enough. If Minister Wang had not specifically asked Yan Jiekuang to do it, he would not have gone to Yan Laosan in a humble manner.

Yan Jiekuang saw that He Yuzhu was unhappy and quickly explained, "I just wanted to make a phoenix spreading its wings. I almost got some canned cherries, which are available at this supply and marketing cooperative. I also wanted to bring some walnuts and almonds."

He Yuzhu finally relaxed his frown and shouted, "Chang Li, Ma Hua, go buy some canned cherries, almonds and walnuts, and come back to get reimbursed."

Chang Li and Ma Hua took off their aprons without saying a word and left the cafeteria. Seeing this, Yan Jiekuang nodded and said, "Your disciples are really good."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a fat man coming over, nodding and bowing to greet Yan Jiekuang, and asked Yan Jiekuang what kind of tea he wanted to drink. He Yuzhu smiled and said, "This is my other apprentice, you can just call him Fatty."

Yan Jiekuang gave the fat man a meaningful look, nodded, and turned to prepare the ingredients for the four dishes. The fat man was stunned. He Yuzhu was also puzzled, but he didn't think much about it and said, "Go to work. This is none of your business."

Yan Jiekuang opened four large pots at the same time, namely, pork ribs stewed with beans, chicken stewed with mushrooms, Demoli stewed with fish, and beef stewed with tomatoes.

Except for Demoli's stewed fish which he learned later, he had already mastered the others to perfection. Before noon, the whole cafeteria was filled with fragrance. Yan Jiekuang mainly focused on the cold dishes and made a total of eight dishes, including sugar-fried flat noodles, cocoa peach kernels, red oil duck, spicy noodles, phoenix wings, panda crab meat and shrimp, spicy cucumber, and tangerine peel beef.

When the eight exquisite cold dishes were placed on the chopping board, everyone in the cafeteria was shocked. They just hung out in the cafeteria and had never seen such exquisite dishes. Just as Yan Jiekuang was waiting for He Yuzhu's praise, He Yuzhu actually came over and said weakly, "Third brother, I forgot to tell you, there are three tables in total."

Hearing He Yuzhu's words, Yan Jiekuang almost fainted. He thought to himself, well, I'll just send him off to the west. After all, he still has Minister Wang's things to do. So he turned around and went back to his work.

When everything was done, Yan Jiekuang was exhausted. He took the teacup handed to him and drank from it in big gulps. At this time, a voice beside him said, "Master Yan, are you going to accept an apprentice?"

Yan Jiekuang turned around and saw the fat man who handed over the teacup. He looked at the fat man and said, "Aren't you my brother Zhuzi's apprentice? It's against the rules for you to ask this, isn't it?"

The fat man dodged a little, but still said with a brave face: "I can't learn much from Master He, so I want to learn more. What's wrong with that?"

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "You'd better learn the rules. I have many disciples and I can't teach them all."

After saying that, Yan Jiekuang stood up, handed the teacup back to the fat man, walked over to He Yuzhu, and said, "This has nothing to do with me. I'll leave first. I'm a little tired."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Thank you, Lao San. You've worked so hard today."

Yan Jiekuang turned and walked away. After walking a few steps, he came back and whispered to He Yuzhu, "Your disciple wanted to become my disciple, but I rejected him. This person is not worth having."

After saying that, Yan Jiekuang strode out of the cafeteria and rode away on his bicycle.

(End of this chapter)