Era: Life's Big Winner

Chapter 22 Liu Hongchang's Standards for Accepting Disciples [Seeking follow-up reading, monthly votes]

"Okay, be there on time tomorrow morning." Liu Hongchang nodded and smiled.

Tomorrow, Sunday, Director Yao has invited a few good friends to his home for dinner and wants to invite Liu Hongchang to be the chef. Liu Hongchang readily agreed.

It is said that Director Yao was very nice to the original owner from beginning to end. The original owner got into a lot of trouble, and it was Director Yao who helped him behind the scenes.

But the original owner is really a bastard. Whoever is nice to him, he will take advantage of it and act like a spoiled brat. He is also an ungrateful person.

For example, Director Yao and Yang Maixiang are two vivid examples. They are very friendly to the original owners, but are often cheated by them.

It is said that whether they are a family or not, they are not the same. Seriously speaking, the original owner was cheated by He Wenhui's family and it was all his own fault.

Although the current Liu Hongchang cannot be said to be a good person, he is not as ungrateful as the original owner and would not offend anyone.

After chatting with Director Yao for a few more words, Liu Hongchang returned to the kitchen, where everyone was busy, so he went over to help.

After seeing off the first wave of guests in the morning, everyone was busy preparing the various ingredients needed for lunch.

Generally, the meals provided by state-owned canteens are mainly aimed at balanced nutrition, good quality and low price, such as stir-frying, boiling soup, stewing meat, etc.

The prices in the cafeteria are relatively low to suit the workers' income levels, with the prices of dishes mostly ranging from a few cents to a few dimes.

Even if the kitchen is busy, the food will not be short of quantity.

The amount of meat is substantial, and is measured accurately using a scale on the chopping board.

The oil used for cooking is carefully refined lard, which is extremely delicious.

There is no MSG in the dish, but it is made from fresh soup made from old hens.

The seasonings usually only include salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and five-spice powder, but the taste is excellent.

If you really have money, you can dine at a big restaurant. The dishes there are also expensive, and a table can cost thirty to fifty yuan.

Such as assorted hot pot, pomfret in tomato sauce, duck, crab meat tofu, smoked fish, braised pig's trotters, orange juice, Maotai liquor, etc.

At around ten o'clock in the morning, after a busy period, Liu Hongchang was sitting in the backyard of the cafeteria smoking, drinking tea and taking a rest when he heard someone calling him from afar.

"Hong Chang, come out!" Houdunzi waved to him from outside the iron gate.

Liu Hongchang put down the teacup, stood up and walked over, smiling and said:
"Brother Dunzi! Tomorrow is Sunday, why are you back early?"

Houdunzi's eyes sparkled, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "I came back to see you because I want to ask for your help."

"You said, as long as I can do it, I will never refuse!" Liu Hongchang restrained his smile and replied solemnly.

Houdunzi smiled, patted his shoulder and said, "It's not convenient to talk here. Why don't we go to my house tonight for a drink and talk?"

"Okay, I'll go home after get off work, tell Wenhui and come over." Liu Hongchang nodded.

Houdunzi shook his head and said, "No need to go home. I've asked Junling to say hello to Wenhui. You can come directly after get off work."

"Okay!" Liu Hongchang nodded in agreement, and then asked enthusiastically: "How about going in and sitting for a while?"

Hou Dunzi smiled and said, "Your sister Junling told me to buy a roast duck and some snacks to go with the wine, so I have to prepare them in advance."

"Is that so? Okay then, see you tonight?" Liu Hongchang understood.

Houdunzi nodded with a smile and said, "See you tonight!"

After he walked away, Liu Hongchang smiled and was looking forward to going to Houdunzi's house in the evening.

Especially when I thought of Gao Junling's reluctant but welcoming attitude in the morning, I felt indescribably hot in my heart.

"We have to have a good meal of dumplings tonight, and beat Sister Junling hard with a stick, hehe..."

Back in the kitchen, Liuzi was cooking. Liu Hongchang went over to watch him and gave some pointers from time to time.

There is no doubt about Liuzi's character. When Liu Hongchang goes into business in the future, he will definitely need someone to help him, so he plans to train Liuzi well.

Liuzi studied very seriously, he knew that this opportunity was hard to come by.

Generally, master chefs have bad tempers. If you want to work in a state-owned restaurant, you must first learn from the chef for three years.

During these three years, he first learned how to cut meat, then how to cut vegetables, and then how to help cook, carefully serving the chef. Liuzi is now a level 10 cook, and has been working for many years, but he can only cook simple home-cooked dishes.

"Master, what do you think of this dish of shredded potatoes?" Liuzi asked eagerly as the dish came out of the pot.

Liu Hongchang pondered and said, "It was a little overcooked, and the potato shreds were a little soft. You should pay more attention to this aspect in the future."

"Amazing! Master can tell the quality of this dish with just one glance." Liuzi gave a thumbs up and praised.

Liu Hongchang laughed and scolded: "Don't be so rude. You can't make a dish of shredded potatoes like this. You still have a lot of room for improvement!"

As he said this, he took over cooking.

Considering the stability of the taste of the food in the cafeteria, Liu Hongchang suppressed his cooking skills and maintained them at about the same level as the original owner.

But even so, the cooking skills of a level 7 cook are attractive enough to be used in an ordinary canteen.

Even the most ordinary spicy and sour potato shreds can be fried to have a bright color, be sour, spicy, crispy, fragrant but not greasy, and go very well with rice.

Soon, a dish was cooked. Liu Hongchang told Liuzi to take the dish away and asked casually, "Did you see anything?"

"Apart from feeling that you are very powerful, Master, I haven't figured out anything else." Liuzi choked and said embarrassedly.

Liu Hongchang said with a smile: "Then learn slowly. I will take you with me when I go out to take private jobs in the future, but I won't pay you."

He won't be a chef for the rest of his life. He wants to take in a few apprentices so that he can do other things in the future.

"Thank you, Master!" Liuzi was overjoyed. "It doesn't matter if I don't get paid, as long as Master can give me more opportunities to learn."

The chefs nearby listened attentively, showing envious looks on their faces.

As a craftsman, if you can learn a skill, it will benefit you throughout your life.

It would be even more exciting if I could get some pointers from the chef and my cooking skills would improve rapidly.

Just like Chef Yang in the cafeteria, because he relies on his own thinking and has no one to guide him, the dishes he cooks always lack a bit of flavor.

Over the years, he has always wanted to reach level seven, but unfortunately he has failed the assessment many times.

If nothing unexpected happens, I can only retire as an eighth-level cook. The difference of one level means completely different treatment.

Having said that, no matter what skill you have, when you are laying the foundation, the only shortcut to improvement is to practice more.

Only when you reach a certain level and want to improve further, do you need talent and guidance from a famous teacher.

Next, whether it was cooking, making soup or cooking meat, Liu Hongchang took Liuzi with him and taught him without reservation.

The people on the side no longer dared to eavesdrop, and even avoided watching when they were doing things. After all, stealing others' skills was a very taboo thing.

At noon when it was busy, Manager Li Mingshun and Director Yao from the cafeteria came over for a look.

Seeing Liu Hongchang teaching his apprentices, they not only didn't say anything, but instead showed expressions of relief.

In the past, Liu Hongchang rarely had the patience to teach his apprentices, but now that he is married, he has become much calmer.

As a canteen leader, I wish I had more chefs under me so that I could go outside and chat with my colleagues and speak with confidence.

"Hong Chang, are you interested in taking a few more apprentices?" Manager Li walked forward and asked with a smile.

Liu Hongchang shook his head and smiled, "Old Li, please don't cause me any trouble. I'm already very tired just taking care of Liuzi."

"By the way, Liuzi hasn't really become your disciple yet, right?" Director Yao walked forward and asked with a smile.

Liuzi quickly replied, "I haven't reached the master's standard for accepting me as a disciple yet, I still need to work harder!"

He can now call Liu Xingchang "Master" with a flattering face, which is also due to their good relationship, but Liu Hongchang has not accepted him as a disciple yet.

"What are the standards?" Manager Li asked with interest.

Liuzi glanced at Liu Hongchang and saw him nod, so he smiled and replied:

"He said that I must be promoted to level eight cook before he would officially accept me as his apprentice."

(End of this chapter)