Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Chapter 116: Gathering the “Three Major Items”

Although they said Liao Yongxin and Du Shaojie were invited to cook, in fact most of the dishes had already been prepared by others, and they were just waiting for the two to come and cook two of their signature dishes.

Du Shaojie cooked a [dry-fried fish], Liao Yongxin cooked a [boiled beef], and then they were pulled to the table by Cai Ning. Except for Director Luo and Cai Jing, they didn't know the others.

Director Luo briefly introduced both parties, and then everyone focused on eating and drinking, occasionally chatting.

After eating and drinking, Liao Yongxin and Du Shaojie said goodbye first, and Cai Jing accompanied them to the bus stop.

"Master Liao, Master Xiao Du, if you have the chance to go to the south in the future, you must come to see the director and me. I have something else to do, so I won't see you off. See you later."

"See you later."

Liao Yongxin and Du Shaojie each took the bus and left. There were still buses at this time, but if it was later, they would have to walk back.

At night, Du Shaojie reviewed the harvest of the day. It was just one dish, but it received a comprehensive evaluation of "upper and lower".

【Bound chef: Du Shaojie】

[Level: Level 3 Chef]

【Current work: Dry-fried fish】

【Overall evaluation: up and down】

[Bonus: Simulated Chef Skills Competition Duration (60 hours)]

[Rewards: Exchange points (6 points), simulation training time (60 hours)]

[Special Reward: None]

[Exchange points: 48 points\48 points]

【Duration: 130 hours\3096 hours】

Two days passed.

Liao Yongxin quietly told Du Shaojie that there were two weddings this weekend. In the past, he could only accept one and turn down the other, but now he accepted both without hesitation.

"We are all family members, so we should keep the wealth within the family."

"No problem, thank you Master Liao! If they give me cigarettes and alcohol, I'll send them home for you later."

Du Shaojie has no way to accept banquets in the city for the time being, mainly because he is too young and not well-known. Of course, as he gradually builds up his reputation, this situation will change greatly.

Afterwards, Liao Yongxin took out the menu and the two of them studied it for a while.

Sunday.

Du Shaojie rode his bicycle alone to the leather factory, where today's wedding banquet would be held.

Despite Liao Yongxin's endorsement, when he arrived at the host's house, people still looked at him for a long time with scrutiny.

"Master Xiao Du, there are ten tables today. The guests attending the wedding are all important figures. You must do your best to prepare the dishes."

The groom's mother was quite picky. No one else said anything, but she came over and gave some careful instructions.

Du Shaojie smiled and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, I will never let you down."

The man hurriedly pulled his wife away. It was too late to say anything now. It was too late to change the chef. He should be polite at this time. How could he just turn his face away?

So ignorant!

Du Shaojie didn't take it to heart. The host arranged a few helpers, and under his command, they all started to get busy.

The standards for wedding banquets nowadays are all similar, usually 8 hot dishes and 4 cold dishes, the only difference is what the dishes are.

Today's host has arranged several main dishes, including [Dongpo Elbow], [Sweet and Sour Carp], [Beef Stew] and [Kung Pao Chicken].

In addition, some stir-fried dishes will not be served at banquets in the future, but they are very common nowadays.

Du Shaojie first prepared the cold dish, and then began to prepare the ingredients. The preparation of [Dongpo pork elbow] is more labor-intensive, so start pre-preparation early. In short, the time must be arranged well, and there must be no slack when serving the dish.

In fact, he was already an experienced banquet chef, and preparing these ten tables of banquet was not difficult at all.

After he finished his work, the host came to thank him with a pair of wine glasses, smiling.

"Master Du, your skills are beyond my expectation. Today's dishes have won unanimous praise! You really make me proud. My wife is petty, please don't argue with her."

The guests who came to the wedding did not have any high expectations.

But once the dishes came, I couldn’t stop eating them.

These dishes are completely comparable to those in big restaurants. Some people are wondering where the host hired the chef from.

The host's face was beaming, and he was inevitably rude at first but respectful later, but his toast was still full of sincerity.

Du Shaojie only drank one cup and then went to eat. He could ignore the host's previous attitude, but he had nothing to say to them, so he left after eating.

The host gave 80 yuan, a pack of cigarettes and two bottles of wine, which was quite generous.

80 yuan is a lot of money, equivalent to one and a half months' salary for Du Shaojie. But if this money is spread out to each table, he will only get 8 yuan for each banquet, of course, not counting the cigarettes and alcohol.

He harvested another wave today and was very satisfied with the result.

【Bound chef: Du Shaojie】

[Level: Level 3 Chef] [Current Works: Sweet and Sour Carp, Dongpo Pork Knuckle, Beef Stew, Kung Pao Chicken]

【Overall evaluation: Medium】

[Bonus: Simulated Chef Skills Competition Duration (160 hours)]

[Rewards: Exchange points (16 points), simulation training time (160 hours)]

[Special Reward: None]

[Exchange points: 64 points\64 points]

【Duration: 450 hours\3416 hours】

The following days passed by in a dull manner. Du Shaojie went to get off work and came home on time every day. He checked Xiaomei and Xiaoya's homework in the evening. In his spare time, he strengthened his theoretical studies or conducted simulation training.

However, he was not in a hurry to participate in the A1 group of the simulated chef skills competition, as he felt that he was still lacking in some aspects.

They were busy for a while around May Day. There were many people getting married this year, and Du Shaojie and Liao Yongxin were simply too busy to handle it.

There is no such thing as a "Labor Day Golden Week" these days. Labor Day is just a one-day holiday. "Labor Day" overlaps with Sunday, so Saturday and Sunday are combined for a day off.

In two days, Du Shaojie went to two places to organize wedding banquets.

It would be a lie to say that I wasn't tired, but when I looked at the 160 yuan I got, I felt very happy.

There were only a few dishes in the wedding banquet, none of which were too fancy, but they were all what he was good at. After two days of hard work, a total of 12 dishes received a "medium" rating, which also brought him a lot of redemption points and time.

[Exchange points: 112 points\112 points]

【Duration: 1010 hours\4376 hours】

The previous simulation training took a total of 400 hours, leaving 50 hours. In the past two days, he gained 960 hours, which made his remaining time abundant again.

The redemption points have reached three digits, but he hasn’t used them yet, so he will clear the physical rewards in the storage space first.

When Du Shaojie got home from get off work that night, he called Wang Xiuyu aside and asked, "Mom, I saved some money from a wedding banquet I was hosting some time ago. How about we take some time to buy a sewing machine?"

Sewing machines have become a concern for Wang Yuxiu, and she has long hoped to have one. But the family situation is such that even if her son's salary is increased and he earns more than 50 yuan a month, he still can't save much money.

She knew that Du Shaojie had some extra income, but she didn't expect he had saved so much.

"Xiao Jie, why don't you just make a plan and save the money for you to get married."

Wang Yuxiu was very conflicted, but ultimately she felt that her son's lifelong affairs were more important.

Du Shaojie is already 20 years old this year, and it is not too early to consider this issue now.

"Mom, things will get better in the future, so don't worry about it. Anyway, with a sewing machine, you can save a lot on clothes, and you don't have to work so hard."

It is necessary to buy a sewing machine, even if you want to keep it as a collectible in the future.

What's more, the sewing machine is practical and Wang Yuxiu knows how to do sewing and mending.

"Well, you decide what brand of sewing machine to buy. Mom can't choose."

Wang Yuxiu was finally persuaded by her son and nodded in agreement.

Du Shaojie usually doesn't have time, so on his days off, he would call Wang Yuxiu, Xiaomei and Xiaoya together, and the family of four would go to the department store.

After careful selection, Wang Yuxiu chose not to buy the "Flying Man" sewing machine, which is more professional and more expensive. She chose the "Butterfly" sewing machine, but the price of nearly 200 yuan still made her feel distressed.

After getting the invoice and paying the money, they went to buy some cloth, then found a cart and pushed it back home together.

There was an empty space in Wang Yuxiu's room, so she placed the sewing machine close to the window. Du Shaojie was worried that his mother's eyesight would be strained, so he went out and bought a higher-wattage light bulb.

"The weather is about to get hot, so I plan to make a Dacron shirt for each of you three siblings."

Looking at the brand new sewing machine in front of her, Wang Yuxiu began to think.

Du Shaojie nodded with a smile, thinking that this big item was worth buying. After all, people are busy with food, clothing, housing and transportation, so if conditions permit, we should try to make life better for our family.

"Brother, I want to eat jelly"

Xiaomei and Xiaoya will come in soon. Although they can't use the sewing machines, it's comforting to watch, isn't it?
Xiaoya, the foodie, started pestering her brother again, saying that she wanted to eat jelly.

Making jelly requires flour. The local custom is to use mung bean flour as the raw material, but there is neither mung bean flour nor pea flour at home.

"Okay, wait a minute, I'll go buy some mung bean powder."

Jelly is just an ordinary snack. The raw materials required are not much and are not expensive. Du Shaojie immediately went out to the grocery store.

Then, he spent a few cents to buy a lot of mung bean powder and started making it. It is very simple to make jelly. Melt and boil it according to the ratio of one bowl of mung bean powder to six bowls of water, stirring constantly. After it cools down, pour it out and scrape it into thin strips with a spatula.

The key is the sauce. The specific method is similar to the sauce for cold noodles, garlic water, mustard water, soy sauce (soaked with cardamom), vinegar, salt, MSG, chili oil, and finally sprinkle a little coriander.

It tastes smooth, refreshing, fragrant and spicy.

But this thing is not filling enough, I have to cook early in the evening.

The whole day, the house was filled with joy. After all, the family had three big items: a sewing machine, a radio and a bicycle. Xiaomei and Xiaoya felt proud.

Happiness is that simple.

(End of this chapter)