Rebirth: Starting from the Cafeteria

Chapter 118 Turning decay into magic
"Huh? What's that smell? It smells so good."

Principal Mao's wife had originally come out to mediate the atmosphere. She knew her husband's character best. He had clearly already helped others get things done, but he was still fussing over trivial matters and never spoke tactfully.

Just as she walked up to the bags, she raised her nose and sniffed, and was attracted by the aroma of Dezhou Braised Chicken.

"This is the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] I made myself. Try it and give me some advice."

Du Shaojie immediately followed the lead and walked over to pick up the bag. The two chickens inside were wrapped in oil paper, but the fragrance could not be blocked.

"Okay, then I'll try it."

The hostess immediately took the bag and placed it on the table, then opened an oil paper package and a rich aroma filled the room.

She reached out and tore off a chicken leg, and ate it in small bites. She ate faster and faster, and in a short while, the whole chicken leg was gone into her stomach.

"It smells so good! Xiao Du, what do you do? Your cooking skills are simply amazing."

She still felt a little unsatisfied, but it was not appropriate to continue eating in front of the guests, so she smiled and exclaimed in praise.

"I'm a chef, currently working in the canteen of the Electric Power Industry Bureau. If you like it, I'll bring you two more next time. To be honest, the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] I make is not available outside."

"One serving is enough! Indulging in food is not a good thing. Xiao Du, I will shamelessly keep these two [Dezhou Braised Chickens], and you can take the rest back and give it to your family."

The hostess smiled and left two [Dezhou Braised Chicken].

Principal Mao glanced at his wife, moved his mouth a few times, but ultimately said nothing.

Du Shaojie had no choice but to take the fruits and royal jelly and say goodbye to Liang's mother.

After the guests left, Principal Mao asked his wife, "Is it really as delicious as you said?"

"Really! This Xiao Du's cooking skills are not simple. Come, Lao Mao, you try it too."

Principal Mao didn't believe it, so he walked over, tore off a chicken wing and started chewing it. His eyes suddenly lit up.

The taste is so good that you will want it again after trying it once. I really don’t know how they make it.

Du Shaojie and Liang's mother left the staff quarters of No. 1 Middle School together, and he then expressed his gratitude to the other party very solemnly.

Mother Liang waved her hand and said with a smile:

"I watched you guys grow up, there's no need to be polite about such a small matter. If you really want to thank Auntie, make me a [Dezhou Braised Chicken] later. I saw how delicious it was just now, and I'm a little greedy."

Du Shaojie knew that people were teasing him, but the [Dezhou Braised Chicken] he made was indeed delicious. He would make some and send it to her home later.

He first sent Liang's mother home, and then he returned to his own house.

Wang Yuxiu, Xiaomei and Xiaoya were still awake. Du Shaojie washed his face and said, "Xiaomei, Xiaoya, Principal Mao of No. 1 Middle School has agreed to accept you. However, you still need to take an entrance test, so you should prepare more recently."

"Ah? Brother, did you really accomplish this?"

"Long live my brother!"

The two little girls jumped and danced with joy, and one of them grabbed one of Du Shaojie's arms and refused to let go.

Wang Yuxiu was also very happy, but she felt that it was a little unreal. In fact, in later generations, it was common practice for good schools to compete for good students, but it was not so obvious at the moment.

But this transformation is estimated to take less than two years. Once the college entrance examination is resumed, everything will be based on results.

Du Shaojie then took out a letter written by Principal Mao, and Wang Yuxiu finally accepted the reality of being hungry.

Before going to bed, Du Shaojie checked his gains.

【Bound chef: Du Shaojie】

[Level: Level 3 Chef]

【Current work: Dezhou Braised Chicken】

【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: 162 points\162 points]

【Duration: 1210 hours\5376 hours】

Today, these two [Dezhou Braised Chicken] received an overall rating of “upper or lower”. No wonder they can whet the appetite of a person with a poor appetite.

Du Shaojie felt that his cooking skills had reached a certain point, so he plunged headfirst into the A1 group of the simulated chef skills competition and began a new journey.

However, the A1 group competition was much more difficult than he had imagined.

In his first competition, Du Shaojie was eliminated in the first round and failed to even enter the semi-finals.

But he did not give up. He continued to start from the beginning in the next few days. If he found that he did not master a certain dish very well, he would go to simulate the training scene to gain experience.

This cycle continued, and his performance in the simulation competition was steadily improving. Correspondingly, the remaining time was also consuming rapidly.

【Duration: 1000 hours\5376 hours】

On July 7, Du Shaojie took half a day off.

After breakfast and packing up, he took Xiaomei and Xiaoya out. It was 10 o'clock, but he planned to go earlier so as not to rush on the road and affect Xiaomei and Xiaoya's performance.

Qi Yan also went with them. It was her summer vacation now, and after hearing about this, she insisted on accompanying Xiaomei and Xiaoya to No. 1 Middle School to take the test.

Anyway, they were both Qi Yan's "disciples", and she put a lot of effort into them. When he arrived at No. 20 Middle School, Du Shaojie first went to complete the formalities, that is, to hand over the letter written by Principal Mao to the responsible teacher. The test was conducted in a classroom, and there were not many people, only about students from junior high school and high school.

The test is actually an answer sheet. Du Shaojie and Qi Yan were waiting in the playground, chatting casually.

"Shaojie, how many people do you think are still going through the trouble of going to No. 1 Middle School? Whether their grades are good or not, they still have to rely on recommendations to go to university?"

Qi Yan remembered that her parents had told her about the former glory of No. 1 Middle School. It is certainly not as good as before now. Just look at the few monkeys who came for the entrance test today to see it.

Indeed, Du Shaojie felt the same way.

Think about how parents in later generations would even spend a huge amount of money to buy an old, dilapidated and small school district house in order to get their children into a good school.

But now?

All we can say is that times are different and ideas are different.

"This situation will definitely change. If the college entrance examination is restored, do you think it will be so easy for Xiaomei and Xiaoya to go to No. 1 Middle School? It will definitely be countless times more difficult by then."

Du Shaojie knew that Qi Yan was skeptical about the resumption of the college entrance examination, but he couldn't say more.

Fortunately, the other party had a good foundation and was a teacher, so my casual remark actually played a certain role.

The entire test took 45 minutes. Xiaomei and Xiaoya handed in their papers and went to the playground to find their brother and Qi Yan. After waiting for about an hour, someone called them in and said that both girls had passed the entrance test.

Du Shaojie doesn’t need to worry about the rest of the things. The school will take care of everything and he can just report directly when school starts.

"Yanzi, let's go to my house for lunch and celebrate."

Du Shaojie was in a good mood and planned to show off his skills.

Qi Yan has a special liking for the dishes cooked by Du Shaojie, and she doesn't have many opportunities to eat them normally, so of course she happily agreed.

"Sister Yanzi, what do you want to eat?"

Xiaomei still has a conscience. The reason why she can achieve what she has today is inseparable from Qi Yan's careful guidance.

So she took the initiative to ask.

"Sister Yan Zi, do you want to eat cold noodles?"

Before Qi Yan could answer, Xiaoya gave the answer for her.

Du Shaojie couldn't help but smile. The little sister must want to eat cold noodles, so she asked this.

Qi Yan thought this was a good idea. Cold noodles were more refreshing in such a hot day, so she said, "Let's have cold noodles. Shaojie, is that ok?"

"Sure, why not?"

The four of them were walking home. When they passed by Xinhua Bookstore, Qi Yan took Xiaomei and Xiaoya in to shop for a while.

Du Shaojie separated from them at the entrance of the bookstore. When he returned home and did not see Wang Yuxiu, he went into the kitchen to get some mutton and put it on the table. Then, he went to the alley entrance to exchange for noodles.

After I came back from buying noodles, I ran into Wang Yuxiu at the door of my house.

"Xiao Jie, you guys are back? I went to buy salt, soy sauce and vinegar, and I haven't started making lunch yet. How is it going? Is everything done?"

"Mom, Xiaomei and Xiaoya have passed the entrance exam. They can go directly to No. 1 Middle School to register when school starts. They went to the bookstore with Yan Zi. I'll cook lunch and we'll have cold noodles and barbecue."

"It's all right once it's done. I mean, isn't it hot to make a fire and grill meat in the hot summer?"

As they talked, they walked into the yard.

Du Shaojie was actually planning to make a dish of [Stir-fried Barbecue], and Wang Yuxiu understood as soon as he told her about it.

He immediately started to get busy, and when Qi Yan and his two sisters came back, the cold noodles and fried barbecued meat were served on the table.

Qi Yan couldn't help but eat some more. She felt that Du Shaojie was also a god. Whether he was cooking or making home-cooked meals, he had the magical power to turn decay into something magical. People would never forget it after eating it.

She even thought that it would be great if she could eat the meals he cooked for the rest of her life.

Come to think of it, I feel a little shy.

in the afternoon.

Du Shaojie returned to work.

Liao Yongxin asked a few questions, and when he learned that the matter had been settled, he stopped talking. He actually felt that the other party was making a fuss over nothing. It didn't matter where you went to school, and there was really no need to go through so much trouble.

When it was dinner time, Wang Liwen went to the cafeteria to get food and called Du Shaojie out from the kitchen.

After returning to the city, the two of them had less contact. On the farm, the emperor was far away, but in the office, there were many things to pay attention to.

"I'll wait for you at the entrance of the office after dinner and talk to you about something."

"Okay, see you soon."

Du Shaojie didn't ask any more questions. He went to the back, quickly finished his dinner, and then rode his bike out of the cafeteria.

The two met outside the unit gate.

Du Shaojie pushed his bicycle and walked side by side with Wang Liwen. It gets dark late in the summer, and at this time, the sun had not yet set.

"Shaojie, I plan to transfer to another unit. Yesterday I went to see Director Chen, and Director Chen expressed his support for my idea. Now I am just waiting for the result from the People's Hospital."

The two walked in silence for a while before Wang Liwen started talking about her own affairs.

She felt that she was just wasting her time in the medical office of the bureau, and her professional ability had not improved, but had even deteriorated. If she had reached middle age, she could have simply waited for retirement, but she was only 28 years old and was unwilling to do so.

(End of this chapter)