A Siheyuan Home Brings Good Fortune

Chapter 90 New Year's greetings at Master Zhuzi's house

We had a very happy New Year's Eve dinner. The atmosphere was very lively with Xu Huizhen as the wine jar.

Leave behind a year's sadness, depression, regret and other negative emotions, welcome the arrival of the Spring Festival with the best attitude, and look forward to a smooth year.

In the end, everyone drank too much, but fortunately, everyone had good drinking ability and no one got drunk and acted crazy.

The children had a lot of fun and ate snacks to their heart's content.

Is there anything more joyful for children than this?
He Yuzhu made a lot of delicious food, and Cai Quan had no preparation for the whip, so he had a lot of fun under He Yushui's guidance.

"Brother, before the bell rang, my senior brother told me that Master has asked us to invite you to come over for the New Year celebrations this year.

You said we were here to catch up, but do you have any plans?"

“I don’t have any plans here, except to visit the leaders’ families for the New Year.

"It's a matter of social etiquette. When are you going to your master's house?"

He Yukai also wanted to visit Master He Yuzhu's house. After all, teaching his younger brother and answering his questions was considered a great favor in ancient times.

"Tomorrow, all the brothers will gather at the master's house for a reunion."

"That's no problem. I'll go to my boss's house today to wish him a happy new year. Then our whole family will go tomorrow."

"Okay, big brother"

After saying that, He Yukai rode his bicycle out. In fact, the place he was going was not far.

Director Yang and others visited the homes of all the new and old leaders, dropped off their gifts, chatted for a while, and then left.

There are a lot of people coming to the leaders’ homes today, so I won’t join in.

Anyway, I have never thought about getting into government, so all I want to do is maintain my current relationships.

Zhuzi’s master Wu Weiyang is the chef of Hongbinlou.

He Daqing brought Zhuzi with him to become his apprentice, and Zhuzi was his formal disciple.

In this era, the formal master-disciple relationship, in a sense, surpasses the father-son relationship.

The master teaches you and answers your questions, and that is to provide you with a job.

What's more, Wu Weiyang treated He Yuzhu as his own son, but He Yuzhu, this fool, was fooled by Yi Zhonghai after He Daqing left, and the relationship between them became much more distant.

It was only thanks to He Yukai's ideological work on He Yuzhu that the relationship, which was about to become distant, was maintained.

The master leads the door, and the practice depends on the individual.

This statement is true, but many masters do not pass on all their best tricks to their apprentices until they have graduated.

Since ancient times, many Chinese masters have had the habit of keeping some of their skills to themselves.

On the one hand, it is to prevent the apprentice from starving himself to death.

On the other hand, it is mainly to examine the character of the apprentices and observe which apprentice can inherit his mantle.

A master teaches many apprentices, but in the end only one of them inherits his mantle.

So how can you show that you have inherited your master's legacy? It's the things at the bottom of the box.

Of course, because of this concept, many skills have been lost.

Or they would fight each other to become heirs.

Or, the person died without choosing an heir, and the inheritance was broken.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, He Yuzhu brought his elder brother and sister-in-law, his wife Lou Xiao'e, and several children of the He family to the courtyard where Wu Weiming lived.

Prepared some vegetables, meat and so on.

In this era, what kind of gift is the most precious? Of course, food.

These were all prepared by Xu Huizhen, especially the wild boar elbow.

This was sent to Zhengyang Gate by He Yukai, and this time he also gave it to He Yuzhu.

The pastries in Cai Wenqing and Lou Xiaoe's hands were almost ready.

The family walked in noisily. Wu Weiming's courtyard house was a private one with a separate entrance and courtyard.

He Yukai looked at the courtyard and to be honest, he was quite envious.

A courtyard house like this is really nice.

The whole family lives in it, and no one pays attention to what they eat or do.

Behind closed doors, it is your own world.

Unlike their slums, I guess everyone knows how much oil you use when cooking at home.

A woman was washing dishes at the door, and He Yuzhu recognized her as his master's wife.

"Master's Wife, Happy New Year. Your disciple and his family are here to wish you and Master a Happy New Year."

"Hey, Zhuzi is here. He came early today and is the first one to arrive."

"Master's wife, let me introduce you: this is my eldest brother He Yukai, the director of the security department of the steel rolling mill, my eldest sister-in-law Cai Wenqing, the director of the Women's Federation of the factory, my younger sister He Yushui, my eldest niece He Qian, my eldest nephew He Bing, Yushui is my youngest nephew He Jiang, E Zi and Xiao Xiao, since you know me, I won't introduce them to you."

"Hello, Auntie (Master's wife)"

"Okay, okay, hello to you too, please come in."

He Qian and He Jiang had already heard from He Xiao about his master's grandmother, saying how great she was.

I have wanted to get to know her for a long time, and now when I see her I just follow He Xiao and call her Grandma Master.

Wu Weiming was in the room and when he heard the noise he knew Zhuzi was coming.

Brother Zhuzi should have come as well. It sounds like there are quite a few people here.

I guess the whole family is here, so I quickly go out to greet them.

“Young master of the He family, if it weren’t for you, I don’t think your disciple would even acknowledge me.

I have heard of your name for a long time. I specially asked you to come here this year just to get to know you. I hope it is not too rude.

Master Wu was very polite to He Yukai, maybe it was because of his status!

"Master Wu, you are joking.

You are Zhuzi's master and our elder. Zhuzi was mentally unbalanced at that time because of the passing of my father.

Plus there is a person in our compound with bad intentions.

It is inevitable that I will be misled by an unexpected event or a bad person. Please forgive me, Master Wu."

"Oh? Is there some hidden secret that I don't know?"

Master Wu heard it and realized that it seemed that his apprentice was being plotted against.

"Hey, I'm not afraid of you making fun of me, Master Wu. If you're interested, I'll tell you briefly and you can just listen to it for fun.

Yushui, take the children to the yard to play, they are too noisy.

Zhuzi, you should also go and do your own thing. Today when you come to the master's house, you must show the master your achievements this year and let the master see if you have been lazy this year. "

"Okay, big brother"

At this time, Cai Wenqing and Lou Xiao'e were also called away by the master's wife to talk about some private matters between women.

"Zhu Zi is impulsive and irritable.

It was this point that was taken advantage of by Yi Zhonghai, the manager of our compound.

He brainwashes Zhuzi every day just to get Zhuzi to provide for him in his old age.

Yi Zhonghai has no children, so he is very obsessed with the issue of retirement.

Zhuzi took over the factory, but Yi Zhonghai secretly prevented him from becoming a regular employee.

He embezzled the living expenses sent by my father in order to make Zhuzi hungry.

Finally, he appeared as a savior and gave us some food.

The purpose is to make Zhuzi grateful to him. Now Zhuzi and Yushui don't know about the embezzlement of living expenses.

I have obtained the evidence and will find a suitable opportunity to deal with Yi Zhonghai."

"Yi Zhonghai also tried to sow discord between Zhuzi and Xu Damao, a fellow student of the same age in the compound. He himself mediated between them, favoring Zhuzi and suppressing Xu Damao.

Let Zhuzi think that he is doing this for Zhuzi's own good. Zhuzi also thinks that this is for his own good. Yi Zhonghai is trying to sow discord between you, Master Wu, and Zhuzi.

Say, my father and you are fellow apprentices, how could you not know that He Daqing was leaving?

Use sweet words to make Zhuzi resent you in his heart.

The reason for doing this is very simple, so that when the pillar is in trouble, there is no place to ask for help.

In the end, I can only rely on him. His intentions are extremely malicious. Master Wu, you also know Zhuzi's character. To put it nicely, he has a pure heart, but to put it bluntly, he is simple-minded."

He Yukai briefly introduced the situation in order to make up for Master Wu's grudge and normalize the relationship between master and apprentice.

“I didn’t expect that He Daqing’s departure would lead to such a tortuous event.

It's no wonder. I know Zhuzi's character. If he is really being plotted against and has no one to help him, he will definitely fall into the trap.

I was wondering why Zhuzi came to me to borrow money because he couldn’t survive.

I was also angry at the time, but when my apprentice came so far to borrow money and was so stubborn, I knew something might have happened.

This kid didn't say anything. If he had told others about such a big thing, he wouldn't have been plotted against for several years.

Fortunately, you came back. Otherwise, if Zhuzi met such a person, coupled with Zhuzi's stubborn personality, he would definitely suffer a great loss and would not have a good ending.

As expected of a great chef, he has met all kinds of people.

Through my own few words, I was able to give a general idea.

The two began to talk about other things. Wu Weiming had traveled far and wide and had visited thousands of homes, so of course he had extraordinary knowledge.

What surprised Wu Weiming was that although He Yukai was young, he had extraordinary knowledge.

Even compared to myself, there is not much difference.

"Zhu Zi, your craftsmanship is getting better and better, I can't compare to you.

I didn’t expect that you, at such a young age, would leave me far behind.”

At this time, He Yuzhu's fellow disciples also arrived one after another.

Knowing that the master and the younger apprentice's elder brother were chatting, he did not disturb them and went to the kitchen to busy himself.

Now, among the brothers and sisters, except the eldest brother, who follows the master in Hongbin Building.

The others went to other places to make a living.

However, every year on the second day of the Chinese New Year, we all go to the chef's place. Everyone cooks two dishes and gives the chef's comments. It is also a way of reporting to the chef that we have not been lazy in the past year!

"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Brother. It was my elder brother who brought back He Daqing's notes.

I just got some insights from watching it. Besides, putting aside age, I have been learning cooking for no less time than your senior brother, haha."

Sometimes, because of He Yuzhu’s age, many people forget that He Yuzhu has been learning cooking since he was a child.

"Haha, you see, I almost forgot that you have a family tradition of cooking."

"Zhu Zi, this should be Wensi tofu, right? Isn't this Huaiyang cuisine? Do you know Huaiyang cuisine?"

At this time, the second senior brother looked at He Yuzhu's Wensi Tofu and exclaimed in surprise.

“Second Brother, you have a keen eye. This is indeed Huaiyang cuisine. I know how to make this dish based on He Daqing’s notes.

I can cook Sichuan cuisine, Shandong cuisine, and Tan cuisine, you know that."

"Well, we know this, but Zhuzi, you are talented."

The fellow disciples couldn't help but admire this little junior brother. For some people, it's amazing to be proficient in one cuisine, but this little junior brother can cook several, and they look pretty good.

“Huaiyang cuisine, I can now cook three dishes: boiled dried shredded vegetables, Wensi tofu, and soft-shelled pomfret.

For the rest, I am still slowly figuring it out on my own.

As you know, I am responsible for reception work at the steel mill.

For the sake of the factory's business, we receive people from all over the country, so knowing more dishes will be useful, right?"

While the fellow apprentices were communicating, Master Wu and He Yukai were listening outside.

Master Wu believed what He Yuzhu said, that chefs at this time paid the most attention to inheritance.

Why is there always a great chef among the descendants of those top chefs? Isn’t it because there is a complete inheritance?

No one can easily teach his or her unique skills to others.

The fact that He Daqing was able to pass on his notes to He Yukai shows that He Yuzhu is He Daqing's successor.

"Zhu Zi, today you will make boiled dried shredded vegetables, Wensi tofu, twice-cooked pork, mapo tofu, and the boiled fish that your eldest brother accidentally invented.

For Shandong cuisine, I will make Nine-turn Large Intestine and Sweet and Sour Carp for you seniors to see.

You seniors don’t have to cook, let Zhuzi finish and I will comment on it.

By the way, let me tell you about the precautions. As for boiled fish... "

Master Wu said this and turned to look at He Yukai, his meaning was self-evident.

"It's okay, Master Wu. Our children were just playing around and discovered it accidentally. Just make the pillar."

"Xiao Kai, please be generous. Okay, you guys can just try Huaiyang cuisine. I'm not an expert so I won't comment on it.

The reason why I asked Zhuzi to cook these dishes is to make you understand.

The realm of culinary skills is endless.

As long as you have some achievements and are praised by people around you, you will become complacent.

You have to keep studying to reach a higher level.

Only by being humble and constantly learning and innovating can we improve our cooking skills.”

He Yuzhu started cooking after hearing his master's instructions.

The knife skills were smooth and there was not a single hitch.

His knife skills were far beyond the reach of many of his fellow brothers, and at the same time, he put away his pride.

Calm down and look carefully, and understand carefully.

Of course, it doesn't count as stealing someone's skills. Even if you do it in front of someone, you may not be able to learn it.

It's just a feeling. The most important thing in cooking is the control of seasoning and temperature, which cannot be learned by just watching.

Master Wu gave his comments and everyone started eating. In many aspects of He Yuzhu’s cooking skills, he had already reached the level of Master Wu.

What I lack now is experience. After all, cooking skills require practice to improve.

In Master Wu's words, He Yuzhu will definitely be able to surpass his level in time.

Now all that remains is a matter of time.

The children were eating so much that their mouths were drooling. There were so many delicious foods today. The grandmother also stuffed them with a lot of snacks made by the grandfather, and they were very satisfied.

In short, the brothers and children who participated today gained a lot, and the rest of the people also had a great meal.

The New Year greetings, which were enjoyed by both the host and the guests, ended with most people getting drunk.

He Yukai went home and asked Cai Quanwu to ride a tricycle to take He Yuzhu back. The banquet was over.

Many of Master Wu’s words today had a profound impact on He Yukai, and many previously vague concepts began to become clear.

Coming here, perhaps I can change some things. The general trend cannot be changed, but the minor trend can be changed. I still need to think carefully about this matter and find the right entry point.

You can't make moves blindly. If you don't make a move, then don't make it. But if you make a move, you must succeed.

　Please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!!!
　　Please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!!!

　　Please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets!!!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)