Li Huaide nodded; he had noticed it as soon as he came in.
The kitchen used to be smoky and dirty, and his shoes would always be covered in dust whenever he came in; now the kitchen is sparkling clean, every utensil is neatly arranged, and all kinds of ingredients are neatly placed together...
They deserve praise; the cleanliness and hygiene even whetted Li Huaide's appetite.
Li Huaide asked curiously, "Who wrote these words?"
The plump aunt pushed Shen Xuemei, who was hiding behind the crowd, to the front: "Director Li, you don't even know how to read, do you?"
Li Huaide looked at Shen Xuemei in surprise. She could write such beautiful handwriting!
After praising the job responsibility system, Li Huaide called the fat man into the small private room, asked Shen Xuemei to stand guard outside the door, and whispered to him: "You come with me this afternoon. Tonight's meeting is highly confidential. You will be staying there for a day and a night. Tell your family in advance and be sure to keep it a secret!"
Hearing how serious he sounded, the fat man couldn't help but take it seriously: "Director Li, don't worry, I'll just focus on cooking."
Director Li patted his arm with satisfaction: "That's what I like about you, you don't care about politics."
When lunch break was over, Fatty rode his bike home and told Yu Li and Chen Yan about his upcoming business trip.
He fed Xu Jiang again and told him to guard the front door of the house.
As a product of the system, Xu Jiang is guaranteed to be of the highest quality. It has a high IQ, is very intelligent and human-like, and its size is growing larger and larger, now about the size of a calf.
With such a big dog guarding the house, Fatty felt quite at ease. Last time, Liu Guangtian and his gang didn't fare well.
By the way, speaking of Liu Guangtian, he's been having a really tough time lately. Yang Weimin and his gang have tried to rob him several times, and if he doesn't give it to them, they beat him up, beat him to death!
To save his life, Liu Guangtian had no choice but to return everything he had forcibly taken from others.
Liu Haizhong was also imprisoned by Xu Damao, who forced him to write a document returning all of Lou Xiao'e's property, which he had previously taken for himself, to Xu Damao.
At night, Xu Damao stayed up late at home, working overtime to organize materials.
Qin Jingru stayed by her side, fanning her, wiping her sweat, lighting the lamp, and feeding her water...
Xu Damao had never received such treatment from Lou Xiao'e before. Qin Jingru's adoring gaze pleased him greatly; if he weren't writing materials, he would have wanted to carry Qin Jingru into the house.
Xu Damao worked tirelessly until 4 a.m., finally finishing the document that Director Li had given him.
He yawned, reached for his water glass, and found that Qin Jingru had fallen asleep by the table at some point.
Even when he was asleep, he would hold the water glass in his hand, afraid that the water would get cold and he would get diarrhea if he drank it.
A warm feeling rose in Xu Damao's eyes as he gently carried her back into the house.
When he came out and was tidying up the materials on the table, he suddenly found Lou Xiao'e's handwriting on the back of the draft paper, which read "No. 317, Xinzhong Street".
Xu Damao's mustache twitched, and he muttered to himself, "Lou Xiao'e, you really are a cunning rabbit with three burrows..."
"..."
That evening, the fat man stayed alone in the kitchen. He focused solely on cooking and ignored everything else.
At this moment, the leader's secretary came in and asked him, "Chef Chen, I heard that besides Huaiyang cuisine, you also cook Sichuan cuisine quite authentically?"
"It's alright, but I'm not making Beijing-style or Shanghai-style Sichuan cuisine. I'm making authentic Sichuan cuisine. I wonder if the leaders can accept it?"
The secretary smiled and said, "Director Wang recommended it to the leaders, who said they wanted to try authentic Sichuan cuisine."
The fat man glanced at the ingredients in the kitchen and said, "Then I'll make a spicy diced chicken and a Mapo tofu."
The secretary then asked, "What are the special features of these two dishes?"
"As for specialties, the spicy chicken dish requires you to eat the chili peppers first, then the chicken, so as not to waste any ingredients; the Mapo Tofu is even more spicy, numbing, and fragrant, and melts in your mouth."
The secretary understood the situation, exchanged a few more words with the fat man, and then left.
Their meeting today was indeed of a very high level. The fat man could tell from the amount of food that there were at least ten people present.
After finishing the last turtle soup of the day, the fat man wiped his sweat, sat down in his chair, and sipped his tea in one go, enjoying the satisfaction of having done a great job.
Just then, the secretary pushed open the door and came in, holding a glass of Fenjiu liquor: "Chef Chen, the leader thanks you for the meal you prepared today and asked me to toast you on his behalf."
The fat man quickly accepted the gift with both hands: "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it. Please thank the leader for me."
After saying that, he tilted his head back and downed the glass of wine. When the secretary took back the glass, she casually slipped him a paper packet.
The fat man felt the thickness of the food and knew it was going to be substantial; good heavens, today's meal was equivalent to a month's worth of extra money he usually earned outside.
That night, the fat man stayed in the guest room. Having never seen the leader's face from beginning to end, he was inevitably a little apprehensive.
The meeting was very long, continuing into the second day.
Fatty got up today and, trying to figure out what the boss liked, made several bowls of braised pork noodles.
Braised pork noodles are arguably one of the most famous traditional noodle dishes in the Jiangnan region. It was first created in the 1930s by the Tongdexing Noodle Restaurant in Suzhou.
The most distinctive feature of braised pork noodles is the huge piece of pork belly in the bowl, braised in a generous amount of broth. The meat is so tender it's like tofu, and the broth is flavorful and rich.
As expected, the bowl of noodles was well received by the leader. The secretary returned with two empty bowls, beaming with joy: "Master Chen, the leader wants to see you."
The fat man took off his hat and apron, tidied himself up quickly, and followed the secretary into the living room.
The person sitting on the sofa to the left is the leader. Left is the place of honor, after all! The woman on the other side must be the leader's wife.
The fat man stepped forward to greet him, and the leader looked at him with satisfaction: "Well done, I didn't expect Chef Chen to be so young and already a master of Huaiyang and Sichuan cuisine."
The fat man was very modest: "I dare not call myself a master. My skills are limited, and my vision is limited. Many of my dishes do not taste like the ones from the Jiangnan region."
"Don't underestimate yourself. At your age, it's already quite remarkable that you can cook Huaiyang cuisine like this."
I accompanied the leader and his wife for a few words, mainly in the form of a question and answer session.
The leader's wife asked him, "Master Chen, aren't you curious about our identities?"
The fat man shook his head decisively: "Our director instructed us before we came to be vigilant about confidentiality and to do what we are supposed to do."
The leader praised him, saying, "What a great sense of confidentiality! Chef Chen, you've worked hard. Just make a couple of simple home-style dishes for lunch, get some rest, and you'll be working hard again tonight..."
Back in his room, the fat man lay down on the bed, feeling rather bored.
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