Xu Damao returned to the Siheyuan in a daze. He never would have dreamed that in just a few days, heaven and earth would seem to have been turned upside down.
He Yuzhu had no idea what sorcery he had used. After meeting the girl's parents just once, he had already entered the Hall and Inner Chamber, seemingly on his way to becoming the Lou family's son-in-law.
Xu Damao had clearly left a good impression on Lou Xiaoe's mother, yet in a single day, he had become no better than a piece of rotten dog feces.
It was truly incomprehensible!
As soon as he reached the entrance of the Siheyuan, he saw He Yuzhu sitting on the threshold, as though he had been waiting for half a day, constantly rubbing his hands to keep warm.
“Xu Damao, I heard you went to meet your mother-in-law this afternoon. Why didn't she keep you there for dinner? You look so happy. When are you setting the wedding date?”
He Yuzhu's mouth was truly vicious. Every sentence struck directly at Xu Damao's sore spot, leaving him wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear, his heart as dead as ashes.
“Xu Damao, don't forget that the two of us made a bet. Whoever wins Miss Lou Xiaoe's hand, the other person will have to kneel and call him Grandfather whenever they meet.”
“I figure it'll only take a month or two before the wedding is held in the courtyard. Don't forget to prepare a gift by then. I know you made quite a bit of money when you screened those films.”
Seeing the wicked grin on He Yuzhu's face, Xu Damao could not utter a single word. He returned to his room resentfully.
Actually, He Yuzhu was not taking pleasure in Xu Damao's misfortune. He simply had no other choice.
All the gifts for this visit had been obtained through the generation interface, and their prices were outrageously high. Several thousand System Currency had nearly been spent in full.
If he did not create some negative emotions now, he would be completely helpless if anything happened.
That was why, when he heard that Xu Damao had gone out that afternoon, he followed from a distance. He had not gone far before determining that Xu Damao was heading to Lou Xiaoe's home.
Thus, after estimating that enough time had passed, he sat at the entrance of the Siheyuan to wait. The moment he saw Xu Damao's dejected expression, he knew the result.
Xu Damao's negative emotions +105, +21, +7, +1, +1…
Although he had not earned much System Currency from roasting people this time, something was better than nothing. He Yuzhu had gradually mastered the tricks of using the system.
The system's shortcomings were also slowly emerging: apart from food, the prices of everything else were outrageously high.
If he wanted to generate something specially customized, it would cost more than gold!
Other than buying food, using the generation option to buy books, clothes, daily necessities, or similar items was simply too uneconomical.
The best solution was to exchange the negative emotion currency for real-world money. That way, with genuine currency in hand, he could achieve financial freedom!
When he went to work the next day, He Yuzhu kept thinking about this matter. Although he had now been promoted to Canteen Director, he had not received a formal cadre promotion.
According to the factory's terminology, this was called workers serving as cadres: he enjoyed cadre status, but officially remained classified as a worker.
A position like this was unreliable. The day they decided to strip him of it, they could do so immediately, leaving him an ordinary mess hall cook once again.
Although Factory Director Yang greatly valued him now, the bigger reason was that he wanted to deal with Deputy Factory Director Li and was merely using He Yuzhu as a chess piece.
Because he was preoccupied, he looked somewhat absent-minded, something his Disciple Ma Hua noticed clearly from the side.
This young man had followed He Yuzhu for more than half a year. He usually served tea and poured water, attending to him extremely diligently, and his character was quite good as well.
Seeing that Master seemed to have something on his mind today, he asked cautiously, “Master, someone from the Procurement Department came earlier. They said supplies are scarce, and they can't buy everything.”
The reason he spoke so cautiously was that he knew the saying: even the cleverest housewife cannot cook a meal without rice.
His Master's cooking skills were unquestionably excellent, but if they could not buy the raw ingredients, no amount of skill would make any difference.
Given Silly Zhu's usual temper, after hearing this he would certainly have a bellyful of complaints. He might even throw down his spatula and smash the edge of the wok.
But when He Yuzhu heard this today, his eyes lit up!
It was 1961, the most difficult period for the state. At such a time, it was exceedingly difficult for the Procurement Department to acquire any supplies.
Generally speaking, the Procurement Department dealt directly with state-owned vegetable and grain stores to receive a portion of the quotas. However, relying on those alone could only maintain basic supply.
Although the factory's reception work had decreased, it was still necessary. There were severe shortages of chicken, duck, fish, meat, and all kinds of non-staple food and seasonings.
The Procurement Department's current method was to go directly into the countryside and negotiate with the large communes to purchase supplies outside the official quotas.
Unfortunately, this route was not going smoothly.
Although the communes in the suburbs had some livestock, chickens, and ducks, what they needed was not money but a genuine grain supply.
Although the farmers grew grain, most of it had to be turned over. As a result, most farmers ate dried sweet potatoes, and even cornmeal buns had to be eaten sparingly.
Therefore, the communes' position was that money could not buy grain. They had always wanted to exchange non-staple food for the city's grain rations.
But the Procurement Department had no authority to decide such a matter. The money was available, but there truly was no grain, so negotiations had reached an impasse.
As a worker in the Canteen, He Yuzhu naturally knew all about these matters and immediately thought of a brilliant idea!
The system's Exchange price for grain was very low. Even Wuchang rice cost only around eight to ten yuan, while white flour cost around three yuan per half-kilogram.
To put it bluntly, if he had the chance to slap Xu Damao across the mouth a few times, exchanging that for a hundred or so kilograms of grain would be no problem at all!
With grain, he could exchange for the communes' non-staple food, while the purchase funds provided by the factory could go into his own pocket.
This truly benefited all three parties!
The factory would obtain chicken, duck, fish, and meat, allowing its reception work to proceed smoothly. The farmers would receive grain, and every one of them could eat their fill.
As for He Yuzhu himself, he could stuff real paper currency into his pocket and buy whatever he wanted!
After Ma Hua finished explaining the Procurement Department's problem, he realized that Master had actually frozen in place, and his heart began to pound anxiously.
He was afraid he had said something wrong and angered Master. Little did he know that a smile was slowly spreading across He Yuzhu's face.
“Good lad, what you said has given me a timely reminder! I am in a good mood today, so forget practicing vegetable chopping. I will teach you a sichuan-style stir-fry separately.”
In fact, He Yuzhu no longer had any intention of holding back his skills. The notion that teaching one's apprentice would leave the Master starving was nothing but feudal dross.
For a high-end executive chef of the new era, passing his skills on to the team was simply the natural thing to do.
Ma Hua could hardly believe his ears. His Master had always been extremely traditional, treating the few skills he possessed as precious treasures. What had happened today?
“Come, come, everyone, make way. Don't sneak peeks while I teach my apprentice!”
Everyone knew exactly what it meant when a Master taught an apprentice a unique skill, so they tactfully moved away.
He Yuzhu rallied his spirits and demonstrated an authentic sichuan-style stir-fry for his apprentice!
A golden path lay right before him. The days of getting rich were just around the corner!