Chapter 38 Deputy Director Li's Backer

Li Shengli walked out of the deputy director's office and closed the door gently.

Li Huaide was quite satisfied with Li Shengli's reaction. Li Shengli knew when to act, was a man of few words, and was a good cook. He could be asked to attend social events in the future.

After returning to the kitchen, Li Shengli did not spread the news.

The next afternoon, Director Xu called Li Shengli, and Li Shengli followed Deputy Director Li's secretary and took Deputy Director Li's car to a small courtyard.

Deputy Director Li's secretary brought Li Shengli to the kitchen. Li Shengli looked around the kitchen and found it was quite well stocked.

"Secretary Liu, when will the leader eat? I'll prepare some." Li Shengli estimated the dishes to be prepared and asked Deputy Director Li's secretary. He confirmed the time so that he could prepare in advance.

"It's still early and the leaders are still discussing things. We'll have lunch in about two hours." Secretary Liu checked the time.

"Okay, I'll prepare it first." Li Shengli nodded. This was probably the backer of Deputy Director Li. Li Shengli did not inquire more. He was the only cook so he should listen less and do more.

I took a look at the main ingredients in the kitchen. Huaiyang cuisine emphasizes slow cooking over low heat, so there must be at least twelve dishes for a table of people.

There was no shortage of chicken, duck, fish and meat in the kitchen. Li Shengli even saw a turtle and nodded with satisfaction. This big leader is really a big leader.

First, make a pot of soup with chicken. Many dishes use chicken soup.

While I was busy, a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties walked into the kitchen and asked with a slight southern accent.

"Young man, what's your name? Is there anything missing in the kitchen?"

"You must be the leader's wife, right? My name is Li Shengli. The kitchen has enough supplies and we don't need anything."

"What kind of dish are you going to cook, young man?" The middle-aged woman looked at Li Shengli with suspicion. Is Li Huaide reliable? Why did he find such a young chef?

Li Shengli saw the suspicion in the middle-aged woman's eyes. Fortunately, Li Shengli and Sha Zhu had different temperaments. If it were Sha Zhu, he might have quit.

Although Li Shengli didn't say anything, the smile on his face faded a little. It turned out that he and Li Huaide were birds of the same feather. Isn't he the same as Xu Damao, who only uses people who are forward-looking and not backward-looking?

"Madam, with the ingredients in your kitchen, I can make you crab meat lion head, soft-shelled eel, and squirrel mandarin fish, which are all famous Huaiyang dishes. There is also tofu, so I can make you Wensi tofu, and the soft-shelled turtle can be made into a clear-boiled yuan fish. What do you think?" Li Shengli said lightly.

"Okay, just cook it as you like." Although he still doubted Li Shengli's cooking skills, there was no other chef available at the moment so he had to make do with it. The chef listed a lot of Huaiyang dishes, so his cooking skills shouldn't be that bad.

Li Shengli watched the middle-aged woman leave the kitchen, thinking that if he wasn't afraid that Li Huaide would make things difficult for him in the factory, he would have quit his job long ago.

Pursing his lips inwardly, Li Shengli continued to busy himself. A lot of the dishes needed to be prepared in advance, and two hours was quite tight.

To be honest, there was not enough time to cook many dishes in such a short time. The chicken soup used in some dishes had to be simmered for several hours. It was enough to just make something to get by in such a short time. Li Shengli suddenly lost the mood to do a good job.

Li Shengli was busy in the kitchen, and the leader's wife went to the living room and found Li Huaide.

"Huide, is this chef you found okay? He doesn't look very old."

"Madam, this is the chef of our factory. He is best at Huaiyang cuisine. He used to be an imperial chef in the palace." Li Huaide spoke softly to the leader's wife, not daring to speak too loudly for fear of disturbing the leader who was talking in the study.

"Really?" The leader's wife looked at Li Huaide with half belief and half doubt. There was nothing she could do because the cook was too young.

"How can I lie to you? If this meal doesn't suit your taste, don't let him come again." Li Huaide didn't care what Li Shengli thought. A cook couldn't make any waves. "Okay, let's try it first." The leader's wife nodded and put down the snacks.

Two hours passed quickly, and several leaders came out of the study, chatting and laughing.

"Come on, come on, everyone, take a seat. I asked Wilder to find a cook to come over."

Upon hearing this, Li Huaide nodded to his secretary and asked him to ask the kitchen to serve the food.

Secretary Liu understood, nodded and walked towards the kitchen.

"Master Li, is the food ready?"

"Okay, you bring it up." Li Shengli was busy and was too lazy to bring it up himself as he had vegetables cooking in the pot.

The prepared dishes were served on the table first, and the other dishes would have to wait for a while.

Several leaders also sat down, looking at the dishes on the table and smelling them, their noses attracted by the aroma.

"Boss, you found a good chef."

"They were all hired by Huaide. Come on, let's eat. Huaide will pour some wine for everyone." Li Huaide's backstage leader was also very happy. This chef really gave him face.

The table was filled with dishes, including braised lion head with crab meat, soft-shelled eel, Wensi tofu, Liangxi crispy eel, braised yuan fish, mushrooms and vegetables, chestnut roast chicken, braised meat with Baihua wine, and so on.

Several leaders were also not vague. They picked up their chopsticks and discussed something. Li Shengli prepared the squirrel mandarin fish and served it without changing his expression. After the fish was served, he also served the chrysanthemum leaf egg soup. When all the dishes were served, Li Shengli and Deputy Director Li's driver had dinner in the back kitchen with the extra dishes.

"Brother, your cooking skills are amazing." The driver's mouth was full of oil. He never had such food on normal days.

"That's easy to say. You guys are always following your boss and you're afraid you won't get any special treatment."

"Well, it's edible, but today's meal tastes the best."

Li Shengli smiled and didn't take the driver's words to heart. His cooking skills were good but not to the level of a master chef.

After the leaders finished their meal, Li Shengli prepared to go home.

"Secretary Liu, we don't need a cook right now." Li Shengli found Secretary Liu.

"No need, the leaders have finished their meal." The table has been cleared and the leaders are now having a conversation.

"Okay then. Secretary Liu, you guys go ahead and do your work. I'll leave first." Li Shengli saw that it was getting completely dark, and it would be difficult to go home any later.

"Hey, wait a minute, I'll go talk to Director Li." Secretary Liu hurriedly grabbed Li Shengli.

Secretary Liu walked up to Li Huaide and whispered a few words. Li Huaide nodded, took something out of his pocket and handed it to Secretary Liu, then said something to him. Secretary Liu nodded and walked towards Li Shengli.

"Let's go, Li Shengli, these tickets are for you. They are given to you by Director Li. Director Li said he has something to do now and asked the driver to give you a ride." Secretary Liu said as he handed Li Shengli a small stack of tickets.

"Okay, thank Director Li for me." Li Shengli took the tickets from Secretary Liu and said with a smile on his face. It seems that Deputy Director Li is quite satisfied. This must be ten industrial coupons.

(End of this chapter)