Chapter 132 Reception Dinner

"That's fine, but you must use all your skills." Li Huaide thought for a moment and said in a slightly serious tone.

"Don't worry, Director. I'll take care of it." Li Shengli gave Li Huaide a promise. If he failed to do it well, his factory would be ruined.

Soon, the car arrived at the small courtyard where the reception was held last time. Li Shengli curled his lips secretly, thinking it was them again.

"Director, you're here." Before Li Shengli opened the door, a man came out from the yard and came to the car door on Li Shengli's side.

Li Shengli opened the car door speechlessly.

Secretary Liu opened the door from the other side while holding back his laughter. Li Huaide got out of the car from Secretary Liu's direction. When Xu Damao saw Li Huaide getting out of the car from that side, he wondered who was this side.

The car door opened and Li Shengli got out of the car. Xu Damao looked at Li Shengli in surprise with a flushed face.

"Xu Damao, you are here too." Li Shengli said with a smile.

"Li Shengli, why are you here?" Xu Damao almost shouted out.

"Don't be so loud, it might be bad if the leaders inside hear it." Li Shengli teased.

Xu Damao fell silent for a moment and just stared at Li Shengli.

"Don't look at me like that. This is my second time." Li Shengli said to Xu Damao.

"Second time?" Xu Damao was in a good mood and approached Li Shengli like a good brother. "Shengli, do you know who lives here?"

"I don't know. I'm a cook and my only responsibility is cooking. I don't care about anything else." Li Shengli shook his head.

Xu Damao was just about to show off the news he had heard to Li Shengli when Secretary Liu called for someone.

Li Shengli ignored Xu Damao and followed Secretary Liu to the kitchen.

Li Shengli looked at the ingredients in the kitchen, including chicken, duck, fish, meat and vegetables.

"It's you again." At this time, the leader's wife walked into the kitchen and obviously recognized Li Shengli.

Li Shengli greeted him in a neither humble nor arrogant manner.

"The people who came today are from different places. Wilder told you that, right?" The leader's wife did not put on airs. It was not like she had never eaten food cooked by Li Shengli before.

"I heard that there are more people from Sichuan and Hunan." Li Shengli nodded to show that he knew.

"That's good to know. I won't arrange a menu for you. I don't understand those dishes either. Just follow my instructions and cook. See if the kitchen is short of anything. I'll ask Xiao Liu to buy some." The leader's wife was only concerned about whether she could entertain these guests from all over the world.

"Okay, I think we are not short of this stuff." Li Shengli looked at the seasoning, "By the way, do you have pickled cabbage?"

"Sauerkraut?" The leader's wife didn't understand what dish Li Shengli was going to make. That jar over there was it.

"That's it. We have no shortage of other things." Li Shengli nodded and said.

"Then I'll go to the front first. By the way, they are going to watch a movie, and dinner will start in about two hours." The leader's wife reminded him to prevent Li Shengli from forgetting the time.

Li Shengli raised his wrist to check the time, then nodded to the leader's wife to show that he understood.

After the leader's wife left, Li Shengli began to prepare today's meal.

More than an hour later, when the movie was almost halfway through, Secretary Liu came to the kitchen.

"Master Li, you can start cooking." Secretary Liu said to Li Shengli who was busy in the kitchen.

"Okay, everything else is almost ready." Li Shengli said calmly, and then started to stir-fry in two woks. After a short while, the overbearing spicy flavor of Sichuan cuisine wafted out.

Several leaders who were watching the movie soon smelled the aroma of chili peppers.

"This chef is great. Where did you find him?" "I found him from the Third Steel Rolling Mill. How is it? Last time he cooked a table of Huaiyang dishes. The taste was amazing. Today, it seems that the Sichuan dishes are not inferior."

"I'll look for him next time, Lao Li, you can't just let him go."

"Well, I have no say on this. This is from Wilder's factory."

"Huaide, next time ask him to come to my house and cook a meal for me." The leader said to Li Huaide.

"Of course no problem, I'll be there whenever you call." Li Huaide was also very happy, these were all resources.

Several people endured the aroma and watched the movie to the end. Seeing that several leaders were absent-minded, Xu Damao hated Li Shengli. How could these leaders pay attention to him, the projectionist, now?

After watching the movie, several leaders couldn't wait to come to the table and sit down. They saw that many dishes were already on the table, such as cold cabbage, hand-shredded chicken, etc.

As for Xu Damao, Li Huaide did not let Xu Damao leave immediately, but asked him to go to the kitchen to eat something.

Li Shengli came in from the kitchen and put the mapo tofu in his hand on the table without looking away.

"I really want this taste." said a leader from Sichuan in a Trump accent.

"Hahaha, come and sit down, everyone." Several leaders sat down next to each other, and Li Huaide sat at the bottom to accompany them.

Li Shengli then brought twice-cooked pork, Kung Pao chicken, Dongpo pork elbow and other dishes to the table, followed by a few non-Sichuan dishes like roast duck with mushrooms, Dongpo pork, pagoda meat, and a few vegetarian dishes like Chinese cabbage with mushrooms, candied sweet potato, baby cabbage in soup, etc., and finally the pickled fish and tea tree mushroom chicken soup.

"Lao Li, the chef you found is very good. These Sichuan dishes are very authentic." said the leader from Sichuan.

"Yes, this Dongpo pork tastes great to me, it's fatty but not greasy."

"Look at this meat pagoda. It's really good. There are so many layers without any cracks. The chef must have good knife skills."

"By the way, what is the origin of this last fish? I have never eaten it before. Has anyone among you eaten it?"

"Just ask the chef and you'll know."

"Wade, go call the chef and ask him."

Li Huaide winked at Secretary Liu, who nodded and walked towards the kitchen.

"Master Li, the leaders are calling you over." Secretary Liu said as he pushed open the door. Several people in the kitchen were also eating. When Xu Damao saw Secretary Liu come in, he was wondering if the leaders wanted to talk to him about something. He was smiling and waiting to be called, but Secretary Liu's words felt like a stab in the heart.

"Okay, wait a moment." Li Shengli nodded, stood up, wiped his mouth, washed it with water, and dried it with a towel.

"Hello, leaders." Li Shengli came to the living room and greeted several leaders, but Li Shengli did not introduce himself to avoid making these leaders think that he likes to show off.

"This is our factory's chef, Li Shengli." Li Huaide knew that several leaders didn't know how to address Li Shengli, so he took the lead in introducing him.

"Master Li, I'd like to ask what the last fish you caught is called." The leader, who was the host, asked.

"This dish is called pickled fish," Li Shengli replied.

"Pickled fish, um, is this something you invented? We haven't heard of it before."

"I guess so. I improved it." Li Shengli couldn't say that he learned it in later generations. This dish hasn't become popular yet, and he doesn't know who invented it.

"Okay, this fish is good."

The leader asked a few more questions and Li Shengli answered them one by one. After the leader finished asking questions, Li Shengli returned to the kitchen.

Li Huaide sat at the table and looked at the satisfied faces of the leaders with a smile on his face.

(End of this chapter)