Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 79

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "Uncle Yan, how could you possibly change the gift money? Besides, when your eldest son gets married, he comes; when your second son gets married, if he doesn't come, you can't exactly go to his door to ask for it, can you?"

Thinking about it, it makes sense; Granny Zhang might actually be capable of doing something like that.

For decades, I've never seen her suffer a loss. If you give a dollar as a wedding gift, he'll give you 50 cents for a meal the first time, and another 50 cents for another meal the second time. But if he doesn't come to his third son's wedding, he'll be missing out on a meal.

"You're thinking too far ahead."

Yan Bugui's gaze towards He Yuzhu changed. When did this silly Zhu become so shrewd, seeing things so clearly?

The two chatted for a while, and then neighbors and relatives came over to give gifts. Yan Bugui took a moment to ask, "Zhuzi, how much gift are you giving? I'll write it down for you."

He Yuzhu was taken aback and said, "What money do you want? I'm not paying any money."

"What? You're not going to give a gift?"

Yan Bugui asked in surprise, "Zhu Zi, you really aren't going to give any betrothal gifts?"

"What kind of food could they possibly prepare? I'm not going to eat at their banquet."

I came here to watch the show, not to waste my money. 5 cents can buy more than a pound of pork. Why should I give it to Jia Dongxu?

It's better to just buy meat and cook for yourself.

Thinking of this, He Yuzhu said, "If I have 5 cents, I'll buy meat for myself. Why should I eat hers?"

"But these are all neighbors in the compound, isn't this inappropriate?"

"What else can he do? He's already trying to seize my house. No one bullies people like that. Why should I go out of my way to curry favor with him?"

"At most, I'll just not invite him to my wedding."

After hearing this, Yan Bugui stopped trying to persuade him.

He Yuzhu turned and left the courtyard, went to the meat stall and bought two catties of pork. Seeing that there were also pork hocks, he bought one as well.

When he came back carrying a straw rope, the neighbors who came in and out were quite surprised, but they just smiled and greeted him, everyone was busy.

Yan Bugui asked, "You actually went and bought meat?"

“You still have to eat, but you can’t compare to your Uncle Yan, who has a banquet at noon.”

Yan Bugui sighed. Although the Jia family had found a cook, the ingredients they bought were no good. He wondered what kind of banquet it would turn out like.

Even if it's bad, it still cost 5 cents, so I'll have to go for the banquet later.

He Yuzhu swaggered into the central courtyard carrying meat and pork knuckle.

They saw colorful flags hanging under the eaves of the Jia family's house, two large red lanterns, and big red "double happiness" characters pasted on the walls and windows.

The new house looks festive.

Yi Zhonghai was in charge, directing the helpers to do all sorts of trivial tasks.

There was no one idle in the courtyard—some were washing vegetables, some were washing dishes, some were making tea, and some were setting up tables and chairs.

Yi Zhonghai glanced at He Yuzhu and saw him come in. He was about to ask for help when he saw the meat He Ru was carrying and said in surprise, "Zhu Zi, are we having a feast today? Why did you buy meat?"

"Since we've already bought it, let's just send it to the kitchen and let the cooks prepare it."

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to take the meat and pork knuckle from He Yuzhu's hands.

"Old Yi, you can't just take it from me! Did I say I was giving it to you?" He Yuzhu quickly stepped aside and put the meat behind her to stop Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai had assumed that the meat He Yuzhu brought was a congratulatory gift, but he was stunned when he heard what He Yuzhu said.

"What are you saying this isn't a congratulatory gift?"

"Of course not!"

He Yuzhu said, "I have no relation to the Jia family, so why should I give them such an expensive gift?"

Yi Zhonghai then slowly withdrew his hand and said, "Zhuzi, take the meat back to your room and come over to help quickly."

He Yuzhu said, "What help can I offer? I didn't give any gifts, so what can I do to help?"

After saying this, He Yuzhu wanted to go back to his room, but as soon as he lifted his leg, Yi Zhonghai grabbed his arm.

"Zhu Zi, what are you saying? I don't understand." Yi Zhonghai asked.

He Yuzhu said, word by word, "Do you understand now? I'm saying that the Jia family's wedding has nothing to do with me. I won't give any gifts or help out. Do you understand now?"

"How could you do this? We're all neighbors, of course we should help each other with weddings and funerals, right? How can we not give a gift?"

He Yuzhu said, "You said it yourself, we're just neighbors, it's only right that I don't help. Don't you know why?"

"you..."

Yi Zhonghai knew the reason, of course. He thought the matter was over, so he wanted to maintain a superficial relationship. Exchanging gifts and having a meal was only right.

Unexpectedly, He Yuzhu stopped maintaining even the superficial neighborly relationship.

"How are you going to live in the courtyard house like this? No one does things like this."

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "I can help other families with their affairs, but I won't help the Jia family."

Leaving Yi Zhonghai stunned, He Yuzhu opened his own door and started cooking.

Yi Zhonghai sighed, just about to ask Sha Zhu for help, but Sha Zhu refused outright, determined not to get involved.

Yan Jiecheng asked, "Guangqi, do you think we'll get a feast if we do the hard work?"

Liu Guangqi rolled his eyes: "What good thing is there? We only have rice, one bowl of vegetables and two cornbreads each. If you want a banquet, you'll have to give us another 5 cents."

This was the first time Yan Jiecheng had helped someone, and he immediately lost the motivation to do the work.

He Yuzhu carried a bucket out to collect water. Since there was very little steel when the house was being built, He Yuzhu did not connect the tap water to the house.

We could only carry water into the house in tin buckets.

Although there is a large amount of Yuquan Mountain water in the space, it is mainly used for cooking; for daily washing, tap water is still used.

Suddenly, He Yuzhu saw a child he didn't recognize, about 10 years old, come out of the backyard and then leave. He Yuzhu was puzzled at first, but then he remembered that this might be a child brought by a relative of Jia Dongxu.

The water was halfway drained when I saw a person dressed in a chef's white coat hurrying over from the backyard.

He Yuzhu then realized that the open-air kitchen was set up in the backyard. Thinking about it, it made sense. The ceremony of worshipping heaven and earth was going to be held in the middle courtyard. If there was a kitchen next to it, there would be oil fumes. Putting it in the backyard was just right.

As soon as the chef came over, He Yuzhu chuckled and said with a smile, "Uncle Gui, what are you doing here? Did you lend a hand?"

Uncle Gui was also surprised and asked, "Your home is here?"

He Yuzhu pointed to the house in the middle and said, "This is my house."

Before liberation, Uncle Gui was also a chef in a restaurant, but the restaurant went bankrupt for various reasons, supposedly involving enemy agents.

He Yuzhu then realized that Uncle Gui not only sold fried liver, but also accepted banquet orders.

Uncle Gui chatted with He Yuzhu for a couple of minutes, then said, "I heard from Zao'er that you cook pretty well?"

"It's alright." Although He Yuzhu's skills were already quite superb, he couldn't praise himself.

Besides, Uncle Gui mainly serves Beijing cuisine, while I mainly serve Sichuan cuisine. The two have different styles and there is no competition between them.

Uncle Gui said, "One of my apprentices suddenly has an emergency and can't come today. I'm wondering where I can find someone I know to help out. Why don't you come and help me?"

He Yuzhu was dumbfounded: "Will this work?"

"Why not? Tianzao has praised you to the skies. Whether it's cold dishes or hot dishes, you make them better than me."

"That was Sister Zao praising me," He Yuzhu said with a simple smile.

Uncle Gui said, "I'll cook the stir-fry, you can have the cold dishes, okay?"

He Yuzhu wanted to befriend Uncle Gui, as having more friends meant having more options, especially since Uncle Gui was from the same courtyard as Tian Zao, so he couldn't refuse him.

"Then I'll learn more from Uncle Gui."

"This is easy to discuss."

Plans can't keep up with changes, so He Yuzhu took the tin bucket home first.

I stewed the pork knuckle in a clay pot, put on my white coat, grabbed my kitchen utensils, locked the door, and went to the backyard.

I saw Old Yi talking to Uncle Gui, and several women, including Aunt Yi, picking vegetables.

The main problem is that Uncle Gui is the only cook, and he really can't handle cooking for eight tables by himself.

Yi Zhonghai was surprised: "Zhu Zi, you're here to help again? Have you paid the gift money yet?"

What Yi Zhonghai couldn't forget was that He Yuzhu hadn't given any monetary gifts, mainly because they couldn't gather enough people for eight tables of relatives to attend.

Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhangshi discussed it for a long time before finally booking a banquet for eight tables, and the dishes they bought were also prepared for eight tables.

But there aren't enough people right now, and Yi Zhonghai is extremely anxious.

And now another problem has arisen: one of the chefs has a family emergency and cannot come.

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Lao Yi, I'm not here to help the Jia family, I'm here to help Uncle Gui."

"Not only can I eat all this today, but I'm also not paying any money as a gift. Isn't that infuriating?"

Chapter 85 Arresting People

"What?" Yi Zhonghai looked at He Yuzhu in surprise, then turned to look at Uncle Gui.

Uncle Gui said, "I know Zhu Zi, so I'll ask him to come and help."