Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 77

Chapter 83 Reporting Jia Dongxu

He Yuzhu chuckled twice: "You want me to cook?"

"Why not? We're all neighbors, it's only right that we help each other out. Which family won't contribute to the work?"

Yi Zhonghai's words disgusted He Yuzhu. There was a tradition of mutual help in this courtyard, but the Jia family was different.

If other families have a wedding, funeral, or any other celebration, Granny Zhang would complain that her back and legs ached and refuse to help.

Jia Dongxu certainly wouldn't take a day off specifically for work.

Now Yi Zhonghai has the nerve to ask me for help?

He Yuzhu asked, "Why should I go back to help? If it were another family in the courtyard who helped us, it would be only right for me to repay the favor. But the Jia family is in trouble, so why should I go and do the work?"

Yi Zhonghai advised, "You can't say that. We're all neighbors. How can you just stand by and watch Dongxu get married? What if you get married in a couple of years?"

He Yuzhu said, "I won't go. I don't have neighbors who insist on borrowing other people's houses."

"Zhu Zi, how can you say that? It wasn't a forced loan; we wanted to rent your house!"

"Besides, look, even though Datong is in jail now, Dongxu still paid the rent, so Datong didn't suffer any losses."

It's not the right time for He Yuzhu to expose their secrets yet. He himself went to the prison to ask, and Qian Datong had no idea about renting a house.

I don't know how Jia Dongxu forged a rental contract and deceived me. Luckily, I was smart enough to go and check with Qian Datong.

But then I thought, I can't miss out on watching the show when Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu get married, so I'll have to go back then.

He Yuzhu asked, "When are they getting married?"

"You promised to cook for me on the tenth day of the seventh lunar month?"

"Let's skip cooking, I'm still an apprentice. But I can still attend the wedding."

Yi Zhonghai frowned and said earnestly, "Zhuzi, look, we've all been neighbors for decades. When your father was alive, he was in charge of all the weddings and funerals. You can't abandon this tradition, or people will talk about you later."

He Yuzhu asked, "How much is it per table?"

"Give me money? What money?" Yi Zhonghai said, "Your father didn't ask for money when he was alive."

"Don't try to fool me. He Daqing may not ask for money, but every time he brings back meat, he does. You don't have to pay, but how many pounds of meat do you give me for a meal?"

Yi Zhonghai did not answer immediately. He Yuzhu was no longer stupid and would not listen to his nonsense.

I was hoping He Yuzhu would cook for me for free, but it seems that won't work.

But if I were to spend money on He Yuzhu, I would feel like I was losing out.

“Zhu Zi, look how much money the old man has lent you before. It’s just for cooking two meals. It’s hurtful to bring up money.”

"You mentioned borrowing money, and I remembered. I wanted to borrow another 100. What's your decision?"

Yi Zhonghai said with dissatisfaction, "Go and talk to Sister Zhang. I never thought you, He Yuzhu, could do something like this."

"That means there's nothing to talk about?"

"No." After discussing it, Yi Zhonghai let the two of them consummate their marriage last night, and they went to get their marriage certificates today.

Why should we lend He Yuzhu money again?

He Yuzhu said, "Forget it, I'm not like you guys who like to spread good news behind people's backs. If you don't want to lend it, then forget it."

You can't keep targeting the same sheep, and you can't keep targeting the same spot. You've already made a few hundred dollars, which is good enough.

"Don't try to persuade me. I'm not going to cook. I don't want anyone to get food poisoning or upset stomachs and blame it on me."

"Why...how can you be so stubborn?"

Yi Zhonghai tried to persuade He Yuzhu a few more times, but He Yuzhu just wouldn't agree. He agreed to help with the cooking, but when it came to joking around, he would just lend a hand if it was someone else's business.

After all, they are all fellow villagers. If they need help, they will help each other out when they need it.

When Yi Zhonghai saw that He Yuzhu wouldn't agree to go for free, he started to raise the price. However, He Yuzhu was already impatient and too lazy to argue with him. He wouldn't go even if he was offered money.

Yi Zhonghai sighed, then asked, "I heard from the chef at Taifenglou that this braised food shop belongs to you?"

"Of course not, I'm just here to help." He Yuzhu would never admit that he owned the braised food shop.

Yi Zhonghai looked up at the signboard again, feeling somewhat doubtful. He couldn't believe a word He Yuzhu said now; he would just have to ask around later.

After seeing Yi Zhonghai off, He Yuzhu glanced at the calendar; there were only a few days left until the tenth day of the seventh lunar month.

It seems my own plan is about to begin.

In the evening, Tie Dan brought over a jar of wine, and Tian Zao also brought gifts. He Yuzhu complained a bit and then invited them to a private room upstairs.

This was originally a workspace, but He Yuzhu converted it into private rooms to use in a future restaurant.

Looking at the two-tiered wooden round table, Tian Zao asked in surprise, "What kind of table did you make?"

He Yuzhu did not answer immediately, but walked up to the table and gently pushed it.

The top layer started to rotate, and you could hear the bearings turning below.

"This is a rotating round table that I designed. If there are a lot of people eating together, they can eat all the dishes without getting up."

Tianzao was quite a novelty, and the group sat down at the table to examine it for a while. Just then, Xiangcao brought over eight cold dishes.

He Yuzhu said, "Please eat first, I'll go downstairs and cook some dishes for you."

The stew was prepared in advance. He Yuzhu's best skill right now is Sichuan cuisine, which has reached level six. However, since most of them are old Beijingers, they can't make the dishes too spicy, even though they are all Sichuan dishes.

Dongpo pork knuckle, braised crucian carp, braised pork with potatoes, boiled beef, four hot dishes.

In addition, there are six stir-fries: spicy chicken, mapo tofu, ants climbing a tree (a Sichuan dish), shredded pork with garlic sauce, Kung Pao chicken, and twice-cooked pork.

After finishing, He Yuzhu came over to eat with everyone.

"You could have just eaten something, why did you prepare so many dishes?" Tie Dan complained immediately.

“You’re my grandmaster, so of course I have to show off all my skills today,” He Yuzhu said with a smile.

Tian Zao blushed, but still reached out and slapped He Yuzhu: "I told you not to talk nonsense, don't call me that anymore."

He Yuzhu asked with a smile, "Master, when are you going to marry Grandmaster?"

Tian Zao glared at her: "You're so talkative."

After He Yuzhu made his joke, Da Yong and the others joined in the banter. They always enjoyed it when he teased the two of them; it was their greatest source of amusement.

After joking around for a while, He Yuzhu sighed, and Da Yong asked, "What's wrong?"

Ocean asked, "What's wrong?"

He Yuzhu said, "How can you have such a shameless neighbor?"

When He Yuzhu brought up the matter of the Jia family borrowing the house before, everyone was extremely angry.

Tian Zao said, "Then you should move out. Those neighbors are infuriating."

That's how it is living in a tenement. You can choose your house, but it's hard to choose your neighbors. Not to mention now, even in twenty or thirty years, the average person's education level will not be high, especially some older women who are unreasonable and only think about taking advantage.

He Yuzhu said, "Sister Zao, I have something to tell you. The Jia family has seized Qian Datong's house and even showed me a fake lease contract."

Tian Zao asked in surprise, "A fake contract? How do you know it's fake?"

He Yuzhu told Jia Dongxu about Yi Zhonghai's attempt to persuade him not to ask about Qian Datong's house. Due to his objection, Jia Dongxu took a lease agreement.

He Yuzhu went to the prison to ask in person and obtained Qian Datong's authorization letter.

Tian Zao was initially somewhat nonchalant, but as he listened, his expression froze; this was clearly a case.

Although Qian Datong was a bad person, he had already been sentenced to prison, and the house was not confiscated; it still belonged to Qian Datong, after all, it was ancestral property.

Tian Zao asked, "What about the evidence you got from Qian Datong?"

"I brought it with me."

He Yuzhu heard from Yi Zhonghai today that Jia Dongxu is getting married soon, so he decided to talk to Tian Zao about it today.

He took the certificate out of his pocket and handed it to Tian Zao.

Tian Zao and Tie Dan huddled together to look at the certificate, then asked in confusion, "This date is more than 10 days old, why are you only showing it to me now?"

He Yuzhu said with a simple and honest expression, "Isn't Jia Dongxu getting married soon?"

Tian Zao was still puzzled and asked again, "What does this have to do with anything? You're supposed to keep quiet about bad things happening to me, aren't you?"

Tie Dan also said, "Yeah, even if you don't tell the military control commission, you should at least tell the police station about this kind of thing."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "These next few days are your investigation time. If the facts are true, how will this matter be handled?"

Tie Dan thought for a moment and said, "Jia Dongxu dared to seize someone else's house and take it for himself. This kind of thing can definitely be sentenced, at least for more than a year."

He Yuzhu said in surprise, "So little? I thought he would get 10 or 8 years in prison."

"What are you thinking? How could you possibly be waiting for this long?"

Tie Dan explained, "Although he occupied someone else's house, as long as he restores the house to its original state and moves his belongings back to the owner, there is no social harm or irreparable damage. Therefore, the standard for sentencing is only one or two years."

"Oh, I understand now."

Tian Zao couldn't help but ask, "It doesn't matter how long the sentence is, but you still haven't told us why you waited until now to hand over this evidence?"

He Yuzhu chuckled: "I'm just waiting for Jia Dongxu's wedding. I hope that after your investigation, you can arrest him on the afternoon of his wedding day."

He Yuzhu kept the news from Tian Zao because he was waiting for Jia Dongxu's wedding.