Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 256 Getting Beaten Up by Sticks: Zero Times or Countless Times

The next day.

As usual, Li Hongbing got up early to do his morning exercise, thus starting a new day.

At this time, the women in each household in the courtyard had already gotten up and started preparing breakfast for their families.

Not long after.

The strong aroma of meat quickly wafted from the direction of the Yan family's residence, rapidly attracting everyone's attention.

The residents in the front yard were not too surprised by this situation; they were only envious.

When Li Hongbing returned last night, because Yan Bugui had helped him exchange sweet potatoes, Li Hongbing gave Yan Bugui the leftover soup he had brought back from Fengzeyuan.

Because Yan Bugui didn't deliberately hide his conversation with Li Hongbing about borrowing a bicycle and discussing exchanging sweet potatoes, everyone in the courtyard knew about it.

It wasn't just the Yan family; other residents in the front yard had also enjoyed this treatment before, but today it just happened to be Yan Bugui's turn.

As Li Hongbing finished his morning exercise, Chen's mother had already rolled out the noodles and prepared the ingredients for the sauce in advance.

Seeing that Li Hongbing had finished his morning exercise, Chen's mother, who had planned to make braised noodles in the morning, put the noodles directly into the pot and prepared to start making the braising sauce.

Noodles should be made and eaten immediately, otherwise they will easily clump together and affect the taste if left for too long.

"Mom, I'll take care of these. You go check if Jianwu and Jiwen are awake yet, and also wake Xueru up so she can wash up and have breakfast."

After taking a look around the kitchen, Li Hongbing took over the work from Chen's mother and said something.

Upon hearing this, Chen's mother did not refuse and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll leave the rest to you."

After saying that, Chen's mother left immediately.

When it comes to cooking, Li Hongbing is far more skilled than her, an elder. She doesn't need to give him any instructions at all; he can easily cook better than her. Chen's mother doesn't need to worry about him or give him any instructions.

Just now, Li Hongbing glanced around and saw that Chen's mother had already prepared the ingredients in advance. The noodles had just been put into the pot, and all that was left was to make a sauce to go with the noodles.

The sauce is simple, with the main ingredients being shiitake mushrooms and pork. The pork is the one that Li Hongbing specially brought back in his lunchbox last night.

Li Hongbing usually carries two lunchboxes. The lunchbox he gave Yan Bugui last night was actually specifically for leftovers or soup.

The remaining one was specifically used to store the various ingredients that Li Hongbing took out of the system space every day to bring home, without arousing any suspicion.

When Chen's mother left, she closed the door from the outside without Li Hongbing having to tell her to.

This way, others can't see what's happening inside while the food is being cooked.

In those days, in courtyard houses like this where many families lived together, each family did not have a dedicated or independent kitchen. After all, some families were so crowded that they could hardly fit in their own living space. So, each family cooked outside their own house or by the window, and their cooking could be seen clearly from the outside.

If that's the case, even if Li Hongbing manages to bring out all sorts of ingredients every day, he still won't be able to hide it from everyone's eyes.

Fortunately, Li Hongbing had made preparations in advance. When he was renovating the house, he directly converted this room into a kitchen and built a stove inside. This way, he could cook with the door closed so that others could not see him.

Such a move was undoubtedly considered wasteful and would have drawn criticism behind his back at the time, but Li Hongbing didn't care about that.

Now, as a renowned master chef in Fengzeyuan's kitchen and even throughout Beijing, Li Hongbing has a relatively "professional" independent kitchen at home, and no one says anything about it.

As for the aroma of the food, it would naturally spread, but the leftovers or broth that Li Hongbing brought back from Fengzeyuan Restaurant every day could perfectly cover up and explain this.

Everything that seemed unreasonable, suspicious, or exposed was cleverly justified by Li Hongbing's foresight and the advantages of his position.

In addition to the stove that was specially built when the kitchen was renovated, Li Hongbing also kept the original stove, which he could use to cook noodles and make sauce at the same time, thus improving efficiency.

Although it was a bit wasteful of coal, Li Hongbing was clearly not short of it.

Even though coal coupons are now required to buy coal, Li Hongbing had already considered all aspects when he stockpiled supplies, so he naturally wouldn't overlook this point.

Soon.

Li Hongbing scooped out the cooked noodles and prepared the sauce for the braised noodles. Chen Xueru had already gotten up, and Li Jianwu, under the supervision of Chen's mother, got up, dressed himself, and began brushing his teeth and washing his face by himself.

It wasn't really supervision; Li Jianwu would take care of all that as soon as he got up without his mother even having to urge him.

Because of Li Jianwu's early display of intelligence, Li Hongbing has been intentionally cultivating his hands-on skills and self-care abilities. Although he is only about three years old now, his sensible and well-behaved behavior is already far ahead of most children his age.

As for anything else, Li Hongbing didn't ask for much.

Trying to force growth is not advisable.

Although Chen's mother would teach Li Jianwu some basic literacy skills and introduce him to calligraphy at a young age, which he found very interesting, he would otherwise continue to play as usual.

Even if his child is a genius, Li Hongbing still hopes that he can have a happy and carefree childhood.

The family of four all got up and happily enjoyed a delicious bowl of braised noodles.

Only the youngest, Chen Jiwen, remained asleep, and no one disturbed him.

The younger the child, the longer their sleep time.

Chen Jiwen is currently in a stage of excessive sleepiness.

……

Middle Court.

Just as everyone was starting to eat breakfast, Qin Huairu, who had just given birth to her daughter not long ago and was still in her postpartum period, got up early to prepare breakfast for her family. She glanced at her daughter, who had just been put to sleep, and immediately called Jia Dongxu and his son Banggeng to get up and eat.

Now she's the only woman in the family, and Jia Dongxu can't cook, nor is it possible for him to cook. So even though she's still in postpartum confinement, Qin Huairu still has to take care of the family's three meals and housework.

It's impossible to say that you feel no resentment or sadness at all.

Especially when compared to the treatment Chen Xueru received during her postpartum confinement, Qin Huairu felt even more disappointed.

However, there was nothing that could be done, since Jia Zhangshi was no longer around, and after Yi Zhonghai broke up with their family and Wang Guihua returned to the courtyard house, the two families had never re-established their partnership. Otherwise, she could have helped them.

Looking back now, Qin Huairu suddenly missed the time when her mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, was around. Even though Jia Zhangshi wasn't particularly kind to her, she would at least lend a hand and help with some things when she was pregnant or in her postpartum period.

"Mom, it smells so good! Who cooked meat today? I want to eat meat!"

As soon as he got up, his nose was very sensitive. He smelled the meaty aroma of the stick and immediately asked Qin Huairu for it.

Upon hearing Banggeng's words, Jia Dongxu, who had also smelled the aroma, also cursed loudly: "Damn it, I don't need to think to know it's Li Hongbing from the front yard. In this famine year, everyone is short of food, but he's always getting rich. He's inhuman, torturing people first thing in the morning!"

"Dongxu is not Li Hongbing's house!"

As soon as Jia Dongxu finished speaking, Qin Huairu quickly said, "It's the Yan family in the front yard."

"Yan Bugui?"

Hear the words.

Jia Dongxu was taken aback and complained in an annoyed and confused tone, "This is really unbelievable! When did Yan Bugui, that stingy guy, change his ways? Eating meat is one thing, but eating meat so early in the morning? Does he not know how to live a proper life?"

If it were Li Hongbing, Jia Dongxu could accept it even if he was unhappy. But knowing that it was Yan Bugui, who often complained about being poor, he felt a bit resentful.

"It wasn't about eating meat. I just heard that last night, when Li Hongbing came back, he gave Grandpa Yan the leftover food and soup he brought back from Fengzeyuan..."

Although many residents in the front yard saw and heard what happened last night, it wasn't anything extraordinary, not enough to become common knowledge. It wasn't until this morning, when the aroma of leftover food and soup wafted from the Yan family's house, that people started discussing it, and the news spread to the middle and back yards. Qin Huairu only learned about the situation when she passed by the front yard just now.

"Dad, I want to eat the leftovers too. I heard the leftovers at Fengzeyuan are really delicious. Liu Xiaohu from the front yard brags about them to me every day. I want to eat them too..."

Listening to Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu's conversation, Bang Geng understood what was going on and immediately begged Jia Dongxu.

As soon as Banggeng opened his mouth, Jia Dongxu's face turned ugly. He immediately scolded, "Banggeng, look at you, so spineless. What's so great about a little leftover food that others don't want?"

Fortunately, this was at home. If outsiders had heard what Bang Geng said earlier, he, as the father, would have been mortified.

Everyone in the courtyard knew about his relationship with Li Hongbing.

Everyone knows all about the past grievances.

Jia Dongxu could never afford a place like Fengzeyuan; he couldn't afford it even if he gritted his teeth.

Even earlier, even for the sake of saving face, Jia Dongxu would have been willing to spend a lot of money to pretend to be rich.

But ever since the incident involving the sack that Sha Zhu was put in, and the incident with Xu Damao and his son, he was not only detained by the police station for more than half a month, but was also transferred from his job in the courtyard to become a handyman in the steel rolling mill, where his salary was only slightly better than that of an apprentice.

Their family is currently living in dire straits.

Because of this incident, Wang Guihua, who had previously maintained a good relationship with them, gradually became more distant.

Although they usually get along well, Wang Guihua would always make excuses to refuse when asked to borrow money or food, and would only provide limited assistance in very rare cases.

In a situation where everyone is short of food, Wang Guihua's own ration is just enough for herself, so how could she possibly let herself go hungry to help the Jia family eat and drink well?

Moreover, the Jia family's reputation and public image are getting worse and worse, especially since they have several enemies within the family.

Leaving aside Li Hongbing, the mere presence of Sha Zhu in the Intermediate Court and the Xu family in the backyard was enough to give Wang Guihua a headache.

In the six months or so since returning to the courtyard house, Wang Guihua has gradually come to see things more clearly.

With Yi Zhonghai absent, she, a single woman without a husband, had even less authority to speak.

Her words used to carry some weight, mostly because of Yi Zhonghai.

Even though she is now in contact with the women and children, and the people in the courtyard won't easily provoke or bully her, it's clearly unrealistic for her to regain her former strength.

Especially in the current climate, the saying "Everyone sweeps the snow from their own doorstep, and doesn't care about the frost on others' roofs" is quite apt to describe the current state of relationships among families in a courtyard house.

There was only one person named Li Hongbing in the front yard. If someone helped his family or lent a hand in something, Li Hongbing would occasionally share some of the leftover food and soup he brought back from Fengzeyuan with them.

However, these targets were mainly the residents of the front yard, since those who were in the right place had an advantage. The residents of the back yard and the middle yard were very envious of them.

For this reason, the relationship in the front yard is relatively harmonious and the atmosphere is quite good, which is gradually becoming different from the middle yard and the back yard.

"I do not care!"

"I want to eat it!"

"Don't think that just because I'm a child I don't know anything, Fengzeyuan is a great place, many people have said so."

"The leftovers from Fengzeyuan are better than the food we eat at home."

"Dad, go and get it for me!"

"I want to eat leftovers, I want to eat the leftovers from Fengzeyuan..."

"..."

Having been spoiled by Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu, Bang Geng was clearly not satisfied with Jia Dongxu's deliberate belittling and immediately started making a fuss.

This move is clearly a common tactic used by stick pheasants.

Banggeng may be small, but he's incredibly clever. He's often heard the kids in the front yard bragging about how delicious the leftovers from Fengzeyuan that Li Hongbing brings back are. They say even the broth is so fragrant it makes your tongue tingle, and the aroma you smell is undeniable.

"Hey, you're not listening to me, are you?"

Banggeng had been clamoring for meat, including leftovers from Fengzeyuan Restaurant, and this wasn't the first time. Seeing him like this, Jia Dongxu was furious.

Jia Dongxu wasn't really disgusted by the leftovers from Fengzeyuan. If he could get them himself, given his usual pampering and indulgence of Banggeng, he naturally wouldn't have this attitude.

But right now, the only way to get these things is through Li Hongbing.

But this is obviously impossible.

Even if Li Hongbing were willing to give it, Jia Dongxu wouldn't lower his head.

"Dongxu, don't be angry. Banggeng is just a child, he's still young..."

Seeing that Jia Dongxu was already angry, Qin Huairu became anxious and quickly tried to persuade him.

Originally, Jia Dongxu didn't know how to hit Bang Geng, but ever since Bang Geng smashed Li Hongbing's window, he was forced to push and hit Bang Geng once, and from then on, the "seal" was broken.

There's no such thing as disciplining a naughty child more than once; it's either zero times or countless times.

Jia Dongxu usually doesn't resort to violence, but when he's really angry, he doesn't care about anything else.

"Don't worry, I'm a reasonable person and I won't lay a hand on a stick."

As soon as Qin Huairu spoke, Jia Dongxu understood what she meant. He suppressed his anger for the time being and instead gently comforted and persuaded Banggeng: "Banggeng, be good! Behave yourself and don't make a fuss!"

Dad's off today. He's going fishing later. When I get back from fishing, I'll have your mom cook fish for you, okay?

"If we have fish to eat, why would we need leftovers? Leftovers are for people who can't afford to eat; we don't need that kind of food."

"No, you're lying!"

“Every time you say you’re going fishing, you come back with not a single fish.”

"Besides, the fish Mom makes is not tasty at all. I just want leftovers, the leftovers from Fengzeyuan!"

"I want it, I want it..."

"..."

Jia Dongxu, who had been trying to calm Banggeng down, saw that Banggeng was completely unmoved and started making a scene again. Unable to contain his anger any longer, Jia Dongxu grabbed a broom and grabbed the disobedient Banggeng. With practiced ease, he pulled down Banggeng's pants and began to beat him.

"Damn it, you little brat, I'm trying to talk to you nicely, but you won't listen, huh? I think you're just asking for a beating!"

"Ow~"

"Dongxu, stop hitting him. Banggeng is still a child."

"Qin Huairu, don't interfere. Today I'm going to teach this brat a lesson and see who's in charge here, daring to go against me!"

"Ouch~~, Dad, I was wrong..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)