Courtyard House: A Great Musician! Red Songs Resound Worldwide

"Let's skip the meal... I've already fixed the bed for you."

"I was just about to leave as soon as you got back..."

Although he said that, his eyes involuntarily drifted to the plate covered by the white cloth.

Li Chaoyang smiled and stopped Jiang Datong, who was about to push the cart, saying, "Master Jiang, please don't stand on ceremony with me!"

"I have so much work to do here, I'll have to rely on you to take care of it all from now on."

"Besides... I've already bought them... it would be a waste if you didn't eat them!"

“I can’t possibly finish all this food by myself…” Li Chaoyang held up the plate in his hand.

As soon as he got close, Jiang Datong smelled the delicious aroma of meat and vegetables, and his stomach immediately started growling!

Immediately, he said somewhat embarrassedly, "How could I accept this, Section Chief Li..."

"Besides, I was already planning to go back..."

"And my family has already prepared dinner and is waiting for me to come home..."

Li Chaoyang ignored him completely and pulled him into the house, pressing him down in front of the table.

"Alright, Master Jiang, it's getting dark..."

"How can you expect someone to leave on an empty stomach at mealtimes..."

"You should just sit down and eat your meal properly before you go back."

As he spoke, Li Chaoyang sat down, raised his hand, and lifted the white cloth from the plate...

Jiang Datong thought to himself, "These days, who would dare keep someone out until mealtime?"

Don't we all have to leave before mealtime...?

But as he was muttering to himself, he glanced at the food on the table... and was instantly dumbfounded...

I must say, the state-run restaurant's two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes were incredibly generous in portion size, and they looked and smelled delicious...

The steaming, fragrant food made Jiang Datong's eyes practically light up.

The polite words that were about to come out were instantly swallowed back...

He smelled meat and thought it might be minced meat noodles or something.

Unexpectedly, it was a plate of braised pork belly, a serving of braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, and two kinds of green vegetables...

With these two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, Jiang Datong noticed that the white rice in the bowl looked so translucent!

The cost of this meal is probably more than enough to feed the whole family for a week...

After a moment of stunned silence, he stammered, "Section Chief Li... this is far too lavish..."

"I've already received my payment before I've even started the job."

"You've gone to so much trouble..."

Seeing that he was still being polite, Li Chaoyang didn't bother to continue trying to persuade him.

She simply shoved the chopsticks into his hand and then started eating herself.

While eating, he said, "Master Jiang, do you think it's too difficult for me to treat you to a meal?"

"You know what kind of food coupons I have..."

"So please eat with peace of mind, and don't have any worries."

Hearing Li Chaoyang's casual remark.

Jiang Datong immediately thought of the stack of national grain coupons he had in his pocket.

It seems...that's really the case!

For me, this meal might represent a week's worth of expenses for my family.

But for Section Chief Li, who could easily produce over a hundred kilograms of national grain coupons, it was nothing.

Thinking about it this way, Jiang Datong seemed to feel a little relieved... and then he picked up the bowl.

But as he ate, Jiang Datong couldn't help but start to have doubts...

He usually wolfs down his food, and he's even very careful when picking up a piece of food.

He didn't even touch the plate of braised pork placed in front of Li Chaoyang.

At most, he'd just obediently pick up the plate in front of him...

Li Chaoyang was somewhat surprised... he didn't wolf down his food?

However, he also noticed that this meal seemed to have made Chef Jiang a little reserved.

However, he ignored that and just kept eating.

It's important to understand that in this day and age, having enough to eat and being able to eat your fill are two different things.

And someone like him, who has vegetables and meat at every meal and can easily treat others to meals.

That was practically a symbol of pure strength...

Li Chaoyang's arrangement of this meal was also intended to let Chef Jiang know some of the stakes involved.

After all, he had just casually given him over a hundred kilograms of national grain coupons.

Now we need to show a little bit of our strength and intimidate them a bit...

To avoid giving rise to any unsavory or ulterior motives...

After all, wealth has always been a powerful motivator!

However, the effect seems a bit too good.

This rare and delicious meal was eaten by Jiang Datong with absolutely no appetite...

In the end, we finished half a pound of rice, but there was still half a braised pork left!

However, not a single vegetable dish was left...

After the meal, Li Chaoyang escorted Jiang Datong all the way to the alley entrance.

Before leaving, Jiang Datong patted his chest and promised that he would do a great job.

After dropping Jiang Datong off, I returned.

Li Chaoyang was just about to tidy up the table and take the dishes back to the restaurant.

But then they discovered that the half-plate of braised pork had vanished along with the plate...

"Holy crap! We've been robbed!" There were five jin of grain coupons on that plate!

They hurriedly chased after them, but only dim lights were on in the rooms...

The courtyard was pitch black and there was no one in sight.

Li Chaoyang took two steps outside, only to see a small figure sneaking out of the courtyard gate...

Chapter Thirty-One: A Thief Has Arrived in the Courtyard! Catch the Thief!

"Stop right there!" Li Chaoyang roared immediately.

The figure, which looked like a child, stumbled and fell on the threshold of the backyard!

With a cry of "Ouch!", he immediately dropped the plate he was holding, scrambled to his feet, and ran away.

Li Chaoyang immediately chased after him, but when he reached the backyard gate, he only saw a little child disappear in a flash.

"Damn...you're pretty fast!" Just then, he felt something soft under his feet.

Looking down, I saw it was the leftover braised pork from my room, all ruined on the floor...

The plate that held the meat was upside down on the ground...

I bent down to pick up the plate; it was greasy and covered in dirt, looking filthy, but thankfully it wasn't broken...

He walked a few steps further out into the central courtyard, but there was no one there...

Unable to catch the person, Li Chaoyang could only shake his head and walk back.

However, he now strongly suspects that the child he just saw might be a Korean...

But since we haven't caught them in the act, what else can we do?

We can't just rush to Qin Huairu's house and ask her, can we?

Moreover, he himself didn't know if there were any other children in the courtyard...

What if it's not a Korean joke...?

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to accept my bad luck...

Given the current situation, it's good enough that we were able to retrieve the plates.

Otherwise, we would have lost five jin of grain coupons...

But as soon as I got back to the back gate, I saw the old lady who lived next to the gate suddenly stick her head out.

Upon seeing someone enter, he asked, "What happened just now? I think I heard something?"

"It's alright, ma'am. A thief just broke into my house, but I couldn't catch him, and he got away." Li Chaoyang said casually as he prepared to go back inside to get a broom to clean up the braised pork on the floor.