Siheyuan: Happy life of veteran drivers

Unable to refuse, Wang Hongtao had to let Yushui cook.

It must be said that Xiao Yushui’s cooking skills are pretty good. Although her home-cooked dishes like stir-fried cabbage are still some distance away from Sha Zhu’s, they are definitely much better than Yu Li’s.

For example, now, she was tearing the cabbage leaves as she pleased.

The cabbage stalks were cut to make kimchi, and all that was left were leaves. The remaining leaves were not cut in the rain, but torn by hand.

It’s strange, for some reason, cabbage and lettuce always taste worse if they are cut than if they are torn by hand.

Pour a spoonful of oil into the pot, then cut a few slices of bacon and roll it. When the bacon changes color and emits fragrance, pour in the shredded cabbage.

As the sounds of "eating" were heard, the aroma of bacon instantly spread.

……

Soon a plate of delicious fried bacon and cabbage was ready.

During this time, Yu Li came over to say hello, chatted for a few words and then went back.

"How is it, Yu Li? Xiao Wang didn't keep you?" Yan Bugui couldn't wait to ask as soon as he got back.

Yu Li shook her head indifferently: "Yu Shui and Lou Xiao'e are here. Yu Shui cooked the dish. Just by smelling it, you can tell that her cooking skills are much better than mine."

The third aunt panicked when she heard this: "How can this be possible? It was our Yan family who took over the job of cooking first. Isn't He Yushui just cutting in? How can you do this?"

"No, I have to go and talk to them."

Yan Bugui shouted in a deep voice: "Come back! Why are you so impatient?"

"How can I not be anxious? It's not easy to earn a few dollars these days, not to mention there are leftovers and so on..."

The third aunt was so anxious that she paced back and forth in the room, feeling restless.

"What are you afraid of? Yu Shui only comes back once a week. She might leave in the afternoon."

"You coming here now will do nothing but make Xiao Wang unhappy!"

Yan Bugui was a very shrewd man and found the key to the problem immediately:

"That's the cooking skill passed down from the ancestors of the Shazhu family. Even though Yu Shui is a woman, it's normal that her cooking skills are better than our Yu Li's."

"Is it okay for people to eat Yu Li's bad food on weekdays and Yu Shui's good food on weekends?"

After hearing what Yan Bugui said, the third aunt finally breathed a sigh of relief. That’s right, no matter how delicious the rainwater cooking is, she is only at home one day a week. Doesn’t Yu Li have to cook the rest of the time?

But Yu Li felt a little unfair. Why was my dish so bad? Little Wang liked it!

……

The group enjoyed the fried cabbage with bacon, pickled vegetable and egg drop soup, and plenty of white flour steamed buns with great relish.

"Brother, you fried the cabbage well today. It tastes a bit like what our mother cooked." Wang Hongbin was eating the steamed bun without stopping.

He Yushui's face turned red, and Lou Xiao'e covered her mouth and laughed.

Wang Hongtao picked up the chopsticks and knocked them on Abin's head: "Just eat it, why are you talking so much nonsense?!"

Wang Hongbin lowered his head and muttered, "You won't let me say anything, how overbearing!"

.....

After eating and drinking, Wang Hongtao sat alone on the doorstep smoking after sending away Abin, who was eating and taking things with him, He Yushui, who wanted to stay to wash the dishes, and Lou Xiaoe, who felt sleepy after eating.

The midday sun is so warm on the body that it makes one feel sleepy.

The courtyard was very quiet at this time. Even the most noisy children were taught by their families to be quiet and not disturb the sleeping neighbors.

Tomorrow is salary payment day. After enduring a month of hardship, it is finally time to pay the wages.

But the closer it got to the customs, the less food the people had in their homes.

Today is a rest day, so some families only eat two meals a day, breakfast is delayed and dinner is brought forward.

Thinking that it would be less likely to be hungry when asleep, everyone just went to bed.

"Old lady, I'm going out to fish. Please take care of the house."

"Got it, boss, just go ahead and don't worry."

After Yan Bugui left, the third aunt also came into the room and lay down, and soon she began to snore.

Seeing some people going out and some sleeping at home, Yu Li began to have some thoughts in her mind and walked into the backyard as if possessed.

Seeing Wang Hongtao smoking at the threshold, Yu Li hesitated for a moment and walked in.

After checking that there was no one around, Wang Hongtao put out his cigarette and went into the house, closing the door behind him. He did it so quickly that even Ah Huang didn't react.

After realizing what was happening, Ah Huang suddenly stood up and scratched the bottom of the door: Open the door quickly, I haven’t come in yet!

After digging a few times and seeing no response, Ah Huang seemed to understand something. He walked straight to the front of the gate and lay down.

……

Seeing that Wang Hongtao actually closed the door, Yu Li blushed and whispered:

"I...I just came here to ask you why you didn't call me for lunch."

Wang Hongtao understood. Wouldn't it be better to just ask at the door? Was it necessary to go inside to ask?

It's obvious that Xiaojiazheng has other intentions!

"Where are the third uncle and aunt? Are you in a hurry to come out now?" Wang Hongtao went straight to the point.

"My father-in-law went out fishing, and my mother-in-law was sleeping in the room. I came over only to hear her snoring." The housekeeper replied coquettishly, and then added, "My mother-in-law sleeps so soundly that she can't get up for more than an hour and a half.

To understanding!

Seeing that Yu Li had no intention of going back, Wang Hongtao asked, "Yu Li, you've been married to the Yan family for quite some time, right? Have you ever thought about having children?"

Yu Li frowned and said, "Why? Xie Cheng still doesn't have a proper job. He usually relies on odd jobs on the street from time to time. He earns less than ten yuan a month, and sometimes it's not enough to pay for the food expenses of his family."

"To be honest, this Yan family is really weird. Even their family members have to pay for more food. This is the first time I've seen such calculating people!"

Wang Hongtao nodded: "Teacher Yan is just like this by nature. He is not targeting you on purpose. He is stingy with his family members and himself. Did you see his lame eyes? He is reluctant to replace them even though they are so broken."

Yu Li was somewhat helpless when talking about this: "Who said it wasn't true? To be honest, sometimes I really don't know what my father-in-law wants to do with all the money he saves. He doesn't even want to spend it on food."

"I saw him several times take out the fine grain coupons issued by the school and exchange them for coarse grain, saying that this way he could have more meals."

"How can we dare to have children when we have no money and no nutrition?"