Silly Zhu's Moving: The Old Neighbor's Nightmare

Xu Damao readily agreed to Sha Zhu's suggestion.

After all, it had been a long time since they had tasted the flavor of oil and fat, not to mention that Sha Zhu had specially saved a piece of meat at noon to make twice-cooked pork.

So he lit a cigarette in the yard and waited leisurely.

Seeing this, Sha Zhu knew that Xu Damao had been calmed down, so he went into the rain shelter and whispered in her ear,

"Rain, Xu Damao is having dinner at our house later. I'll make the food a little less appealing, so don't get angry."

After Xu Damao finishes eating, what would you like to eat? I'll cook it for you.

"I'll hide all the good food in our house now, and we'll take it out when no one else is around, okay?"

Upon hearing her brother's words, Yu Shui quickly nodded in agreement: "Okay, brother. After Xu Damao leaves, you make me braised pork."

Sha Zhu laughed and replied, "Okay, you want to eat braised pork again? Don't you ever get tired of it? For the next ten days, I'll make braised pork for you every day. Let's see how long you can eat it."

Not to be outdone, the rain retorted, "Brother, I don't want to eat this every day!"

You have to take me to eat Peking duck, or lamb hot pot, or maybe we can go get lobster or bear paw.

It seems that the rain has been staying on Qianmen Street for too long, indulging in rich food every day, and has become a bit complacent.

Sha Zhu said earnestly, "Yu Shui, this will be our home from now on. It's different from living with Master."

At the master's place, there are many wealthy people in the neighborhood who mostly only care about their own family affairs and rarely care what other people eat.

But when I go back home, the surrounding area is full of poor people. If they knew I ate meat every day, they would scold me for being extravagant and wasteful.

So even if we eat something nice, we can't let anyone know.

Although Rain was a little unhappy, she still agreed.

Sha Zhu continued, "When you see Xu Damao later, you can't just call him by his name. You have to be polite and call him Brother Damao, understand? You can't let others say you don't know how to be polite."

Rain said impatiently, "Brother, I know, you go and cook."

After saying that, he pushed and shoved Sha Zhu out of the house.

Sha Zhu muttered to himself, "That little ingrate," and then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Sha Zhu plunged into the kitchen and immediately got to work.

He thought to himself that although it would be a lie to say that he would make the food taste bad, Yu Shui was used to delicious food and would inevitably throw a tantrum at the dinner table if his taste was suddenly changed.

Giving her a heads-up beforehand was also to avoid this kind of embarrassment.

He decided to cook a few home-style dishes so that Xu Damao wouldn't easily judge his cooking skills, and with meat dishes, he wouldn't be too picky.

Even if the skill is discovered in the future, it can be claimed that the cooking skills have improved.

With this in mind, Sha Zhu prepared a meal that was neither ostentatious nor lacking in quality.

Sha Zhu brought all the food to his room and invited Yu Shui and Xu Damao to eat together.

On the dining table were four or five steamed buns made with two types of dough, a dish of pickled vegetables he had made himself, a plate of crispy peanuts, and a plate of twice-cooked pork.

Sha Zhu took out a bottle of Erguotou from the cabinet, walked to the table, sat down, and turned to Xu Damao, saying, "Damao, how about a drink?"

Fourteen-year-old Xu Damao had no concept of politeness; he already had a steamed bun in his hand and was chewing twice-cooked pork in his mouth.

He gave a vague reply: "Pour me a little bit, just a tiny bit. If I drink too much and my dad smells alcohol, he'll definitely beat me up when I get home."

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu smiled and poured Xu Damao a small half-cup of wine, then sat down to enjoy this simple home-cooked meal.

Watching Xu Damao devour his food, Shazhu laughed and said, "Damao, eat slowly, there's no rush."

Xu Damao paused his meat-picking motion, glanced at Shazhu and Yushui,

He said, "Little Rain, you should eat too. Brother Da Mao won't take it from you anymore. I'm really sorry for taking your pastries before. When Brother Da Mao has money in the future, I will definitely buy you lots of them."

Rainwater only took a symbolic bite of the steamed bun made with two kinds of dough, tasted the twice-cooked pork, and then lost interest.

Compared to the dishes my brother used to cook, this tastes completely different.

Remembering her brother's instructions before cooking, she reluctantly said, "Brother Da Mao, I ate too much at noon and I'm not hungry yet. You should eat more." After saying that, she deliberately stood up and pushed the twice-cooked pork in front of Xu Da Mao.

Rainwater's gesture moved Xu Damao to tears.

He kept muttering, "I knew you weren't a stingy person. Don't worry, when Brother Da Mao has money, I'll definitely buy you more pastries than you can eat."

Seeing this, Sha Zhu chuckled inwardly and said, "Da Mao, forget about the rain, she just ate too much at noon. Come on, let's have a drink."

After the two clinked glasses, Sha Zhu also picked up a steamed bun made from two different types of dough and started eating it with pickled vegetables and peanuts.

In his opinion, these two-kneaded steamed buns are a great way to lose weight and maintain health after eating too much meat and fish.

Watching her brother eat with relish, Yu Shui couldn't help but wonder if the steamed bun in her hand was different from Sha Zhu's.

She put down her half-eaten steamed bun, ran to Sha Zhu's side, snatched the bun from his hand, broke it in half, and then gave the half she had eaten back to Sha Zhu.

He said, "Brother, I can't finish one, I'll just have half."

After saying that, without waiting for Sha Zhu's reaction, she ran back to her seat and took a bite of the steamed bun she had snatched from her brother.

However, the taste was exactly the same, and she couldn't help but wonder why her brother could eat it so deliciously.

Rainwater knew her brother was full of mischievous ideas and always liked to tease her, so she was a little confused at the moment.

Just as the three of them were enjoying their dinner at the dining table, there was a knock on the door outside the courtyard.

Sha Zhu glanced outside and sensed that Yan Bugui was standing outside the door carrying a bucket with a small fish swimming happily inside, and he was also holding a fishing rod in his hand.

Presumably, after returning from fishing, he learned from the neighbors that the Silly Brother and Sister had moved back, and came to visit them.

Sha Zhu glanced at the few remaining pieces of twice-cooked pork on the table and whispered to Da Mao, "Da Mao, hurry up and finish the twice-cooked pork on your plate. Maybe the people from No. 95 Courtyard have heard the news and come looking for us."

You heard we moved back, so naturally others probably know too, and they might be trying to freeload off us.

After saying that, he instructed Yushui: "Yushui, go open the door, I'll put away the steamed buns made from the two kinds of flour on the table."

After saying that, he quickly put the steamed buns into the kitchen, took out a few steaming hot cornbread buns from his storage space, and returned to the house.

He put the bottled liquor back on the table, hid it in the cabinet, and replaced it with bulk liquor. Feigning composure, he said to Xu Damao...

"We can't let the people in the compound know that we're eating well, otherwise they'll come over to freeload every day."

Rainwater responded and went to open the door. Xu Damao nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

He said, "Then hurry up and hide the rest of the twice-cooked pork for Yushui to eat. I ate almost the whole plate, and I didn't see Yushui touch it much."

When Sha Zhu heard Xu Damao's words, he felt like he was a terrible person. How could he bully Brother Damao like that? He felt like he had no conscience at all and felt a pang of guilt.

He said, "Never mind the rain, she'll have snacks if she's hungry, you should eat quickly."

Seeing this, Da Mao stopped talking, finished his steamed bun in a few bites, and then devoured the twice-cooked pork on the plate.

Just as Da Mao was putting the last bite of twice-cooked pork into his mouth, Teacher Yan happened to walk into the room and bumped right into him.

Rain led Teacher Yan into the house, and upon looking at the table, the steamed buns were gone, replaced by steaming cornbread.

Xu Damao had finished the twice-cooked pork on the plate, leaving only a few peanuts and pickled vegetables on the table.

Rain glared at her brother with dissatisfaction, then went straight back to her room without eating.