Courtyard House: He Yuzhu started in 1948

mean!

With a pout, Jia Zhangshi turned to leave, but unexpectedly, He Daqing tossed her a large piece of pigskin. Jia Zhangshi left with a smile, greeting He Yuzhu, who had just returned, with a friendly and pleasant demeanor.

As the former imperial capital, Beiping is a place where people value appearances and manners. When He Daqing refused to give Jia Zhangshi any face, he was telling her that lard and pork cracklings were essential for their family's livelihood and that she shouldn't take advantage of them. Giving her a large piece of pigskin was a way of showing her respect.

There is an inside and a side.

He Yuzhu said he learned something.

When He Daqing saw He Yuzhu, he said irritably, "Boil the pig skin, chop it up, add vermicelli, and I steamed a pot of mixed flour buns. After Tian Zao and the others have eaten their fill, we can go sell the buns, so that they don't eat them all before we sell them."

He Daqing didn't sleep well yesterday, mainly because he was thinking about He Yuzhu and Tian Zao's collaboration to sell steamed buns, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Tian Zao himself is fine, but the key issue is that Tian Zao has more than a dozen mouths to feed.

A half-grown boy can eat his father alive.

It's already difficult enough to support a big-bellied man like He Yuzhu; among those dozen or so boys, it's inevitable that some of them will become gluttons.

With so many children, we'd be losing our life savings!

But words spoken cannot be taken back. Men living in the capital city have pride; they can't very well contradict themselves.

Let's take it one step at a time.

He Daqing felt he had to lose money, so he didn't give He Yuzhu a friendly look. He Yuzhu wasn't angry. This kind of thing couldn't make a lot of money, but it could solve the problem of food and clothing, support more than ten children, and make a little money.

The key is how to get He Daqing to accept Tian Zao and her "little brother" happily.

Steam some coarse flour buns, scoop out a spoonful of lard, heat the oil and add scallions, ginger and star anise, stir-fry the pork skin until fragrant, pour in soy sauce and cook until flavorful, add a large bucket of water, add the vermicelli to the warm water and cook for 20 minutes until the vermicelli is soft, add salt, and thicken with cornstarch before serving. A pot of salty soup is ready.

"Brother Pillar".

Jia Dongxu ran to He Yuzhu and said to him, "Brother, there's a sister named Tian Zao outside looking for you, along with a lot of children. Brother... are they your sworn brothers?"

Jia Dongxu is the son of Jia Zhangshi, who lives across the street. His father, Jia Gui, is a sixth-level worker at the steel factory, the same level as Yi Zhonghai. The family is not doing badly. Unfortunately, Jia Gui is "afraid of his wife," and Jia Zhangshi holds the reins of the family finances. In addition, Jia Zhangshi has a bad reputation, so Jia Dongxu can't hold his head up in front of his friends.

For example, Liu Guangyuan, the eldest son of Liu Haizhong's family in the backyard, and Liu Guangtian, the second son, whose youngest son was still in Liu Haizhong's wife's belly, both liked to bully Jia Dongxu. The reason was simple: Jia Gui and Liu Haizhong worked in the same workshop. Jia Gui was a level six fitter, while Liu Haizhong was a level four fitter. Moreover, Jia Gui was also the deputy director of the workshop, which made Liu Haizhong feel superior. This made Liu Haizhong, who was obsessed with becoming an official, go home in a bad mood after work and take it out on his wife and children. Naturally, Liu Guangyuan and Liu Guangtian would take their anger out on Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu was no match for the Liu brothers, Liu Guangyuan and Liu Guangtian, but He Yuzhu chased after them with sheer brute force. People admire strength, and Jia Dongxu naturally wanted a powerful older brother to stand up for him, so he followed He Yuzhu around all the time. In the past, He Yuzhu found him annoying and didn't like to take him along, but things were different now.

After all, he will have a wife in the future with whom he has an ambiguous relationship.

"Okay, go and bring them over."

After He Yuzhu finished speaking, he asked again, "Have you eaten? If not, come and have something to eat with us."

"Ah... okay, bro!"

Jia Dongxu quickly went to the front gate to invite Tian Zao and the others in, then ran home. Before Jia Zhangshi could even show off the pigskin, he grabbed two eggs from a basket in the cupboard and ran to He Yuzhu's house: "Brother Zhu, here are some eggs!"

Inside the house, when Jia Zhangshi heard her son give the eggs to He Yuzhu, her face turned pale with heartache: "Oh dear, this spendthrift... Why give such good eggs to silly Zhu?"

Tian Zao called out, "Brother Zhu Zi."

He Yuzhu stared wide-eyed at the group of teenagers behind Tian Zao, their noses twitching at the enticing aroma. They looked like hungry wolf cubs. "You're all here? Haven't eaten yet? Let's eat first!"

"No need to trouble yourself, we already ate before we came."

Tian Zao waved his hands repeatedly, saying that He Yuzhu was already a great blessing to let him do business, so how could he eat at their house?

"Even the emperor doesn't lack hungry soldiers, but you go to sell steamed buns and can't even feed yourselves. What if you steal and eat the buns you're supposed to sell?"

He Yuzhu pointed inside the house, then outside to He Daqing, who was mixing fillings: "See this? This is my father, also our Manager He. The steamed buns and pork skin soup you'll be eating later were all made by Manager He before dawn. Let's go and thank Manager He together."

He Daqing was startled. When did he become a shopkeeper?

This is something you can't say.

As for He Yuzhu's statement that he would cook for them before dawn, it was just a formality. He Daqing was worried about how to feed these more than ten people, so how could he have the mind to cook for them?

"Thank you, Manager He!"

Tian Zao, Da Yong, Hu Zi, and the others who were a little older bowed to He Daqing to express their gratitude, while the younger ones, Mei He and Gou Zi, knelt on the ground and kowtowed to He Daqing.

Tian Zao and her "little brother" pulled this stunt, which really caught He Daqing off guard.

He Daqing was just a cook. No matter how high his status was, people would only praise his cooking skills, but would never kneel down and kowtow to thank him.

Looking at Tian Zao and Dayong bowing and thanking him, and Mei He and Gouzi kneeling on the ground, He Daqing suddenly felt that he was not some ladle-flipping sage, but a great saint who saved people from suffering.

He Yuzhu looked at the helpless He Daqing, suppressed a laugh and turned his head to the side.

This is the way to deal with He Daqing: put him on a pedestal, and he'll naturally have to act superior.

He Daqing rushed over, trying to help the children up: "What are you doing? What are you doing? Get up! Get up!"

Seeing that his hands were covered in oil, he froze, turning to his own son who had gotten himself into trouble, and snapped, "Zhu Zi, what are you still standing there for? Let... let your little brothers go eat!"

"Tian Zao, call the brothers in."

He Yuzhu shouted, and Tian Zao and his brothers all stood up. Tian Zao stood aside and directed the younger brothers to line up for food, with the younger ones in front and the older ones in the back. Each person was given a bowl of soup and two steamed buns, and no one was allowed to take more than their share.

Seeing this scene, He Daqing felt a mix of emotions and could only lower his head and curse: This damned world.

Yi Zhonghai, who had just gotten up to empty the chamber pot, stood blankly at the door upon seeing this scene, feeling a mix of indescribable emotions.