Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

He Yuzhu thought for a moment, then got up and walked toward Boss Su's grain store.

Upon entering the storefront, I saw the young woman lift the curtain and go to the back room, leaving only her bright and beautiful figure behind.

Just as he was about to ask the waiter what kind of relative the boss was, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

No wonder she looked so familiar; she must be Zhang Yong's wife, whom I've never met before.

Zhang Yong had offended him before, so he went to Dashilan, found Zhang Yong's house, and planned to put a sack over his head in the alley and beat him up.

It was only later that they discovered Zhang Yong's wife had been practicing digging at home and had even found a codebook in a hidden hole.

At the time, Zhang Yong's wife had only sensed her face and figure with her spiritual power, so she felt familiar after taking a look, but did not recognize her at the moment.

Dashilan is far south of Zhengyangmen, Yandaixiejie is next to Shichahai, and north of Jingshan Park, several miles apart.

How could Zhang Yong's wife possibly go to the grain store on Yandaixie Street to buy grain?

Moreover, the other party had already entered the inner hall after I came in.

When He Yuzhu released his mental energy to check, he sensed a scene that surprised him greatly: Zhang Yong's wife was sitting directly in Manager Su's boss's chair, while Manager Su stood beside her with his hands at his sides like a shop assistant, as if reporting to a leader.

He Yuzhu was secretly anxious, complaining that this mental scanning function was somewhat useless, as it could only sense the images but could not hear their conversation.

However, this scene also conveyed too much information, which surprised He Yuzhu.

Zhang Yong's wife's behavior is clearly inconsistent with her public image.

These days, the wealthiest people are the grain store owners. So what is Zhang Yong's wife's status? Why does Manager Su sound like she's reporting to a superior?

He Yuzhu stood there for two minutes before a shop assistant came over to greet him. He then casually bought two jin of mung beans and left the grain store.

A moment later, Zhang Yong's wife came out from the back door and headed north towards the Bell and Drum Tower area.

He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment, but decided to follow at a distance to see what kind of opera Zhang Yong's wife would be performing today.

After all, the other party had never met him before and didn't know him at all.

It was normal for her to go to the first grain store to look for Manager Su, but she actually went directly to another grain store. He Yuzhu then followed her to the third grain store.

Now He Yuzhu was absolutely certain that this woman was suspicious. Unfortunately, after following her for a while, the young woman seemed to have completed her mission and started to wander off.

He Yuzhu followed behind and wandered around for a while. Suddenly, the other person entered a bathhouse. He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment, but still did not use his mental power to check the situation inside. After all, He Yuzhu would not do such a despicable thing.

It was still early, so He Yuzhu went to the courtyard where Tian Zao lived. After passing through the screen door, he heard many people chatting inside the courtyard.

Passing through the moon gate, I saw Tian Zao, Li Fugui's family, and Suo Qian's family chatting and eating melon seeds.

Suo Qian spotted He Yuzhu immediately and greeted him, "Mr. He's here?"

He Yuzhu clasped his hands in a salute: "Brother Suo is joking with me again."

Then, after exchanging greetings with Li Fugui's family and Tian Zao, Suo Qian's wife, from who-knows-where, took a small stool and placed it beside her, saying, "Brother He, your Brother Suo is just like that, he doesn't know how to speak properly."

"You're too kind, sister-in-law."

He Yuzhu sat down and exchanged a few polite words.

Tian Zao handed over a handful of sunflower seeds and asked, "Did you need something from me?"

He Yuzhu took some from the middle and then said, "It's a small matter."

Tian Zao thought it was a small matter. After sitting and chatting for a while and finishing cracking the sunflower seeds in his hand, he clapped his hands and said, "Come with me."

He Yuzhu got up to apologize and followed them to the back room.

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"Here's what happened," He Yuzhu explained, recounting his discovery and how he had accompanied Zhang Yong's wife to the two grain stores.

"Why are you dragging your feet on something this important?"

“Those three grain stores aren’t going to run away, are they? Besides, I’ve already lost track of Zhang Yong’s wife, so it doesn’t matter if it happens a little earlier or later.”

He Yuzhu couldn't reveal her ability to use her mental power to see things, so she changed it slightly. She said that Manager Su respected her a lot and that Zhang Yong's wife lived in Dashilan, so it was impossible for her to come here to buy grain.

"There does seem to be a problem here. Okay, I'll talk to Tiedan about it later."

Tian Zao also felt that something was amiss. If the first grain store was owned by a relative, it would make sense, but the fact that she visited two more grain stores seemed abnormal.

He Yuzhu knew that things were complicated here, and that he only needed to play a warning role.

After leaving Tian Zao's house, He Yuzhu went back to attend to matters at the tavern.

Although He Yuzhu reported the news to Tian Zao, it did not alleviate the food shortage problem in the short term. After the price rose, news suddenly came that the floods this year were severe, and a reduction in grain production was a foregone conclusion. This year's harvest was bad, and there would soon be no grain to eat.

The prices of flour and rice skyrocketed, breaking through the 30-cent mark in just two days, catching everyone off guard.

Xu Huizhen said, "Brother Zhu, you're so quick-witted. We prepared food and flour in advance."

He Yuzhu's main business now is selling steamed buns in the morning, as well as braised meat for lunch and dinner, which is served with liquor. Because He Yuzhu makes delicious food, the braised meat is also exceptional, and the liquor sold in the tavern is not diluted with water, he quickly gained a market and his business became very successful.

Compared to the steamed buns sold in the morning, although the profit is not much, just selling steamed buns can cover the rent and workers' wages, with a little left over.

He Yuzhu said, "Although we have prepared three tons of flour, I still think we should hold off on making steamed buns for now."

Three tons of flour seems like a lot. Under normal circumstances, more than 200 kilograms can be used a day, so it won't last more than a few days. Moreover, this flour will be kept and transferred to the workers so that they can buy flour at a cheaper price, which is also a benefit.

He Yuzhu is already earning enough money every day, and has no intention of selling this flour at a high price.

The current rumors are unconfirmed, and the timing of this price increase is uncertain, so He Yuzhu does not plan to use the flour in his space.

Those were all collected with great difficulty, intended to secure my livelihood for the next 10 years or so, and I wouldn't use them lightly.

"You're not selling it now?"

He Yuzhu said, "Yes, I don't know how long the price increase will last. Besides, we can switch to other jobs."

"Do something else? What else can you do?" Xu Huizhen asked.

With the prices of rice, flour, and cornmeal skyrocketing, it's definitely no longer feasible to use these as ingredients for breakfast. Although most breakfast items are made with rice and flour, there are also snacks that don't use these ingredients.

He Yuzhu said, "I learned how to make fried liver from Uncle Gui. We have the ingredients, so we only need a little training."

Selling braised meat already includes pork liver, pork intestines, and other offal; you could say they have all the ingredients needed to make stir-fried liver.

"If we don't sell noodles, fried liver is the only dish that would be suitable."

Other snacks, whether they are steamed buns, fried dough twists, fried dough rings, fried dough sticks, glutinous rice cakes, or bean buns, all rely on flour.

There are very few breakfast options that can be made without flour. Even if flour is not used, other grains are used. For example, fried liver does not require any grains at all.

Fried liver is a famous traditional snack in the Beijing area. It was improved from the boiled offal at Huixianju Restaurant outside Qianmen in the late Qing Dynasty.

Boiled offal in clear broth is made by simmering chopped pork liver, heart, and lungs with seasonings. It is popular because it is simple to make without elaborate seasonings.

Later, the pig's heart and lungs were removed, and it was renamed "Stir-fried Liver," which quickly became a unique snack in Beijing.

The seasoning for stir-fried liver is prepared by frying star anise in hot oil until thoroughly cooked, then adding raw garlic. As soon as the garlic turns yellow, a suitable amount of yellow soybean paste is added, and the mixture is stir-fried and stored in a jar for later use. Additionally, a good mushroom broth is prepared. Once all the ingredients and seasonings are ready, the stir-fried liver is prepared. First, cooked intestine segments are added to boiling broth, followed by garlic paste, chopped green onions, and cornstarch slurry.

Add minced ginger and mushroom broth, then add raw liver strips to the pot, thicken with cornstarch, and finally sprinkle with a layer of crushed garlic.

Note: The so-called "stir-fried liver" isn't actually stir-fried, but rather boiled. Besides liver, it also includes pork intestines, usually in larger quantities. Finally, cornstarch is added; because it's quite thick, you need to stir constantly, giving it a "stir-fried" feel.

He Yuzhu also really likes fried liver. He learned the skill from Uncle Gui and has made it occasionally before. It tastes pretty good.

"Okay, then let's change it to selling fried liver."

Xu Hui was a woman of action; she turned around and went to inform the helper.

A moment later, Da Yong came over: "Shopkeeper, are you not selling these buns anymore?"

Although the two were fellow apprentices, Da Yong always addressed the tavern manager as such.

He Yuzhu had mentioned it to him twice before, and he didn't change his way of addressing him, so he just accepted that way of addressing him.

"Yes, flour prices have risen so high. If we raise prices too, we won't be able to sell anything." If we don't raise prices, we definitely won't have enough to sell. If we do raise prices, buyers will only curse He Yuzhu in their hearts, calling him a heartless and evil capitalist.

He Yuzhu would be caught in the middle, so it would be better not to sell at all and just say to the outside world that he couldn't buy any grain.

Dayong started the conversation with steamed buns, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "We didn't buy any flour the other day, could you spare me a bag of flour?"

Then, fearing that He Yuzhu might have some reservations, he quickly said, "If it doesn't work out, then let's just forget about it."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "It's alright. You know we still have more than two tons of flour in our warehouse. I promise I won't interfere with outsiders here, but our own people in the tavern can each buy a bag of flour for two cents a pound, and cornmeal will only be priced at eight cents."

Previously, cornmeal cost only 6 or 7 cents, but now it has risen to 15 cents.

However, when He Yuzhu bought the flour, the price had already gone up. After buying the first batch of flour, he bought another batch. The last batch was priced at two cents and eight cents, so He Yuzhu sold it at the price of the last batch and didn't make a profit.

When he bought it, Dayong knew the price and said in surprise, "Why don't you sell it for a little more?"

Originally, I thought that He Yuzhu would be willing to sell it to me for no more than 25 cents, out of consideration for our fellow apprentices. But I didn't expect He Yuzhu to sell it to me at the cost of my own money.

"Isn't this price too low? You..."

"We're all family here, why would I want to make more money off you? Alright, that's settled then. Everyone in our tavern can buy a bag of flour and a bag of cornmeal."

He Yuzhu, as the boss, has already done a good job. As for whether they keep the flour for themselves or resell it, that's their choice.

He Yuzhu won't sell it a second time anytime soon, which is a benefit for them. Unless the price hasn't come down by the time all the flour is used up, he can sell them another bag.

"Thank you on their behalf," Dayong said gratefully.

After He Yuzhu came out, he gathered all the employees together and told them that he could sell them flour and cornmeal at a fair price, but the quantity would be limited to only what they could eat themselves.

Everyone was grateful to He Yuzhu, because although many people had guessed that the price of food would rise, they had no money and nothing to do.

Take Aunt Fang, who works as a helper, for example. Her husband is a temporary worker who earns only about 10 yuan a month. They have three or four children and elderly parents to support. They don't have enough money to spend each month and have to ask for money in advance. They simply don't have any money left to store food.