Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

After receiving a wave of thanks, He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle, carrying rice and flour, to his master's house in the back.

Just then, Sister Jin Yan was about to go out and was already standing in the yard with her bag in hand.

He Yuzhu asked, "Sister, are you going out? Are you going to buy food?"

“Yes, it went up several points again today, and I want to buy more,” Hong Jinyan said.

"No need to buy anymore, I've already bought it."

As He Yuzhu spoke, he patted the two bags of grain behind him.

"So much? How much is it? I'll ask my mother to get you the money." Hong Jinyan came forward and helped untie the ropes so the two of them could carry the grain into the kitchen.

"Sister, why are you bringing up money? Aren't you just slapping me in the face?" He Yuzhu said.

"With food so expensive these days, these two bags are worth more than one person's salary."

Even at 30 cents per pound, 50 pounds of flour and 50 pounds of rice would cost 30 yuan, which is no small amount. The average wage for a casual laborer is only 10 yuan.

Hearing the commotion, the master's wife came out of the house and beckoned He Yuzhu to come in. Just as she was about to take the money, He Yuzhu stopped her.

He Yuzhu brewed the tea himself, presented it to his master's wife with both hands, and said, "Master's wife, this is a small token of my appreciation. I have kowtowed and acknowledged my master. In principle, after completing my apprenticeship, I still need to work for my master for two years before I can officially graduate."

The three-year apprenticeship and two-year service period is not just a joke.

This means that after three years of instruction from a master, one has normally reached the standard of graduation and can go out to earn money independently.

However, his skills were not yet refined at this time, and he needed to work under his master for another two years. This was partly to hone his skills and partly to use the money he earned during those two years as a tribute to his master.

In the past, everyone was poor. Children learned various skills from elementary school. When they became apprentices, there were no apprenticeship gifts or tuition fees.

Why should your master pass on his skills to you?

Even in later generations, you have to pay tuition to attend vocational and technical schools, right?

The effort I've put in over the past two years is what I've paid for.

The master's wife said, "Although you have formally acknowledged your master, you have only studied for three months and you are already better than the head chef. How can your master have the face to let you serve him for two years?"

He Yuzhu mastered the art of Sichuan cuisine in just three or four months. Hong Henian felt really bad and kept He Yuzhu working for two years, making him hand over all his wages.

He Yuzhu had previously brought money to hand over, but his master and mistress had always refused to accept it.

It means that we usually send them some braised pork buns and other food as a way of showing our respect.

He Yuzhu said, "Master's wife, right now the main problem is that the price of grain has doubled. Fortunately, I had some grain stored up before. Starting tomorrow, I will stop selling steamed buns and start selling fried liver instead. Since I have grain, can you still buy the expensive grain?"

"This..." The master's wife didn't know what to say.

“Master’s wife, this grain is my way of showing my respect to you. Besides, Yushui eats here with you every few days.”

Ever since He Yuzhu opened the tavern, Yushui has been craving meat and eats mostly there. However, he prefers to spend time with Jinling and usually sleeps at his master's wife's house at night.

"Alright, I'll accept these two times. We'll help you out more often in the future."

Neither the master's wife nor Jin Yan had jobs. When the business first opened, they went to help out every day, but after things started to run smoothly, they stopped going as often.

Since He Yuzhu has given us grain, we can give him some free support for his business in return. That way, we can have a give-and-take relationship.

After leaving his master's wife's house, He Yuzhu returned to the tavern. Just as he was about to pack more grain to send to Tian Zao, Xiangcao came over and said, "Manager, someone is looking for you."

He Yuzhu washed his hands and went to the front. He saw Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Xu Wude.

"Oh dear, what wind blew these three gentlemen here?"

Yi Zhonghai said, "Zhu Zi, grain prices are too high right now. Do you have any affordable flour here? Could you spare some for us?"

Chapter 93 Xu Damao Comes to the Door to Chop People Up

Upon hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, He Yuzhu asked, "Old Yi, are you illiterate? I run a tavern and a braised meat stall, not a grain store. Where would I sell you flour?"

Yi Zhonghai pretended not to hear He Yuzhu calling him "Old Yi".

I knew He Yuzhu was using this topic to change the subject. If I started arguing, he would change the subject after talking for a while.

He said, "Of course I can read, and I know you sell braised meat, but don't you sell steamed buns? How could your shop not have any grain stored in it?"

"I do have stored grain, but I still need to continue selling steamed buns. If you want to buy grain, just go to the grain store across the street."

He Yuzhu could sell the grain to the workers in the shop, or give it to his master and mistress, and he also planned to sell some grain to his fellow disciples for two cents.

However, it was impossible for Yi Zhonghai, who lived in the courtyard, to buy cheap grain from himself.

Liu Haizhong said, "With grain prices so high now, why are you still selling steamed buns? If you transfer your grain to us, the neighbors will still remember your kindness."

“Yeah, Zhu Zi, you’ll lose money selling steamed buns right now. Last time I took you to buy antiques and we made a fortune. You can’t just watch us starve to death.”

He Yuzhu now understood why the three of them had come together.

Yi Zhonghai spoke first, and after he refused, Liu Haizhong and Xu Wude tried to morally blackmail him.

I don't know how the three of them discussed it. Logically speaking, if Xu Wude had come to me alone, I would definitely have given him some food.

Of course, I wouldn't sell it to him for two cents. I'd sell it for at least three cents, since the market price of grain has already risen to 33 cents. Giving him a discount of three cents is already a favor.

He Yuzhu said, "Since you put it that way, I'll give Uncle Xu face and transfer the grain to you for three cents each."

In 49 cities, people are very respectful when they go out, mainly because there are too many rich and powerful people there, and they have always been particularly respectful to others.

Often, even peers use the formal "you" (您), while older people are addressed as "grandpa" (大爷) or "grandma" (大妈).

In principle, Xu Wude is not as old as He Daqing, so calling him "uncle" would be fine. However, calling him "grandpa" is not wrong either, as He Yuzhu sometimes just casually calls him "grandpa".

However, when addressing someone individually, it's sometimes sufficient to simply call them Uncle Xu.

"Three cents? Can't you make it cheaper?" Xu Wude complained that it was too expensive.

He Yuzhu said, "I asked this morning and the price had already gone up to 33 cents. It'll probably be 35 cents by tomorrow. Besides, I live so close to the grain store; they never store grain. It's all delivered the night before and used up the next day. Where would I get the money to stockpile grain?"

Hearing this, the three men's brows relaxed a bit. They had only thought that He Yuzhu used a lot of flour every day, so he should have some grain stored up. But they didn't expect that he was so close to the grain store that he didn't need to store any grain at all. He could just have the grain store deliver it to him every day.

He Yuzhu said, "I just saved some yesterday. If you want it, it's three cents a pound. If you don't want it, just go to the grain store and it's three cents a pound."

Just then, Dayong came in from outside and shouted, "The grain store has raised the price of grain again. Flour is 35 cents now!"

"What? It went up two points since this morning?"

"Are you trying to kill us all?"

"What about the officials? Won't they drag all these grain sellers out and behead them?"

"Deserves to be killed."

The three old men heard the discussion and exchanged glances. Yi Zhonghai nodded slightly.

Then Xu Wude said, "Okay, Pillar, three cents it is. How many kilograms can you give us?"

He Yuzhu tapped the table lightly with his fingers, lost in thought.

Originally, I didn't plan to sell the flour in the space. After all, selling grain at a high price at this time would easily be discovered by the military control committee, and I wouldn't be able to explain myself.

However, the fact that the three of them have come to me now, and that I'm selling them some high-priced grain, doesn't constitute reselling.

They were all neighbors, and they begged me to transfer the property; I couldn't very well take it to the military control commission.

Even though they reported themselves, they didn't sell to anyone else, and they got away with it this time.

The food in the space was originally bought for 1 cents, but now it's being sold to them for 5 cents, which is equivalent to making double the profit.

This price is already quite high.

We can sell to them now, and then buy them back when the price of grain drops after a while.

You make money from both buying and selling.

"How much do you want?"

He Yuzhu added, "But not too much. We've been neighbors for years, and I can't just watch you go hungry."

"Do you have 500 jin of grain?" Yi Zhonghai asked.

Then he explained, "Zhu Zi, this isn't just food for the three of us; it's grain bought for everyone in the entire courtyard."

Today, we approached He Yuzhu at Yi Zhonghai's suggestion, because we've been watching the grain prices rise day by day, and all the grain stores have implemented sales restrictions.

It's not like you can just buy as much as you want for 35 cents a pound.

The people at the grain store aren't stupid; they know how to maximize profits, so of course they limit the amount of grain each person can buy.

The long queues outside the grain stores served to inform others of the current food shortage, causing anxiety among everyone.

Especially with the price of grain rising day by day, more and more people are joining the queue.

This allows grain stores to earn substantial profits.

Yi Zhonghai and his two companions, as the chosen senior administrators of the school, wanted to use this opportunity to get food from He Yuzhu so that everyone could have something to eat.

Although it was only 30 cents a pound, which was more than I had expected, the grain store had already raised the price to 35 cents. Getting a batch of grain for 30 cents a pound would be enough to get by.

Now the three senior management officers will have an even more secure and authoritative position.

He Yuzhu had guessed their plan, but now he lived behind the tavern and rarely returned to the courtyard house, so he didn't want to get involved in their schemes.

"500 jin? That's fine, but it's daytime now. I'll deliver it to you in the evening."

During the day, he can only pull the flour from the back warehouse, but if he waits until night, He Yuzhu can take out the flour from his space and deliver it there.