Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

“I can ride a bike…” Yu Li said, head bowed. Two long braids hung down in front of her ample chest. Her worn-out floral cotton-padded jacket couldn’t hide her prominent breasts.

Li Xiangdong hurriedly returned home, took out his bicycle, hung two or four large fish on it, and was about to go out.

Xu Damao stared, dumbfounded. He'd invited his wife to dinner. Why was Section Chief Li going out?

"It's okay, it's okay, I'll be back in three to five minutes."

Li Xiangdong gave a brief explanation.

Li Xiangdong pushed the cart out of the yard and found Yu Li at the corner.

“Ride your bike back, Zuojiazhuang isn’t far,” Li Xiangdong said. “I’ll wait for you at the steel mill gate at 11:30 tomorrow morning.”

Yu Li felt like she was dreaming, somewhat dazed. She was a little more sober now, but seeing Li Xiangdong's handsome face made her feel drunk again.

“This fish…” Yu Li said shyly.

"I'll give it to your family," Li Xiangdong said. "Feel free to leave. If that matchmaker comes looking for you, just give her a piece of your mind."

"You've seen the Yan family's situation. They even distinguish between different kinds of pickled vegetables."

"Yan Jiecheng lives at home and has to pay for his accommodation and meals. He currently does odd jobs!"

Yu Li said with some annoyance, "I just saw it. The meal they prepared for the blind date was just tofu, dried small fish, and some pickled vegetables and cornbread."

"The aroma I smelled as soon as I entered the courtyard made me think it was from their house..."

"That was me cooking fish," Li Xiangdong said. "I'll tell you about this eccentric family later. You'd better hurry up and leave, the matchmaker will be looking for someone soon."

“I’m not afraid, but your reputation is important.”

"Okay, I'm off then." Yu Li gave Li Xiangdong a deep look, then got on her bike and rode away.

Yu Li was deeply moved. The first time Li Xiangdong met her, he handed her the brand-new Phoenix car. This trust brought tears to Yu Li's eyes.

Li Xiangdong then returned to the courtyard with a smug look on his face. The aroma of the roasted fish had become so strong that it had almost turned into a liquid, filling the courtyard and overflowing outside.

Li Xiangdong also took out a three-pound can of beef hot pot. He placed it on the coal stove in the main room and started burning it.

Lou Xiao'e sat at the octagonal table, reading a novel.

Li Xiangdong packed the fish out and carried it out of the kitchen, and he could still faintly hear the cries of the crickets in the courtyard.

Banggeng cried until his voice was hoarse, and he was still rolling on the ground, begging for fish.

"Silly Zhu, you're a chef, but you've never cooked such fragrant fish before!"

Jia Dongxu said to Sha Zhu in a depressed mood.

Qin Huairu was coaxing Banggeng, while Shazhu and Yi Zhonghai stood to the side. Jia Dongxu looked indignant.

"He used Pixian chili bean paste. Where can I get that stuff? These days, only high-end restaurants have it." Sha Zhu shook his head and said, "And he used beer to cook the fish. Tsk tsk, it would be strange if it didn't taste good."

"But his cooking skills may not be good, and what smells good may not taste good."

"Qin Huairu thinks their fish is cooked. Go and ask for some. Look how hungry Banggeng is!" Jia Zhangshi came out with a large bowl.

This large bowl is roughly the size of a small washbasin.

"This... forget it. We just had an argument with him. We won't give it to him even if we go!"

Qin Huairu said with great difficulty.

"How do you know they won't give it to you if you haven't even gone? Are you just going to watch your son cry?" Madam Jia said with a dark face, "Go now! Or I'll beat you!"

Jia Zhangshi waved her hand, making Sha Zhu's eyes blaze with anger!

"Mom, hurry up, hurry up. Otherwise those bastards will eat us all up." Banggeng urged Qin Huairu.

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Chapter Eighteen: Begging for Food at Someone's Door (Seeking flowers, monthly tickets, and review votes!)

"Go quickly." Jia Dongxu waved his hand.

Qin Huairu gave a wry smile. Seeing her troubled expression, Yi Zhonghai said, "Forget it, we can't have it."

"I wanted to ask for some meat, but I couldn't even bring it to the old lady. I made a wasted trip and embarrassed your Jia family."

Jia Zhangshi's fleshy face was filled with resentment.

"That heartless bastard! He has good food but doesn't even share it with Bang Geng!" Jia Zhangshi spewed filth. "Can he even be considered human?!"

Sha Zhu shook his head and said, "What can I do? He's the section chief. By the way, when he goes to work tomorrow, I'm going to make him miserable."

"You're going to shake the ladle for him?" Yi Zhonghai immediately understood: "Don't make it too obvious, he's not an ordinary worker."

Yi Zhonghai was forced to take Li Xiangdong's identity more seriously.

"I know, how could I not know?" Old Man Shazhu's face was full of smugness. His gaze glanced sideways at Qin Huairu.

At this moment, Qin Huairu was half-squatting, coaxing Bang Geng, who was still lying on the ground. His buttocks were really plump, which made Sha Zhu's face turn red.

Yi Zhonghai also secretly glanced at Fenglong's area. Then he said to Shazhu, "Zhuzi, I'm making dumplings today, come and help."

"Don't cry, Banggeng. We'll have pork dumplings later."

This remark prompted Jia Zhangshi to scoff, "Tsk tsk, half a jin of meat for dumplings that so many people are eating? It must be like a little pig burrowing into a vegetable garden; it won't be easy to find meat there."

"Sister-in-law, there's nothing we can do about it. That's all the meat coupons we have," Yi Zhonghai said. "We're lucky if we can even get a taste of meat."

"Tsk tsk, yours smells a bit like meat. Look what that little brat is eating! Tsk tsk, that's the aroma of beef!" Jia Zhangshi looked at Yi Zhonghai with disdain.

"If you guys aren't going, I'll take my grandson. I refuse to believe that he wouldn't give a little kid some food!"

Upon hearing this, Banggeng immediately scrambled to his feet from the ground.

"Grandma, you're still the best. Let's go to their house and bring back lots of good food." Banggeng's fat face was full of greed, and his dark eyes were full of malice.

Yi Zhonghai shook his head and thought to himself, "That's fine too. If I can get it, I'll go with her and get her a bowl. That way, it'll be him bowing his head and giving in."

“If we don’t give it to her, that old hag Jia Zhangshi will start a fight with Banggeng, which will give me a handle to intervene. This time, we must stand on the side of reason.”

Yi Zhonghai secretly made plans while taking Sha Zhu home to make dumplings.

Upon seeing this, Jia Dongxu immediately said to Qin Huairu, "What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and go help your master."

Later, Jia Dongxu will be taking his whole family to Yi Zhonghai's house for dinner.

"Oh right, why hasn't Yushui come back yet?" Yi Zhonghai suddenly remembered that Shazhu had a younger sister: "Didn't she come back on Sunday?"

"She probably has an exam coming up. Never mind that brat," Sha Zhu said.

If Yi Zhonghai hadn't brought it up, Sha Zhu wouldn't have remembered that he had a younger sister.

He used to be able to feel sorry for his younger sister, but now all his thoughts are on Qin Huairu.

Of course, Jia Dongxu was still alive at this time. Sha Zhu didn't dare to make it too obvious, so he brought back the lunchbox and, under the pretense of feeling sorry for Bang Geng, delivered it to the Jia family and handed it to Qin Huairu.

Otherwise, how could Jia Zhangshi be so fat? It's all thanks to Sha Zhu.

And Sha Zhu isn't actually stupid; he just wants to be a traitor like Cao Cao. After all, Qin Huairu has a man. As for borrowing money, that's not an issue at this point.

So He Yushui can still get enough living expenses from Sha Zhu. But there's no longer any brotherly or sisterly affection between them.

Madam Jia Zhang, with a proud and imposing air, carrying a large bowl that looked like a small basin in one hand and holding a stick in the other, came to the front yard.

As soon as they arrived at the front yard, they saw Yan Bugui grabbing a matchmaker's sleeve and preventing her from leaving.

"No, you have to give me my money back today!" Yan Bugui shouted.

"What refund? Get Yu Li back right now!" Yan Jiecheng said urgently. "I finally found someone I like, how can I just let it go like this?"

"Yes, I still need to go to Yu Li's house to check. How come she's gone?"

The matchmaker wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Pah! As a matchmaker, don't you know why that girl left?" Yan Bugui spat and said, "She didn't like Yan Jiecheng. What are you still saying?"

"Give me my money back, give me back two yuan."

"Pah! Old Yan, you're being stingy. I'm only giving you face. Since you don't want it, then I won't be polite." The matchmaker said angrily, "If this isn't acceptable, then there's no reason to refund the money!"

“I brought you this young lady, but I didn’t like your family, and that has nothing to do with me. If this doesn’t work out, I didn’t take any of your money for the next step.”

"If you keep acting like this, who will dare to find a partner for your son in the future?"

Just that one sentence made Yan Jiecheng rush over and hurriedly pull Yan Bugui away.

"Aunt Zhang, you'll have to go and see what happened to Yu Li. She was talking to me just fine, and then she disappeared after going out for a while," Yan Jiecheng pleaded with the matchmaker.

"Alright, that's more like it. I'll go to their house right now and see what's going on with Yu Li." The matchmaker said, "What's Yu Li up to?"

"Yan Jiecheng, you're good-looking, and you even have an urban household registration. What does Yu Li want? Does she think she can marry a cadre?"

Matchmaker Zhang swayed her hips and walked away.

Yan Jiecheng then vented his anger on Yan Bugui.

"Dad, I gave you the money. You said you were going out to buy groceries. But you didn't bring anything back." Yan Jiecheng said angrily, "That two yuan was money I had saved up for a long time. I told you to buy meat..."

"What are you yelling about? If Li Xiangdong hadn't already caught all the big fish, I wouldn't be in this mess today." Yan Bugui glared and said, "If this girl doesn't like you, it's because she's not good enough!"