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

The back seat and front legs were cut off and set aside.

Twenty-odd households only had about twenty kilograms of meat. The meat on the ribs was more than they could use.

Strangely, Yan Bugui was the last to arrive, and by then everyone in the yard who had gotten the meat scattered in a hurry to get home and cook it.

"Old Yan, you're last one." Xu Damao said smugly, holding the sharp knife. Just having this little bit of power to divide the meat made Xu Damao feel like he was in heaven.

"Da Mao, how dare you speak like that? You call me Old Yan? You don't even call me Third Uncle? How can you be so disrespectful to your elders? I am an elder." Yan Bugui glared at him with his small eyes wide open.

"Hehe, Lao Yan! You guys fooled me before. What elder? We're all just GM comrades. What's wrong with calling you Lao Yan?" Xu Damao said disdainfully, "You want to be an elder?"

"Fine, you can change your surname to Xu first!"

Yan Bugui's face turned bright red with anger: "You, you, you..."

"What do you mean, 'you, you'? Do you want it or not?" Xu Damao said disdainfully.

“I want it.” As soon as Yan Bugui heard that the topic turned to meat, he naturally stopped caring about the elders: “Cut a slice off here for me. Cut a lot, there’s still so much meat here.”

Yan Bugui pointed to a piece of meat with a large amount of fat on it, which weighed about five pounds.

"Yan Bugui only has this piece of meat. Take it or leave it!" Xu Damao slammed the knife into the cutting board.

Xu Damao prepared a piece of red meat for Yan Bugui, with not a single white part visible. This meant it was a piece of pure lean meat.

In later times, this would be worth much more than ordinary meat. But in these times of scarcity, nobody wanted it.

"Why should I have this piece? No way, I want this piece! Cut me a pound and a half!" Yan Bugui said urgently. "And give me all that pig's blood too."

There are still about three pounds of pig's blood left, while others only have one pound.

"Get lost, what are you dreaming about?" Xu Damao said disdainfully, "If you don't want it, just put it all away. It's freezing cold today."

"Xu Damao, you can take this meat too." Li Xiangdong came over and gave Xu Damao the five-pound piece of meat. They carried half a pig back. The remaining hindquarters and forelegs were taken back by Yu Wen and his two brothers. Oh, and there was also a large piece of spare rib.

"Uncle and Aunt, you can take this half of the pig back," Li Xiangdong said with a smile. "I'll just keep the ribs and the front and hind legs."

"Xiao Li put these ribs and the front and hind leg bones in a pot to stew. Then add the cabbage and glass noodles."

"Brother-in-law, we want to eat beef hot pot. You have a table here." Yu Wu wiped his drool and said.

"That's fine, saves us the trouble of preparing the dishes." Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "Xiao Li, can you set up the coal stove?"

"Xiang Dong, you're still going to follow this little brat!" Huang Guihua glared at Yu Wu.

"It's alright, it's alright, I want to eat too," Li Xiangdong said as he walked out of the room. At this moment, Yan Bugui was still arguing with Xu Damao.

"Chief Engineer Li, is there anything else you need?" Xu Damao said with a smile, "I'll bring you some of the large intestines when they're cooked. My wife is cooking them right now!"

"No need, no need. Cut a piece of meat from this place, it weighs two pounds. Go and take it to He Yushui. That child is unlucky to have a brother like Sha Zhu and these beastly neighbors." Li Xiangdong shook his head and said, "Alright, that's settled then."

After saying that, Li Xiangdong turned and left.

Yan Bugui could only watch helplessly as Xu Damao took the meat from the cutting board home. Only a piece of red pork and a piece of pig's blood remained.

"Sigh, old woman, take it back. Put the meat away. Make sure to prepare braised cabbage with pig's blood."

Yan Bugui's family was all here. Yang Yuhua hurriedly left with the meat and pig's blood. The children followed her back like the wind.

Yan Bugui slowly returned to the central courtyard, his heart filled with resentment. He had thought that being the last to receive the meat would give him an advantage, but he had suffered a great loss. There wasn't a single white spot to be seen on that piece of meat.

"Damn Xu Damao, once I catch you, I'll kill you!"

Yan Bugui arrived at the pool in the middle courtyard, where Sha Zhu was scrubbing a pig's head. The pig's head had been burned by Sha Zhu and split in half before being washed.

This pig's head weighs about 30 jin (15 kg). Wild boars have very little fat, but there is some on the head.

"I gave you such a big pig's head, Sha Zhu. Cut some fat off the cheeks for me." Yan Bugui said matter-of-factly, "Damn Xu Damao, he didn't give me a single bit of fat."

"I'm going back to cook pig's blood and cabbage; it needs to have some fatty meat."

"What you burn is none of my business, get out of here!" Sha Zhu rolled his eyes and said.

"Zhu Zi, how dare you speak to Third Uncle like that?" Yi Zhonghai came out of the house: "Cut a little bit for Third Uncle."

"Alright, for the sake of this old man, I'll cut you some fatty meat." Sha Zhu had no choice but to cut off a piece of meat with a good amount of fat and throw it to Yan Bugui.

"Thanks, Lao Yi." Yan Bugui took the pork and walked away quickly with a smug look on his face.

Qin Huairu stood to the side, very unhappy. This pig's head belonged to her family. How come Yan Bugui ended up with some meat on it?

Qin Huairu just received a piece of meat and a piece of pig's blood. She left them at home untouched, waiting for Shazhu to cook the pig's head. Of course, they'll only cook half; the other half will be eaten during the New Year.

Just then, Xu Damao arrived at He Yushui's door carrying a large piece of meat. He handed the meat to He Yushui and said, "Yushui, Chief Engineer Li instructed me to send this to you."

"Keep it safe, don't let it get taken away by irrelevant people."

"Thank you, Brother Xu!" He Yushui thanked him politely and took the meat.

This piece of meat has about five layers, three layers of fat sandwiching two layers of lean meat. Qin Huairu's mouth was watering just looking at it.

"Zhu Zi, your sister's piece of meat is pretty good. It's quite big too."

Qin Huairu said to Shazhu, "There's hardly any fat on our piece of meat. How about we swap it with your sister? Actually, your sister eats at school and hardly ever cooks at home. Why don't we bring the meat over? We can just cook it and call her over for a bite or two."

“That’s right. Go and get the meat. Just say I ordered it.” Sha Zhu said casually, “I’m busy here. Bang Geng has been urging me several times.”

"If we cook it now, it'll be two hours before we can eat it," Sha Zhu said. It's already past six o'clock.

Qin Huairu, also lost in thought, swayed her hips and walked to He Yushui's door. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"What are you going to do?" He Yushui asked Qin Huairu coldly.

Qin Huairu was taken aback by He Yushui's expression. He Yushui had been very polite to Qin Huairu before, almost to the point of fawning.

"Rainwater, give me your piece of meat." Qin Huairu was taken aback for a moment, but didn't take it to heart and said with a smile, "I'll invite you to eat together when it's cooked later."

"Get out! You bitch!" He Yushui cursed softly and viciously.

Ever since Qin Huairu started seducing Sha Zhu, He Yushui hasn't had a proper meal. After her attempts to persuade Sha Zhu failed, He Yushui didn't dare offend Qin Huairu, fearing that Qin Huairu would increase her bloodsucking power, which would allow Sha Zhu to starve her to death.

However, the resentment He Yushui harbored towards Qin Huairu was palpable. Now that she wasn't afraid of starving to death, He Yushui naturally showed Qin Huairu no courtesy whatsoever.

In this day and age, for a girl to utter such vicious words, one can only imagine the extent to which she had been driven to desperation.

"What? Rainwater, what did you say?" Qin Huairu could hardly believe her ears.

"Get out, you slut! You vile whore!" He Yushui said viciously. Then she slammed the door shut.

·· ·····Requesting flowers·· ·

Qin Huairu then realized what was happening, and tears streamed down her face like a burst dam. Sobbing, she ran to Sha Zhu's side.

"What's wrong with you? That brat wouldn't give you any meat, but you can't cry like this, can you?" Sha Zhu looked at the crying Qin Huairu and felt so sorry for her.

"Your sister cursed at me, she said such awful things. Waaah... All I wanted was to give the child breakfast. And she cursed at me like that!" Qin Huairu sobbed.

"This...this is outrageous! You wait, I'll get revenge for you!" Sha Zhu yelled angrily, rushing to He Yushui's door. Just as he was about to raise his hand to bang on the door, He Yushui opened it.

"What are you going to do?" Sha Zhu shouted.

"What did I do? I was just telling the truth," He Yushui said calmly. "Ever since she started flirting with you, I haven't had a proper meal."

"Her husband was still alive back then, hehe, and you raised them all to be plump and healthy. Your own sister was as thin as a bamboo pole."

“I’ll slap you…” Sha Zhu raised his hand.

"If you touch me, I'll call the police immediately. You'll spend the New Year in jail!" He Yushui screamed. "Try touching me!"

"Hey, what's all this fuss about, you two siblings? What's going on this time?" Yi Zhonghai came out of the house.

"That brat! Sister Qin came to ask her for some meat, and she actually made Sister Qin cry!" Sha Zhu said viciously. He raised his hand but didn't dare to bring it down. Sha Zhu could also see that He Yushui really would call the police.

“Yushui, you’re a grown man. Huairu’s family is struggling financially, just give her the meat,” Yi Zhonghai said with a righteous expression.

"How could you give your own flesh to that bitch!" He Yushui said viciously, "You give it to that hypocrite, so it's easy for you to give other people's things as favors, isn't it?"

... ........ ...

"If it weren't for you, you hypocrite, stirring things up, Sha Zhu wouldn't have fallen into that bitch Qin Huairu's quagmire."

"You didn't contribute any money or effort, yet you let Sha Zhu do all the work. You took all the benefits and the reputation. And this big idiot is still all smiles, treating you, a hypocrite, like a good person."

Yi Zhonghai never expected He Yushui to be so fierce. She even cursed him, Yi Zhonghai.

"I'll shoot..." Sha Zhu raised his hand to strike. But before he knew it, someone was standing to his side, a gun pointed at him.

Even from five or six meters away, Sha Zhu could feel the boundless killing intent emanating from the gun muzzle.

"What do you think you're doing, Sha Zhu? Try touching He Yushui. Even though she's your sister, she's not someone you can fight." Li Xiangdong said calmly, holding his pistol. "If you slap me, I might not be able to kill you, but breaking your legs and arms won't hurt me at all."

"And Yi Zhonghai, you're really something, trying to squeeze money out of an orphan girl! Qin Huairu's family is in trouble? Hehe, Sha Zhu stuffed all that stuff into their hands. Sha Zhu has made quite a bit of stuff over the years, huh?"

"Their family is struggling, how can you not give them money to help? You used to earn ninety-nine yuan a month, which was enough to support the Jia family. Instead, you've lured in some simp, a complete idiot. You're utterly shameless. No wonder someone's family line is about to end!"

Yi Zhonghai's face turned a deep purplish-red, and he turned and left without a word. He knew that whatever he said would be useless. Everyone in the courtyard was using their brains now. He, Yi Zhonghai, couldn't be fooled so easily. He didn't have the guts to argue with Li Xiangdong.

"And Qin Huairu, is your family in financial difficulty? You earn 27.5 yuan a month, which is more than 5 yuan per person. How is that financial difficulty? Do you expect to eat rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish, and meat every day?"

"If you keep saying it's difficult, then I'll really make it difficult for you. Qin Huairu, do you want to try?"

Qin Huairu's face turned pale, but she stood by the pool and dared not go back.

“This is a den of beasts.” Li Xiangdong shook his head and turned to leave.

It was already seven o'clock when I got home. But the food was already prepared. I put a ceramic pot on the coal stove and poured three boxes of beef hot pot into it. On the small table next to it, there were some dried bean curd sticks, frozen tofu, and other things.

Li Xiangdong sat down at the table, and had just opened a bottle of Fenjiu to pour a drink for Yu Dajiang when he saw three people rushing to the door. The three men looked excited.