Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

The older women expressed their dissatisfaction upon hearing Liu Guangtian's words.

"Hey, Wang Feng didn't say anything, what's it to you?"

"Exactly, Guangtian, what's your relationship with Wang Feng? Why should we listen to you?"

Seeing that the crowd was about to start arguing, Wang Feng said loudly, "Ladies and aunties, I asked Guangtian to help maintain order. And Guangtian is right, you all see, there are only two dishes. With so many of you, it's not enough to go around!"

After a pause, Wang Feng continued, "How about this, each household can enjoy two slices of chicken, two slices of fish, and two slices of bamboo shoots for free. Adults must eat at least two slices. If you want to take the remaining four slices back for your children, that's up to you."

When the older women heard what Wang Feng said, they stopped making a fuss. After all, there was only so much food, and there were so many people in the yard. It was unrealistic to expect them to be full. They would be satisfied if they could take four pieces of meat back with them for their children.

Some of the older women told their children to go home and get their bowls and chopsticks, which made the children very happy, and they ran faster than rabbits.

Seeing this scene, He Daqing felt like killing Wang Feng. He quickly grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the table, picked up a slice of chicken from Qin Jingru's braised three whites, and put it in his mouth.

The moment the chicken slice entered his mouth, he stared wide-eyed at Qin Jingru, his expression one of utter disbelief and shock.

He had already tasted the "Three Whites in a Fermented Rice Cake" he made before, but compared to Qin Jingru's, his version was worlds apart.

If we had to give a score, his dish would get a seven out of ten, while Qin Jingru's dish would get a ten out of ten. It's not that Qin Jingru's "Zao Liu San Bai" (a dish of stir-fried white vegetables) only gets a ten out of ten, but rather that the maximum score is only ten.

He was certain that even his senior brother Wu Jing couldn't compare to Qin Jingru's dish of "Zao Liu San Bai" (a type of stir-fried white meat).

After standing there stunned for a while, he gave Wang Feng a wry smile and said, "Well, Wang Feng, Jingru's 'Zao Liu San Bai' is indeed a delicacy. Uncle He has other things to do, so you guys go ahead and do your work. I'll head back now."

With that, He Daqing slunk away, ignoring Wang Feng's calls.

Seeing this, Qin Jingru picked up a pair of unused chopsticks and also put some of the "Zao Liu San Bai" (a dish of three kinds of white meat) made by He Daqing into her mouth.

She also ate chicken slices, and as soon as the chicken slices entered her mouth, she knew that He Daqing's cooking was far inferior to hers.

Watching He Daqing's disheveled figure, Wang Feng smiled slightly and asked Liu Guangtian to arrange for the older women in the courtyard to start tasting the food.

Liu Guangtian looked at Aunt Zhang, who was first in line, pointed to the two dishes on the table, and said:

"Aunt Zhang, try a piece of food from each of these two plates."

Aunt Zhang nodded, picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of winter bamboo shoot, and put it in her mouth.

As soon as the winter bamboo shoots entered her mouth, Aunt Zhang's eyes narrowed. It was so delicious, the best dish she had ever eaten in her life, even better than meat.

The dish on the right was made by He Daqing, and the one on the left was made by Qin Jingru. The dish that Aunt Zhang just ate was made by He Daqing.

Before Aunt Zhang could savor the taste, Liu Guangtian urged, "Aunt Zhang, hurry up and try the other dish; everyone's waiting."

"Okay, I'll eat now, I'll eat now."

Aunt Zhang quickly found a piece of bamboo shoot in another dish, picked it up, and put it in her mouth.

"boom."

As soon as Aunt Zhang took a couple of bites of the bamboo shoots, she felt something explode in her mind. They were so delicious, much better than the bamboo shoots from the previous plate. This completely shattered her worldview. She never imagined that food could be made so delicious.

Liu Guangtian interrupted Aunt Zhang, who was lost in thought, and asked, "Aunt Zhang, the dish on the right was made by Uncle He, and the one you just ate was made by Sister-in-law Jingru. Now that you've tasted both dishes, tell me, which is tastier, Uncle He's or Sister-in-law Jingru's?"

Without even thinking, Aunt Zhang said directly, "Of course Jingru's cooking is better. It's the best dish I've ever eaten in my life."

Liu Guangtian nodded and put a piece of chicken and a piece of fish into Aunt Zhang's bowl.

Aunt Zhang looked at the two pieces of chicken and two pieces of fish in the bowl, thanked Wang Feng and Qin Jingru, and happily left with her six-year-old daughter.

When it was Aunt Liu's turn, she was just as amazed as Aunt Zhang was by the two delicious dishes, especially the one made by Qin Jingru.

Like Aunt Zhang, she tasted two slices of winter bamboo shoots, preparing to take the meat home for her children.

After a while, it was finally Qin Huairu's turn. Like the other aunties, she tasted the winter bamboo shoots and left the meat for Xiaodang.

But after eating He Daqing's cooking and then Qin Jingru's cooking, her gaze towards Qin Jingru became somewhat unfamiliar.

She never expected that Jingru, who grew up in the countryside just like her, would become such a good cook.

This one piece of winter bamboo shoot was the most delicious dish she had ever eaten in her life. Compared to Jingru's cooking, her own dishes were worlds apart.

She had eaten wild boar meat cooked by Qin Jingru at the steel rolling mill before, and she thought it was delicious. But compared to today's dish, the difference was like heaven and earth.

In less than twenty minutes, both dishes were completely devoured.

Most of the residents in the courtyard came, even Aunt Er came to line up, but Liu Guangfu took her share, leaving her with none, which made Aunt Er so angry she felt like vomiting blood.

The only person from the courtyard who didn't come was Yi Zhonghai. Even He Yushui came this time. With such good food, how could she miss out? She didn't care whether her father would lose face or anything like that.

This time, Aunt Wu and Liu Guangtian received the most, and the rest were given to them, but their portions were only twice as much as the others.

However, Liu Guangtian took the remaining soup from the plate home, saying he would use it to dip his steamed buns for lunch.

Soon, the news spread like wildfire among the aunties and grandmas in the courtyard. Those who had eaten the dishes cooked by He Daqing and Qin Jingru all said that Qin Jingru's cooking was much better than He Daqing's.

He Daqing heard people in the courtyard talking about him, which made him so ashamed that he didn't dare to go out all day.

After tasting He Daqing's braised three whites, Qin Jingru went back inside. It was already noon, and her family hadn't even started cooking yet.

This little thing was nothing to her; making sure Wang Feng was well-fed was the most important thing to her.

For lunch, she didn't use chicken breast, but instead used regular chicken to make a stewed three whites, since she had extra of the other ingredients anyway.

The dinner table.

Wang Feng ate the delicious food heartily, then asked with a smile, "Jingru, how much of your skill did you use in the dishes you made before?"

Qin Jingru was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Absolutely? Brother Wang Feng, didn't you tell me to just use 80% of my usual cooking skills?"

"Hehe, that's settled then."