Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Knowing her parents were coming, Qin Jingru started preparing the chicken and fish around 7 a.m., and with her mother's help, she cooked very quickly.

At 11:30 a.m., the rich aroma of meat wafted out of the kitchen.

At that moment, Jia Zhangshi was gnawing on a cold, hard cornbread when she suddenly smelled a rich aroma of meat, and she kept swallowing her saliva.

He happened to see Qin Jingru sitting at the door sewing shoe soles when her parents came to the courtyard before.

Thinking that Wang Feng's family would be able to eat meat soon, Jia Zhangshi took a big bite of her cornbread and looked in the direction of Wang Feng's house with resentment.

She knew that Wang Feng and Qin Jingru, those two little bastards, didn't get along with her, and it was impossible for them to come to her door asking for meat. Besides, Qin Huairu wasn't home. Her Jia family was a prestigious and wealthy family, and she wouldn't come to their door asking for meat.

The rich aroma of meat filled the entire courtyard, allowing many children to enjoy another meal of stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat.

Today, Qin Jingru's parents came to the courtyard. The news had already spread far and wide. Without asking, everyone knew that Wang Feng's family must have been cooking meat. The other residents weren't as shameless as Qin Jingru. They would go to people's homes to ask for meat whenever they saw them eating it. The children at home were also clamoring for meat, so there was no other way but to give the children bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat.

Noon.

Qin Jingru and her mother brought the dishes to the table. Qin Jingru smiled and said, "Dad, Mom, Wang Feng, dinner's ready!"

Upon seeing wild boar meat, chicken, mutton, and fish, Qin's father exclaimed in surprise:

"This...this, Jingru, why did you make so much meat and vegetables? This is such a waste."

Before Qin Jingru could finish speaking, Wang Feng interrupted, "Dad, most of this meat was hunted by me, it didn't cost much. It's your first time visiting, so you should at least eat and drink well, right? Come on, Dad, let's have a drink first."

As he spoke, Wang Feng opened a bottle of Fenjiu liquor, poured a glass for Qin's father, and then filled his own glass.

"Dad, come, let me toast you."

"Well... okay."

Qin's father downed the drink in one gulp, letting out a long breath of alcohol.

"Wang Feng, what kind of wine is this? It's really pure."

"Dad, I know, this is Fenjiu. You need a Class A liquor ticket to buy it. I heard it sells for seven or eight yuan a bottle on the black market," Qin Jingru said first.

"What?"

Qin's mother exclaimed in surprise, "Eight yuan for a bottle of wine! My goodness! Wang Feng, you should put the wine away quickly. How could this old geezer drink such good wine?"

Qin's father was also shocked by the price of the bottle of wine. Just this one bottle was enough for him to buy a whole bucket of sweet potato liquor. This was really too extravagant.

Wang Feng laughed and said, "Mom, let Dad drink without worry. We have another case at home. Besides, I didn't spend any money on this wine. It was a gift from a friend. I don't usually drink at home anyway, so it would be a waste to leave it here."

"Yes, Mom, you've come all this way to the city, so why don't you let Dad have a few more drinks today?" Qin Jingru added.

"Fine, fine, let him drink. Let him drink his fill today, okay?" Qin's mother rolled her eyes.

Wang Feng smiled slightly and poured another cup for Qin's father.

"Dad, Mom, please eat some food. Try Jingru's cooking. There are so many dishes; you must eat a lot today."

"Hey, let's eat together."

Qin Jingru first put a chicken leg on her mother's plate, then put a chicken leg on her father's plate. When it was Wang Feng's turn, he could only put a chicken wing on his plate.

"Jingru, why are you giving us this chicken leg? You're pregnant now, you should eat more nourishing food."

As she spoke, Qin's mother was about to put the chicken leg back into Qin Jingru's bowl, but Qin Jingru stopped her, saying speechlessly:

"Mom, there's plenty of meat on the table. I can eat whatever I want! Don't be so polite, we're all family, why are you being so formal?"

"Alright, Jingru, eat more meat and nourish yourself. I'm looking forward to holding my grandson," Qin's mother said with a smile.

Seeing this, Qin's father didn't stand on ceremony. He picked up a chicken leg and took a bite. Soon after, he gave Jingru a thumbs up.

"Jingru, your cooking skills are getting better and better."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jingru proudly raised her snow-white neck.

"Dad, Mom, let me tell you, your daughter's cooking skills are among the best in the entire city of Beijing. Do you know how much people pay me to cook a meal these days?"

"How much?" Both of Qin's parents looked at Qin Jingru with curiosity.

Qin Jingru didn't speak, but held up two fingers.

"Two yuan? Jingru, that's too much! You can earn two yuan for cooking one meal. If you cook one meal a day, wouldn't you earn sixty yuan a month?"

Qin Jingru rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Mom, what are you saying? Your daughter's cooking skills are only worth two yuan? Let me tell you, it's twenty yuan, and you can bring back a lot of dishes. I still didn't go even then."

"what?"

Qin's parents stared wide-eyed at Qin Jingru, as if she were a monster. Qin's father stammered:

"Jingru, cooking a meal only costs...only twenty yuan?"

Qin Jingru smiled and nodded: "Of course it's twenty yuan. I wouldn't go even for twenty yuan. My salary and Wang Feng's salary are so high now. Wang Feng earns so much money hunting every month. What would it look like for a woman like me to go and cook at someone else's house? If word got out, wouldn't that ruin my reputation?"

"That...that makes sense."

Mr. and Mrs. Qin nodded blankly. They felt extremely distressed that they could only earn twenty yuan for cooking one meal.

They never imagined that Jingru, who used to toil in the fields and cut pig feed on the mountain, would become so capable so soon after marrying Wang Feng. They almost didn't recognize their own daughter anymore.

This was the first time Wang Feng had ever heard of someone asking Qin Jingru to go out and cook. Luckily, Jingru didn't go, otherwise he would have given her a good scolding.

After all, he wasn't short of money. The thought of his wife cooking for someone else made him feel uncomfortable. If Jingru didn't like working, he wouldn't even want her to cook at the steel mill.

Now that Jingru's cooking skills are so good, it's understandable that some leaders who have tasted her cooking at the steel mill would invite her to cook for their elders' birthdays, weddings, or other occasions.

With cooking skills like Sha Zhu's, many people have hired him to cook before, but the price difference between the two is quite large.

Sha Zhu used to cook for people at their homes, and I heard he only earned three to five yuan each time. Jing Ru's price of twenty yuan is indeed quite a lot.

Seeing her parents staring blankly, not even eating their food, Qin Jingru quickly said:

"Dad, Mom, what are you standing there for? Eat!"

"Uh, eat, eat."

Qin's parents had been calculating that if a meal cost 20 yuan and they cooked one meal a day, that would amount to 600 yuan a month, and 7,200 yuan a year.

Both of them were so shocked that they didn't want to speak, their minds filled with thoughts of 7,200 a year.