Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Two days later.

Today is Saturday, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, which is also the day I made an appointment with Wu Yun and the others.

Early this morning, after finishing breakfast and waiting for Lu Banxia to go to work, Wang Feng went outside and brought back a lot of ingredients, including a large rooster, as well as one pound each of beef, mutton, and pork.

Qin Jingru was finally able to get out of bed today. As soon as Wang Feng brought the ingredients back, she handed the child to Wang Feng and went to kill a chicken.

Qin Jingru's master and mistress might be coming today, so she has to perform well. How could she miss such a good opportunity to show off her cooking skills in front of her master and mistress?

Qin Jingru went to kill a chicken, while Wang Feng stayed home to take care of the child. Strangely enough, his son had never cried since the day he was born.

Wang Feng held the child in his arms, occasionally taking a sip of tea. The child's short legs kicked desperately, trying to escape from Wang Feng's grasp, but he couldn't get away no matter what.

The child was incredibly strong, much stronger than the average child, but considering that he and Qin Jingru both had strong genes, he wasn't surprised.

......

10:00 AM.

Wu Yun pushed her bicycle, followed by her parents, to No. 95 courtyard. As soon as the three of them entered the front yard, they were stopped by three middle-aged women who were watering flowers.

Who are you looking for?

Wu Yun smiled and said, "Hello, ma'am. I'm looking for Jingru. I'm Jingru's senior sister. These are my parents, who are also Jingru's master and mistress."

Upon hearing this, the three women instantly showed a look of ecstatic joy, and their expressions became incredibly enthusiastic in an instant.

She quickly wiped her hands, walked up to Wu Jing and his wife, and said with a fawning smile:

"Hello, Mr. Wu, I am Yang Ruihua. My husband is a teacher at Hongxing Elementary School and also the manager of our compound. Jingru and the others call me Third Aunt."

Mr. and Mrs. Wu exchanged a glance and knew what the old lady was thinking. They didn't lose their manners and smiled and nodded to the old lady.

"Master Wu, this must be your first time visiting our compound. Come on, I'll take you to Wang Feng's house," the three women said warmly.

Wu Yun smiled and waved her hand: "No need, thank you, ma'am. I've been here once or twice before, I know the way."

"Oh, oh, okay, then take care. If you have time later, come to my house for a cup of tea. Let me tell you, my wild chrysanthemum tea is delicious," the third aunt said with a fawning smile.

"Thank you, ma'am."

Wu Yun smiled and nodded at the three women, then led her parents toward the central courtyard.

The Wu couple didn't say a word the whole time. They'd seen plenty of people like that; all they knew was that their son wanted to become their apprentice.

Qin Jingru was Wu Jing's last disciple. He was very satisfied with Qin Jingru's culinary talent and did not plan to take on any more disciples. Moreover, he did not accept just anyone.

Just after the three of them passed through the hanging flower gate, the third aunt excitedly ran back into the house and shouted:

"Liberation, liberation, come here quickly!"

Yan Jiefang came out of the house and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"

The three aunts were very excited and quickly told him about Master Qin Jingru and his wife coming to their courtyard. They also told him about becoming an apprentice and the various benefits of learning to cook.

They had never known where Qin Jingru had learned to cook, let alone how well she had done it; now they finally had the answer.

If they could teach Qin Jingru's cooking skills so well in such a short time, and if their family could go and become her apprentices and learn the same cooking skills as Qin Jingru, their family would be completely rich!

When Yan Jiefang heard that Qin Jingru's master and mistress had arrived, and that his mother wanted him to become her disciple and offered him various benefits, he was extremely excited.

The benefits are obvious; everyone in the compound can see them. Now everyone knows that Qin Jingru doesn't need to go to the steel mill anymore. She only cooks once or twice a month, or even every few months, and still earns more than forty yuan a month. That's a real benefit.

Even He Daqing, who has cooked his whole life, doesn't receive this kind of treatment. There's nothing you can do about it; his cooking skills are simply better than yours.

"Mom, what do you think we should do? We don't know them, and they might not even accept me!" Yan Jiefang said excitedly.

The third aunt thought for a moment, and her brows furrowed.

"Okay, Jiefang, go to the supply and marketing cooperative now and buy two packs of good cigarettes. Even if it costs us a lot, we must make sure you succeed in becoming an apprentice. As long as you learn to cook better than Qin Jingru, our family will be rich. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Be smart later and don't mess things up."

"By the way, no one else in our courtyard knows that Master Qin Jingru is here. Please don't tell anyone outside, okay?"

"Hehe, Mom, don't worry. I'm not stupid. If all the people in the courtyard found out, they would all be scrambling to become my apprentices. Would I still have a chance then?" Yan Jiefang laughed.

"Mom, hurry up and give me the money and ration coupons, I'll go buy cigarettes right now."

The three women nodded, went inside, took out some money and stamps, and stuffed them into Yan Jiefang's hand. There were two yuan in total, along with two Class A cigarette coupons and two Class B cigarette coupons.

"Jiefang, go to several supply and marketing cooperatives and see if you can buy Zhonghua cigarettes. This is our family's chance to change our fate. If you can buy the best cigarettes, don't be stingy, understand?"

Yan Jiefang took the money and nodded emphatically: "Mom, don't worry. You stay home and keep an eye on things. Don't let them leave before I buy the cigarettes."

The three women waved their hands: "Go on, Mom will keep an eye on things."

"Why."

Yan Jiefang nodded excitedly and dashed out the door, heading towards the nearest supply and marketing cooperative.

......

at the same time.

After Wu Yun brought her parents to Wang Feng's house, Wang Feng and Qin Jingru were very happy.

Wang Feng quickly took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and lit one for Wu Jing, while Qin Jingru poured tea and offered candy.

Wu Jing, holding the child, was overjoyed. He pulled out an exquisite gold lock from his pocket, weighing about seven or eight grams, and laughed loudly:

"Good, good, good! The nickname 'Iron Bull' is really well-chosen. He's only a few days old and he's already so strong. When he grows up, he'll be a master at handling iron pots."

"Jingru, consider this gold lock my gift as your grandmaster."

Seeing this, Qin Jingru waved her hands repeatedly in refusal: "Master, this is too precious. I appreciate the sentiment on Tie Niu's behalf, but please take it back."

Wu Jing glared at Qin Jingru and said with dissatisfaction, "Jingru, do you look down on your master? Your master is a famous state banquet chef in Beijing. This is for my grand-disciple, not for you. Do you really think your master is so poor that he can't even afford such a small trinket?"

"Well."

Qin Jingru was speechless. Her master had already said that; if she still refused, her master would get angry.

"Thank you, Master," Qin Jingru said sweetly.

"Yes, that's right." Wu Jing nodded in satisfaction.