Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Wu Jing held the child tightly, reluctant to let go. The child didn't cry or fuss, and would occasionally squint and laugh, which made him very happy.

He felt that this child was born to be a chef; he was strong and would definitely have no problem flipping woks when he grew up.

Seeing that it was almost time, Qin Jingru said to Wu Jing and his wife, "Master, Mistress, please sit for a while. I'll go and prepare the dishes."

Zhang Jing grabbed Qin Jingru's arm and scolded, "Jingru, you're still in your postpartum period. What kind of dishes do you need to cook? Isn't your master here? Just let him cook."

Wu Jing nodded: "Jingru, listen to your master's wife. Let your master come and find out where the kitchen is."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Wu Yun: "Later you will help Dad with the work, and I will teach you a few things while I'm at it. None of you are easy to deal with. If you had half of Jingru's talent, I would be completely satisfied."

Wu Yun rolled her eyes: "Dad, how can you talk about your own daughter like that?"

When Qin Jingru heard that her master and mistress wouldn't let her cook, how could she accept that? She wanted to give her master and mistress a big surprise!

"Master, Mistress, I'm all better now. Don't think of me as being so dramatic. In our village, people who have given birth go back to work in the fields after less than three days of rest at home. I've been resting at home for half a month now, and I'm really fine. Master, please let me cook. I want to give you a surprise."

Seeing that Jingru was determined to cook, Wu Jing did not immediately agree. He turned his gaze to Wang Feng.

Wang Feng smiled wryly and rubbed his forehead. He knew perfectly well what Jing Ru was up to. She was just acting up again, trying to show off.

Jingru's habit of showing off seems to be something she'll never change. Before, when she went back to Qin Family Village, she would show off her bicycle, watch, job, and salary, etc. Now that her cooking skills have surpassed her master's, she's thinking of showing off her cooking skills again.

Wang Feng knew that Qin Jingru's health had indeed improved. After all, he had given her a bottle of "life-giving water" right after she gave birth, so she didn't actually need to stay in bed during this time.

Since Qin Jingru wanted to show off in front of her master and mistress, what could he say? It wasn't a big deal.

Thinking of this, Wang Feng smiled and nodded: "Uncle Wu, Jingru is indeed recovering very quickly. If I hadn't forced her to stay in bed to recuperate during this period, she would have been up and about again by now."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jing pondered for a moment, then frowned and said, "Alright then, have Jingru cook one dish later, and leave the rest to me."

After a pause, Wu Jing solemnly instructed, "Jingru, you must not be careless during your postpartum period. It would be troublesome if you developed any health problems later."

Zhang Jing chimed in, "Yes, Jingru, just listen to your master. Your master's wife knows that your cooking skills must have improved recently, and she wants your master and master's wife to taste your cooking. There's no rush now, there's plenty of time in the future."

"Oh well."

Qin Jingru pouted. She had been feeling really stifled lately. She was clearly better a long time ago, so why didn't anyone believe her? Lying in bed all day was incredibly uncomfortable.

However, it's already good that she was able to cook at least one dish today. She believes that her master and mistress will be very surprised after tasting her cooking.

"Thank you, Master and Mistress. I'll cook one of my signature dishes later so you can taste my cooking."

"Hehe, Jingru, it seems you're quite confident in your cooking skills. Come on, let's go to the kitchen now. Your master wants to see just how much you've improved lately."

Wu Jing smiled, seeing through Qin Jingru's little scheme. He handed the child to Zhang Jing, waved his hand, and went to the kitchen with Qin Jingru and Wu Yun.

"Aunt Wu, have some tea."

After Qin Jingru and the others went to the kitchen, Wang Feng smiled and poured tea for Qin Jingru's teacher's wife, but his smile was quite awkward.

Zhang Jing, holding the child, took a sip of tea and smiled slightly: "Wang Feng, Jingru does like to show off a bit, but I quite like Jingru's personality; she's genuine and lively."

"Hehe, Aunt Wu is right, I also quite like Jingru's personality," Wang Feng said with an awkward laugh.

Zhang Jing played with the child, her face full of affection, while chatting with Wang Feng about their life issues.

What's so interesting about Wang Feng's family life? He can't exactly say that his family eats meat every day, can he? If that got out, he'd probably be hacked to death.

He told them about his family's life, half-truthfully and half-jokingly. He mentioned that he was a very good hunter and could eat meat every few days in this year. He also mentioned that his salary, combined with Jingru's, was over a hundred yuan a month. He even mentioned that Jingru would go to the steel mill to cook once every one or two months, and that she would earn 42.5 yuan a month. In short, he said that his family was doing very well and had no problems at all.

After listening to Wang Feng's account, Zhang Jing smiled with satisfaction. Of all the apprentices her husband had, Jingru had the highest culinary talent. Hearing that she was doing so well, she was completely relieved.

In this era, the relationship between master and apprentice is similar to that between parents and children. "A teacher for a day is a father for life." Since her husband took Qin Jingru as his apprentice, and Qin Jingru was so promising, surpassing her senior apprentice who had been learning to cook for over twenty years in just a few months, and was also so filial, even giving them such precious ginseng and tiger bone wine, she naturally liked this apprentice very much.

Not long after Wang Feng started chatting with Qin Jingru's teacher's wife, a rich aroma of meat wafted over, and Wang Feng knew immediately that it was stewed chicken.

Qin Jingru started killing chickens and preparing ingredients early this morning. They didn't need to do much processing when they went to the kitchen, and since they had two coal stoves, they cooked very quickly.

Another half hour passed, and dish after dish was served. There was no Chinese medicine being brewed today, and the aroma was simply irresistible.

Especially after Jia Zhangshi smelled the tempting aroma, she immediately started cursing.

"Damn you little brats, all you do is eat and eat! All you ever do is eat good food. You don't even know how to show some respect to your old mother. Why don't you just eat yourselves to death?"

Jia Zhangshi knew that Wang Feng had guests, and there were two bicycles parked outside the door.

"Why."

Madam Jia sighed deeply. In the past, if any family ate meat, their family would always share a bowl or two. But now, that was completely out of the question.

Before, her son Jia Dongxu was still alive, and Yi Zhonghai, that old, childless man, always helped their family. There was also a simpleton named Sha Zhu who was their henchman. Back then, she was incredibly powerful in courtyard number 95. But now? Gone. Everything is gone.

Just as everyone in the hospital was salivating at the aroma, Yan Jiefang came running back from outside, panting. In his pocket were two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, which he had gone to three different supply and marketing cooperatives to buy.

As soon as Yan Jiecheng ran into the front yard, he smelled the rich aroma of meat, and he kept swallowing.

At the same time, he secretly made a decision in his heart: no matter what Qin Jingru's master's requirements were, he must become his disciple, he absolutely had to!