Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

When Qin Jingru saw that her master and mistress were determined to leave, she had no choice but to see them off with Wang Feng.

Just as he dropped them off at the front yard, he was spotted by the third auntie and Yan Jiefang, who were waiting there. The third auntie quickly walked up to Wu Jing, smiling warmly as she asked:

"Master Jingru, are you going back already? Why don't you finish dinner before you leave?"

Wu Jing smiled and waved his hand: "No, we have some things to do back home."

Seeing this, Yan Jiefang took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and handed it to him with a very sincere expression.

"Hey sir, come on, have a smoke."

Wu Jing was taken aback. He didn't take the cigarette, but looked at the third woman with surprise and asked, puzzled, "What's this?"

The three women grinned and said, "Master Jingru, this is my son, Yan Jiefang. It's like this, my son has always admired chefs like you since he was a child, but he has never had the opportunity to learn cooking. Today, when he saw you, Jiefang wanted to become your apprentice. Don't worry, my Jiefang can endure hardship and learns everything quickly. Most importantly, my Jiefang is very filial. As long as you are willing to take my Jiefang in, I guarantee that Jiefang will treat you as his own father in the future."

Before Wu Jing could reply, Yan Jiefang knelt down before him with a thud, speaking with utmost respect:

"Please, Master, accept me as your disciple."

This scene stunned not only Wu Jing, but also Wang Feng and Qin Jingru.

Wang Feng thought to himself, "Wow, the Yan family really has good taste. Putting everything else aside, just the fact that Wu Jing is a chef at state banquets means that as long as you get involved with him, a little help from him would be enough to change Yan Jiefang's fate, let alone make him his apprentice."

Wu Jing was only stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening. He quickly helped Yan Jiefang up and shook his head in refusal.

"Young man, I don't take on apprentices. If you're really interested in cooking, you'd better look for someone else."

Upon hearing Master Qin Jingru's answer, the third aunt immediately became anxious and hurriedly said:

"Master Jingru, please rest assured, our family will definitely prepare a proper apprenticeship gift and will not let you down. Please accept him in consideration of how persistent my family member Jiefang is."

Wu Jing was about to refuse again when Wang Feng stepped forward and sneered, "Aunt Yan, you might be able to fool Master Jingru with this, but are you treating Jingru and me like we're invisible? We're still here; it's not appropriate for you to lie and deceive people like this."

"You said Yan Jiefang has always admired chefs since he was a child? How come I didn't know that? I grew up with Yan Jiefang in the same compound. There used to be a chef in our compound called He Daqing, and I never saw Yan Jiefang admire him that much."

Just as the three women were about to argue, Wang Feng impatiently waved his hand:

"Alright, you're all old foxes, stop playing the ghost story game. You all just see that Jingru has learned excellent cooking skills and want to be like her, working in a factory as a head chef and earning a high salary, right? Let me tell you the truth, that's not going to happen."

After saying that, Wang Feng looked at Wu Jing and said, "Let's go."

Wu Jing nodded, ignored the Yan family mother and son, and pushed his bicycle out of the front yard.

Watching Wang Feng and his master Qin Jingru leave without looking back, both Aunt San and Yan Jiefang showed resentment towards Wang Feng.

They really didn't expect that Wang Feng would expose them to their faces.

Outside courtyard number 95, Wang Feng explained with a smile, "Uncle Wu, let me tell you, He Daqing came back last year and stayed in our courtyard. If Yan Jiefang really wanted to learn cooking, why didn't he become He Daqing's apprentice?"

At this point, Wang Feng curled his lip: "It's not that he doesn't want to, it's because He Daqing looks down on him at all, or rather, he looks down on his whole family."

Immediately, Wang Feng and Qin Jingru recounted the Yan family's situation to Wu Jing and his wife.

After listening to Wang Feng and Qin Jingru's account, Wu Jing's lips twitched, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

He's seen all sorts of people in his life, and he already has so many apprentices, including Qin Jingru, whose culinary talent is practically monstrous. Now, Qin Jingru's cooking skills have even surpassed his own. Let alone families like this, even if the conditions are better and more suitable, he won't take on any more apprentices. Qin Jingru is now his last disciple.

"Wang Feng, Jing Ru, you don't need to explain. Don't worry, Jing Ru is my last disciple. I will not take on any more disciples in the future. Alright, you can go back now. There's no need to see me off any further."

After saying that, Wu Jing told Zhang Jing to sit on the back of the bicycle. He stepped on the pedal hard and drove away with Zhang Jing on the back, with Wu Yun following closely behind.

Only after the three had walked away did Wang Feng and Qin Jingru return to the courtyard.

Back in the house, Qin Jingru poured Wang Feng a cup of tea, still feeling a bit shaken.

"Brother Wang Feng, I was almost scared to death just now. I was really afraid that Master would take Yan Jiefang as his apprentice. If that happened, wouldn't Yan Jiefang become my junior brother? I get annoyed whenever I see the Yan family. Luckily, Master didn't take him in."

Wang Feng laughed heartily: "The Yan family is dreaming too much. Do they really think that a state banquet chef just takes on apprentices casually? Don't they know what kind of person Yan Jiefang is?"

Qin Jingru said with some worry, "Brother Wang Feng, we just exposed Auntie San and Yan Jiefang to their faces. We've really offended them this time."

Wang Feng took a sip of tea and smiled nonchalantly: "What's there to be afraid of? Who told them to be so delusional? Besides, I wasn't lying. I just didn't want your master and mistress to be deceived."

"Yes, Brother Wang Feng, you did the right thing. No matter what, we can't let my master be fooled."

Qin Jingru nodded in agreement. If these were people they didn't know, it wouldn't matter, but the Yan family wanted to deceive her master, so it was unacceptable. So what if they offended them? Anyway, her family didn't need the Yan family's help.

......

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

When Yan Fugui returned from fishing, the third aunt told him what had happened that day. Upon hearing this, Yan Fugui's face instantly turned terribly gloomy.

He glared angrily at the three women and Yan Jiefang, his expression one of utter disappointment, and said in a deep voice:

"How could you be so stupid? Such a big thing, why didn't you come find me?"

"And why did you say these things in front of Wang Feng and Qin Jingru? Do you really think they're dead? Couldn't you have found a chance to talk to Qin Jingru's master about this privately?"

Yan Jiefang pouted: "Dad, you don't stay in one place to fish. You go to the moat one minute and Shichahai the next. How am I supposed to find you? By the time I find you, you might already be gone."

The three women sighed and said, "Old Yan, this really isn't our fault. We didn't even have a chance to talk to them privately. Wang Feng and Qin Jingru saw them to the door, and they came by bicycle. We couldn't have caught up even if we wanted to!"

"Why."

Yan Fugui waved his hand, feeling exhausted. There wasn't a single person in his family who was easy to deal with.