Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Li Jiuzhou and his wife returned to their parents' home on the third day after the wedding.

The date is set. The wedding day doesn't count; the day after the wedding is the third day after the wedding when the bride returns to her parents' home.

Li Jiuzhou didn't quite understand this custom either; in any case, it was arranged by his father-in-law to have a homecoming banquet.

Wedding customs in the north are relatively simple.

The situation is somewhat different in the Hakka regions of the south, where there is a custom of "marrying together".

It involves holding two banquets: the bride's family invites relatives and friends to the banquet, and the groom's family holds the formal wedding ceremony the following day.

The land of China is vast and boundless, and the customs and habits of each ethnic group are different.

Days passed by, and more than a month went by in the blink of an eye.

Li Jiuzhou and his wife were newlyweds, enjoying boundless happiness and unable to resist the temptation of forbidden fruit.

It's not that it's uncontrollable, but when things come to a head, what control can you possibly have...?

Li Jiuzhou's young body did not allow him to rest.

Qin Huairu would come to the courtyard every week to help Sha Zhu wash his dirty clothes and take care of He Yushui, and the neighbors in the courtyard had gotten used to her presence.

During this period, the courtyard was peaceful and harmonious.

In early November, the weather in Beijing started to cool down noticeably, and everyone was busy.

We need to go to the vegetable market to buy winter-stored cabbages, as well as coal and firewood.

Since every household in the courtyard has built a kang (heated brick bed), they have to spend more money to buy firewood.

If you want to save some money, you have to spend manpower to go to the suburbs to collect dead branches and rotten wood. The women in the yard who have nothing to do all go in groups.

Only Li Jiuzhou's wife, Fan Bingbing, didn't go; she had to go to work.

Besides, Li Jiuzhou wouldn't let her go; firewood only costs a few dollars, and he couldn't afford to save that money.

Jia Zhangshi, carrying her load and accompanied by her daughter-in-law Tong Jie, happily set off with the main group.

Why is she so happy?

Because her family built a new kang (heated brick bed) this year, she was happy and excited, as she had never slept on a kang before in winter.

But she had visited Li Jiuzhou's house before that winter and looked around out of curiosity.

Wow, the whole room was so warm, she loved it.

Of course, the other neighbors in the courtyard shared the same feeling as Jia Zhangshi, all of them filled with excitement.

Ten days later, winter officially arrived in Beijing, and the neighbors who had experienced the heated kang (traditional heated brick bed) were especially happy.

It's so warm, so very warm. I don't need to wear cold clothes when I get up anymore.

The kang (heated brick bed) can keep clothes warm, and there's no need to add firewood in the middle of the night.

But this harmonious life was still disrupted.

One day off, in the morning, Yan Bugui's wife, Yang Ruihua, fainted while making breakfast.

Yan Bugui was terrified and screamed for help at the top of his lungs outside his house.

"Help! My Ruihua has fainted! Come quick!"

Hearing the commotion, the neighbors rushed to help. Li Jiuzhou, who was making breakfast at the time, was the first to arrive.

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang were crying uncontrollably, fearing that their mother would just die.

Although I made some harsh words before, they would still be heartbroken if I really lost them.

Li Jiuzhou stepped forward, sighed (he was still breathing), and shouted at Yan Bugui, who was standing there dumbfounded:

"Quickly get a handcart and take it to the hospital. Jiecheng, go get a quilt so you can put it under your mother's blanket later."

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiecheng wiped away his tears and immediately got up to do it.

Soon a cart arrived, and Li Jiuzhou and his neighbors helped lift Yang Ruihua onto it.

Yan Bugui was pulling from the front, while several neighbors were pushing from behind.

It turned out to be a false alarm when they arrived at the hospital; Yang Ruihua was pregnant!

The neighbors' worried expressions turned into congratulations.

Yan Bugui also breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that there was nothing seriously wrong; he knew that pregnancy made him weak.

With the recent change in weather, all the neighbors in the courtyard have been extremely busy, and my wife is indeed exhausted as well.

Yang Ruihua was discharged from the hospital that same day and was able to walk again, though her face was a little pale.

Two days later, good news also came from the Liu family in the backyard: Liu Haizhong's wife was also pregnant.

Liu Haizhong was overjoyed. Every morning before dawn, he would go out to buy meat and occasionally bring back an old hen.

The atmosphere in the Jia family was somewhat tense; Jia Zhangshi's words were too sharp.

The idea that a hen that doesn't lay eggs should be stewed made Tong Jie so ashamed she couldn't lift her head.

Jia Dongxu couldn't stand it:

"Mom, Tong Jie and I have only been married for less than six months, why are you in such a hurry?"

Madam Jia swallowed the food in her mouth and said in a rather displeased tone:

"I'm not in a hurry, ask your dad if he is."

"Mom, you..."

"Ugh...ugh..." Tong Jie reacted immediately, then got up and ran outside to vomit.

The Jia family mother and son were stunned.

"Mom, look at this..." Jia Dongxu was a little at a loss.

Madam Jia was also somewhat taken aback:

"You already have it?"

What followed was a huge surprise:

"May our ancestors bless us, may Old Jia bless us!"

"Dongxu, go see my daughter-in-law quickly. Don't go to work today. Take Tongjie to the hospital for a check-up."

"Okay, Mom." Jia Dongxu was also delighted and agreed.

That day, Jia Dongxu and Tong Jie returned and announced the good news of her pregnancy.

In just a few days, good news kept coming from the courtyard, and the neighbors' faces were all beaming with smiles.

Of course, some people had a bitter smile on their faces, and that was Yi Zhonghai and his wife.

Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, and Yi Zhonghai are not much different in age, although Yi Zhonghai may be a year or two older.

Seeing that their wives were still pregnant, Yi Zhonghai was extremely envious and tried to stay home as much as possible these past few days.

They feel insecure without offspring, always feeling that their neighbors will look at them with strange eyes.

However, Yi Zhonghai still bought gifts and delivered them to his apprentice's home when his apprentice's wife was pregnant: ten catties of eggs and five catties of honey.

As always, his master was very generous, which touched Jia Dongxu. In the past few days, he had also noticed that his master's mood was a little off.

So he spent money to ask Li Jiuzhou to buy a roast duck, kept half at home, and took the other half to Yi Zhonghai's house.

During their drink together, Jia Dongxu once again revealed his true feelings, telling Yi Zhonghai and his wife that they should treat him as their son.

Hold your head high and be a decent human being. From now on, Jia Dongxu will take care of everything for them.

Yi Zhonghai and his wife were moved to tears, repeatedly praising their good apprentice.

Jia Dongxu still has a conscience; he knows very well how Yi Zhonghai has treated him over the past few years.

One should never be ungrateful. Although my master had his own calculations, he was genuinely good to me!

At night, Li Jiuzhou and his wife lay on the warm kang (a heated brick bed) and whispered to each other.

"There will be three more babies in the orphanage next year, that's wonderful!" Bingbing exclaimed with longing as she touched her belly.

Li Jiuzhou smiled gently:

"That's not necessarily true; maybe there will be four dolls?"

"Where did these four dolls come from?" Bingbing asked without thinking.

Li Jiuzhou started to get involved: "Isn't it you we still have? Let's work together and try to get pregnant next month."

Bingbing's pretty face flushed red, and suddenly she remembered something, teasingly saying:

"Then you'd better work hard. You've been slacking off lately, you've even rested for three days..."

Li Jiuzhou's expression was complicated, and he was at a loss for words. A man sometimes needs to be in a certain state of mind; he's an ox, not an earthworm.

Land can be happily cultivated as long as there is water, but oxen cannot plow the land day and night.

Even the strongest ox needs rest...