Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Since Jia Dongxu's wife, Tong Jie, became pregnant, Jia Zhangshi seems to have changed her way of living.

In the dead of winter, before dawn, he would carry a cloth bag and go out to buy meat and vegetables.

As Chinese people, eating fresh pork is ingrained in our very bones.

Meat prices in Beijing fluctuate between morning and evening.

Fresh pork is naturally more expensive in the morning, but by evening it's practically dirt cheap.

For example, if a pound of pork costs 3000 yuan in the morning, then by evening you can buy two pounds for 3000 yuan, and if they don't sell out, they'll even sell them at half price or give them away for free.

Don't ask why, the answer is that it's not fresh anymore. I don't care if it's winter or not, this is the price for the evening.

If you won't sell it to me, I'll buy it from someone else.

Of course, some families with slightly poorer financial conditions or who want to save money will also go to buy meat in the afternoon. After all, isn't it better to buy two pounds for the price of one pound of meat?

It smells so good!

Duoduo is something that people from poor families would buy...

In his previous life, Li Jiuzhou ate mostly pork in the afternoon at the orphanage.

It would be so much more enjoyable in the summer, as the price of one pound of pork could buy three pounds of meat in the afternoon.

That's how we save money, and that's how we live our lives.

Residents in better-off households prefer to eat fresh meat, while ordinary families prefer to buy leftover scraps from the afternoon.

Whether it's fresh or not, it's still meat, and meat has nutritional value!

On winter mornings, the residents in the courtyard all love to have a hot meal.

Li Jiuzhou likes to make pork soup in the morning.

Go out early and buy a pound of lean meat, fry some shallots, and mix some sweet potato starch with fresh pork.

It's pork soup right out of the pot, and it's incredibly comforting with some fried dough sticks and steamed buns.

This way of eating is generally more popular in the south, but the neighbors in the courtyard learned it.

Every few mornings, I can smell the aroma of pork soup.

The main reason is that meat is easy to buy now, there is no shortage of grain, and each household has a considerable income, so eating some meat doesn't feel like a waste at all.

Ten thousand yuan can buy more than three jin of pork. If you buy three jin at once and eat it sparingly, it can last for a week.

This is no joke. Although pork soup is delicious, only a small number of residents eat it this way.

This way of eating is still a bit wasteful for them.

The correct way to eat pork is to cut a few ounces and stir-fry it with vegetables.

A balanced diet with pork, including meat in every meal – that's what it means to live a thrifty and proper life!

Want to eat meat to your heart's content in one go?

Let's not even think about it. Apart from Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu's families, no one else in the courtyard dares to even consider it.

Because they are simple and honest, they don't live like that.

We still need to save money. How can we eat lavishly every day? Are we getting too big for our britches? Can't we live a normal life?

As a chef, Li Jiuzhou has thousands of ways to cook pork.

The aroma of the dishes cooked at home often amazes the neighbors in the courtyard, who often come over to learn from their cooking techniques.

Every time Li Jiuzhou cooks meat, women come to watch and learn.

Jia Zhangshi came most frequently; she was too greedy. There was no shortage of meat at home, but what she lacked was the method of cooking it.

Li Jiuzhou was naturally willing to teach. Home cooking methods are very simple. As long as you're willing to use plenty of spices, any kind of meat will taste delicious with rice.

As long as Jia Zhangshi doesn't ask him for meat, teaching her a few tricks isn't a big deal.

Even if she actually asked for some, Li Jiuzhou would give her a piece or two to try, because she was really studying very hard.

Because her daughter-in-law Tong Jie was pregnant, Jia Zhangshi took over the housework, including cooking.

From then on, Jia Zhangshi prepared meat in various ways and occasionally came to Li Jiuzhou to borrow some spices that she didn't have at home.

She would always pay back what he borrowed, and sometimes she would even give him a little more, which surprised Li Jiuzhou.

As long as you're in the courtyard, you can always see Jia Zhangshi busy in the kitchen around mealtimes, and the dishes she makes are always delicious.

Over time, the cooking skills of the women in the entire compound improved dramatically.

Some families originally didn't have much cooking ingredients, but after learning how to cook from Li Jiuzhou, they would keep some on hand.

This caused everyone in the family to have an increased appetite, and it was obvious that many of them had gained weight.

Especially Jia Dongxu, who has gained at least ten kilograms and is incredibly happy.

The happiest thing for him every day after get off work is deciding what his mother is cooking, and then he excitedly discusses it with his mentor, Yi Zhonghai.

Jia Dongxu was living a comfortable life, but Yi Zhonghai was living an even more comfortable one.

Since their apprentice revealed his feelings again, the couple has completely let go of the past.

If they don't have children, so be it. They have Dongxu, and that's enough.

Then Yi Zhonghai said that every meal must include meat, and he earns about 70 yuan a month.

If they could spend 100,000 yuan a month on meat, they could eat their fill.

Do you know what it means to be arrogant and domineering?

Dozens of kilograms of meat were hanging under the eaves outside Yi Zhonghai's house.

Cured pork, cured pig liver, dried cured fish—the rows of them were so impressive they made your eyes pop out.

Not only Yi Zhonghai, but other residents followed suit and made a lot of cured meat, which they then hung from the roof beams.

You're saying you stole meat from your neighbor?

"Damn it, they can't afford to live, so they steal meat from their neighbor? That's impossible! Everyone has some money!"

If you hang cured meat under your eaves, then I have to hang it too; it's a matter of face.

Otherwise, if a stranger or relative happens to come by and sees that your neighbor's house is full of cured meat while yours isn't, they might think that your family can't afford to live.

A very real example is Yan Bugui's distant cousin who came to the city from the countryside. Knowing that his wife was pregnant with their third child, he brought some local specialties from the countryside with him.

There were old hens and some dried game. After the meal, I took a stroll around the yard and found that every household had meat hanging under the eaves.

Only my cousin's house had empty eaves.

He knew that his cousin's family used to be well-off, but now they were down on their luck.

Seeing that my cousin's family was dressed reasonably well, I assumed he was concerned about his image, so I didn't say anything back then.

Before leaving, she held his hand, slipped him 20 yuan, and earnestly gave him some advice:

"Ah Gui, I don't earn much in the countryside. Take this 20 yuan and use it to buy some meat for my younger siblings and children."

Yan Bugui was stunned:

"Brother, I don't need the money, why are you giving me it?"

His cousin thought he was faking it, and getting a little angry, he pointed at the cured meat under the eaves of the house in the front yard and whispered a scolding:

"Look at all that meat, it looks so good. Your family has nothing, do I even need to tell you?"

Yan Bugui understood instantly, shook his head and chuckled, stuffed the 20 yuan back into his cousin's hand, and then explained:

"Don't worry about me. I just woke up late and couldn't buy any meat. It's not that I don't want to hang it up. Just relax."

"Really?" his cousin asked doubtfully.

"More real than real gold." Yan Bugui said, taking out money from his pocket, which amounted to over 1.3 million.

He put this in his pocket this morning and took it with him when he went to buy meat to treat his cousin today.

His cousin was so upset he wanted to help his younger cousin out, but he never expected the guy to be richer than him.

Somewhat embarrassed, she said even more bluntly:

"Damn, so you're not short of money after all. I thought you couldn't afford to live."

"Since that's the case, could you help me out a bit..."

After saying that, he snatched the money from Yan Bugui's hand, counted out 30 yuan, and returned the rest to Yan Bugui.

"That's all. It's getting late, I should head back now, otherwise I'll miss my train if I don't get a ride."

Yan Bugui was both amused and exasperated. This cousin was the only relative he was willing to continue visiting, so he stubbornly insisted:

"Take more! What can 300,000 do?"

After hearing this, his cousin reached out and grabbed the money in Yan Bugui's hand again, but Yan Bugui held on tightly.

The two were at an impasse, and his cousin laughed:

"Let go of me, you son of a bitch! Didn't you tell me to take more? Why are you holding on?"

"Life in the countryside is tough, please help me out more, give me another 20."

"Hey... take it, take it..." Yan Bugui finally let go.

His cousin really didn't hold back at all, taking another 20 yuan, then turned around, waved goodbye, and left without a trace!

Yan Bugui smiled, a smile more like a grimace...