Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

As evening fell, Jia Dongxu was stopped by Yan Bugui when he entered the courtyard carrying a bag of freshly bought meat.

"What did you buy, Dongxu? Let Uncle Yan take a look?"

Jia Dongxu was inwardly constipated; he had expected this to happen on the way here, but he smiled and said:

"Nothing much, just bought some vegetables!"

Yan Bugui laughed:

"Are you trying to fool the foreigners, Dongxu? Your family never uses this kind of bag when buying vegetables."

"Just buy meat, you're married now and you're still talking nonsense."

"What's wrong with honestly telling Uncle Yan that I bought meat?"

"Do you think I'd take a few more bites of your flesh or something?"

Jia Dongxu stood there, looking embarrassed, thinking to himself:

"I'm not afraid of you taking a few pieces of meat from me, I'm actually afraid you'll come to my house and eat meat!"

The example of Sha Zhu's family hosting a dinner party is a perfect one. They didn't invite you, but you showed up yourself and ate the most delicious food than anyone else!

Before Jia Dongxu could speak, Yan Bugui continued talking to himself:

"I see you have quite a bit of meat, and it looks like you also have a fish, right?"

"Let me tell you, Uncle Yan's nose is no joke."

"How about it? I'll bring a bottle of wine over for a chat tonight?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu jumped up: "They're here, they're here for my meat!"

He had no idea what to say at that moment, so he gritted his teeth and said:

"Uncle Yan, the moon is so round tonight. Please enjoy it. I'll head back now."

Now it was Yan Bugui's turn to stand there bewildered. He looked up at the sky, but the sun hadn't completely set yet, so where was the moon?

He then shook his head and chuckled.

"This kid, if he didn't have some shrewdness, he wouldn't even know how to refuse."

Yan Bugui just said that his words were both true and false.

If Jia Dongxu dared to agree so readily, he would bring wine and head over to the Jia family's house that very night to drink and eat meat.

Whether there are dates or not, you can still try your luck. If you refuse, you won't lose anything. You can also bring along some scallions and garlic without losing anything.

Who knew this kid wouldn't take the bait? He still had something to say.

Jia Dongxu walked home quickly, frequently turning back as if a dog was chasing him.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi and Tong Jie found it quite strange, so they casually asked about it.

After taking a sip of water that his wife had brought him, Jia Dongxu recounted what had just happened.

After hearing this, Jia Zhangshi cursed and grabbed a broom, intending to rush to the front yard to teach Yan Bugui a lesson.

Fortunately, Jia Dongxu and Tong Jie stopped them.

"Mom, we didn't lose out. Going to Yan Bugui would only cause trouble."

"Forget it, calm down, calm down."

Jia Zhangshi went down the steps:

"Dongxu, and your daughter-in-law, I'll go grocery shopping from now on. You two are still young and easily fooled by that bastard Yan Bugui."

"Let's see if he dares to lay a hand on me. I'll beat the bastard to a pulp!"

The matter was over, and Jia Zhangshi and Tong Jie cleaned up the fish and meat.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were busy in the kitchen, both with smiles on their faces.

In this day and age, eating meat is something to be happy about for a family.

Jia Dongxu also went to the neighbor's house and invited the couple to have dinner together that evening.

Yi Zhonghai and his wife were naturally happy to agree.

These days, the two families have almost become one family, so having a meal together is nothing.

Yi Zhonghai would often invite the Jia family of three to his home for meals.

These aren't difficult times; we can eat our fill. How much money could it possibly be worth?

In the capital, as long as you are willing to work hard and endure hardship, you are not afraid of starving to death.

Are you kidding me? The capital city, how could people starve to death there?

What is a family in financial difficulty?

It's truly difficult when there are many people in the family, and someone in the family has a chronic illness.

After all, with wages needed to cover living expenses and medical bills, life was naturally tight.

Normal families live a very comfortable life.

Didn't you see that Yan Bugui didn't complain at all? He was always clean and had several sets of clothes to change throughout the year.

Eating meat every few days makes life incredibly wonderful.

The main problem is that everyone is the same now, living in large courtyards, in one or a few rooms.

Hello, how much better can you be than me?

Hey, you bastard, don't live in a tenement!

Wouldn't it be even more awesome to live in your own whole yard if you had the ability?

Since we're already in the same hospital, don't keep praising how great you are.

There was a lot of comparison in the courtyard, mostly in a low-class way, involving gossip and idle chatter.

Whoever is unlucky, they'll laugh at them; maybe next year it'll be your turn...

It's impossible not to be laughed at in a tenement courtyard; everyone makes a fool of themselves sometimes.

The composition of each household has now been clearly defined.

Most of the people in the compound were workers and poor peasants, except for Yan Bugui, who was classified as a small business owner.

There was no land in the capital, nowhere to farm, but it was different in the countryside. After being allocated land, life was wonderful.

During the autumn harvest, both Jia Zhangshi and Tong Jie returned to their parents' home, where they stayed for more than half a month.

When they came back, they brought a cartload of grain into the house.

This is the grain grown on their land. Of course, not all of it will be given to them; just a portion will suffice, since they didn't cultivate the land themselves.

Jia Zhangshi brought back more than 300 catties of grain, including corn, sweet potatoes and so on.

Tong Jie is different. She has worked her way up this year, and she has only been married into the Jia family for a little over a month.

So her father gave her all the grain under her name, a full 600 jin.

When the grain was brought into the yard, it made a group of neighbors green with envy.

Madam Jia was overjoyed and personally went to buy meat to entertain her in-laws.

They came together. This much grain is more than a family of three could possibly finish in a year; they simply couldn't.

Spending a little money to entertain your in-laws is utterly ridiculous!

A table full of dishes, including chicken, duck, fish and meat!

Jia Zhangshi was very good at making money; the grain under her name, including her daughter-in-law's name, amounted to nearly 900 jin.

A family of three eating to their heart's content and consuming 400 pounds is an overestimation.

Therefore, Jia Zhangshi decided that she could sell it to the neighbors in the courtyard tomorrow.

At this time, it's okay to do business; buying and selling some grain is nothing special.

And this is from the countryside, it's really authentic.

After the Jia family's grain entered the courtyard, many neighbors already knew what was going on and were keeping a close eye on it.

The next day was a day off, and everyone, whether they had something to do or not, gathered in the middle courtyard to buy grain from Jia Zhangshi.

There are no cheap options; the main price is the market price, so everyone is taking advantage of each other.

Farming is not easy, as all the neighbors know!

There were many grains laid out on the ground in the middle courtyard, including corn, sweet potatoes, rice, and wheat flour.

Li Jiuzhou was holding a bag. His family's food was almost gone, and going outside to buy more would be too much walking, so he might as well buy some from the Jia family first.

"Auntie, this rice must weigh at least two hundred pounds, right?"

"Give me 100 jin!" Li Jiuzhou asked for 100 jin of rice.

Jia Zhangshi was overjoyed:

"No problem, Dongxu, weigh out 100 jin of rice for your Jiuzhou brothers!"

"Alright!"

With Li Jiuzhou leading the way, the neighbors started calling out the grain they needed for their own households.

Almost every household bought some; they are indeed very good, in excellent condition. It would be a real loss not to buy them.

Madam Jia even declared herself a wealthy family, boasting that if any family was starving, they should come to her, as she had plenty of grain!