Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

"He Yuzhu?"

He Yuzhu paused, turned around, and saw a girl in blue overalls and a red scarf looking at him with surprise. It was He Lanlan, whom he had met on a blind date at Qian Daniu's house.

"Oh, Comrade He Lanlan, what a coincidence!" He Yuzhu greeted her with a smile.

He Lanlan walked over quickly, looked him up and down, and asked with a hint of curiosity in her eyes, "You... what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work at this hour?"

He Yuzhu shrugged and didn't hide anything: "Well, Matchmaker Wang introduced me to someone, and we arranged to meet this morning. We just finished."

"A blind date?" He Lanlan's eyes lit up. "Whose daughter is she? Did it go well?"

He Yuzhu pursed his lips, revealing a complicated expression: "Hey, it really does have something to do with your family, He Qiuyue from your uncle's family."

"What? Qiuyue from my uncle's family?" He Lanlan exclaimed in surprise, then couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Hahaha...they definitely miscalculated! You're not the kind of person who can be easily manipulated!"

He Yuzhu gave a thumbs up: "Impressive. I just escaped. Your uncle's family didn't marry off their daughter; they could have just robbed her!"

"They escaped?" He Lanlan's interest was piqued, and her eyes lit up. "Tell me quickly, what happened? Our family rarely has any contact with them now. My aunt... tsk tsk, she's no pushover, always trying to take advantage of others."

He Yuzhu looked around. It wasn't a good idea to stand at the alley entrance and talk in this freezing weather.

His mind raced, and he remembered that He Lanlan worked in a textile factory, a place with many female workers; perhaps…

He Yuzhu pointed outside the alley and said, "I haven't had breakfast yet. How about we find a place and I'll treat you to breakfast? We can chat while we eat."

He Lanlan took a day off today. She was going on a blind date this afternoon and was free right now.

She had a good impression of He Yuzhu, thinking that although he looked a bit older than his age, he was straightforward and a good cook, so she readily agreed: "Sure, I haven't eaten yet, let's go!"

The two walked out of the alley one after the other and found a breakfast shop nearby that looked fairly clean.

At this time, there weren't many people in the shop, so the two found a seat towards the back.

He Yuzhu ordered two bowls of soy milk, four fried dough sticks, and two tea eggs.

While the food was being served, He Lanlan couldn't wait to ask, "Tell me quickly, what conditions did my aunt propose? Something that could scare you away?"

He Yuzhu broke off a fried dough stick and soaked it in soy milk, then slowly recounted what had just happened at the He family's house.

From being slapped in the face by He's mother when he arrived empty-handed, to He's mother demanding a monthly living allowance of 100,000 yuan, that his two younger brothers live with him, a dowry of 500,000 yuan, and that she provide a free wedding banquet for her eldest son...

He Lanlan was stunned and forgot to put the fried dough stick in her hand into her mouth.

"My God..." she whispered, her face filled with disbelief, "My aunt... how could she dare to ask for this? This isn't marrying off a daughter; only someone out of their mind would agree to that!"

"Absolutely!" He Yuzhu took a bite of his tea egg. "I was shocked. I thought, 'Are they trying to take advantage of me? Or do they think I have 'Come on, you rich fool' written all over my face?"

"So what did you reply?" He Lanlan asked curiously.

"Me?" He Yuzhu chuckled. "I agreed to everything."

"Huh?!" He Lanlan was even more surprised. "You agreed? Then what happened later..."

"Don't rush," He Yuzhu waved his hand and described what happened next.

After hearing this, He Lanlan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, laughing so hard that she almost cried.

"You...you're really something!" She covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking. "You actually came up with such a dirty trick? I can already picture the incredible expressions on their faces!"

He Yuzhu laughed too: "Haha, they were joking with me first. But speaking of which, why do your two families rarely interact?"

He Lanlan stopped laughing, sighed and said, "It's all because of my aunt. Before we separated the family, she loved to take advantage of others and always took everything into her own room."

"After the family split up, they became even more audacious, borrowing money and food from my parents and never paying it back. My parents were honest, and after a few times, they became disheartened and gradually distanced themselves from me."

She took a sip of soy milk and continued, "Qiuyue is actually alright, it's just that her mother has taught her a bit... how should I put it, she listens to her family too much."

"I heard that she's like a nanny at home, taking care of her younger brother, cooking, doing laundry, doing all sorts of chores, while her two older brothers act like lords."

He Yuzhu nodded: "I can see that, those two kids are very clingy to her."

The two ate and chatted, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

After getting to know each other, He Lanlan proved to be quite talkative, and the two found themselves getting along quite well.

As she spoke, He Lanlan also began to complain: "Sigh, you have no idea, I've been forced to go on all sorts of blind dates by my family lately, it's so annoying."

"I've been on four or five dates in the past two weeks, and each time it's either I don't like the person, or they don't like me."

He Yuzhu sighed, "I'm the complete opposite of you. No one in my family helps me with anything, so I have to do it all myself."

"You're only sixteen, what's the rush?" He Lanlan couldn't help but laugh again. "Seriously, if you hadn't told me, I would have really thought you were in your mid-twenties."

He Yuzhu wasn't angry. He smiled and said, "How about I start going on blind dates now? The more I get to know people, the more likely I am to meet a girl who appreciates my inner beauty..."

Both knew that a relationship was impossible, but they started chatting without any reservations, rambling on about everything under the sun.

He Lanlan glanced at him and suddenly asked, "By the way, how's your work going?"

He Yuzhu didn't hide anything and briefly explained that he had already completed his apprenticeship and was currently looking for a suitable job.

Finally, he chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I'm stuck in the middle now. I have the skills, but these days, even a good chef needs to find the right place."

He Lanlan said earnestly, "Don't say that. With your cooking skills, you'll never go hungry, no matter where you go. I still remember the meal I had at the Qian family's house last time; the taste..."

As she spoke, a nostalgic look appeared in her eyes: "It was absolutely amazing, even better than what I ate at the restaurant before. I wonder when I'll be able to eat like this again."

He Yuzhu's heart skipped a beat, and he went along with her words, saying, "Want to eat it? That's easy! Come to my house this weekend, and I'll make it for you."

"Really?" He Lanlan's eyes lit up.

"Of course it's true," He Yuzhu paused, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "but... you'll have to bring people with you."

"Bring people?" He Lanlan looked at him questioningly. "Who?"

He Yuzhu touched his nose and chuckled awkwardly, "I just...want to meet more girls to prepare for finding a wife in the future, right? Bring a few of your girlfriends over, and I'll show you what I'm capable of, and by the way...hehe, you know what I mean."

He Lanlan was taken aback at first, then burst out laughing.

She pointed at He Yuzhu, laughing so hard her shoulders shook: "You...you're only sixteen! And you're already in such a hurry to find a wife? You even want me to bring my girlfriends to your house? You've got some serious plans!"

He Yuzhu retorted confidently, "So what if I'm sixteen? My dad was already pregnant with me when he was sixteen! It's about planning ahead, don't you understand?"

He Lanlan laughed even harder, and it took her a long time to stop.

She thought about it and figured she didn't have anything to do on the weekend anyway, so she took a few close girlfriends to He Yuzhu's house for dinner. It would satisfy their cravings and help He Yuzhu out at the same time, which would be a win-win situation.

Although He Yuzhu is a bit young and looks a bit premature, she is indeed quite attractive. What if one of her sisters takes a liking to her?

"Okay!" He Lanlan readily agreed. "I'll bring a few girlfriends to your house for dinner this weekend, but let me make it clear first, you'll have to prepare the food, we'll just eat."

"Absolutely!" He Yuzhu patted his chest and assured him, "You just need to come, and I'll take care of the rest."