Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

"Uncle Xu, this is my first time properly organizing a wedding banquet," He Yuzhu said after thinking for a moment. "Just give me 100,000 yuan as a token, you can prepare the ingredients yourself, and I'll take care of the cooking."

"That won't do!" Xu Dahai immediately shook his head. "One hundred thousand is too little. You're... uh..."

He almost let slip, then quickly corrected himself: "Your skills are so good now, 100,000 isn't enough! How about this, I'll take advantage of you this time and give you 300,000!"

He Yuzhu waved his hands repeatedly: "Uncle Xu, there's really no need for so much..."

Xu Dahai insisted, "Three hundred thousand!"

After several rounds of back-and-forth, the two finally agreed on a price of 200,000.

Xu Dahai immediately pulled out a cloth bag from his pocket, counted out twenty 10,000-yuan bills, and stuffed them into He Yuzhu's hand: "Zhuzi, take this money first!"

He Yuzhu couldn't refuse, so he had to accept the money: "Alright, I'll take the money first. Don't worry, Uncle Xu, I'll definitely make sure the banquet is beautifully arranged for you!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Dahai and his son beamed with joy.

Next, the three of them began to discuss the menu.

He Yuzhu took out paper and pen, asking questions and taking notes: "Approximately how many tables? What are the guests' tastes? Are there any dietary restrictions?"

Xu Dahai thought for a moment and said, "I estimate there will be about ten tables, mostly ordinary people like us. We prefer stronger flavors and more oil, so we don't have any dietary restrictions."

He Yuzhu nodded and scribbled on the paper: "For ten tables, let's prepare six cold dishes, six hot dishes, three staple foods, and a soup. That should be quite presentable."

He handed the proposed menu to the two of them, and they immediately approved it after reading it.

He Yuzhu reminded him, "By the way, there are some dishes I need to prepare in advance. I'll come to your house to get them after work."

"No problem!" Xu Dahai patted his chest confidently. "We'll prepare everything at home, so you can just start cooking when you get there."

The three then discussed in detail the purchase of ingredients, the arrangement of tables, chairs, bowls, chopsticks, and the order in which dishes would be served.

By the time everything was settled, it was already quite late.

Xu Dahai and his son got up to say goodbye, and He Yuzhu saw them to the door.

"Zhu Zi, it's a deal then!" Xu Dahai grasped his hand. "February 18th, we're all counting on you!"

"Don't worry, Uncle Xu, I've got it covered," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

After seeing the two off, He Yuzhu closed the door, looking at the 200,000 yuan in his hand, feeling quite pleased with himself.

This was his second legitimate income since he transmigrated; the Lou family's was his first.

"Not bad, not bad, a good start." He hummed a little tune, put the money away, and started eating.

---------------

The next morning, He Yuzhu woke up before dawn.

Knowing that He Lanlan was bringing several female textile factory workers to his home for dinner today, he got up earlier than usual.

After doing a few sets of boxing to warm up his muscles, he went back inside to change into a clean blue cotton-padded jacket, put the money in his pocket, and went out.

The farmers' market is already bustling at this time, with all kinds of fresh vegetables, meat, eggs, fish and shrimp available at the morning market.

He Yuzhu walked around and bought two pounds of pork ribs, a small piece of pork belly, a carp, eggs, tofu, green vegetables, and potatoes.

When I returned to the courtyard carrying two large bags full of ingredients, the sun had just risen.

The front yard was quiet, with only smoke rising from Yan Bugui's chimney.

He Yuzhu walked straight through the front yard and had just entered the middle yard when he saw Aunt Qian washing clothes by the pool.

"Zhu Zi, you bought so many groceries?" Aunt Qian greeted him with a smile. "Do you have guests today?"

"Yes, I'm inviting a few friends over for dinner." He Yuzhu nodded with a smile.

Aunt Qian lowered her voice and said, "Then you'd better be careful, Jia Zhangshi's mouth can't stay shut."

He Yuzhu sneered, "Let her be."

Seeing his confidence, Aunt Qian stopped saying anything more.

Back in his house, He Yuzhu took out the groceries he had bought and put them away one by one.

He plans to make several dishes that are both unique and suitable for girls' tastes:

Sweet and sour carp must be made; girls generally like its sweet and sour flavor.

Make braised pork ribs, steamed egg with minced meat, Mapo tofu, and stir-fried cabbage.

Just as he was pondering this, a crisp knock came from the door, followed by He Lanlan's voice: "Zhu Zi, are you home?"

He Yuzhu hurriedly went to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, He Lanlan was seen standing in the doorway, followed by three girls of similar age.

The four girls were all dressed in neat work clothes and wearing scarves of various colors.

"Sister Lanlan, you're here so early?" He Yuzhu smiled and stepped aside. "Please come in!"

He Lanlan introduced with a smile: "Zhuzi, these are my good sisters from the textile factory—Wang Xiuying, Li Chunmei, and Zhang Caixia."

She then turned to the three girls: "This is He Yuzhu, whom I told you about. Don't let his older appearance fool you; he's incredibly honest, and his skills are absolutely superb!"

The three girls looked at He Yuzhu with curiosity, and He Yuzhu was also looking at the three of them.

Wang Xiuying is a round-faced girl with two dimples when she smiles;

Li Chunmei is tall and slender, with two thick braids.

Zhang Caixia, on the other hand, appeared more reserved and spoke in a soft voice.

"Hello, please come in, it's cold outside," He Yuzhu greeted warmly.

The four girls entered the house and curiously looked around He Yuzhu's home.

The room was clean and tidy, the bedding on the kang (a heated brick bed) was neatly folded, and a newly bought tea set was placed on the table.

"Please have a seat, I'll pour you some brown sugar water to warm you up," He Yuzhu said, taking out a brown sugar jar from the cabinet and finding a few clean enamel mugs.

"No need to trouble yourself..." Zhang Caixia said softly.

"No trouble at all." He Yuzhu quickly made four cups of brown sugar water and took out a plate of peach shortbread that he had just bought that morning from the cabinet. "You guys have something to eat first, and I'll go prepare the meal right away."

He Lanlan took a sip of brown sugar water, which tasted sweet, and her opinion of He Yuzhu improved even more.

"Zhu Zi, how could we just sit here and wait for you to serve us?" He Lanlan put down her cup. "Come on, sisters, let's go help in the kitchen!"

"Yes, yes, let's help each other!" Wang Xiuying also stood up.

"How could I possibly accept this..." He Yuzhu was about to decline when the four girls swarmed into the kitchen.

The kitchen wasn't big to begin with, and with five people squeezed in, it suddenly felt a bit crowded.

"Zhu Zi, you just give the orders, we'll do the work!" Li Chunmei said, rolling up her sleeves.

Seeing how enthusiastic they were, He Yuzhu stopped being polite.

He assigned tasks to the girls, and they immediately got to work.

He Yuzhu, on the contrary, became the most idle person. He stood by the stove, watching the busy figures of several girls, and thought that these girls were all quite good.

"Zhu Zi, your knife is really sharp!" Wang Xiuying exclaimed in surprise as she sliced ​​carrots.

"This was given to me by my master; his name is Shen Yuan," He Yuzhu explained.

"Shenyuan? What a poetic name," Zhang Caixia said softly.

The girls chatted as they worked, which made it quite relaxing.

Before long, all the vegetables that needed washing were washed, and Wang Xiuying and Li Chunmei took the basins out to pour out the water.

As soon as the two reached the edge of the pond, they were surrounded by several middle-aged women who were sunbathing in the yard.

"Oh, whose daughter is this? She's so pretty!" Aunt Li from the front yard asked with a smile.

"We're here as guests at Zhuzi's house," Wang Xiuying replied politely.

"Visiting?" another middle-aged woman chimed in. "What's your relationship with Zhu Zi?"

"My friend, he's treating us to dinner," Li Chunmei said, turning to walk back.

Just then, Jia Zhangshi appeared out of nowhere.

She pulled the two women aside and whispered, "Ladies, you must be careful. That He Yuzhu is no good person!"