Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

He Yuzhu's days have been regular and fulfilling lately.

During the day he works at the Oriental Hotel, and at night he goes home to study recipes and prepare for the upcoming cooking competition.

He has now established himself at the Oriental Hotel.

The "Iced Fish Fillets" dish was even included in the hotel's banquet menu, becoming a signature dish that many leaders specifically requested to try.

Zhao Dezhu also valued him more and more. Although his salary did not increase, he received various subsidies and benefits.

During his time as a kitchen helper, Wang Jianguo and Li Weidong became his loyal underlings, constantly calling him "Master He" and showering him with attention.

He Yuzhu was generous and would give them pointers whenever he had time, and the two of them did make some progress during this period.

It was Friday, and after finishing an important banquet in the afternoon, Zhao Dezhu specifically called He Yuzhu to his office.

"Zhu Zi, how are the preparations for next Wednesday's cooking competition going?" Zhao Dezhu asked with concern.

"That's about it," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

Zhao Dezhu nodded in satisfaction and said, "If you can get a good ranking in this competition, our restaurant will also give you a reward, so don't miss it!"

"Really? Then get your reward ready and wait for me to come and collect it!" He Yuzhu said confidently.

It was already past five in the afternoon when I came out of the office.

The kitchen preparations for the evening market were basically complete, and Chef Chen was directing his assistants to do a final check.

"Zhu Zi, you've worked hard this afternoon. There's nothing much to do tonight, so you guys should head home early!" Master Chen said with a smile as he saw him come out.

Wang Jianguo immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Master He, how about we go out for a meal? I know a new hot pot restaurant opened in Xinjiekou, and I heard it's pretty good!"

Li Weidong looked on expectantly, "Yes, Master He, we haven't eaten together yet!"

He Yuzhu checked the time and realized it was still early. After working for a month, it was time to relax.

"Sure!" he readily agreed, "but it's a deal, it's on me."

"How can that be!" Wang Jianguo quickly said, "It was my suggestion, of course I'll treat!"

He Yuzhu waved his hand and said, "Stop arguing. My salary is higher than yours. This meal is on me. You can treat me next time."

The two then gave up and happily ran off to change their clothes.

The three changed into casual clothes and walked out of the Oriental Hotel. It was already dark by then.

The hot pot restaurant in Xinjiekou was indeed very popular; the place was steaming hot and almost full.

"Please come in, gentlemen!" the waiter greeted them warmly.

"Wow, this tastes authentic!" He Yuzhu laughed as soon as he smelled it; it was genuine Sichuan and Chongqing-style hot pot with beef tallow.

The three found a seat by the window, and Wang Jianguo skillfully ordered: "Beef tripe, beef aorta, duck intestines, beef slices, lamb rolls, tofu skin, cabbage, potatoes..."

Li Weidong added, "What about alcohol? How about some baijiu?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Let's have a bottle of Erguotou. It's cold, a little something will warm us up."

"Alright!" The waiter noted down the order and quickly went to prepare it.

Soon, the hot pot base was served, and the dishes were gradually laid out on the table.

Wang Jianguo raised his glass: "Come on, Master He, this first glass is for you!"

"Thank you for your guidance over the past month. I've learned a lot from Weidong!"

Li Weidong also raised his glass: "Yes, yes, Master He, I'll have to rely on you for guidance in the future!"

He Yuzhu smiled, raised his glass, and said, "We're all brothers, no need to be so polite, bottoms up!"

He told them more than once to just call him Zhuzi, but they just wouldn't change their way of addressing him.

"Dry!"

After a glass of wine, the atmosphere immediately became lively.

While enjoying hot pot with meat and vegetables, drinking baijiu (Chinese liquor), and chatting about interesting things that happened in the kitchen, time flew by.

Before we knew it, the two bottles of Erguotou were empty.

He Yuzhu felt dizzy and saw double.

He can actually hold his liquor fairly well, but he definitely overdid it today.

"Almost...almost done..." He Yuzhu stood up, leaning on the table for support, feeling unsteady on his feet. "Tomorrow...I have to go to work tomorrow..."

Wang Jianguo and Li Weidong were also quite drunk, and the three of them helped each other as they staggered out of the house after paying the bill.

A gust of cold wind made He Yuzhu's stomach churn, and he barely managed to hold it in.

After parting ways with the two at the intersection, he used his remaining willpower to discern directions and stumbled his way towards Nanluoguxiang.

The glow of the streetlights appeared as several halos in his eyes, and the road beneath his feet seemed to undulate.

He hummed a tuneless, off-key song: "I...I am a...wolf from the North..."

As he passed the entrance of an alley, he solemnly bowed to the stone lion in the corner and said, "Brother Lion... good evening, have you eaten yet?"

The stone lion, of course, did not answer, and He Yuzhu did not care. After chatting for a few minutes, he continued to stumble forward.

After an unknown amount of time, the familiar gate finally appeared before us.

He Yuzhu felt as if he had seen a relative. He rushed to the gate of No. 95 courtyard and groped around for a long time before finally pushing open the heavy wooden door.

The front yard was quiet; all the houses had already turned off their lights.

The middle courtyard was somewhat different. There were two large "囍" (double happiness) characters pasted on the door of the Jia family's house, and red light shone on the windows. You could also vaguely hear noise coming from inside.

He Yuzhu's muddled mind raced for a moment. Oh, I remember now, today seems to be the wedding day of Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu.

The wedding banquet was probably finished in the afternoon, and they're probably having some fun in the bridal chamber right now.

"Get...marry...even dogs won't get married..." He Yuzhu muttered, staggering to his front door.

He took out his key and tried to poke it into the keyhole several times before finally getting it right. With a "click," the door opened.

He almost staggered into the house, then slammed the door shut behind him. With a creak, the door was ajar, not fully closed.

At this point, the alcohol had completely numbed his senses, and all he wanted to do was lie down immediately.

He groped his way to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) in the dark, haphazardly ripped off his cotton-padded jacket and trousers, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed onto the cold kang, pulling the quilt haphazardly over himself.

Almost instantly, he lost consciousness.

……

Meanwhile, the Jia family lived just a wall away.

The room reeked of alcohol, the dishes and chopsticks on the table hadn't been cleared away, and several empty bottles lay scattered about.

Wearing a brand-new Zhongshan suit, Jia Dongxu, with a dazed look in his eyes, was holding a coworker's hand and babbling incessantly, "My...my wife...isn't she beautiful?"

The workers burst into laughter and urged, "Dongxu, stop talking! We haven't drunk the nuptial wine yet!"

"Yes, a toast together!"

Qin Huairu, wearing a new red jacket, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) with her head down and her hands nervously clasped together.

She wore light rouge on her face, making her look even more radiant than usual, but her eyes were full of weariness.

Dealing with all sorts of relatives and neighbors that day had already left her exhausted, and she just wanted it to end as soon as possible.

After finishing the banquet and collecting the gifts in the afternoon, Jia Zhangshi happily took her quilt and went to the deaf old lady's house in the backyard to ask for a place to stay, so as to make room for the newlyweds.

Amidst the urging of his coworkers, Jia Dongxu swayed as he picked up two glasses of wine, shoved one into Qin Huairu's hand, and held the other for himself, awkwardly slipping his arm through Qin Huairu's.

"Huai...Huai Ru, drink, drink this...we'll be officially husband and wife!" Jia Dongxu reeked of alcohol, his eyes fixed on Qin Huai Ru.

Qin Huairu couldn't avoid it, so she had to raise her hand and take a small sip.

The spicy liquid made her cough and tears welled up in her eyes.

Jia Dongxu tilted his head back and gulped down the entire glass of wine, then proudly showed the empty glass to his coworkers: "See...see that? I finished it!"

"Great!" The workers clapped and cheered.

However, this glass of wine seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. Jia Dongxu's smugness lasted for less than three seconds before his eyes completely lost focus.

He swayed twice, then with a "plop," he fell backward and landed heavily on the kang (a heated brick bed), immediately snoring loudly. He had actually passed out from drunkenness.

"Hey? Dongxu? Dongxu?" A coworker nudged him, but there was no response.

"Well, I'm really drunk!"

"This is boring, it's barely even started!"

"Alright, alright, a moment of bliss is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Let's not delay Dongxu's good time any longer, let's go!"

A few coworkers joked around for a bit, but seeing that the protagonist had "died," they also felt bored and left the Jia family with their arms around each other's shoulders, even "thoughtfully" closing the door behind them.

The noise suddenly disappeared, leaving only Jia Dongxu's snoring in the room.

Qin Huairu looked at her husband, who was lying unconscious on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then at the mess of cups and plates on the table and the half-cup of nuptial wine that she had only taken a sip from. She felt empty inside.

She walked to the table, picked up the glass of wine, and stared at it blankly for a while.

Why do men like this stuff so much? Does it make them forget their troubles? Or does it bring them happiness?

As if possessed, she picked up her wine glass and, mimicking Jia Dongxu, tilted her head back and downed the rest of the wine.

"Cough cough cough!" An even more violent coughing attack came, and a burning sensation ran from the throat all the way to the stomach.

But then a strange warmth spread out, easing some of the bitterness in my heart.

She seemed to understand why they liked to drink it.

Seeing that there was still a little less than half a bottle of liquor on the table, Qin Huairu simply sat down.

Anyway, Jia Dongxu was fast asleep, so she was the only one in the room.

She picked up the bottle, poured herself another glass, and slowly drank it while eating the leftover food that had gone cold on the table.

One cup, two cups...

Having never drunk so much alcohol before, she quickly became tipsy.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were unfocused, and her mind was foggy; those worries seemed to have truly faded away.

She felt hot all over, and a strange emotion was welling up inside her. She wanted to shout, cry, and laugh all at the same time.

Suppressing her last shred of consciousness, she piled up the dishes on the table, took them to the sink in the small kitchen outside, and threw them haphazardly in, not even bothering to wash them.

Back inside, he blew out the oil lamp, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) in the dark, and lay down fully clothed next to Jia Dongxu, who was snoring loudly.

The dizziness from the alcohol overwhelmed her like a tidal wave, and she almost immediately fell asleep.

……

In the middle of the night, Qin Huairu was awakened by a strong dry mouth and throat.

My throat feels like it's on fire, and my stomach is also feeling a bit uncomfortable.

She sat up groggily and groped for the teapot on the table, only to find it was empty.

Jia Dongxu was still snoring beside him, sleeping like a log.

Helpless, Qin Huairu had no choice but to struggle off the kang (a heated brick bed), slip on her shoes, and shakily push open the door to walk into the courtyard.

She walked to the pool by the moonlight, picked up the cold iron ladle, filled it halfway with water, and gulped it down.

She comfortably put down the water ladle and turned to go back into the house.

However, the alcohol severely impaired her sense of direction.

She walked dizzily toward the door of "her own" house in her memory, completely unaware that she had pushed open the door of He Yuzhu's house.

"Squeak—"

The door was easily pushed open, and Qin Huairu, oblivious, staggered inside.

The outer room was pitch black, and she instinctively groped her way into the inner room.

The door to the inner room was also open, and the outline of the kang (a heated brick bed) could be vaguely seen.

She walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) in a daze and vaguely saw a bulging mass under the quilt.

Qin Huairu kicked off her shoes, groped her way onto the kang (a heated brick bed), lifted a corner of the quilt, and crawled inside.

Feeling the warmth beside her, she didn't hesitate to snuggle up to it, wrapping her arms and legs around it, and comfortably drifted off to sleep again.

Under the influence of alcohol, He Yuzhu was having an indescribable erotic dream in which he was having a fierce battle with several teachers, the fight being so intense that it was difficult to determine who was the best.

Almost instinctively, he reached back and pulled the delicate body in his arms, his hot breath spraying onto her neck.

He mumbled something in his sleep, and his body, following its most primal instincts, began a struggle...

A cold earthen bed, a burning body, surging alcohol, chaotic dreams...

The moon outside the window hid behind the clouds, as if it couldn't bear to witness this battle.