Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

That evening, He Yuzhu returned home and was about to take out his keys to open the door when he caught a glimpse of a figure approaching out of the corner of his eye.

He Yuzhu paused, squinting as he looked.

Yi Zhonghai, with a smile on his face, greeted him, "Zhu Zi, you're off work? I've been waiting for you for a while!"

He Yuzhu sneered inwardly and gave a nonchalant "hmm".

He walked to the door but didn't open it. He just stood there blocking the entrance, looking at Yi Zhonghai and asking, "Master Yi, is something the matter?"

Yi Zhonghai's smile froze for a moment, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.

But he quickly recovered and said with a smile, "Zhu Zi, it's like this. I was chatting with Director Li from our steel rolling mill canteen at the factory today, and we talked about you."

He Yuzhu didn't reply, but just looked at him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

Seeing that he didn't respond, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to continue: "Director Li read the newspaper and knew that you were good at cooking. He said that when your father, He Daqing, was alive, they often drank together. He never expected that his son would be so good at cooking now."

"It's almost the end of the year, and the factory leaders are having a dinner party. Director Li wanted to ask me to invite you to cook a New Year's Eve dinner."

"Pillar, this is a great opportunity to show off!"

He Yuzhu almost laughed out loud. The canteen director of the steel rolling mill invited him to cook the New Year's Eve dinner? What a great opportunity to show off!

Putting aside his relationship with Lou Bancheng, just look at the guests he entertains every day; any one of them is far superior to a mere canteen manager.

When Yi Zhonghai saw that He Yuzhu was still silent and was just looking at him with that ambiguous smile, he felt a little uneasy.

But he still gritted his teeth and quoted a price: "Zhu Zi, don't worry, I won't let you work for nothing! Director Li initially offered 50,000, but I thought it was too little, so I negotiated it down to 80,000 for you. How about that?"

He Yuzhu's lips curled into a mocking smile, but he remained silent.

Yi Zhonghai cursed inwardly, but maintained a smile on his face, saying, "Eighty thousand is too little? Then... one hundred thousand, one hundred thousand should be alright, right? It's just one meal!"

He Yuzhu raised his hand and picked at his ear, as if he had just heard something dirty.

Yi Zhonghai was enraged by his actions, but remembering the boast he had already made to Director Li, he could only grit his teeth and continue to raise the price: "120,000, Zhu Zi, 120,000 is not a low amount. Your father used to get around this price when he went out to host banquets!"

He Yuzhu lowered his hand and looked calmly at Yi Zhonghai, as if he were looking at a clown.

Yi Zhonghai felt uncomfortable under his gaze. If this didn't work out, how would he get along in the factory?

"150,000!" Yi Zhonghai pleaded in a final struggle. "Zhu Zi, this is truly the highest price I can offer. For the sake of your father's long-standing relationship with Director Li, please help me out!"

After saying that, he stared intently at He Yuzhu, hoping that the other party would relent.

He Yuzhu finally slowly opened his mouth...

Yi Zhonghai was overjoyed, then heard a voice say, "Get lost!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it felt like a slap across Yi Zhonghai's face.

Yi Zhonghai's smile vanished completely, his face flushed red, then turned ashen, and he pointed at He Yuzhu: "You...you..."

He Yuzhu was too lazy to look at him anymore. He took out his key, clicked open the door, slipped inside, and slammed the door shut.

Yi Zhonghai stood frozen in place, his finger still pointing, his chest heaving violently, clearly very angry.

There were several people fetching water to wash up by the pool in the middle courtyard; they had all witnessed what had just happened.

At that moment, they kept their heads down, desperately trying to suppress the urge to laugh.

Yi Zhonghai, a man who valued his reputation above all else, felt his face burning with embarrassment. He wanted to curse, bang on the door, and teach this ungrateful little beast a lesson.

But... he didn't dare!

He still vividly remembers the times He Yuzhu beat him, Jia Dongxu, Xu Damao and his son, and even slapped Yan Bugui.

He's a reckless and impulsive young man. If you really push him too far, he's capable of doing even more outrageous things.

In the end, it will be you who loses face.

Yi Zhonghai clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.

He glared fiercely at the few people who were peeping, then gave He Yuzhu's tightly closed door a venomous look before abruptly turning around and going back to his own house.

As soon as he left, the person by the pool couldn't hold back any longer: "Hahaha..."

Aunt Wang laughed and said, "Zhu Zi is the head chef at the Oriental Hotel now, cooking for the leaders. Who does he think he is, the canteen director of the steel mill?"

"Exactly!" Aunt Li wiped away tears of laughter. "Look at Yi Zhonghai's face just now... hahaha!"

The women chatted amongst themselves, their laughter ringing out clearly in the quiet night.

Inside the house, He Yuzhu heard the faint laughter coming from outside, and a smile appeared on his lips.

He lit the kerosene lamp, heated the kang (a heated brick bed), and began to plan:

That Director Li, along with Yi Zhonghai, embezzled the position that He Daqing had prepared for him.

We haven't even settled things with them yet, and they still want me to cook for them? They're dreaming!

Looks like I'll have to give that guy a piece of my mind when I go to Uncle Lou's house sometime!

----------

As soon as Yi Zhonghai entered the house, he slammed the door shut.

"Bang!"

"What's wrong?" His wife was startled.

"Don't even mention it!"

Yi Zhonghai plopped down in a chair, his face ashen, and said, "That idiot Zhu is utterly ungrateful!"

"I kindly introduced him to a job, just cooking a meal, and they're offering 15 yuan!"

"That ingrate!" Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth. "I'm his elder, and he actually told me to get lost!!!"

His wife sighed, "Old Yi, I told you long ago, Zhu Zi is different now. You'd better not provoke him..."

Yi Zhonghai was even angrier; this was something he couldn't simply avoid by not provoking him.

Director Li of the canteen somehow found out about He Yuzhu's newspaper advertisement and immediately went to find him.

Director Li said that because he lost a chef, he was demanding compensation from him.

Yi Zhonghai was unwilling. He had recently spent a large sum of money subsidizing the Jia family, and besides, Director Li had sold that position without paying him any money!

After some back and forth, Director Li finally told the truth.

It turns out that recently too many people have complained that the food cooked by the newly hired private chef is terrible, so he was called over by the deputy factory director and given a scolding.

The deputy factory director ordered him to change the chef in the small kitchen before the end of the year, or else he would be fired.

Where could you find a chef before the New Year? Chefs with formal training looked down on those from factories, and truly skilled cooks from untrained backgrounds were few and far between.

Coincidentally, at that time, he saw the report published by He Yuzhu and came to Yi Zhonghai to demand an explanation.

Yi Zhonghai had no choice, so the two of them thought about it and decided that he should invite He Yuzhu to the factory to cook a New Year's Eve dinner.

This way, Director Li can both deal with the deputy factory director and have time to find a replacement cook for the private kitchen.