Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Xu Damao was surprised that He Yuzhu guessed correctly on the first try, but who was he? He was Master Mao, how could he let He Yuzhu guess?

"You're just being sour, you silly Zhu. You're just a sour grapes. I'm telling you, I'm going in right now." After saying that, Xu Damao turned around and started to walk towards the small private room, but after taking only a couple of steps, he turned back to He Yuzhu and said.

"Hey, you silly Zhu, where's that private room?" Xu Damao was a little embarrassed, after all, he had never been to a private room before. He usually only ate at the third canteen and saw how He Yuzhu served people.

He Yuzhu realized that Xu Damao probably really was going to come and drink with him. However, this had happened in TV dramas before, so he wasn't surprised. But given Xu Damao's alcohol tolerance, He Yuzhu figured he'd probably get drunk after just two rounds.

Thinking of this, He Yuzhu couldn't help but reveal a mischievous smile.

"Go straight ahead, then turn left. After opening the door, there's a large private room inside. That's the small canteen inside the cafeteria." He Yuzhu wanted to watch the fun, so he naturally wouldn't deliberately mess with Xu Damao. He quickly told him the location of the small canteen.

Upon hearing where he was going, Xu Damao snorted and walked towards the small canteen with his head held high.

Xu Damao had only walked a few steps when he heard the clinking of wine glasses coming from a large private room.

He smoothed his hair back, straightened his clothes, and then looked at himself through a glass panel.

Very beautiful, very neat. Xu Damao nodded, approving of his current appearance. He then opened the door to the private room, went in, and immediately began to bow and scrape.

"Distinguished leaders, this is Xu Damao. The cafeteria manager sent me here."

Inside, everyone was drinking and making merry, and no one paid any attention to Xu Damao's arrival. Only Li Huaide, the canteen manager, kept his eyes on the direction of the entrance.

When Li Huaide saw Xu Damao enter, his eyes immediately lit up.

"You must be Xu Damao? I've heard your section chief mention you before. Come, come, sit next to me." Li Huaide directly welcomed him to his side and personally brought a new set of bowls and chopsticks to place in front of him.

Xu Damao was somewhat flattered, looking at the man who looked like a high-ranking leader.

"Boss, you don't need to do that, let me do it myself." He quickly got up to take over.

But Li Huaide stopped him, laughing, "Don't be shy, come on, have a couple of bites. This is Soviet cuisine made by Chef He, the best cook in our logistics department. It's delicious."

Upon hearing Li Huaide's words, Xu Damao knew that these dishes were made by He Yuzhu. He subconsciously looked at the table, which was almost entirely filled with meat dishes. One dish, braised pork with potatoes, caught his attention the most, but the meat was all lean, which he didn't find appetizing. He felt that only fatty meat was truly delicious.

"Boss, I know Master He you mentioned. He's a resident in our compound and we've been playmates since we were kids. We know each other very well." Upon hearing this, Xu Damao realized that the boss cared a lot about He Yuzhu's skills, so he quickly used He Yuzhu to try and build a closer relationship with him.

Li Huaide was a little anxious. He had been accompanying the canteen manager for several rounds of meals since the manager left, and now his stomach was very bloated.

Now this long-faced youth was dawdling around again, so he couldn't help but urge him, "Comrade, don't be shy, just eat."

Although he was anxious, Li Huaide couldn't say, "Hurry up and eat a couple of bites," and then take a wine glass and toast those people.

Seeing that the leader looked a little anxious, Xu Damao didn't know what else to say. He picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of potato into his bowl.

When Li Huaide saw Xu Damao's effeminate manner, he took a piece of beef from the braised beef with potatoes with his chopsticks and put it into Xu Damao's bowl.

Xu Damao nodded and bowed his head in thanks, then put the meat and potatoes into his mouth together.

In an instant, Xu Damao's eyes widened. He hadn't expected the meat to be so tender and delicious.

Is this the same dry, tasteless lean meat he usually eats? How come it tastes so good?

Seeing that Xu Damao had eaten meat and had something in his stomach, Li Huaide realized that it would be less likely to get him drunk.

"Come on, comrade, let me introduce you. This is our technician, who is in charge of repairing imported machines. Come and toast him."

Li Huaide couldn't resist introducing Xu Damao to drink with these people.

Xu Damao wanted to eat more, to have a few more bites of this delicious food. But the leader immediately filled his wine glass to the brim, and Xu hesitated as he looked at the full glass.

However, he immediately remembered that a few days ago when he had dinner at He Yuzhu's house, he had heard He Yuzhu talk about the key points of toasting leaders with alcohol.

Such tricks as "one big, three small" or "two fives, ten" are used to persuade people to drink.

Xu Damao stood up, picked up his wine glass, and smiled at the technician.

"Hello, you're a guest from afar, you're the most important. So, if you drink one cup, I'll drink three with you," Xu Damao said smugly.

Li Huaide, who was sitting next to him, ready to see how much alcohol he could drink, opened his eyes wide.

Has this guy gotten something wrong? What? Others drink one cup, but he drinks three?

Did the cafeteria manager explain the situation to him?

"Comrade, you haven't even had a drink yet, why are you talking nonsense? Just offer one toast at a time, don't overdo it, drinking is bad for your health." Li Huaide said, his teeth practically grinding to powder.

Xu Damao was somewhat surprised to hear Li Huaide say this. This shouldn't be happening.

He felt that this way of urging someone to drink was very respectful, and that the leader should be happy.

Xu Damao subconsciously looked around the entire private room and suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Those cases of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) in the corner all seem to be empty. Could these be what these people drank?

He then glanced at the leaders who were drinking.

The leaders were drinking with those people one by one, taking turns drinking.

Xu Damao couldn't help but swallow hard. He knew his own alcohol tolerance; he certainly didn't have that kind of capacity.

If what he said is true—that he drinks three cups while others drink one—then he'll probably have to walk out of here today.

He glanced at Li Huaide somewhat awkwardly, then turned to the technician and spoke.

"The leader is right. I can't make decisions on my own. Here, let me toast you."

When the technician heard that the newcomer wanted to have a drinking contest with him, with him drinking one cup and the newcomer drinking three, he thought that a master had arrived and wanted to have a good drinking match.

But before he could even get excited, it turned back into a one-person-one-cup situation, which was really boring.