Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

"Brother, wasn't there no special meal today? Why are you so late?" He Yushui asked with some concern when she saw He Yuzhu come in.

He Yuzhu waved the large bag of vegetables he was carrying.

"Since we didn't have any special cooking services, we went to Dongdan Market and bought a lot of vegetables to change things up."

Upon hearing this, He Yushui curiously opened the bag that He Yuzhu had brought back and found that it contained a lot of vegetables.

"Why are there so many, brother? I remember when the older women went out to buy vegetables, they didn't seem to be able to find any of these." As she spoke, He Yushui took out a round cabbage from the bag.

Looking at the cabbage, He Yuzhu explained, "I saw this while I was walking around nearby. You might not find these vegetables at the Dongdan Market."

Are these vegetables sold elsewhere?

"Not only that, not only these vegetables, but also a lot of vegetables at the vegetable market have rotted."

Hearing that many of the vegetables had gone bad, He Yushui looked regretful. "It's such a waste that perfectly good vegetables have rotted."

"Alright, stop worrying about it. It's already so late, go back to sleep." He Yuzhu persuaded He Yushui to go back to the second room and go to sleep. He then took out the steamed buns that He Yushui had already heated up and ate them with pickled vegetables.

Tuesday was no different from Monday, but on Wednesday, everyone was excitedly discussing it.

"What's going on, everyone? Why is it so lively today?" As soon as He Yushui came in, she saw the middle-aged women chatting. He Yuzhu also sat there on a small stool, washing vegetables and chatting with them.

"Master He, aren't we going to collect our wages today? Everyone's wondering how to line up," an older woman washing vegetables said to He Yuzhu.

"Oh, I see. Everyone can just collect their wages as before." He Yuzhu didn't seem to care when he heard it was about collecting wages.

After all, their canteen work is busy in the morning and at noon, but they are relatively free in the afternoon. In the afternoon, everyone just needs to line up to go.

On the contrary, the workers need to be assigned jobs and go from one workshop to another.

"Hey, Master He, I heard there's a team leader here, but nobody knows who it is. Everyone's waiting to see who got the extra two yuan when it's payday."

It was only then that He Yuzhu remembered that his supervisor had told him that he would be given a team leader position and would receive an extra two yuan subsidy each month.

However, he understood that this group leader position was only useful within this small canteen; once outside of it, it was irrelevant. Therefore, He Yuzhu didn't care and didn't mention that he had become a group leader.

Unexpectedly, the middle-aged women who were washing vegetables there found out about this.

"It's just a two-dollar subsidy, what's the big deal? Look at your discussion."

Seeing He Yuzhu's nonchalant attitude, the older woman became a little anxious.

She lowered her voice and said to He Yuzhu, "Master He, have you forgotten? You and Director Zhang usually discuss how to make the special dishes for the kitchen. Now that we have a team leader in the cafeteria, won't he be the one to arrange all these tasks? What will you do then?"

He Yuzhu looked at the middle-aged woman who seemed to be doing this for his own good, and he was both amused and exasperated.

"It's alright, it's nothing. I'm the team leader." He Yuzhu said nonchalantly, since whether or not there was a team leader, he would still have to do the writing of the menus for the kitchen staff.

Hearing He Yuzhu say this, the group of middle-aged women looked surprised.

"Master He, you've kept this a secret for a long time. You didn't even say a word. You're already a leader now."

"Hey, what's the big deal? He's just a team leader, hardly a leader."

He Yuzhu didn't care, but the other people in the cafeteria were very concerned.

That morning, many people stopped calling him Master He and started calling him Team Leader He, which made He Yuzhu feel strange.

At noon, the cafeteria manager came over, noticed the situation, and called He Yuzhu outside the cafeteria.

"Zhu Zi, what's going on in the cafeteria today?" Director Zhang asked He Yuzhu curiously.

He took out a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket, pulled one out, and handed it to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu didn't stand on ceremony. He took the cigarette, put it in his mouth, and took out a match from his pocket. He lit the match and lit Director Zhang's cigarette first before lighting his own.

He Yuzhu exhaled a smoke ring and then recounted what had happened that morning.

After listening, Director Zhang laughed and patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder.

"Zhu Zi, you're just too honest. You have no idea about all the ins and outs of this," Director Zhang said with a sigh.

"What's the catch? He's just a team leader."

"Zhu Zi, don't underestimate this small group leader position. Within the Third Canteen, you are the highest-ranking official. You can order others around as you please."

"Director, I wouldn't dare to do anything reckless. There are rules in the third canteen that forbid reckless behavior." He Yuzhu shook his head vigorously.

Seeing He Yuzhu's expression, it was clear that he didn't understand, and Director Zhang wasn't surprised.

"Zhu Zi, listen to me. The third canteen only cooks what's available that day. But what about the special kitchens? In the end, it's still you who decides what to cook and which students to keep. Tell me, how did you do it before?"

"When I make special meals, I usually take turns serving each person in turn, and each time I can pack a portion of soup and broth to take home."

"Yes, like these soupy dishes, before you could follow the order because you were the head chef preparing the special meals, and everyone listened to you. But now you're the team leader, it's different. You can keep whoever you want; that's your right. To put it bluntly, if you want someone to miss out on these benefits, just say so, and no one can object."

"But Director, what use is this little bit of power?"

"Of course it's useful, extremely useful. Pillar, that's power. Even a little power can crush a person."

After Director Zhang finished speaking, he took a deep drag on his cigarette and looked meaningfully towards the cafeteria entrance. Several middle-aged women washing vegetables were huddled together, whispering amongst themselves, their eyes occasionally glancing in He Yuzhu's direction.

Looking at the group of people, He Yuzhu felt a slight ripple in his heart for the first time. He suddenly remembered the white steamed bun that Aunt Li had handed him that morning; this ordinary bun was even bigger than usual.

At the time, he thought she was just in a good mood, but now he realizes that the steamed bun was probably a gesture of flattery.

In the afternoon, when salaries were paid, the lines were more orderly than usual. Everyone in the cafeteria stood in their places, with He Yuzhu standing at the very back waiting.

When it was Aunt Liu's turn, after receiving the money, she didn't leave immediately. Instead, she stood there counting it and then looked back at the accountant in the window.

"Aunt Liu, what's wrong?" the accountant asked.

"Did I...did I get two cents less?" Her voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for those around her to hear.

"Impossible, the accounts are crystal clear." The accountant shook his head, ignoring Aunt Liu, and continued calculating the accounts.

Only after the last person had received their wages did Aunt Liu approach He Yuzhu and ask, "Team leader, I'd like to ask, will the special meals still be offered?"