Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Ta-da!

Footsteps approached, and He Yushui hurriedly ran home.

Upon seeing the gate of the compound, He Yushui slowed her pace, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down.

But with that one breath, what entered her stomach was a rich aroma of meat, making He Yushui unable to help but swallow her saliva.

She shook her head subconsciously. What's wrong with me? I was in a hurry to go home and see if my brother had gotten the job today. Why am I thinking about all this nonsense?

However, He Yushui couldn't help but touch her belly. Indeed, her belly hadn't had any oil or fat for a long time. No wonder the aroma made her mouth water.

As He Yushui stepped through the courtyard gate, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Who on earth is spending so much money today?"

It's important to know that prices in this era were not as cheap as they are in later times.

Although many people joke about how cheap prices are these days, they are all joking about it.

Based on today's price of He Yuzhu's pork, it's about 64 cents per pound.

Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only 64 cents a pound; it's not cheap at all. Based on today's eighth-level grading system, with a monthly salary of 37.5 yuan, He Yuzhu's daily wage is only enough for two pounds of meat.

So even though He Yuzhu only bought one pound of meat to cook, today's meal can be described as quite luxurious.

He Yushui stepped into the front yard, where the aroma grew even stronger. Now He Yushui was curious; after all, whose house made something that smelled so good?

You should know that at this point, all everyone else is doing is adding some salt. Only their family is willing to forgo seasonings, since they are professional chefs.

He Yushui suddenly remembered something, and immediately ran through the hanging flower gate towards the central courtyard.

It must be his older brother, since no one else has such good cooking skills.

Just then, He Yushui saw Banggeng lying by the door, looking towards their house.

He Yushui continued running home, but her eyes remained fixed on Bang Geng.

He Yuzhu, who was sitting by the door, suddenly felt as if a gust of wind was blowing in his face. Looking up, he saw that He Yushui had run up to him, and He Yuzhu subconsciously reached out and took the small shoulder bag that He Yushui was carrying.

"Rain, don't rush. Look at you, you're all sweaty from running."

He Yushui tilted her head, allowing her brother to easily take her schoolbag off her shoulder. "Brother, did you find a job?"

"Of course! Didn't I tell you this morning? It's a piece of cake. I'm a cook in the steel mill's kitchen now. My monthly salary is 37.5 yuan. How about that? Not bad, right?" He Yuzhu replied to his younger sister with some pride.

I also took that light little crossbody bag home with me. I have to say, elementary school students at this time were quite "lucky" as they didn't have that many books.

He Yushui, however, had no time to pay attention to what her brother was saying. The two meat dishes on the table made her drool.

He Yuzhu looked at He Yushui and didn't laugh at her. After all, she was only 10 years old this year, or 11 if you count her age in the traditional Chinese way of counting age.

It's understandable that people would feel a bit craving when they smell meat after not having eaten it for so long.

"Alright, stop looking. Yushui, I splurgeed today and bought a pound of meat. Let's have a good meal." He Yuzhu said, gesturing for his younger sister to sit on a stool. He went to the kitchen and brought over the steamed buns that had been cooling.

He Yushui beamed with joy upon hearing her brother's words. However, she still stood up, ran outside to the yard, washed her hands at the tap, ran back home, and closed the door behind her.

He Yuzhu asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Rain, why are you closing the door on such a sunny day?"

"Brother, you don't know, when I came back just now, I saw that Jia family kid was lying by the door staring at our house."

Upon hearing his younger sister's words, He Yuzhu subconsciously glanced at the Jia family. However, he didn't pay much attention, saying, "It's alright, kids will be kids, they all have sweet tooths."

He Yushui disagreed with He Yuzhu's words: "Brother, how can that be the same? We had such a hard life back then, but we didn't live like them. Besides, their family is much wealthier than ours."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to Yushui. Alright, the door's closed, let's eat our own food, out of sight, out of mind. Anyway, we're not close, let's ignore him." He Yuzhu took a steamed bun from the basket and handed it to He Yushui.

He knew He Yushui was right, but he still subconsciously carried over some habits from his previous life.

After all, in the previous life, resources were so abundant that if a child in a family was craving something good, most people would give the child some treats.

After taking the steamed bun, He Yushui picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and put it in her brother's bowl. Then she started eating meat herself.

Seeing his younger sister's action, He Yuzhu was somewhat satisfied. After all, many fanfictions and online discussions had mentioned that He Yushui was an ungrateful wretch.

As a modern person, he doesn't think it's a big deal to raise a younger sister, but if she really is an ungrateful wretch, he won't be happy raising her.

Seeing her actions today, He Yuzhu was somewhat satisfied; at least for now, his younger sister didn't seem to be that kind of person.

Perhaps because she hadn't eaten meat in a long time, He Yushui's movements were a little rough. After putting a mouthful of vegetables in her mouth, she stuffed the steamed bun in her left hand into her mouth, swallowed it in two or three bites, and then started doing the same thing again.

He Yuzhu ate only one steamed bun, while He Yushui almost finished both of them.

But she was still just a child, and she couldn't eat the last bit. However, she looked at the little bit of steamed bun left in her hand, sipped some vegetable soup, and then stuffed it into her mouth.

This caused He Yushui to choke, and He Yuzhu found it somewhat amusing, reaching out to pat his younger sister on the back.

"Alright, eat slowly. You're eating so fast, look, you've choked!" After saying that, He Yuzhu picked up the cold water that was placed aside, poured a bowl of it, and handed it to his sister.

He Yushui took the bowl, took a sip, and finally swallowed the food. She let out a long sigh and said, "Thank you, brother. I was just craving something sweet; our family hasn't had meat in ages."

"Don't worry, Rainwater, things will get better and better for our family from now on. Alright, go out for a walk now, be careful not to overeat. There's still quite a bit left, we can have another meal tomorrow morning."

Rubbing her stomach, He Yushui nodded, stood up, picked up her schoolbag from the stool, and went to her side room.