Courtyard House: New Life, New Silly Zhu

Chapter 68

Seeing He Yushui's furrowed brows, Yang Lifang smiled inwardly, walked out of the room, went to the counter, took out a bottle of Beibingyang soda from the counter, and took out a dime from her inner pocket, handing it to her colleague.

"Lifang, did you two make it work?" Yang Lifang's colleague, Sister Liu, asked curiously, taking a dime from Yang Lifang's hand. As for the deposit, that was waived.

Yang Lifang nodded shyly, "Yes, Zhu Zi and I are dating."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I knew it all along, you two were going to have a thing going on," Sister Liu said with a smile, clapping her hands.

Yang Lifang smiled shyly. Even though she had been colleagues with Sister Liu for so long, she still felt a little shy, so she didn't say anything and went into the back with her soda.

He approached He Yushui, handed her the soda, and said, "Here you go, Yushui. Salty soda doesn't taste good. You should drink this one instead."

He Yushui looked at the salty soda in her hand and said, "Thank you, sis. This is fine with me." She then shook the salty soda in her hand.

"Alright, if your sister Yang tells you to drink it, then drink it. Salty soda doesn't taste good, I'll drink it later." He Yuzhu said and took the salty soda.

Seeing this, He Yushui didn't insist. She took the soda bottle and drank it. The sweet taste made her eyes squint.

He Yuzhu and Yang Lifang smiled at each other. After Yang Lifang got off work, the three of them went home together, chatting and laughing all the way.

However happy they were, they had to part ways, since they weren't married yet. After sending Yang Lifang back to her dormitory, He Yushui followed He Yuzhu back to the courtyard house.

Silent all night.

The next morning, He Yuzhu arrived at the steel mill canteen early. He was going to make mung bean soup today. He had asked the other cooks in the canteen yesterday, but none of them were going to cook it, so the task fell to He Yuzhu.

The mung beans weren't soaked beforehand mainly because the weather is too hot now. Actually, soaking them for too long is not good. In summer, two hours is enough to soak mung beans.

So around 10 o'clock, He Yuzhu's big pot of stew was ready. As for the rest, he let the other two big pot stew chefs do it. He himself just added water to the big pot and cooked mung beans.

Soon the mung beans boiled, and He Yuzhu chopped some ginger and threw it in.

As time went on, the mung bean soup began to change color, turning red.

"Master He, this mung bean soup is naturally red, don't worry about it."

It turned out that Old Ma saw He Yuzhu staring at the mung bean soup and thought that He Yuzhu didn't know that mung bean soup in Beijing was red, so he came over to explain it to He Yuzhu.

"I know," He Yuzhu replied without turning his head. Of course he knew that mung beans would change color when they came into contact with alkaline water, and Beijing was an alkaline city, but he knew how to handle it, so it didn't matter.

Once the mung bean soup was almost cooked, He Yuzhu began his operation. The process was very simple, just a basic chemical reaction.

While stirring, vinegar was added, and the originally red mung bean soup slowly turned green. Only after it turned completely green did He Yuzhu stop.

Everyone crowded around, looking at the pot of mung bean soup with curiosity and incredulous expressions.

"Master He, why is this mung bean soup green?" someone asked.

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "That's because I added vinegar to the mung bean soup. Green mung bean soup looks better."

Some people seemed to suddenly understand, while others were indifferent, and so on.

He Yuzhu continued at his own pace, "Alright, stop watching here. Two people, scoop out all the mung beans, and I'll cook another pot."

After finishing speaking, he started scooping out mung beans one by one, and soon he finished. He Yuzhu then cooked the next pot.

It wasn't until after noon that all the mung beans needed to be cooked in the third canteen were finally cooked.

The current emphasis is on equal distribution. Since there are many people eating at the third canteen, we naturally need to cook more food, otherwise it will be troublesome if there isn't enough to eat.

At lunchtime, mung bean soup was served, one bowl for each person. After finishing their meal, the workers would go up and get a bowl of mung bean soup. Some would drink it all in one go, while others would clearly be reluctant to drink it and would put it in their lunchboxes to take back.

In the afternoon, the third canteen distributed the remaining mung bean soup.

In this hot weather, mung bean soup doesn't keep very long. If we wait a little while, it will probably go to waste. It's better to share it with everyone.

However, He Yuzhu didn't continue getting salty soda, since it was meant to help the workers cool off and replenish their salt levels. While it was hot in the canteen, it wasn't as bad as in the workshop, so He Yuzhu didn't need to replenish his salt intake.

He brought mung bean soup, but sugar was a scarce commodity, so the third canteen didn't actually have any. The supplies for the private kitchens were taken separately from the small storeroom.

The mung bean soup now contains saccharin, that's right. Although saccharin and MSG are both chemical products, saccharin was developed much earlier.

Back home, He Yuzhu divided the food into three portions and then took the lunchboxes to the supply and marketing cooperative.

He Yuzhu did this with his own plans in mind; he wanted to solidify his relationship with Yang Lifang in practice.

After all, Yang Lifang is so beautiful, he was worried that someone might try to steal her away while she was at work.

However, it was obvious that He Yuzhu was overthinking things. Now everyone at the supply and marketing cooperative knew about it, and they let him in as soon as he arrived.

Yang Lifang and Sister Liu were at work as usual today. When Sister Liu saw He Yuzhu, she smiled and said, "Zhuzi, you've come to see Lifang again? Come in, come in."

"Hello, Sister Liu," He Yuzhu greeted her with a smile and walked in without any formality.

As He Yuzhu passed by Sister Liu, he handed her a box of mung bean soup.

"Sister Liu, this is the mung bean soup I cooked. Try it and see if you like it."

Sister Liu took it and said with a smile, "Thank you, Zhuzi. Then I won't be polite."

Upon opening the box, I found a thick layer of mung beans at the bottom of the mung bean soup. With a little water added, the whole family could probably drink it.

"Zhu Zi, you're so kind, thank you. You go in now, Li Fang, you come in too. I can manage things here by myself," Sister Liu said, urging both of them to go inside.

He Yuzhu and Yang Lifang didn't stand on ceremony and went inside.

Upon entering the house, he handed the remaining two lunchboxes to Yang Lifang and He Yushui.

"You guys should drink some too. It's so hot outside, some mung bean soup will help you cool down."

"Thank you, Brother Zhu." Yang Lifang didn't stand on ceremony. She accepted the food with a sweet smile, sat down, took out her own lunchbox, poured some food into it, and then handed the lunchbox to He Yuzhu so that he could drink it together.

As for He Yushui, she looked conflicted after receiving the lunchbox, glancing at the mung bean soup in her hand and then at her brother.

He Yuzhu looked at He Yushui with some confusion and said, "What's wrong? Yushui, why aren't you eating?"

"Brother, the mung bean soup you brought back today, is it salty?" He Yushui asked cautiously.

Yang Lifang couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Brother Zhu, yesterday you gave this girl a bottle of salty soda, and she's too scared to drink it anymore," Yang Lifang said with a smile.

"Haha, it's alright, Yushui, this mung bean soup is sweet, so you can drink it without worry," He Yuzhu said with a smile.

He Yuzhu never expected that He Yushui, who is usually not picky about food, would become picky about salty soda.

That makes sense; everyone has things they don't like, so it's normal for He Yushui not to like salty soda.

He Yushui licked her lips, picked up the lunchbox, took a small sip, and found it sweet. She immediately started drinking it in large gulps. However, it was clear that there was a bit too much mung bean soup in the lunchbox, so she and Yang Lifang eventually shared the rest.

"By the way, Lifang, are you free this Saturday? The steel mill is showing a movie tonight," He Yuzhu asked Yang Lifang.

Yang Lifang's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, of course I have time. I love watching movies."

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He Yushui excitedly added, "I also like watching movies."

"Okay, it's settled then. He Yushui will come to find you tonight, and then we'll go together."