Courtyard House: Wudang Disciple Sweeps Through the Compound

He first cooked a pot of thick and creamy cornmeal porridge, and then, following the recipe in an old cookbook in the Xuanwu Secret Realm Miscellaneous School District, he carefully prepared a squirrel-shaped mandarin fish dish.

Although the preparation process for this squirrel-shaped mandarin fish was quite complicated and took him a lot of time and effort, the final product was quite successful. The fish meat was golden and bright, and an enticing aroma wafted continuously from the pot.

Chen Wenzi and her younger sister, the two little ones, clung to the kitchen door the whole time, their big eyes fixed on the sounds coming from inside. The rich aroma wafting from the pot made their mouths water, and they kept pursing their lips and swallowing their saliva.

In addition to the main dish, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, Chen Wenqi also stir-fried a plate of brightly colored, sweet and sour scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stewed a bowl of steaming hot and fragrant cabbage and tofu soup.

In an era of extreme scarcity, such a sumptuous meal was considered a rare delicacy.

Just as all the dishes were prepared and placed on the table, there was a soft knock on the door.

By the unique rhythm and volume of the knocking, Chen Wenqi immediately recognized that it was his mother coming home from get off work.

Chen Wenzi reacted the fastest, immediately jumping up and down from her chair to run over and open the door to greet her mother.

"Mom, you're back just in time! Big brother has already cooked dinner, it smells delicious, we can eat right away!"

Chen Wenzi opened the door and immediately saw her mother. She raised her little face and said with a smile, her tone full of undisguised joy and pride.

"Mom, I have some great news to tell you! My brother went fishing by the river today and caught so many fish! We'll be able to eat delicious fish tonight!"

The little sister quickly came over, tilting her chubby little face up, her tone filled with undisguised pride. As she spoke in a crisp voice, she ran to her mother's arms with her short legs.

Seeing this, Zhou Shuqin, the mother, quickly bent down and hugged the little girl who had rushed towards her tightly. A gentle and doting smile spread across her face as she softly stroked the little girl's soft hair and asked in a soft voice:

"Did my little Sisi behave well at home today? Or did she misbehave?"

"Mommy, I was so good!" The little girl looked up at her exquisitely beautiful face and reported loudly and earnestly, "Not only did I behave well today, but I also practiced martial arts with my brother!"

"And my brother even bought me candied hawthorns this afternoon. I specially saved the three sweetest ones to give to Mom when I get back!"

"Our Sisi is truly the most sensible and filial child!"

Zhou Shuqin looked at the little girl in her arms with doting eyes, gently pinched her chubby little face with her fingers, and said with a smile, "But Mommy doesn't like candied hawthorns, so Sisi can save them for herself to eat slowly."

While the mother and her children were chatting and laughing together, Chen Wenqi had already nimbly carried the prepared dishes to the dining table in the main room, arranging them neatly and without any mess.

Upon seeing this, Chen Wenzi immediately turned around and ran away, closing the door tightly, fearing that the envious and opportunistic neighbors in the yard would smell the aroma of the food and suddenly barge in to freeload.

It's no surprise that with such a fragrant meal they prepared today, countless eyes are watching them intently from outside the yard, waiting for a chance to come over and get a share.

In fact, when Zhou Shuqin walked through the middle courtyard, she had already heard Jia Zhangshi cursing and swearing inside the house. Her words were full of sarcastic remarks, but she was too lazy to argue with such a unreasonable person. She simply pretended not to hear it and went straight back to the back courtyard without stopping.

Inside the Jia family's house in the middle courtyard, Jia Zhangshi was staring intently at the several dry, hard cornbreads and a plate of bland, tasteless pickled vegetables on the table, her cloudy eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness.

"We eat this garbage every day, it's almost inedible!"

Jia Zhangshi slammed her hand on the table and shouted at Qin Huairu, "My dear grandson Banggeng is at the age of growing up. How can he eat these nutritious things every day?"

"Qin Huairu, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and go to the Chen family's house in the backyard and tell that little bastard to bring me the cooked fish!"

Jia Zhangshi, with a shrill voice, commanded in an unquestionable and domineering tone, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Mom, can you please stop making things worse?"

Qin Huairu lowered her head, her voice filled with exhaustion and unspeakable embarrassment, and retorted softly, "How could the Chen family possibly give us the cooked fish?"

Yesterday, when I went to get fish, Chen Wenqi publicly called me "shameless." I've had enough of that humiliation, and I really don't want to embarrass myself again.

She knew perfectly well that her usual methods of playing the victim and feigning weakness to gain sympathy were completely ineffective against a stubborn teenager like Chen Wenqi.

What's more, even Sha Zhu, who usually takes good care of their family, wasn't feeling well today. He didn't go to work at the factory in the afternoon, and naturally didn't bring his lunchbox back from work as usual. There wasn't even a single extra piece of meat at home.

"Dongxu, look at your wife!" Seeing that Qin Huairu dared to talk back, Madam Jia Zhang immediately vented all her anger on her son. She glared at Jia Dongxu and complained in a shrill voice, "She dares to talk back to me now, aren't you going to do anything about her?"

"Mom, can you please stop making a scene?" Jia Dongxu was already annoyed by a bunch of trivial matters at home, and hearing his mother's words only made him more irritable. He couldn't help but raise his voice and shout, "Don't you think I'm embarrassing enough by constantly causing trouble for the Chen family?"

"I'm making a scene? What am I making a scene about?" Jia Zhangshi was yelled at by her son, which made her even more agitated. Her voice rose eight octaves, becoming shrill and piercing.

"Look at the Chen family, they eat lavishly every day, while we can only eat this stuff that even pigs wouldn't eat. Is there no justice in this world?"

As Jia Zhangshi spoke, she became increasingly agitated, slamming her hand on the table and grumbling incessantly, her resentful words pouring out like a machine gun.

"I want to eat fish! I really want to eat fish!"

The little boy next to him was completely agitated by the adults' heated argument and started throwing a tantrum, kicking the ground with his little feet and crying out in a sharp, piercing voice.

"Shut up!"