Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

As soon as the knocking sounded, footsteps could be heard inside the house.

As soon as the door opened, Bai Danyu stood in the doorway, wearing a light-colored, form-fitting home dress that accentuated her slender waist and soft curves. Her hair was slightly disheveled, as if she had just finished tidying up the house.

"Director He, you've arrived quite early." She smiled and stepped aside to make way. "My second brother and sister-in-law will be here soon."

By the way, where's your sister?

"Her," He Yuzhu waved his hand, "she made two friends when she first started junior high school, and they asked her to go out with them. I couldn't persuade her, so I just let her go."

"Please come in, Director He."

As soon as he stepped into the house, a little girl of three or four years old came running out from the inner room, hugged his leg, and looked up at him with her little face, saying in a childish voice, "Uncle... I'm hungry..."

He Yuzhu immediately laughed and squatted down to pat her head.

This little girl is named Bai Ying. She doesn't remember much, but she has a very deep impression of him—not only does he make delicious food, but he also carried her to the hospital and saved her from a high fever and convulsions last time.

When Bai Danyu saw her daughter clinging to someone again, she immediately lost her temper: "Bai Ying! Don't bother your uncle!"

"It's alright," He Yuzhu said with a smile, opening the lunchbox he had brought. "It's normal for kids to be a little greedy."

I made some pudding for the kids as a snack; you can let them have it as they see fit.

After saying that, he looked up and asked, "Where's the kitchen? I'll go prepare first."

"It's over there," Bai Danyu pointed to the door next to her.

He Yuzhu nodded, picked up the ingredients, and headed to the kitchen.

Upon entering, I secretly admired the complete set of equipment: the spice jars and bottles were neatly arranged, and the vegetables were all washed and chopped, though in smaller quantities.

However, there are only a few people, which is just enough.

What caught his eye the most was that they were using gas cylinders!

In this city of Beijing, perhaps one in 100,000 households can afford gas.

Most people were still squatting in front of the stove burning coal briquettes, their eyes watering from the choking smoke.

Here, the blue flame burns steadily and cleanly, doubling cooking efficiency.

He deftly put the seasonings away, glanced at the ingredients, and quickly came up with a menu in his mind: five dishes and a soup, a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, delicious and flavorful.

He poked his head out and asked, "Section Chief Bai, is five dishes and a soup enough?"

Before he could finish speaking, what he saw almost made him burst out laughing—

Bai Danyu was secretly taking a spoon, scooping up a big mouthful of pudding and putting it in her mouth, with a little bit of milky white still stuck to the corner of her mouth.

The little girl, Bai Ying, was so eager that she kept tugging at her mother's clothes, standing on tiptoe and reaching out, "Mom! I want some too! I want some too!"

Caught red-handed fighting over food, Bai Danyu's ears instantly turned bright red. Like a thief, she quickly returned the spoon, embarrassed, and said, "I'll just have one bite... just one bite... that's enough, I can't finish any more."

He Yuzhu grinned, didn't expose him, and turned back to the kitchen to continue working.

For the next hour or so, he barely left the kitchen.

The spatula flew across the wok, oil sizzled, and the aroma of the sauce gradually spread with the steam, filling the entire house with an irresistible fragrance of food.

The little girl, Bai Ying, sneaked to the kitchen door several times, peering longingly through the doorframe: "Uncle... can I have a bite?"

Each time, Bai Danyu would grab him by the back of his collar and drag him away on the spot: "Wait until dinner is served! If you cause trouble again, there won't be any good food tonight!"

A little while later, footsteps came from the stairwell; Bai Danyu's second brother and sister-in-law had arrived.

The main reason for inviting them to dinner this time was to express my gratitude for their help in purchasing medicinal herbs.

Although Bai Danyu paid for the ingredients, He Yuzhu still brought a bottle of Moutai as a gift, which was heavy on the table and showed his refined taste.

He actually had better wine hidden away, but since he didn't know the other person's temperament, offering it to him rashly would seem abrupt.

This bottle of Moutai is just right.

Dishes were served one by one, their colors enticing and their aromas irresistible.

The braised pork belly was glossy and thick, the steamed fish was tender and steaming hot, the cucumber salad was crisp and juicy, and the soup was piping hot and golden, with a few goji berries and chopped green onions floating on top.

Everyone took their seats, raised their glasses in a toast, and the warmth of everyday life was captured in a single meal.

At other dinner tables, people would definitely chat and exchange pleasantries while eating, making it lively and festive.

But when faced with the dishes He Yuzhu made? They couldn't bear to say a word—their mouths had to be reserved for eating.

The moment the chopsticks touched the pot, the aroma exploded.

One bite and the flavor hits you right in the head; you just can't stop eating it.

The second bite came right away, the third bite... until I was so full I couldn't move anymore, I finally had time to open my mouth and catch my breath.

At this moment, He Yuzhu smiled and thanked him, saying, "We were able to gather all the medicinal herbs this time thanks to Director Bai's help; otherwise, it would have been really difficult."

The two chatted back and forth, getting more and more animated as they spoke.

Before he knew it, he had become acquainted with Bai Danyu's second brother, Bai Weizhong.

It wasn't that they were forcing a relationship, but He Yuzhu was really capable—he was a level 18 cadre at a young age, and he was also an amazing cook. Who wouldn't look up to him?

As they were talking, Bai Weizhong suddenly became interested and asked, squinting his eyes, "Director He, do you know medicine?"

He Yuzhu waved his hand and smiled modestly: "Hey, I only know a little bit. I've read a lot of books for fun and just figured things out on my own."

"Just wild speculation?" Bai Weizhong couldn't help but laugh. "The way you used to treat that little girl last time, my old man studied it for ages and still couldn't figure it out. You're saying it's some kind of subtle force from martial arts?"

"More or less." He Yuzhu nodded. "It relies more on internal martial arts techniques. As for the medicinal herbs, they're mainly for making medicinal wine, which will be useful for future training."

The conversation veered off course and eventually turned to marriage.

Upon hearing this, Bai Danyu's second sister-in-law immediately perked up, even more enthusiastic than her own brother: "I know quite a few promising young men at the hospital, doctors and nurses alike, all with good qualifications! Want me to play matchmaker for you?"

He Yuzhu chuckled, neither directly refusing nor nodding, only saying, "Let's talk about it when I reach the legal age."

"Not now. My status is what it is; I can't give anyone leverage against me."

He spoke casually, but his meaning was clear—ordinary people who cohabitate before getting married might get a few scoldings at worst; but if he did that, a single whistleblower letter would be enough to get him fired.

They chatted about various miscellaneous matters, but mainly He Yuzhu and Bai Weizhong talked about the ins and outs of the sanitation system in the outer room, such as the allocation and transportation channels of medicinal materials, which they listened to with great interest.

Speaking of the snow lotus brought from Tibet, which was snatched up as soon as it arrived, a hint of regret flashed in He Yuzhu's eyes.

Inside the house, Bai Danyu and her second sister-in-law were whispering something in the inner room, acting very mysteriously.

After He Yuzhu took his leave, Bai Danyu surprisingly did not show up to see him off.

As soon as the person left, Bai Weizhong returned to his room with a dark expression. He frowned and asked, "What happened just now? They didn't even see me off? That was so rude."

"Never mind that!" His wife grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door without a word. "We'll talk about it when we get back!"

"You want to set up my sister and Director He?" Bai Weizhong exploded upon hearing this, lowering his voice and shouting, "Are you crazy? Not only is there a six-year age gap, but my sister also has a child! He Yuzhu is not even nineteen yet!"

"So what?" the second sister-in-law retorted immediately, her eyes glaring. "What's wrong with our sister? A young section chief, decent-looking, and with a good personality! How many cadres this young have you seen?"

Bai Weizhong shook his head, his tone complicated: "He Yuzhu is different... He is a truly capable person."

Even if he doesn't cook, how can someone who comes up with a greenhouse plan as soon as he joins the factory be considered ordinary?

He knew very well that Bai Danyu's position as section chief was largely due to the chaos of the period of public-private partnership; he had gotten it by chance.

He Yuzhu is someone who has worked hard and earned his position through solid foundations and wide connections; his future is limitless.

"Don't get involved in this," he sighed. "Neither of them is necessarily happy about it. If you interfere, you'll end up pleasing no one."

Before he could finish speaking, "slap!" He received a slap across the face.

"Who are you calling Pigsy?!" Second Sister-in-law stomped her feet angrily. "I'm doing this for my little sister's sake! Do you think she wants to stay single forever? If she really didn't want to, she wouldn't have quit her job at the infirmary to find another way! She's very stubborn; she may not say it, but she's already made up her mind!"

……

On the other side, in the cafeteria.

Sharif picked up the plate, smelled it, and his brows furrowed instantly. He called out loudly to He Yuzhu, who was about to leave, "Hey! Wait! He, why is the food getting worse every day? This won't do! How can we work if we don't eat well? It will affect our mood!"

This was Sharif's twelfth day at the steel rolling mill.

From the third day after he met He Yuzhu, his stomach was completely won over.

He has a natural affinity for people who are good at cooking, and He Yuzhu's cooking skills are simply the most amazing he has ever tasted since coming to China.

As long as the ingredients are available, whatever flavor he requests, borscht, Russian stew, rye pie... he can replicate them all perfectly, or even better.

He wandered around the cafeteria almost every day, and sometimes he would only dare to believe that it wasn't an illusion when he saw He Yuzhu flipping the wok with his own eyes—otherwise he would really think that he had secretly taken some kind of magic drug.

What's even more amazing is that He Yuzhu can speak fluent and standard Russian.

The two of them don't need a translator at all when they chat; they can understand each other with just a glance, their tacit understanding is like that of old comrades-in-arms.

In just a few days, their relationship has become so close that they can even exchange clothes.

So today's bland and tasteless meal felt like a betrayal to him.

He stared at He Yuzhu's retreating figure, his face contorted with hurt, and asked, "The food used to taste so good, what happened to it now?"

At lunchtime in the canteen, sunlight slanted onto the dining table, where He Yuzhu had brought out a full array of dishes, ten steaming plates emitting an enticing aroma.

The seven vegetarian dishes were brightly colored, with emerald green peppers, tender yellow green beans, and glossy eggplants, looking so exquisite that they didn't seem like the kind of standard you'd expect from a construction site dorm room; but there were only three meat dishes, all alone in the middle, making them look particularly meager.

"Sherif," He Yuzhu said with a smile, wiping his hands, "was it because the food I made today wasn't to your liking?"

Sharif was picking up a piece of stir-fried vegetables with his chopsticks when he heard this, he paused and quickly shook his head: "No, no, no! It tastes amazing! Every dish is a work of art!" He swallowed the food in his mouth, but his eyes involuntarily drifted to the plates of meat dishes that everyone was already staring at with burning desire. "But... just eating vegetables won't give me the strength to keep up."