Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

Sha Zhu's hand paused in mid-air for a moment.

In the end, he did not take the lunchbox from Qin Huairu's hand.

"Sister Qin, you can keep that lunchbox. Use it to nourish Bang Geng."

Sha Zhu's voice sounded somewhat stiff, lacking its usual attentiveness.

"I...I have some things to do at home, I'll head back now."

After saying that, Sha Zhu walked past Qin Huairu without looking back, went straight back to his room, and locked the door behind him.

Qin Huairu froze on the spot, her smile instantly freezing.

She keenly noticed that Sha Zhu's gaze towards her had changed.

The undisguised fawning was gone, replaced by a sense of defensiveness and distance.

"Has this idiot Zhu taken the wrong medicine today?"

Qin Huairu gripped the lunchbox handle tightly, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.

But she quickly shook her head, suppressing her unease.

She knew better than anyone how easily Sha Zhu could be fooled.

I guess he was just angered by that little bastard Zhang Huaimin. I'll go and complain to him again tomorrow, and I'm sure I can coax him back.

forecourt.

Zhang Huaimin watched Sha Zhu's departing figure and clapped his hands in satisfaction.

Breaking up the first-generation "vampire couple" was just the first step in his plan to renovate the courtyard house.

For someone like Shazhu, who has been heavily brainwashed and is a "simp," drastic measures must be taken to destroy his illusions at their root.

After all that fuss, Zhang Huaimin felt a bit hungry.

He turned and went back into the house, walking to the somewhat worn-out little iron pot.

Although we receive a monthly living allowance from the neighborhood committee, it was still a difficult time in this era of scarcity.

Even if you have money, it's hard to buy anything delicious.

Zhang Huaimin decided to treat himself to a meal that would make him feel better than five and a half years old.

"System, extract 'God-level Beginner Culinary Skill Trait' and 'Spirit Spring Spices'."

Zhang Huaimin issued the instructions in his mind.

[Ding! Divine-level beginner cooking skill trait successfully fused!]

[The extraction of the spiritual spring spices is complete!]

In an instant, countless experiences regarding knife skills, heat control, and seasoning flooded into Zhang Huaimin's mind like a sudden enlightenment.

His originally clumsy little hands now seemed to possess magical power.

Zhang Huaimin skillfully started a fire and poured water.

After the water boiled, he grabbed a handful of noodles and sprinkled them evenly into the pot.

Then, he took out a small amount of "spiritual spring spices" from the system space and gently added it to the soup.

These spiritual spring spices are top-grade seasonings produced by the system.

It can bring out the fresh and delicious flavor of the ingredients to the fullest.

Moreover, it also has the effects of strengthening the body and refreshing the mind.

More importantly, its aroma is incredibly strong!

"Gurgle..."

As the water in the pot boiled again, the noodles bobbed up and down in the bubbling broth.

A bowl of seemingly ordinary plain noodles.

However, under the stimulation of the spiritual spring spices, an amazing chemical reaction occurred.

"boom!"

It was as if an invisible aroma bomb had exploded in the pot.

An extremely rich, mellow, and indescribably overpowering aroma instantly burst through the window of the east wing.

This aroma blends the sweetness of wheat, the richness of broth, and a unique fragrance that strikes right at the soul.

It was like an all-pervasive ghost, spreading wildly outwards from Zhang Huaimin's kitchen.

In just a few seconds.

The aroma wafted through the front yard, the middle yard, and even the backyard and the alley entrance, completely enveloping everything.

At this moment, the entire Hongxing Courtyard seemed to be frozen in place.

Intermediate People's Court.

Sha Zhu was sitting in the house, sulking, holding a hard, cold cornbread in his hand, ready to take a couple of bites to fill his stomach.

Suddenly, that overpowering fragrance wafted into his nostrils through the crack in the door.

"Clatter!"

Sha Zhu dropped the cornbread from his hand onto the ground.

He took a deep breath, his eyes widening instantly.

"My goodness! What is this smell?!"

As a head chef in a state-run restaurant, Sha Zhu has smelled countless delicacies in his life.

But even the most exquisite Buddha Jumps Over the Wall that he had ever tasted when he was an apprentice at Hongbinlou.

It's absolutely nothing compared to even one ten-thousandth of this fragrance!

This aroma is so enticing, it can make your stomach rumble and churn!

Sha Zhu swallowed hard, his whole body clinging to the window crack like a gecko.

I strained my nose to inhale, trying to pinpoint the source of the fragrance.

"This...this tastes like plain noodles?"

"How could plain noodles smell so good? What kind of magical ingredients must they have added?!"

Sha Zhu gasped for breath, his heart pounding with unbearable pain.

Looking at the shriveled, cold cornbread on the ground, he suddenly felt that it was nothing short of pig swill.

He even had an impulse to rush out and search from house to house, even if it meant kowtowing to people, just to get a sip of that fragrant soup.

forecourt.

The Yan family, including Uncle San, were having dinner.

On the table was a dish of dark, pickled vegetable dumplings, and in front of each person was a bowl of cornmeal porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it.

Yan Bugui was biting his chopsticks, plotting how to get some chalk from the students tomorrow.

That alluring fragrance wafted in.

"Snap!"

Yan Bugui lost control and bit off the bamboo chopstick he had been using for three years.

"Old man, what are you doing?" The third woman was startled.

Yan Bugui completely ignored her.

He dropped the broken chopsticks in his hand and stood up abruptly.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of the wonderful fragrance that filled the room.

"It smells so good...it smells amazing!"

A look of utter rapture appeared on Yan Bugui's thin face.

"This flavor...it's definitely meat! And it's top-quality pork belly stewed with old hen!"

"Honey, come quick, come see who's cooking something delicious!"

The Yan family's children, Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang.

At this moment, his mouth was watering, his eyes were green, and he was staring intently out the window.

Looking at the pickled vegetables and thin porridge in their bowls, they suddenly felt nauseous.

"Dad, I don't want to eat pickled vegetables anymore, I want to eat meat..."

The youngest, Yan Jiekuang, burst into tears.

Yan Bugui swallowed hard and glared at his son.

"Why eat meat! Just take a couple of breaths of this aroma, and have some porridge with pickled vegetables—that'll fill you up just as well!"

The entire courtyard was swept up in a frenzy by the overpowering aroma.

Some people even took their bowls out into the yard, hoping to enjoy the aroma while eating.

But soon, everyone discovered a cruel truth.

The source of this fragrance.

It turned out to be the east wing of the front yard, the room of the five-year-old orphan Zhang Huaimin!

The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.

Banggeng was lying face down on the kang (a heated brick bed), covering his mouth where he had lost two front teeth, groaning and complaining of pain.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu were discussing tomorrow's food rations with worried expressions.

When that fragrance wafted into the room.

Banggeng sat up abruptly from the kang (a heated brick bed) as if he had risen from the dead.

"Meat! It tastes like meat!"

A wolf-like green light burst forth from Banggeng's eyes, which were swollen like walnuts.

He sniffed frantically, his stomach rumbling loudly.

"Grandma! Mom! I want to eat meat! I want to eat something delicious!"

Ignoring the pain in his arm, he rolled around wildly on the kang (heated brick bed), crying and screaming.

"I want to eat meat from that bastard next door! Go and get it for me right now!"

Qin Huairu was annoyed by the sticks, but she herself was also tempted by the aroma and kept swallowing her saliva.

"Good boy, that's definitely not meat, it's just... it's just noodles with a little sesame oil."

Qin Huairu offered weak and feeble words of comfort, words she herself didn't believe.

What kind of noodles can smell this good?

Jia Zhangshi gritted her teeth and her triangular eyes darted around twice.

"Huai Ru, just ignore him."

"Didn't you just take one of Sha Zhu's lunchboxes?"

"There's definitely something good in Sha Zhu's lunchbox. Maybe that aroma is coming from his house!"

"Let's go back to Sha Zhu's house and get some more meat broth to mix with his rice!"

As Jia Zhangshi spoke, she jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed).

He pushed open the door and strode aggressively toward Sha Zhu's house.

but.

When Jia Zhangshi arrived at Sha Zhu's door, she pushed the door hard.

But they found that the door was locked from the inside.