The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

When the new bride spoke, Sha Zhu stopped.

It seems that Sha Zhu's henpecked status is now confirmed.

Miya said loudly, "Everyone, listen to me. Although I haven't been in our institute for long, I know quite a lot."

My son, Zhuzi, is only 25 years old this year. Although it's a family heirloom, he's been learning to cook since he was a child.

But he's still young, especially in the last two years, his skills haven't improved much due to a lack of ingredients.

Two years ago, his skills were even less than average, and no one dared to let him waste good materials.

After all, grain and meat weren't easy to obtain a few years ago, right?

There's an old saying that goes, "A young man with no beard is unreliable."

My son knows his cooking skills aren't up to par, so he doesn't dare to show off to everyone. What if he wastes ingredients?

At that time, everyone felt that he was too young and needed to learn more.

So in the past few years, when something happened in our courtyard, we didn't dare to display the pillars casually.

As everyone knows, he hasn't had enough ingredients to practice with, so his cooking skills are just average. This is a big deal for Brother Da Mao. If he wastes the ingredients, it would ruin his plans.

Also, the leader of the steel rolling mill told my son Zhuzi in advance that he should come to his house to cook a meal this weekend.

Brother Zhu had already agreed, so Uncle Xu arrived later.

If Brother Zhu really didn't agree to the factory leaders, and Brother Da Mao trusted my Zhu, then he would have done it for Brother Da Mao.

But he promised someone and then didn't go. Tell me, how is Brother Zhu supposed to survive in this line of work? How is he supposed to work in the factory?

Miya's words were logical and well-reasoned. She first belittled Shazhu and then spoke of his integrity. As a result, everyone's opinions turned in favor of Shazhu.

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao knew that this was definitely not going to work. Miya wanted to redeem Shazhu's reputation, so she rolled her eyes and said, "Sister-in-law He, you're making it sound so nice. How come you can do it at the leader's house, but you can't do it here?"

Perhaps he's a snob who's trying to curry favor with the boss?

Sha Zhu was about to get angry again when he heard this, so Mi Ya tugged at Sha Zhu again and said, "Brother Da Mao, don't be anxious, let me explain again."

Zhu Zi had promised the factory leaders that even if he wasn't a leader but just an ordinary worker, he would still follow the principle of first come, first served and prioritize integrity.

The leaders of the second factory held a family banquet at their home; they would simply cook a few of their best dishes at their house.

Your family is hosting a wedding banquet, with several tables for guests, friends, and your boss from work.

That's different. What if your guests come and aren't satisfied with the food? Wouldn't that make you lose face?

Wouldn't that make things look bad for my brother and sister-in-law's family?

Don't you think so?

Yang Dalin stood behind the crowd, surprised that Mi Ya was quite eloquent.

This left Xu Damao speechless, saving Sha Zhu the trouble of taking action.

Everyone agreed that what Sha Zhu's new wife said made a lot of sense.

Yang Dalin and Xu Damao have both tasted Sha Zhu's cooking. It's not that he's bad; Sha Zhu's talent is definitely in cooking.

However, most people in the courtyard had never eaten this before, and they couldn't afford to ask Sha Zhu to cook for them.

Even if you don't pay Sha Zhu to cook for you, you should at least give him some food and let him take away a couple of boxes of food.

The neighbors in the courtyard would never be able to bear it.

Seeing that Mi Ya had rendered Xu Damao speechless, Yi Zhonghai gave Liu Haizhong a look and shouted loudly, "Alright, it's nothing. Damao is getting married this weekend. All of us neighbors should go over and celebrate. Those who should give a gift should do so."

Everyone just got off work and hasn't gone home for dinner yet. Go home and eat, everyone. That's all, that's all.

Liu Haizhong also took the opportunity to pull Xu Damao towards the backyard.

The farce ended quickly, and everyone went home, discussing what to do.

Just as Yang Dalin was about to go home for dinner with Ma San and turned to go back, Xu Damao, for some reason, had such good eyesight that he spotted Yang Dalin.

Xu Damao shouted, "Wait, Dalinzi, wait! You've eaten Shazhu's cooking before, and it wasn't just average, was it?"

Brother, can you prove to me that Sha Zhu's cooking is alright?

Is he making excuses to avoid cooking for me?

Yang Dalin really wanted to kill Xu Damao right now.

Xu Damao has actually eaten Sha Zhu's cooking before. If Sha Zhu's cooking skills were really not good, would Xu Damao have thought of having Sha Zhu cook for him?

Xu Damao was actually thinking of setting up a few tables himself, while Sha Zhu didn't, thus outshining him.

The second time, if she gets married and has Sha Zhu cook and serve her in the kitchen, she will feel superior to others.

After finishing the third meal, they would give Sha Zhu some food, but he would also have to give gifts and presents. They would not give him any money or food, but would instead take advantage of Sha Zhu.

This saves a lot of money compared to hiring another chef.

Otherwise, why would he pretend to be a drunkard for no reason?

Why not just find someone else?

Yang Dalin didn't know anything else, but he knew that Xu Damao was up to no good again.

However, we can't be too harsh on them directly. One of them is unwilling to do it, while the other is shamelessly trying to get Sha Zhu to help for free.

Yang Dalin couldn't complicate things further in front of everyone.

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

He had no choice but to turn around and say, "I have indeed eaten Brother Zhu's food, and it is indeed very good."

Many people in the courtyard have also eaten Brother Zhu's seafood porridge. Isn't it tastier than what they make at home?

Everyone who had drunk Sha Zhu's porridge nodded in agreement.

Yang Dalin continued, "Brother Damao, don't worry, let me tell you all about it."

Zhu Zi Ge is a good cook, partly because he's generous with ingredients and oil, and partly because he has a lot of experience cooking meat and vegetables.

Take Aunt Yi for example, she has been cooking for most of her life.

Why is it that my cooking isn't as good as Brother Zhu's?

That's because they've eaten, seen, and practiced meat since they were young. The amount of meat they cooked in a day when they were learning the craft is probably equivalent to the amount of meat an average family eats in a year.

If you make it so often, how could it not taste good?

Aunt Yi's family is well-off, but they can't cook meat every day, or even just a few times a month. They also don't have any suitable ingredients. How can Aunt Yi's cooking be better than Brother Zhu's?

That's why Brother Zhu's cooking is so delicious.

If Aunt Yi could cook meat every day and had the right ingredients, she would probably be a very good cook.

Secondly, Brother Zhu has already promised someone, so why don't we just spend money to hire someone with excellent cooking skills?

Brother Da Mao, your family isn't bad off, why not find someone with better skills than Brother Zhu Zi and get things done happily?

Do you all agree with what I said?

Yang Dalin has some influence in his courtyard, and those who have a good relationship with him all fit the description of Yang Dalin.

Xu Damao knew it was unrealistic to expect Yang Dalin to side with him directly just to offend Sha Zhu.

Yang Dalin's words clearly meant he didn't want to offend either side, and there was no point in continuing to make trouble.

It could even ruin your reputation in the neighborhood.

As Liu Haizhong pulled her along, she staggered and said, "Fine, I'll spend a lot of money to hire someone with better skills. I don't believe I can't eat hairless pigs without him."

After Xu Damao left, the onlookers went home for dinner.