Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Don't touch my parents!

Her gaze swept over He Yushui, who was still crying in her swaddling clothes, and she thought to herself: From now on, I'll have to make this girl listen to her brother—her life was snatched back from the jaws of death by her brother.

He Daqing cooked rice porridge and carefully fed it to his youngest daughter, and sure enough, the topic of consultation fees came up.

The mother and daughter worked together to smoothly smooth things over.

After a quick lunch, He Daqing left home amidst He Chenshi's repeated instructions—he needed to find something nourishing to eat, otherwise the baby wouldn't have any milk, which would be a matter of life and death.

Only after He Chenshi fell into a deep sleep did He Yuzhu have time to check the system panel.

Consciousness slowly sank into it.

A semi-transparent interface slowly unfolds before your eyes.

[Host: He Yuzhu]

Age: 10

[Physical Fitness: 10 (Enhancement potion in effect, equivalent to the level of a healthy adult male. Maximum value is 30)]

[Skills: Bajiquan (Max Level), Liuhe Spear (Max Level), Cooking (Beginner)]

System space: 1,000 cubic meters (constant)

[Items: 9 steamed buns, some miscellaneous items]

[Check-in Progress: Successfully checked in once. The next check-in time is tomorrow at midnight.]

[Mission: Save Mother! — Completed]

[Rewards: 5 glass baby bottles, 5 cans of milk powder, 10 jin of eggs, 1 jin of brown sugar, cooking skill (intermediate)]

He Yuzhu read through the information on the panel word by word and was slightly stunned.

Everywhere I look, there are dazzling rewards... but why are they all prepared for the little baby in the swaddling clothes on the bed?

With a hint of resentment in his eyes, he secretly glanced at little He Yushui, muttering to himself: Little girl, if you ever side with outsiders in the future, I'll teach you a lesson.

But right now, he has no use for any of these things.

Where can you buy baby bottles and formula these days? Even if they are sold, they would only be on the shelves of foreign or Japanese trading companies. He Daqing might not even be able to get past those doors, let alone a half-grown child like him.

Only the "Cooking Skills - Intermediate" skill was somewhat useful to him.

What level exactly is this?

Curiosity welled up in his heart, and he tentatively murmured to himself: "Receive."

Suddenly, a muffled "buzz" resounded in my head, as if a heavy lead ingot had been poured into it.

Suddenly, darkness fell before his eyes, and he collapsed stiffly beside He Chenshi, falling into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he was in a kitchen.

He Daqing stood in front of the stove, his finger almost poking the man's nose, and sternly rebuked him: "Slice it into shreds! You call this shreds? Look at it yourself, it's clearly just a wooden stick!"

"Flipping the wok! You need to use a finesse in your wrist! Are your arms just for show?"

"Plate it! I want it arranged like cherry blossoms, not just some random pile!"

If you make even the slightest mistake, you'll get a solid kick in the butt.

He Chenshi's voice drifted in from outside the door: "He Daqing! A few words are enough, but don't you dare lay a hand on me! If you hurt my son, you can forget about ever sleeping on my bed again!"

"This kid is incredibly stupid!" He Daqing said defiantly, but couldn't hide his smugness. "If I don't beat him, how will he learn his lesson!"

"That won't do either!"

"Alright, alright, I'll listen to my wife." He Daqing turned her head and glared at him, her tone still scolding, "What are you daydreaming about! The pot's about to burn!"

The dream felt both long and short.

Knife skills, cooking time, seasoning, plating... countless images, sensations, and tips flooded my mind like a tide, densely filling every gap.

When he slowly woke up, the sky outside the window had already completely darkened.

"Zhu'er, you're awake?" Madam He's gentle voice sounded in his ear. "You must have been exhausted at noon. Are you hungry?"

He Yuzhu rubbed his sleepy eyes—in fact, he hadn't slept well at all; his dreams were full of scenes of learning to cook, so how could he possibly sleep soundly?

Mother, what time is it now?

The steel rolling mill is about to close for the day.

Has Dad not come back yet?

Not yet, and I don't know where he went.

As they were talking, He Daqing's loud voice suddenly came from outside:

Honey! I'm home! Come see what goodies I brought back!

Before he could finish speaking, the door creaked open.

A gust of cold wind suddenly rushed into the room.

Everyone in the room involuntarily shivered.

"He Daqing!" Chen Shuxiang called out hurriedly.

"Close the door right now! My daughter's freezing! I'll give you a piece of my mind once I get out of bed!"

"Waaah—waaah—" Just then, He Yushui burst into tears.

"Hey! Hey!" He Daqing quickly turned around and closed the door.

He placed a burlap sack on the octagonal table like a treasure, and reached inside to take things out.

Two plump, glossy old hens.

A small bag of fine, snow-white flour.

A small bag of golden-yellow millet.

There was also brown sugar, fresh eggs, and a piece of pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat.

Chen Shuxiang looked at the food on the table, her brows gradually furrowing:

"Great Qing, where did all these things come from? Hopefully, they won't cause any trouble."

"Don't worry!" He Daqing grinned, revealing two rows of neat white teeth.

"You can't buy it anywhere else. I made a special trip back to Fengzeyuan and spent ages haggling with the manager before I finally got my hands on it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be back so late."

"That's good." Chen Shuxiang's heart finally settled down.

"I'll stew a whole old hen for you tonight, and make some millet porridge for my daughter to help her recover."

He Daqing turned and shouted into the house, "Zhuzi! Go boil some water!"

"All you do is boss my son around!" Chen Shuxiang glared at him, her tone tinged with reproach.

"Have you forgotten that he saved our lives today?"

"It's alright, Mother." He Yuzhu quickly got off the kang (heated brick bed) and put on her shoes.

"Dad, you'd better hurry up and kill the chicken."

He walked quickly toward the kitchen.

He Daqing chuckled a few times, went into the kitchen to get a cleaver, and then turned and went out the door.

This time, he didn't dare leave the courtyard gate wide open. He only opened it a narrow crack, squeezed through to the side, and closed the door behind him.

Soon, Jia Zhangshi's shrill voice rang out from outside the door:

"Oh, Qing Dynasty, are you killing a chicken? This chicken is quite plump."

"If you want to eat it, tell your old man to buy it himself." He Daqing's voice turned cold.

"This is for Zhu Zi's mother to produce milk; it's not for outsiders to covet."

"The way you're talking is like nobody wants to eat your food!"

"Then go buy it yourself, don't bother me."

"Pah!" Madam Jia spat in a low voice, her words full of resentment.

"He's just a cook, why does he eat such expensive food? Isn't he afraid of overeating?"

She carried the basin of vegetables in her hands, turned around, and went back to her own house.

He Daqing walked in carrying a slaughtered chicken, and Chen Shuxiang asked upon seeing him: