All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

As the Spring Festival approaches, He Yuzhu has become increasingly busy. As the canteen manager, he has not only taken on more factory-related matters, but also a lot of personal ones.

For example, with the Spring Festival approaching, there are more weddings and funerals being held. Although in this day and age, extravagant celebrations are not the norm, where is this place?

This is Yanjing, the capital city under the emperor's nose. There are so many capable people here. Every family has a few powerful relatives. So, they need to hire a good chef to make a good impression.

He Yuzhu's culinary skills were recognized by bigwigs, so naturally, he received many invitations to the banquet.

In the past, He Yuzhu would only take on this kind of work with people he was close to, because he was stubborn.

However, He Yuzhu, now with a different soul, generally doesn't refuse this kind of work. He and Ma Hua, along with a few others, took advantage of the time around the Spring Festival to accept seven or eight banquets of various sizes in Beijing.

These days, being particularly wealthy isn't necessarily a good thing, especially when it comes to social gatherings. In this era, earning a favor is far more valuable than making a pittance.

Therefore, He Yuzhu usually doesn't charge for these banquets, but he always brings home plenty of leftovers, and his family has been eating lots of meat and fish lately.

In previous years, He Yuzhu would send a lot of New Year's goods to Qin Huairu's family, but this year was different. He mostly gave the food he brought back to the old man's family or the deaf old lady, and also gave some to other neighbors.

Qin Huairu's family has only a few ungrateful children, who are really pitiful to look at, especially those two little ones. Occasionally, they open their innocent little eyes and call him "Silly Uncle." He Yuzhu couldn't bear it and sent them some snacks. As for bringing bags and bags of cornmeal to Qin Huairu's family like in previous years, that was out of the question.

Perhaps it was this estrangement from Qin Huairu that made the other neighbors in the courtyard notice He Yuzhu's change, and they began to openly and secretly try to introduce potential partners to him again.

However, He Yuzhu has been too busy lately to date, so he'll wait until after the New Year.

During this time, He Yushui, the younger sister, also got married. Since her only remaining family member was her older brother He Yuzhu, He Yuzhu asked his uncle and his wife to be her family members and accompany him to Yushui's husband's home.

This touched the old man and his wife so much that they shed countless tears. He Yuzhu had originally prepared some dowry items, but since he had used all his previous money to help Qin Huairu's family, he didn't have much savings of his own. He decided to just buy some red quilt covers and such.

However, the old man and his wife gave He Yuzhu a serious scolding and then used their long-saved bicycle vouchers to buy a new women's bicycle as part of her dowry, treating He Yushui like their own daughter.

This has made countless neighbors envious, and of course, envy is inevitably followed by jealousy.

Take Uncle San for example. He also has a marriage to arrange recently. His eldest son is going to marry Yu Li. Originally, both families would have to hold a banquet for this happy occasion.

But what kind of person is Uncle San? He's a shrewd man among shrewd men. If the banquet is held at the woman's house, the man's family has to pay for it. Why not just hold it at his own house and invite two tables of the woman's relatives to his own room? That way, he can keep the leftovers for himself.

Most importantly, now that my eldest son is working, he still has to pay for the banquet himself. By having my money go through the process, I can save some money.

Buy some groceries, hire a chef, and invite three to five tables—it's that simple.

The only problem is that the cook, Uncle San, has long had his eye on He Yuzhu, but He Yuzhu has been too busy lately, leaving early and returning late every day, and he hasn't seen a single person.

They finally caught He Yuzhu late at night, but he said his schedule was already completely full, which made the proud old man very unhappy.

Originally, he had agreed to introduce Ran Qiuye to He Yuzhu, but when Ran Qiuye heard that He Yuzhu was just a cook and so old, she politely declined. This made the Third Uncle too embarrassed to talk to He Yuzhu about it for the past few days.

The fact that he suddenly came to ask He Yuzhu for help again made the Third Uncle a little embarrassed.

Actually, given the relationship between neighbors, helping to cook a few meals is a small matter. However, He Yuzhu didn't want to agree to the request from the third uncle. The main reason was that the guy was too calculating, not only did he have no money, but he also made too many demands. He Yuzhu simply found an excuse to refuse.

However, Uncle San knew that He Yuzhu was a skilled cook. He would have to spend money to find a cook from outside, so he figured he might as well use this free labor.

Finally, the old man made a tough decision and went to the school to find teacher Ran Qiuye. If he wanted to eat He Yuzhu's two pounds of fat and have a free cook, he had to solve the problem at its root.

He Yuzhu wants to find a partner, right? Then I'll find one for you.

So he went to Teacher Ran again, and once again praised He Yuzhu to the skies, hoping that Ran Qiuye would meet He Yuzhu.

Ms. Ran originally wanted to refuse, mainly because she came from a scholarly family and was an intellectual. It was a bit embarrassing for her to go on a blind date with an older single man, who was also a cook.

When the old man realized that all his nice words were useless, he was about to give up when he suddenly saw some documents on Teacher Ran's desk. Upon looking at them, he was overjoyed.

The school recently issued a notice stating that homeroom teachers must conduct home visits to students who have not yet paid their tuition and fees in order to promptly collect the payments.

Uncle San wasn't the homeroom teacher, but he knew about it. Ran Qiuye happened to be the sixth-grade homeroom teacher, and Qin Huairu's son, Jia Geng, happened to be her student. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the situation?

When the third uncle brought up this excuse, Teacher Ran, seeing that things had come to this point, nodded helplessly and said that she could find a time to meet with He Yuzhu.

After receiving Teacher Ran's reply, the third uncle was overjoyed and said he would arrange the matter himself.

The third uncle happily told He Yuzhu the news. He Yuzhu was stunned for a few seconds. He didn't expect the third uncle to be so proactive. Thinking of Teacher Ran's temperament and appearance, he felt a little excited.

I had no choice but to agree to the old man's request and promise to make time to cook a few tables for him.

Chapter 19: Quick, Accurate, and Ruthless

Actually, it's normal for neighbors to help each other out, and He Yuzhu isn't the type to be petty or calculating.

The main reason I didn't want to help Uncle San was because he was too calculating, and his third son was no good either.

But it's such a small favor, I should help if I can.

Besides, after thinking about it for the past few days, He Yuzhu felt that among these women, Ran Qiuye was actually the most suitable for him.

He was just a cook at a steel mill, and he wouldn't have dared to go to her school to find her without an introduction. This third uncle gave him this opportunity, which was perfect.

Actually, during this period, many people from the steel plant introduced him to potential partners, but many of them were quite unattractive. For example, the daughter of a certain workshop director, who was eighteen years old and weighed 218 pounds—a female version of Zhang Fei—was someone he was too embarrassed to mention.

Of course, there was also a goddess-level figure among them, namely Yu Haitang, her younger sister's classmate.

Yu Haitang and He Yushui were classmates and had just graduated. They had joined the steel mill not long ago and were new announcers at the steel mill's broadcasting station. They were known as the steel mill's most beautiful girl.

He Yuzhu wasn't particularly fond of Yu Haitang, even though she was top-notch in terms of figure and looks, but...

However, this guy is an active radical, which is a perfect match for this era.

Every morning, a dignified and loud female voice would ring out on the loudspeaker at the steel mill.

"Today, the red sun rises in the east... Our beloved so-and-so tells us... to overthrow all classes... enemies..."

Okay, you're awesome. He Yuzhu can't afford to mess with someone like that, nor does he want to.

Moreover, Yu Haitang has a particularly fiery personality, and she dares to love and hate. In the new era, this kind of personality would definitely make her a female elite, but this is not He Yuzhu's type.

After careful selection, the most suitable wife for him was Teacher Ran.

Although Qin Huairu is a scheming woman, she is also a woman who cares about her reputation. She has noticed He Yuzhu's deliberate distancing these days, but what can she do?

She could only keep her sadness and pain inside. In addition, He Yuzhu was leaving early and returning late every day, so she couldn't find an opportunity to use her scheming.

However, after learning that many people were introducing potential partners to He Yuzhu, she was still a little nervous. So, taking advantage of the fact that there was not much farm work to do in the countryside during the Chinese New Year, she simply invited Qin Jingru to her home for the holiday.

He Yuzhu didn't care about Qin Jingru's appearance because he was too busy. Good cooking skills are really popular, and besides, He Yuzhu has now changed his personality and knows how to get along with people.

During this period, he never accepted money when helping out, and he was always straightforward in his speech, which allowed him to quickly build a network of connections.

With so many relationships, there's never enough time. Lately, I haven't even had time to talk about finding a partner. I leave early and come home late every day, and fall asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

He Yuzhu wasn't worried about Qin Jingru's arrival, but another person in the courtyard was extremely anxious about it these past few days.

That was Xu Damao. Ever since he had a fight with Lou Xiao'e, the relationship between the couple had taken a sharp turn for the worse. And with the Chinese New Year approaching, they had another argument over whose family to spend the holiday with.

Lou Xiao'e simply went back to her parents' home early for the New Year, leaving Xu Damao alone at home.

With his wife away and his own ulterior motives at heart, Xu Damao was completely letting loose. Taking advantage of the New Year, he put on leather shoes, combed his hair neatly, and dressed up his face brightly.

Upon learning that Qin Jingru had entered the city, his small eyes immediately lit up with greed; he was determined to have this little cabbage.

Qin Jingru originally wanted to have a good talk with He Yuzhu, but after being away from home for several days and staying at her cousin's house every day, eating free meals, she started to feel depressed.

At this moment, Xu Damao took advantage of the opportunity when Sha Niu went to the public toilet and successfully tricked the naive Sha Niu into going to Wangfujing and buying her a lot of clothes and shoes.

Originally, Qin Jingru thought He Yuzhu was already quite good. If she married He Yuzhu, she would have no worries about food and drink. However, after being brainwashed by Xu Damao, she compared He Yuzhu with Xu Damao.

Good heavens, there's absolutely no comparison here, Xu Damao wins hands down!

Xu Damao finally found someone to complain to, and he told her about how He Yuzhu used to peep at girls taking baths when he was a child. This silly girl quickly developed a dark impression of He Yuzhu and became completely immersed in the beautiful dream woven by Xu Damao.

Silly girl had never been pampered like this by a man in her life. Xu Damao spoke so sweetly and generously, and in less than a week, he had tricked this silly girl into kissing him.

Qin Huairu hadn't found out about this before, and thought that her cousin had been with Sha Zhu recently. Seeing Qin Jingru's new clothes and shoes, she felt bad, but thought that it was better to get it over with quickly than to suffer for a long time. At least from now on, Sha Zhu would be considered family, and she could still use this long-term meal ticket occasionally. This was already the best outcome.

Although Qin Jingru is a silly girl, she knows what shame is. Although her relationship with Xu Damao has progressed rapidly in the past few days, they haven't crossed that line yet.

Moreover, she had another advantage: she was obedient. Xu Damao was still married at the time and didn't want the matter to become a big deal, so he asked Qin Jingru not to tell Qin Huairu for the time being, and the two of them would meet and date outside.

So every time Qin Jingru returned to Qin Huairu's house and was asked about the date, she would pretend to be clueless and cover it up with a silly smile. In addition, He Yuzhu had been missing for a while, so the matter was temporarily fooled.

Even Qin Huairu, that scheming bitch, was kept in the dark about this, mainly because Xu Damao acted too quickly, accurately, swiftly, and ruthlessly.

Who is Xu Damao? He's a heartless wolf, ruthless and cruel. After spending a few days with her, he's come to understand Qin Jingru's silly personality. He's long been dissatisfied with just holding her hand every day.

On the evening of the 27th of the lunar year, Xu Damao brought Qin Jingru, who had just finished dinner, back to the compound. The two deliberately strolled around until late before returning to avoid running into the neighbors. Originally, Qin Jingru was supposed to go in first, and Xu Damao would go in later.

But having just finished eating, Xu Damao, feeling restless, had a little idea. He grabbed Qin Jingru's hand and shook it.

“Jingru, you’ve learned who I, Xu Damao, am these past few days. Lou Xiao’e and I are done with each other. As for you and me, give me a straight answer!”

Qin Jingru was shocked by Xu Damao's sudden assertiveness and was in a state of turmoil. There was no doubt that she wanted to marry into the city.

Moreover, after these few days of brainwashing and material offensives from Xu Damao, she was extremely satisfied with him. However, in this day and age, she had no experience in dating a man who was still married, and for a moment she was at a loss.

Seeing the silly girl's expression, Xu Damao immediately understood what was going on and said.

“Jingru, with my conditions, even if I get divorced, I can easily find a girl with a city household registration to marry in the steel mill. The reason I’m so good to you is because I like you and I want to spend my life with you. I’m telling you, if you hesitate again, I’ll find someone better. Don’t blame me!”

"You...you dare!"

Qin Jingru, a simple-minded country girl with absolutely no social experience, was completely thrown off balance by this sudden shock and was led by the nose by Xu Damao.

Seeing that the silly girl was already in a state of confusion, Xu Damao was overjoyed. He had just threatened her, and now it was time to give her a sweet treat. He then spoke gently.

"Jingru, you can rest assured. As long as you're with me, you'll live a life of luxury. Whatever new clothes you want, I'll buy them for you. I'll make sure you go back to your rural hometown in style, and all your poor relatives will be green with envy!"

Qin Jingru was completely won over by Xu Damao's sweet promises. Confused and half-hearted, she was coaxed by Xu Damao into going to his room.

Xu Damao had long wanted to change wives, and this fair-skinned and naive girl gave him a second spring in his life.

He doesn't have the same moral standards as He Yuzhu. He has never considered others, whether in work or in life. He is a selfish person to the core.

Perhaps out of sight, out of mind, Qin Huairu rarely inquired about Qin Jingru's affairs these past few days, which gave Xu Damao an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and finally allow him to successfully get his first time before the Spring Festival.

If the scheming Qin Huairu knew that Qin Jingru had been fooling around with Xu Damao these past few days, she would never agree to it, even if she were beaten to death.

Qin Huairu knew Xu Damao better than anyone else; he was selfish and self-serving. Even if Qin Jingru really married him, her family probably wouldn't benefit much in the future.

Unfortunately, by the time Qin Huairu found out about this, it was too late; the die was cast.

Chapter 20: The deed is done.

The next day, early in the morning, Qin Huairu, who was doing laundry, suddenly saw Qin Jingru walking out of the inner courtyard, with Xu Damao following beside her, pushing his bicycle with a grin.

Qin Huairu was stunned!

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Qin Huairu finally reacted, grabbed Qin Jingru's hand, and pulled her into her house.