Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 41

Yi Zhonghai said, "How about I ask Dongxu to come and help lift it?"

"No need, I can't afford it."

He Yuzhu certainly didn't want to ask Jia Dongxu for help. Even Yi Zhonghai wasn't willing to lend a hand, so how could Jia Dongxu, as his apprentice, possibly do the work?

Seeing that He Yuzhu disagreed, Yi Zhonghai didn't say anything more and turned back into the house.

He Yuzhu got up and went to the front yard, where he found Yan Bugui: "Uncle Yan, I have a few cabinets there, could you help me move them?"

"Sure, it's just a matter of lending a hand, how can you say no?"

Yan Bugui readily agreed, put down his lesson plan, and got up to follow He Yuzhu out.

If it weren't for everyone watching He Yuzhu, I would have just put everyone into my spatial storage.

Unfortunately, with so many people around, we couldn't do it that way; we had to ask someone to help lift it.

Without saying a word, Yan Bugui helped move the long table, the tall and short cabinets, the wardrobe, and the double bed into the yard.

Then cover it with a waterproof tarpaulin. The Jia family did the same thing for the past two days. Everyone's furniture was placed in the yard. Anyway, it's only for two days, so it won't be a problem even if it rains.

After moving everything and washing his hands, He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Yan, why don't you stay for dinner tonight? I've stewed some fish."

Yan Bugui's eyes darted around, and he immediately agreed, saying, "I still have half a bottle of wine. Let's have a drink together."

Yan Bugui actually knew that He Yuzhu hadn't started drinking yet, so he said it on purpose. This way, he wouldn't lose face if he added more wine, and he could still eat He Yuzhu's fish.

He Yuzhu laughed and said, "I heard from others that the wine that Grandpa Yan brought was all watered down."

Yan Bugui blushed and said, "What? Don't listen to their nonsense. They're just trying to ruin my reputation."

"It doesn't matter whether it's diluted with water or not, since I can't drink alcohol right now anyway, so you'll be the one drinking it all."

Thinking that even adding a cold dish would have been fine, bringing a bottle of wine when you can't drink it yourself, this is... This is indeed the Yan family's style, so He Yuzhu stopped complaining.

He Yuzhu had already put the fish in the pot, and it was almost done stewing. When Yan Bugui brought the wine, a large pot of stewed fish was served.

Yan Bugui picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Zhuzi, did you stew this fish?"

"It couldn't have been stewed with rainwater, could it?" He Yuzhu said with a smile.

"But you just started as an apprentice, right? How come your stewed fish tastes so good? It's even better than what I've had in restaurants!" Yan Bugui asked curiously.

He Yuzhu asked, "Does Grandpa Yan still dare to go out to eat?"

"Your uncle also has social engagements, and besides, my family isn't in that kind of financial difficulty."

Now He Yuzhu remembered that Yan Bugui's family was classified as small business owners, which meant that his family home had more than 12 rooms.

A household with fewer than 12 residential rooms cannot be considered a small business owner, or a business with a shopfront and employing three or more people can be considered a small business owner.

Yan Bugui's family was relatively wealthy; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to attend a private school and a modern school when he was young.

How could someone become a teacher in a school, especially teaching two core subjects like Chinese and mathematics, if they hadn't received a few years of formal education?

Although Yan Bugui is frugal, he still has social interactions with his colleagues and occasionally goes out to eat.

The fish stewed by He Yuzhu was so delicious that it far surpassed any dish Yan Bugui had tasted before.

He Yuzhu was somewhat pleased with himself. He was getting more than 200 experience points every day these days. After leveling up the seasoning skill to level 5, he stopped adding experience points to it.

After all, preparing cold dishes and braised meat is enough.

It's quite a coincidence that I finally accumulated enough experience to upgrade my Sichuan cuisine skill to level 5 today. Tonight's stewed fish is the first meal I've cooked after upgrading.

The stewed fish made with my Level 5 Sichuan cooking skills tasted better than ever before.

"Eat more if you like it, but please don't tell anyone that my cooking is good. I'm still just an apprentice."

Yan Bugui nodded, understanding the situation. One should keep a low profile. Besides, many people in the courtyard rely on their neighbors for help with various matters. It seems He Yuzhu doesn't intend to cook for others.

He Yuzhu vacated the house without delay, and the next day Master Song brought people to do the work.

During the previous inspection, He Yuzhu was already told that the house was in good condition overall, with only a small number of tiles needing to be replaced.

The wooden beams and frame are fine; the only issues are setting up the kang (heated brick bed), adding two gable walls, re-plastering the surrounding walls with mud, and then covering the ceiling.

The houses in Beijing's courtyards are tall, but they are too cold in winter, so people have a habit of covering the ceilings with paper.

Due to material limitations, the ceiling was not made of wood at this time. Instead, it was mostly made of hemp stalks as a frame, and then covered with old newspapers.

The advantage of doing it this way is that it saves materials and is inexpensive, as it is almost always done by family members themselves, so it doesn't cost much.

The downside is that the ceiling has to be repaired every year, otherwise it won't keep the room warm.

He Yuzhu chatted with Master Song for a while and paid another 60 yuan. After all, the two houses had already been built, and that was how it had been agreed before.

The final 60 yuan will be settled after the house is fully completed and He Yuzhu has inspected it and found no problems.

When He Yuzhu arrived at the alley behind the restaurant, he saw a donkey cart outside the back door, with large wine jars on it.

It's no surprise that Xu Huizhen's brother has come to deliver the wine.

When He Yuzhu walked up, he saw the two siblings talking in the yard.

Xu Huizhen's eyes were still a little red, and she looked like she wanted to cry but was trying hard not to.

He Yuzhu asked, "Do you need me to help move the wine?"

Over time, people learned that various things were frequently delivered to the restaurant, such as coal, timber, grain, liquor, and beer. These delivery people carried the raw materials themselves.

"No need, I can do it myself," Xu Hui quickly said.

"Of course I'll help you move it." Xu Hui was not polite at all.

Xu Hui turned to look at his younger sister, then turned back to look at He Yuzhu, whose face was full of confusion.

"Brother!" Xu Huizhen blushed slightly and said reproachfully, "You originally said you would let me be a vegetable cutter, but he took my job and now I can only wash and rinse vegetables every day."

"Oh, I see!"

Xu Hui, of course, wouldn't say much, only offering a few words of comfort to Xu Huizhen.

He Yuzhu felt a little embarrassed, as he genuinely didn't know he was working with Xu Huizhen when he started the job.

Zhang Zusheng also gave face to his master, keeping the vegetable chopping job originally given to Xu Huizhen for himself, and letting Xu Huizhen work at the water station instead.

"I didn't know at the time, I'm really sorry."

What could Xu Hui say? He couldn't very well complain about He Yuzhu at this point, since who knew what kind of relationship he had with He Yuzhu?

"It's nothing, it's a small matter."

Chapter 56 Zhang Yong's Frame-Up

Even if Xu Huizhen didn't say anything, there wouldn't be any problem if He Yuzhu helped move the wine.

Xu Hui politely declined a few times, but seeing that He Yuzhu insisted on helping, he joined in the work and unloaded the wine from the car.

Xu Huizhen was just joking; their relationship had improved considerably since they first met, and they had become friends.

We can't just walk past without helping; that's not something a normal person would do.

The two of them carried the wine jars in four trips. Xu Hui only delivered loose wine, which they didn't use much of. After all, it was a mid-range restaurant, and most people would buy whole bottles of liquor.

After Xu Hui exchanged a few polite words, He Yuzhu went into the kitchen, leaving the two siblings alone to talk.

A moment later, Xu Huizhen came in to express her gratitude, which surprised He Yuzhu.

"Was that wine brewed by your family?"

"No, if my family could afford to run a restaurant, would I be here washing vegetables?"

"That makes sense. So your brother works as a helper at the distillery?"

Xu Huizhen's clothes were patched quite a bit, indicating that she was not well-off, given that there were too many poor people in that era.

"Yes, my family is from Niulanshan. My family members can only work in the distillery now."

"So you can brew wine too?"

"Of course, when we were kids we would go to the distillery to play every day, and everyone knew how to brew wine."

Xu Huizhen was very talkative. She talked about her childhood and mentioned that her family would occasionally brew some wine for themselves to drink.

Why brew your own wine?

"Do you know how many kilograms of grain are needed to make one kilogram of liquor?"

"I don't know. Sorghum liquor usually sells for 6 cents a pound."

"Let me tell you, just over two pounds of sorghum can make one pound of liquor."

"Oh I see."

He Yuzhu could immediately calculate the cost of the liquor. Sorghum only costs three cents per pound. Even if we calculate based on three pounds of sorghum producing one pound of liquor, the cost of the grain is less than one cent, but the retail price is as high as five or six cents.

So, the profit margin for brewing and selling alcohol is really high.

Thinking about it again, no wonder Xu Huizhen in the TV series could make a fortune just by running a small tavern. When the reform and opening up took place, she had start-up capital and was able to make big money ahead of others.

Should I open a small tavern and cook private dishes?

It's still possible to do business now. Public-private partnerships won't be possible until 55 years from now. Besides, opening a business now won't change our social class.

With her ability to cook, Xu Huizhen's business acumen, and the addition of Xiangcao as a waitress, wouldn't it be wonderful for the three of them to open a tavern together?