Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

Then he added: "And these children are not allowed to eat at the table!"

Hearing this, another child curiously asked: "Why don't you let us eat at the table?" He Yuzhu smiled and explained: "You are still young and don't know the rules! You will be able to eat at the table when you grow up."

"And with so many children, where will the adults sit after they are seated at the table?"

While everyone was discussing this, Xu Damao came over pushing his bicycle and teased He Yuzhu: "Hey, silly Zhu, why are you cutting meat in the yard? Look at these little guys, they are so greedy because of you, hahahaha..."

He Yuzhu raised his head, a smug smile appeared on his face and he responded: "Hehe, you don't know, but actually I choose to cut meat and cook in the yard for a reason!"

Xu Damao immediately became interested when he heard this and asked, "Oh? What's so particular about it? Is it really like you said, that it can make the fragrance spread farther, so that people in the whole compound and even the neighboring yards will know that our Shazhu's cooking skills are superb?"

"Xu Damao! What do you mean by that? Why are you so aggressive and harsh? I am doing this out of kindness! Do you think I care about those false reputations?"

"I'm just worried that if other people knew that I gave you less food, they might make wild guesses and even slander me by saying that I secretly cut off a piece of meat with a knife and hid it back at home."

"If this really happens, then I will be unable to defend myself and will be wronged for no reason."

He Yuzhu became more and more excited as he spoke, but at the end, his voice unconsciously lowered, and he pursed his lips slightly to signal Yan Bugui and the other notoriously stingy neighbor.

At this moment, Xu Damao turned his head in the direction of He Yuzhu's gaze, and happened to meet Yan Bugui's eyes. In an instant, the atmosphere at the scene became extremely subtle and awkward.

However, because He Yuzhu spoke in a very low voice just now, Yan Bugui certainly could not hear clearly the content of their conversation.

"Da Mao, is there anything wrong?" Yan Bugui asked after noticing Xu Damao's gaze.

"Oh hahaha...it's actually not a big deal! It's just that there's only one table in our main room, and there aren't even enough benches and chairs. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Teacher Yan to help me find a way to solve this problem later."

Xu Damao quickly laughed dryly a few times, trying to ease the slightly tense situation.

"Oh my, I thought it was a small matter! Don't worry, leave this small matter to me. Is there anything else you can help with? Just let me know!"

Yan Bugui responded generously, patting his chest.

When Xu Damao heard Yan Bugui's words, he turned around and looked at He Yuzhu.

"Everything else is fine, but the soy sauce is running low. I have to get another bottle."

He Yuzhu looked at Yan Bugui and said seriously.

After hearing this, Yan Bugui immediately turned around and ordered his son, "Jie Cheng, go out and get a bottle of soy sauce."

After hearing his father's instructions, Yan Jiecheng didn't even bother to wash his hands, and hurriedly walked towards the direction of He Yuzhu and Xu Damao. He stretched out his dirty, black hand, and it was about to touch the soy sauce bottle.

"Hey! You stinky boy, why don't you wash your hands first! Look at your paws, you just grabbed a piece of coal, they are so dirty!"

Seeing this scene, Yan Bugui could not help but yell at his father. After being yelled at by his father, Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to turn around and walk to the sink and start washing his hands.

Not long after, Yan Jiecheng came back after washing his hands. He was holding the soy sauce bottle tightly, as if he was afraid that it would suddenly fly away.

At this moment, Xu Damao slowly took out a crumpled one-yuan note from his pocket, and gently handed it to Yan Jiecheng, saying with a smile: "Brother Jiecheng, this is money for buying soy sauce, please keep it. If there is any extra change, you can buy something you like."

"Hehehe...Thank you, Brother Damao! You are so generous!"

Yan Jiecheng was so happy when he took the banknote. He thanked the owner while holding the money tightly, his face full of uncontrollable excitement.

Then he jumped and ran towards the gate of the compound happily, holding the bottle of soy sauce.

After all, his father Yan Bugui was too stingy and would not give him any pocket money.

"Silly Zhu! Look at this, the vegetarian dishes are obviously not enough! We need to prepare more meat dishes! You know, there are so many children here! Even if they don't eat at the table, at least we have to prepare a white flour bun for each of them, and then put a few slices of fatty meat in it, so that I can save face!"

"Well... we really need to get some more meat. Although these two pounds of fat meat are not a small amount, we still have to save some to make lard for cooking! And you know, it's not easy to buy this kind of fat meat these days!"

"It's because I often go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables and I'm familiar with the shopkeeper, so he's willing to sell to me!"

As He Yuzhu spoke, he raised his head and glanced at Xu Damao. His eyes seemed to reveal this meaning: If you feel that there is too little meat and you are not satisfied, then just go and buy some yourself!

"Hey, do I need you to remind me of this? I have already thought about this problem a long time ago! This morning when I went out, I happened to meet a butcher selling pork."

"I bought some fat meat, a few large ribs, and two plump elbows from him! I'll put an elbow on each table later. That should be enough to handle the situation, right?"

Xu Damao grinned, then stopped his bicycle and started taking out the items he had just purchased from the basket on the back of the bicycle.

He gently placed the piece of fat meat and the two huge elbows on the chopping board.

Finally, he clapped his hands and asked contentedly, "How is it? Is this enough?"

"Oh my! It's incredible, Xu Damao, you really spent a lot of money this time! I guess it must have cost you a lot of money?" He Yuzhu said with a hint of surprise and ridicule.

Xu Damao smiled and responded modestly, "No, no, these are all money that should be spent. We can't save them! Do you think there is anything I can do? It's no problem for me to help out or something like that."