Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

The next day after the meeting at the courtyard, when He Yuzhu was at work, the third uncle Yan Bugui stopped He Yuzhu and said, "Zhuzi, wait a moment. I have something to tell you."

He Yuzhu stopped walking when he heard the voice, looked at the Third Uncle Yan Bugui who was walking towards him and asked, "What's wrong? Third Uncle."

Yan Bugui said quickly, "It's like this. I saw you went home after the meeting yesterday. I didn't want to disturb your rest, so I didn't go to find you. Last night, I counted the things that each household had exchanged. Uncle One and Uncle Two discussed that it's better to have a dinner party sooner rather than later. If you have nothing tonight, we want to have a dinner party after everyone gets off work. Do you have anything to do?"

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "Okay, I'm fine, but Third Uncle, have you prepared your pork? As long as your food is ready, I can do it that day. By the way, Third Uncle, it gets dark early now. If you are sure about today, please organize someone to wash the cabbage for dinner in the afternoon so that I can start cooking right away when I come back."

Yan Bugui said with some distress: "The meat originally prepared at home was used as dumpling filling, so it has to be used first. Then I will ask your third aunt to take the lead in washing the cabbage in the afternoon. Okay, it's okay, you can go to work quickly."

He Yuzhu heard Yan Bugui finish his words and continued to push his bicycle towards the gate of the courtyard. After going out of the gate, He Yuzhu got on the bicycle and pedaled a little harder, and the bicycle whooshed out.

The Red Star Steel Mill has completed its production task for this year. Although it is close to the end of the year, the entire steel mill is not busy. He Yuzhu waited patiently until the end of the get off work day, rode his bicycle and headed for the courtyard in Nanluoguxiang.

The residents of the Siheyuan who were not working had already gathered in the middle courtyard waiting for the evening dinner. When He Yuzhu walked into the middle courtyard where he lived, all the residents in the middle courtyard focused their attention on him. He Yuzhu was confused when he saw this. He was still wondering why Yan Bugui was not guarding the gate of the Siheyuan today. It turned out that he was guarding the ingredients for tonight's dinner in the middle courtyard.

He Yuzhu hurriedly said with a smile: "Everyone wait a moment, I'm going home first."

After saying that, He Yuzhu hurriedly pushed his bicycle back home. When he returned to the house, he saw his sister He Yushui sitting at the table reading a book. He Yuzhu asked, "Yushui, where is your sister-in-law?"

He Yushui replied: "Brother, you're back. At around 4 o'clock, my sister-in-law said she was a little sleepy, so she went back to the inner room to sleep. I guess she's still asleep now."

"Oh, there's a dinner party in the yard tonight. Are you going to eat in the yard with everyone, or at home with your sister-in-law?"

After listening to He Yuzhu's words, He Yushui thought for a moment and said, "I'd better stay at home and eat with my sister-in-law. It's too cold to sit in the yard and eat at night."

"Okay then, if your sister-in-law wakes up, tell her that I'm going to the yard to cook." After saying that, He Yuzhu opened the door and walked out.

He Yuzhu first went back to the kitchen to find his own big iron pot, cleaned it and put it on the rocket stove. Then He Yuzhu came to the middle courtyard, found Yan Bugui and said, "Uncle San, please find a few people to carry the washed cabbage and vermicelli to the small courtyard in front of my kitchen. The stove for cooking big pots is in the yard in front of my kitchen. It's too heavy to move out, so you can only cook in the small courtyard in front of my kitchen."

After hearing this, Yan Bugui said very readily: "You are the chef, and everyone will listen to your orders tonight. Jie Cheng, come here, and follow Zhuzi in a while. Zhuzi, if you have any instructions, just tell Jie Cheng directly."

Since he had someone to help, He Yuzhu was happy to have some free time. He Yuzhu said directly: "Jie Cheng, go to the uncle's house to get some coal, and light the stove first." After that, He Yuzhu walked towards the small courtyard of his kitchen. After He Yuzhu returned to the small courtyard of his kitchen, he first went into the kitchen and moved his own chopping board and table from the kitchen to the yard.

By the time He Yuzhu had prepared the chopping board, Yan Bugui was just directing the residents of the courtyard to carry in the ingredients for the evening dinner. He Yuzhu looked at the full basin and couldn't help but feel amused. It was obviously Yan Bugui's work. Yan Bugui must have been planning to get more cabbage for each family so that if they couldn't finish it, each family could get a little more. After all, he was the one who had to go through the trouble of cooking, and he would have to pay for the seasonings himself. Thinking of this, He Yuzhu looked at Yan Bugui meaningfully.

Yan Bugui said embarrassedly: "Zhu Zi, vermicelli is not easy to make. Many households in our yard don't have it. Let's just use cabbage as a side dish tonight."

He Yuzhu smiled and said, "It's OK to just use cabbage, but the taste will be a little worse without vermicelli. But Third Uncle, you guys prepared a lot of cabbage tonight. If you put all of it in, the taste will be a little worse."

Yan Bugui said nonchalantly, "It's okay. It's almost the same, but it's still better than what we make at home. Just cook it, Zhuzi."

After listening to Yan Bugui's words, He Yuzhu thought, haha, it was exactly what he thought. But since Yan Bugui said so, He Yuzhu didn't hesitate. He picked up a cabbage from the basin on the ground and started cutting it. After all the cabbages were processed, He Yuzhu said, "Uncle, bring the meat and oil for tonight. After I cut the onion and ginger, we can start cooking."

After saying that, He Yuzhu turned around and went back to his kitchen, took out a bunch of green onions and a large piece of ginger and gave them to Yan Jiecheng, saying, "Jiecheng, find someone to wash the onions and ginger." Yan Jiecheng took the onions and ginger and walked out.

He Yuzhu found the honeycomb coal that Yan Jiecheng had brought from Yi Zhonghai's house. He Yuzhu found a few pieces of wood from the firewood pile in the kitchen, and then took an axe to chop them into small sticks as thick as chopsticks. After chopping all the wood, He Yuzhu found a piece of waste paper and put it in the rocket stove. Then he took out a match from his pocket and lit the waste paper. After the waste paper started burning, He Yuzhu carefully put the small stick on it. After a while, the small stick started burning. He Yuzhu continued to add small sticks to the rocket stove. After the fire was completely burned, He Yuzhu threw a few large pieces of wood into it, and then put the honeycomb coal on the wood.

Seeing that He Yuzhu had already started the fire, Yan Bugui hurried over to He Yuzhu and said, "Zhuzi, the meat and oil are here, take a look."

He Yuzhu looked in the direction of Yan Bugui's finger and saw three neatly placed pieces of pork in the basin. These should be from the three stewards. After returning to the kitchen and washing his hands, He Yuzhu picked up a piece of pork and was about to cut it when he found that the scattered pieces of pork in the basin were all lean meat. He Yuzhu hurriedly turned the basin over with his hands and found that the meat in the basin was all lean meat. He Yuzhu couldn't help but twitched in his mouth. It seemed that everyone kept the fat meat for themselves and took out the lean meat at home. The lean meat used in the pork stew with vermicelli would not taste good. The meat needed was fat and lean. If it was all lean meat without fat, it would not produce fat, and the cooked meat would not taste so fragrant.

He Yuzhu could only put the meat that the three stewards had brought aside. He had to deal with the minced meat first, and he had to process the different sized minced meat into evenly sized pieces, otherwise when the time came to serve the food, the different sizes would cause a fuss. He Yuzhu picked up the kitchen knife, sharpened it on the grindstone twice, and said, "Third uncle, it's already dark, you can arrange for someone to light a lamp in the yard. When the food is ready, we can't eat it in the dark."

There is a small light bulb installed on the wall in the small courtyard in front of He Yuzhu's kitchen. Taking advantage of the dim light of the small light bulb, He Yuzhu cut all the meat, then processed the green onion and ginger, and put the big iron pot on the rocket stove. After the big iron pot is heated, the pork prepared by He Yuzhu is poured into it. The lard melts quickly under the action of high temperature, and a scent of fat spreads instantly; after the lard is completely melted, He Yuzhu directly pours all the pork into the pot and stir-fryes it. After the water of the pork is fried dry, He Yuzhu pours the green onion and ginger into the pot.

After a while, He Yuzhu poured the prepared seasoning into the pot and continued to stir-fry. When the pork was almost stir-fried, He Yuzhu picked up the cabbage on the ground and poured it into the pot. Taking into account that the meat tonight was less fat, He Yuzhu deliberately scooped 2 more tablespoons of his own braised pork broth into the pot, and then added an appropriate amount of tap water to the pot. The rest was to wait. After the water boils for ten minutes, you can serve the meal.

He Yuzhu turned to Yan Bugui and said, "Uncle, we can eat in ten minutes after the water boils. Go and inform everyone. My wife won't be eating with everyone in the yard tonight. I have to cook something for her."

When Yan Bugui heard that He Yuzhu's family provided food for three people but only one person ate, he secretly rejoiced in his heart but said, "This is not good, Zhuzi, your family provided food for three people, you have been busy for a long time, but only you eat."

He Yuzhu heard what Yan Bugui said and felt that he couldn't suffer a loss, so he said: "Then I will order three dishes. Anyway, I have a big appetite and can finish it by myself."

Yan Bugui was immediately annoyed when he heard what He Yuzhu said. Why did he pretend to persuade He Yuzhu? Now there are two less dishes in the pot. He Yuzhu ignored Yan Bugui and turned to the kitchen. He still had to cook dinner for Lou Xiaoe and his sister He Yushui.

He Yuzhu quickly prepared dinner for Lou Xiaoe and He Yushui. When Lou Xiaoe and He Yushui were done, the pork and cabbage stew in the big iron pot outside was almost done. He Yuzhu scooped a little into the bowl with a ladle and tasted it. Hmm, it tasted good and it was ready to be served. He Yuzhu plugged the air inlet of the rocket stove with a plug and said to Yan Jiecheng, "Jiecheng, go tell the three uncles that it's time to eat."

He Yuzhu came into the house and said to his sister He Yushui: "Yushui, dinner is ready. Go to the kitchen and serve it." After that, He Yuzhu came to the small courtyard in front of the kitchen. Yan Bugui saw He Yuzhu coming and said hurriedly: "Zhuzi, let's take the iron pot out quickly. Everyone is waiting anxiously. The rack has been set up outside."

He Yuzhu and Yan Bugui carried the big iron pot to the outside yard and placed it on three blue bricks. Yi Zhonghai saw this and said loudly, "Zhuzi has prepared the meal. Everyone line up and come one by one. Every family, regardless of adults or children, will get one bowl. The rest will be divided equally among the households."

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, he came to He Yuzhu and said with a smile: "Zhuzi, thank you for your hard work in preparing some food for us."

"Okay, uncle, I'll go home and get a bowl." After saying that, He Yuzhu turned around and walked towards the kitchen at home.

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly called He Yuzhu and said, "Zhuzi, you don't have to go home to get a bowl. I have prepared it for you. Just use this bowl." After that, Yi Zhonghai took a bowl from an old lady and handed it to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu took the bowl from Yi Zhonghai and started serving food to the people in line. Speaking of the inventor of serving food with a bowl, it was He Yuzhu. After the public-private partnership of the steel mill, He Yuzhu became the acting director of the canteen. In order to prevent the workers who served food from shaking the spoon when serving food or serving more or less food to the workers according to their personal preferences, He Yuzhu asked the workers who served food at the window to serve the food in a bowl first, and then pour it into the workers' lunch boxes. He Yuzhu specially arranged for someone to buy the bowl at the market. When serving food, one spoonful was just enough for one bowl. Although it was a little more troublesome than using a spoon to directly serve food to the workers' lunch boxes, the workers liked it very much. No one had to worry about getting less food when it was their turn, because no matter who went to serve food, one dish was one bowl. Later, He Yuzhu asked the people in the workshop to make a batch of steamed bun molds. From then on, the steamed buns steamed in the canteen of the steel mill were uniform in appearance and had basically no error in weight.

After a while, He Yuzhu finished serving pork stewed with cabbage to everyone. He Yuzhu returned to his kitchen, took out his own bowl, put six big steamed buns in another bowl, and then carried the bowl to the middle courtyard. He Yuzhu first put the bowl of steamed buns on his seat, then took his own big bowl to the big iron pot and served himself three servings of pork stewed with cabbage. He Yuzhu carried the big bowl to the table and prepared to sit down to eat.