Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

After He Yuzhu said goodbye to Wu Youli and Wu Xiangyun, he rode his bicycle to Cai Quanwu's tavern in Daqianmen. As the border crossing approached, the tavern was doing particularly well, and the room was full of guests who wanted to drink. He Yuzhu was afraid of disturbing the guests, so he rode his bicycle to the back door of the tavern. He Yuzhu held the bicycle with one hand and knocked on the door with the other hand. He heard Su Xiulian's voice from the yard, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Zhuzi, my cousin's aunt." He Yuzhu stood outside the gate and shouted loudly into the yard.

After a while, Su Shaoan opened the door and greeted He Yuzhu with a smile: "You are here, Zhuzi."

"Shaoan, why didn't you go out to play? Where's your sister?" He Yuzhu pushed his bicycle directly into the yard and asked as he walked.

"My sister is lying in the room, and my brother-in-law is in the lobby in front. Why don't you come in from the front?" Su Shaoan asked curiously.

"There aren't many customers in the front, so it's not appropriate for me to go in carrying the things, so I went to the back door. Shaoan, your sister is resting in the house, so I won't go in to disturb her. I'll leave the things to you. This is what I bought for your brother-in-law for the New Year. Put the chicken at the kitchen door later, and don't untie the rope yet. Put the fish and pork in the kitchen, and remember to close the door to make sure the cat doesn't run away." He Yuzhu parked the bicycle, untied the hen from the handlebars, and handed it to Su Shaoan.

Su Shaoan took the hen with both hands, held it and put it at the kitchen door, then quickly ran to He Yuzhu. He Yuzhu took out the pork and fish from the basket in the back seat and handed them to Su Shaoan, "Shaoan, I'm leaving now. Tell your brother-in-law and sister later to remember to put the things in the kitchen and close the kitchen door."

"Okay, Zhuzi." Su Shaoan ran to the kitchen with pork in one hand and fish in the other.

He Yuzhu looked at Su Shaoan's back, smiled and shook his head, then pushed his bicycle out of the back door of the tavern. After going out of the back door, He Yuzhu did not ride his bicycle away immediately, but waited for a while. Seeing Su Shaoan coming to close the door, He Yuzhu smiled and said to Su Shaoan: "You close the door, I'm leaving." After He Yuzhu watched Su Shaoan close the door and heard the sound of the bolt being pulled from inside, He Yuzhu got on his bicycle and walked towards his home in Nanluoguxiang.

He Yuzhu returned home and started to chop the dumpling fillings. He Yuzhu took out 5 pounds of pork hind leg meat, removed the pig skin, picked up the knife and started chopping. This year, He Yuzhu planned to make two kinds of dumpling fillings, one with pork and green onions, and the other with mutton and green onions. For this purpose, He Yuzhu specially killed a sheep. After He Yuzhu chopped the pork and put it in a basin, He Yuzhu then chopped the green onions that had been washed in advance. When He Yushui came home from outside, He Yuzhu had already prepared the two kinds of dumpling fillings.

As soon as He Yushui entered the room, he asked, "Brother, what are we having for lunch today? I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat? Big brother has just prepared some dumpling fillings, with two kinds of fillings: lamb and pork. How about we have dumplings for lunch?" He Yuzhu said to He Yushui with a smile.

"Then let's eat dumplings. I haven't eaten dumplings for a long time. Big brother, I'll help you make them later." When He Yushui heard He Yuzhu talk about eating dumplings, he clapped his hands happily.

"Okay, brother, make some noodles first. If you are hungry, eat some beef first." He Yuzhu said, pointing at the beef in the cabinet.

"Okay, I'll eat some beef first. Brother, I can't reach it, can you help me get it?" He Yushui opened the cabinet but found that he couldn't reach it.

He Yuzhu smiled and rubbed He Yushui's head. He took out the beef from the cabinet, cut off a small piece and handed it to He Yushui. Then he washed his hands and prepared to make dumplings. Although it was He Yushui's first time making dumplings, as if influenced by the family gene, He Yushui made dumplings very beautifully for the first time. With He Yushui's cooperation, he made 2 large plates of dumplings in a short time.

After the brother and sister finished eating the dumplings, He Yushui lay on the chair, rubbing his belly and said to He Yuzhu: "Brother, the dumplings you make are better than those made by our father. I am so full."

He Yuzhu chuckled, "That's right, don't you see how powerful your eldest brother is? Our father was not as powerful as me when he was as young as me. Yushui, do you miss your father?" He Yuzhu suddenly asked.

"I don't want to. It's more comfortable to follow you, big brother, than to follow our father." He Yushui said without thinking.

He Yuzhu looked at He Yushui's expression and felt that his sister really didn't miss He Daqing, so he put aside his worries and could only say silently in his heart: "Yushui, when you grow up, I will tell you the truth. In fact, it's not easy for our father either."

In the afternoon, He Yuzhu took He Yushui to paste couplets and door paintings on the door. After they finished pasting them at home, He Yuzhu left his sister at home reading, and rode his bike to the house in Qudeng Hutong alone, and pasted couplets and door paintings on the door of the house in Qudeng Hutong as well.

In a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. Although only He Yuzhu and He Yushui were at home for the New Year this year, He Yuzhu still prepared a table of dishes on New Year's Eve, including a fish, a chicken, a pot of mutton soup, a plate of beef, a plate of pork dumplings, a plate of mutton dumplings, a plate of garlic sausage, and a plate of Chinese sausage. In order to increase the sense of ceremony, He Yuzhu also specially cooked a large pot of milk tea as a drink. Before eating, He Yuzhu burned some paper for the ancestors in the small yard in front of the kitchen and lit a few incense sticks.

He Yuzhu poured a cup of milk tea for He Yushui, and poured another cup for himself, then raised the cup and said: "First of all, I would like to thank the most lovely people who fought on the peninsula. Because of their fearlessness of sacrifice and their brave efforts, we can celebrate the New Year safely in our country. I wish them a happy New Year in advance, and I hope they can defeat American imperialism as soon as possible, and everyone can return home safely. Next, I wish my sister a healthy, safe and happy new year. Let's drink to Yushui."

He Yushui quickly raised his cup, clinked it with his brother's, and said, "Cheers." After that, He Yushui quickly took a sip of the milk tea, closed his eyes and savored it carefully, "Brother, this milk tea is really delicious."

"Okay, let's start eating. Big brother will cook for you often in the future." He Yuzhu said with a smile. After that, He Yuzhu picked up the chopsticks and concentrated on eating. He Yuzhu finished most of the dishes on the table by himself. If He Yuzhu eats as much as he wants, his food intake is equivalent to that of three adults.

After getting up on the morning of the first day of the new year, He Yuzhu and He Yushui put on new clothes and burned paper for the gods. He Yuzhu took out a red envelope from his pocket and put it in He Yushui's hand, "Here, this is the New Year's money that big brother gave you."

He Yushui happily put the red envelope into his pocket, and then said to He Yuzhu: "Thank you, brother."

He Yuzhu heated up the leftovers from New Year's Eve and cooked two more plates of dumplings. After the brother and sister finished breakfast, He Yuzhu took He Yushui out to pay New Year's greetings to his cousin Cai Quanwu. After the New Year's greetings, He Yuzhu planned to take He Yushui to the temple fair. He Yuzhu rode his bicycle and took He Yushui to Cai Quanwu's tavern. When Cai Quanwu saw He Yuzhu and his sister coming, he immediately put down his work and walked over with a smile.

"Uncle, Happy New Year and best wishes for prosperity. Here's the red envelope." He Yuzhu said mischievously and stretched out his hands in front of Cai Quanwu. He Yushui imitated He Yuzhu and said, "Uncle, Happy New Year and best wishes for prosperity. Here's the red envelope." He also stretched out his hands in front of Cai Quanwu.

Cai Quanwu accepted the blessings from the two people with a smile, and randomly took out two red envelopes from his pocket and handed them to He Yuzhu and his sister, "Zhuzi, Yushui, your cousin also wishes you a happy new year."

"Thank you, uncle. Where's my aunt?" He Yuzhu smiled and put Cai Quanwufa's New Year's money into his pocket.

"Your aunt is making dumplings in the backyard?" Cai Quanwu said happily.

"Then you go ahead and do your work. I'll go to the backyard to wish my aunt a happy new year. It's raining now, let's go and wish my aunt a happy new year." After saying that, He Yuzhu led his sister, lifted the door curtain and walked towards the backyard.

After He Yuzhu finished paying New Year's greetings to his aunt, He Yuzhu led He Yushui and Su Shaoan to walk around Daqianmen. The New Year is always so attractive to children. The two children ran around in the crowd like crazy. He Yuzhu followed the two closely to prevent them from getting lost. The two children still didn't want to go home after playing until noon, so He Yuzhu took the two children to buy some food on the street, and then took the two children to play after eating. Seeing his sister and Su Shaoan chasing each other happily on the street, He Yuzhu felt very warm in his heart.

It was not until about 3 p.m. that the two children got tired of playing and did not want to play anymore, so He Yuzhu led the two children to the tavern. Halfway there, He Yuzhu bought a candy man for each of his sister He Yushui and Su Shaoan. After He Yuzhu took Su Shaoan to the tavern and handed him over to his aunt Su Xiulian, he said goodbye to Cai Quanwu's family and went home.

The next morning, He Yuzhu got up early. Today would be a very busy day. In the morning, He Yuzhu planned to go to Master Guan Xuezong to pay New Year's greetings, and at noon, he would cook a table of delicious dishes for Master Guan Xuezong; in the afternoon, he would go to Master Wu Baotian to pay New Year's greetings. Compared with the two masters, Guan Xuezong was more lonely. Today, Guan Xuezong's son would definitely not be at home to accompany him, so Master Guan Xuezong would be alone at home; Sister Wu Xiangxiu was going back to her mother's home to visit relatives today, and with a group of children in Master's family, Master Wu Baotian's home would definitely be very lively, so He Yuzhu decided to accompany Master Guan Xuezong in the morning and go to Master Wu Bao's home in the afternoon.

After the brother and sister finished breakfast, He Yuzhu took the ingredients for lunch and rode his bicycle with his sister He Yushui to their master Guan Xuezong's home.