Siheyuan: I am different He Yuzhu

After the jeep stopped, Qian Dakuan got out of the car. Li Ze walked up to Qian Dakuan and was about to shake hands with him, but Qian Dakuan hugged him. Li Ze also hugged Qian Dakuan. After the two hugged, Qian Dakuan said to the driver in the car: "Xiao Wang, you go back first, and come back to pick me up around 3 pm."

Xiao Wang replied, "Okay, Secretary Qian." Then Xiao Wang turned the car around and left.

Qian Dakuan then greeted Miao Aihua, "Sister-in-law, I haven't seen you for so many years, but you don't look changed at all. The three little ones have grown up so much. I remember when we were in the base, the three children were still small." Qian Dakuan smiled and stroked the heads of the two children. Then Qian Dakuan looked at Li Miaomiao who was on He Yuzhu's neck, "I remember your little girl's name is Miaomiao, right? Miaomiao, you are riding a big horse. Miaomiao, you are so tall. Come down and let your uncle hug you."

He Yuzhu was ready to put Li Miaomiao down when he heard that, but Li Miaomiao said, "No, Miaomiao wants to ride a big horse, and I haven't ridden enough."

A group of people burst into laughter when they heard this. After Miao Aihua finished laughing, she said with a straight face, "Okay, Miaomiao, it's time to come down. Your father still needs to talk to the two uncles later."

Li Miaomiao saw her mother's expression and reluctantly got off He Yuzhu's neck. When she got off, she didn't forget to say to He Yuzhu: "Uncle He, you have finished talking to Dad, can you still let Miaomiao ride the horse?"

He Yuzhu smiled and said to Li Miaomiao: "Okay, when Uncle He is done, I will continue to play horse riding with you."

Qian Dakuan extended his hand to He Yuzhu and said cordially, "Hello, Xiao He, my name is Qian Dakuan. Director Wang from your subdistrict office has reported to me many times about your deeds. Today is the first time we meet."

He Yuzhu quickly shook Qian Dakuan's hand and said with a smile, "Hello, Secretary Qian."

At this time, Miao Aihua interrupted the conversation between the two people, "Don't stand at the door, let's go inside and talk." So the group went into the house. He Yuzhu sat in the living room and talked with Li Ze and Qian Dakuan for a while, then said, "Brother Li, Secretary Qian, you two can chat first. It's getting late. I'll go to the kitchen to see what dishes are available so I can prepare some. By the way, Brother Li, Secretary Qian, where are you from? Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

Li Ze smiled and said, "Xiao He, you don't have to bother, just let your sister-in-law do it, sit down and eat."

He Yuzhu insisted, "Brother Li, you and Secretary Qian haven't seen each other for many years. You two must have a lot to talk about. Today is a rare opportunity, so you two should have a good chat. I'm going to the kitchen to help my sister-in-law cook, so I can let you and Secretary Qian taste my cooking skills."

Seeing He Yuzhu's insistence, Li Ze could only agree. "My hometown is in Hebei Province, and Lao Qian is from Shandong Province. We don't have any dietary restrictions. You can do whatever you want. Thank you for your hard work."

Qian Dakuan also took the opportunity to say, "Old Li, we are in for a treat today. Xiao He is a famous Shandong and Sichuan cuisine expert in our district. I am taking advantage of you, Old Li, today."

He Yuzhu smiled modestly and said, "Secretary Qian, you are too kind. You guys chat. I'll go to the kitchen first." After that, He Yuzhu walked towards the kitchen.

He Yuzhu entered the kitchen and saw Miao Aihua picking vegetables. He Yuzhu smiled and said to Miao Aihua, "Sister-in-law, where are all the vegetables you bought today? Let me see what we should eat for lunch."

Miao Aihua said embarrassedly: "Xiao He, you are a guest, how can you ask a guest to cook for you when he/she comes to your house for the first time?"

He Yuzhu heard this but said indifferently: "Sister-in-law, I am a guest, but I am also a cook. I am definitely better than you in cooking. Just leave it to me. I promise that you will want to eat more. By the way, where is the bag of seasoning I brought?"

Seeing that He Yuzhu insisted on cooking, Miao Aihua was too embarrassed to say anything else and could only agree to He Yuzhu's request. "I put the bag of seasoning you brought in the cupboard. The kids are naughty and you might eat it all if you're not paying attention. I'll get it for you later." After saying that, Miao Aihua took out the basket and put it on the table to show He Yuzhu. "Xiao He, these are the vegetables I bought. By the way, there's a hen in the yard outside. I bought them so I didn't want to make the house dirty, so I put them in the yard."

He Yuzhu took the basket and looked at it. There was a piece of pork belly, a piece of tofu, a few potatoes, a grass carp, peppers, and bean sprouts. After looking at the vegetables in the basket, He Yuzhu looked up at Miao Aihua and asked, "Sister-in-law, do you have any eggs at home?"

Miao Aihua replied: "Yes, it's in the cabinet."

He Yuzhu then asked, "Sister-in-law, can the three children at home eat spicy food?"

"It's OK. I can handle a little bit of spiciness."

"If you can eat spicy food, I plan to make twice-cooked pork, boiled fish, mapo tofu, hot and sour potato shreds, and Zaozhuang spicy chicken for lunch today." Considering that Li Ze was going to drink with Qian Dakuan, He Yuzhu decided to make another dish, Kung Pao Chicken, so he asked, "Sister-in-law, do you have peanuts at home?"

Miao Aihua nodded and said, "Yes, you can arrange it. I'll help you."

He Yuzhu said directly: "Then I won't be polite with you, sister-in-law, boil a pot of hot water first, call me when it's ready, I'll go kill the fish first." After that, He Yuzhu took the apron hanging on the kitchen wall and tied it around his waist, then took out the grass carp from the basket and started to kill it. Miao Aihua followed He Yuzhu's instructions and boiled hot water. While the water was boiling, Miao Aihua looked at He Yuzhu and saw that He Yuzhu's movements of killing fish were very skillful, like flowing clouds and water, and looked very unique and beautiful.

He Yuzhu killed the grass carp skillfully, and then filled the fish slices and set them aside for later use. He Yuzhu glanced at the water in the pot and saw that it had not yet boiled, so he continued to prepare other ingredients. When He Yuzhu cut the potatoes into shreds and the tofu into cubes, he heard Miao Aihua say, "Xiao He, the water has boiled."

He Yuzhu put down the chili peppers in his hand, opened the pot lid, poured water into the basin, and then walked to the yard with the basin. Miao Aihua quickly took a kitchen knife and followed with a bowl. He Yuzhu came to the yard, put the basin on the ground, took the kitchen knife handed over by Miao Aihua with one hand, and held the hen with the other hand, then pointed the hen's neck at the bowl that Miao Aihua took out, and gently scratched the hen's neck with the kitchen knife, and the chicken blood gushed out instantly and flowed into the bowl.

When the blood stopped flowing out, He Yuzhu threw the hen into a basin of hot water, and then asked, "Sister-in-law, do you still want the chicken feathers?"

Miao Aihua quickly said, "Yes, these chicken feathers can be sold for money."

After a while, He Yuzhu felt that the chicken feathers were almost burned, so he quickly started plucking the chicken feathers. In no time, He Yuzhu had plucked all the feathers off the hen. He Yuzhu said to Miao Aihua, "Sister-in-law, please clean up the chicken feathers."

"Okay, go and take care of the hens."

He Yuzhu carried the hen back to the kitchen and first removed the fine hairs on the hen. After removing the hairs on the hen, He Yuzhu took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was 10:08. It was almost time to start cooking. He Yuzhu first put the pork belly into the pot to cook it. When it was almost cooked, he took it out, cut it into slices, and put it on a plate for later use. While the pork belly was cooking, He Yuzhu finished processing the hen.

Then He Yuzhu started to work on the pot and heated the oil. Then the aroma of food began to spread in the kitchen. The three children came to the kitchen smelling the aroma, but they just stood aside and watched He Yuzhu cook, and did not ask He Yuzhu for food. The three children watched He Yuzhu's smooth cooking movements, and when they saw He Yuzhu flipping the pot over the fire, they were stunned. Li Miaomiao even praised: "Uncle He, you are so awesome. The pot is on fire, but you are not afraid."

By 11:42, He Yuzhu had finished cooking all the spicy and sour potato shreds. He Yuzhu carried the dishes to the dining table. He Yuzhu looked at the three children who had been eager to eat and said with a smile, "Aiguo, go upstairs and ask your father and Uncle Qian to come down to eat."

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo immediately ran to the study upstairs, shouting as he ran, "Dad, Uncle He's meal is ready, and he asked me to call you to eat."

After a while, Li Ze brought Qian Dakuan and Li Aiguo to the restaurant. Looking at the six dishes on the table, Li Ze smiled and said, "Xiao He, you've worked hard today. Old Qian, let's get ready to eat. You're in for a treat today."

Everyone then sat down on their respective chairs. After sitting down, Qian Dakuan looked at the dishes on the table and said, "Old Li, the delicious food is here, but where is the good wine you promised me? Why can't I see it?"

"Old Qian, don't worry, I'll go get it right away. When Xiao He came today, he brought a bottle of good Niulanshan wine." Li Ze then looked at Miao Aihua, "Mother, where is the bottle of wine that Xiao He brought?"

Miao Aihua rolled her eyes at Li Ze and said unhappily, "Wait a minute, I'll get it for you, you two drunkards." After saying that, Miao Aihua stood up and went to the living room to get the bottle of wine that He Yuzhu brought.

Li Ze and Qian Dakuan looked at each other and laughed at the same time. After a while, Miao Aihua came over with the wine brought by He Yuzhu, put the bottle in front of Li Ze, and said, "Here, this is the good wine that Xiao He brought."

Qian Dakuan took the bottle away from Li Ze without hesitation, opened the lid, took a deep breath and sniffed it. His eyes lit up and he said to Li Ze, "Old Li, how about we drink something else today? Let me take this bottle of wine away."

Li Ze snatched the wine from Qian Dakuan and said bluntly, "This is a gift from Xiao He. I asked you to have a taste. Just be content. As for your desire to take the bottle away, forget it."

Miao Aihua ignored the two bickering people and invited He Yuzhu to eat. As for the three children, they had already shifted their attention to the dishes on the table and buried their heads in eating. After eating and drinking, Miao Aihua said to He Yuzhu: "Xiao He, your cooking skills are so amazing."