Siheyuan: Silly Pillar is Kind

When he woke up in the morning, Shazhu felt dizzy and was wondering in his dreams what timely rain was.

I looked at the sky, it was still pitch black, but I had to get up.

As soon as he opened the quilt and felt the cold wind, Sha Zhu's face turned red. How embarrassing!

I glanced at Yu Shui who was still sleeping soundly and breathed a sigh of relief!

After getting dressed, I hurriedly got up and went to cook!

After quickly packing up and delivering the rain to the aunt, she went to work. She couldn't be late for work. She remembered what the rain said yesterday...

After Sha Zhu arrived, no one had come yet. He poured himself a glass of water, drank it for a while, and saw that no one had come yet. Seeing that the kitchen knife was not sharp enough, he started sharpening it again.

After sharpening four or five kitchen knives, someone finally came...

A few middle-aged women came in and saw Sha Zhu sharpening his knife: "Hey, Chef He, you're here so early! You're a nice guy, and you work hard. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Sha Zhu smiled and scratched his head: "Not yet, Auntie!"

Another auntie continued what Sha Zhu said: "Oh, that won't do. You are so young, you need to find a good girl quickly."

"That's right. The boy next door to me, Lao Wang, is 22 years old and still not married. That guy makes Lao Wang worried!"

"That's right. You can't let your temper run wild about this matter. It's good to get married early."

"That's right, Chef He. You've got the job now, it's time to think about getting married!"

"Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough, right?"

"Look at Chef He, he's got a strong build, he's a great guy to support his family!"

"Of course not. Hey, Chef He, have you practiced this before?"

"You have to get married now. You can't be alone anymore. How many people are there in your family?"

Sha Zhu couldn't get a word in for a long time. Seeing that the topic was getting off track, he quickly pulled back and looked at the second auntie who spoke up and said, "I think so too, auntie. I was just thinking of asking you for some advice."

The aunt said, "Okay, I'll keep this in mind. I have a distant niece who is very virtuous and pretty. I'll give you the letter when the time comes!"

Sha Zhu's eyes lit up and he said, "Thank you, Auntie..."

At this time, squad leader Wang Xu also came to work. Seeing Sha Zhu chatting enthusiastically with a few middle-aged women, he coughed!

The aunties were not afraid when they saw it was Wang Xu.

"Old Wang, why are you coughing? Can't you see we are chatting?"

"That's right, it's just a trivial matter!"

Several aunties rolled their eyes at Lao Wang and went back to work, leaving Sha Zhu standing there awkwardly. It was not right to leave, nor was it right to stay.

Squad leader Wang Xu had obviously experienced this kind of thing many times, so he didn't take it seriously. He looked at He Yuzhu and waved his hand with a smile.

After the two of them sat down, squad leader Wang Xu took a puff of cigarette and said, "I forgot to tell you yesterday that we don't have to come so early, and no one will score us or anything! Our chef will only be responsible for cooking, and basically we just need to arrive before ten o'clock!"

Sha Zhu said: "Hey, I know, squad leader!"

Squad leader Wang Xu took another puff of his cigarette and said, "By the way, the taste of yesterday's scallion-braised pork needs to be adjusted. The leader said it was a bit salty."

Sha Zhu was puzzled: "Is it salty? When I tasted it yesterday, it was... OK, squad leader, let me adjust it again!"

Squad leader Wang said with a smile: "Hehe! Zhuzi, if you don't know this, just learn from me. I am several dozen years older than you and I know more than you. Tell me the ingredients and I'll give you some advice!"

Sha Zhu said: "Okay, then we'll have to rely more on Squad Leader Wang!"

Squad leader Wang Xu continued to talk about the materials: "Okay, okay, Zhuzi, first tell me the ingredients of your braised pork with green onions, and I will give you some advice on what went wrong!"

"Hey... don't talk about this dish in a hurry. Squad leader, I want to ask about the heat in the stove. Otherwise, I don't know what's going on! Let's start with the heat. By the way, what dish is your specialty, Squad Leader Wang?" Sha Zhu chuckled and didn't respond.

Squad leader Wang Xu said unwillingly, "Don't talk about the heat. You have to feel it yourself. Otherwise, how can we say that every chef has his own taste? Just tell me what ingredients you have and I'll figure it out for you!"

Sha Zhu waved his hand and asked, "No hurry, no hurry, how about we start with knife skills?"

...After a moment of silence...

Wang Xu tapped his pipe. "By the way, I just heard you say that you've been thinking about personal issues recently?"

"Ah, isn't this the age I need? I'm thinking about finding a job and having a family sooner!" said Sha Zhu.

Squad leader Wang Xu said, "How about I introduce someone to you? When it comes to knowing people, I consider myself second to none. I've never met anyone who's first!"

Sha Zhu showed his signature silly smile and said, "Then I'm very grateful to you, squad leader, but I can't afford the matchmaker!"

When squad leader Wang Xu heard this, he didn't react: "What? You want me to work for you for free?"

"No, didn't I tell you, Squad Leader Wang, that we have to pay the matchmaker? Is that not okay?" Sha Zhu said aggrievedly.

Squad leader Wang Xu asked again, "How much are you prepared to pay if it works?"

"I, He Yuzhu, don't care how much others pay. I will definitely pay more than others. Don't worry about that..." Shazhu looked at Wang Xu, whose eyes were rolling around, and said, "Captain Wang, even though I'm young, I still know a lot about the rules of the older generation. But you also know the marriage law promulgated by the government last year. Don't let me break the law!"

"What a bullshit marriage law. We have been living like this for many years. He said we can't listen to our parents, so we can't listen to them? What? As parents, can we harm them?"

"Everyone has talked about the Marriage Law. This law abolished the feudal marriage system of arranged marriages and male superiority over women, and established a new democratic marriage system of freedom of marriage for men and women, monogamy, and equal rights for men and women."

Wang Xu was about to open his mouth to refute in class, but he squinted at He Yuzhu and held it back.

Squad leader Wang Xu thought for a moment and said, "Don't tell me these things. Now is not the time to talk about these things. It will take several years for any laws to be fully implemented. He Yuzhu, just tell me if you want a wife. If you say yes, I will give her to you!"

Sha Zhu quickly waved his hands: "Captain Wang, I really dare not violate the law. Well... I'm going to the toilet. You go ahead and do your work first!" After saying that, Sha Zhu quickly ran away under the pretext of peeing!

When he got to the toilet, Shazhu let out a sigh of relief, but as soon as he took a breath, his eyes bulged out and he asked, "Who just pooped so smelly?"

After strolling around the door for a while, he went into the kitchen because the wind became unbearable. When he saw this group of aunts, he immediately came up with an idea.

Sha Zhu deliberately said loudly: "Captain Wang, you see, I just got here and I also want to join the group. I used to cut and wash vegetables, but my hands are a little itchy when I stop doing it. Do you think I can go over and help a few aunties?"

The aunties do almost the same work every day, and it would be much easier with one more person. When they heard He Yuzhu say this, they quickly took over the conversation: "It's Lao Wang, we are a group! You can't stop Comrade He Yuzhu from joining the group!"

Squad leader Wang Xu was so choked by these words that he couldn't even finish his cigarette and started coughing.

Another auntie continued, "That's right. You see, Chef He can see that we are the ones who are the most tired. Old Wang, I think it's you, the squad leader, who didn't arrange the work properly!"

"Captain Wang, why don't you come over and help us wash the vegetables or something? Look at this soil, have you moved all the land here? How much more work does this add to our daily workload? Come and take a look!"

"I've told you so many times, why don't we just dig a well in the backyard, it would be so convenient to flush water, instead of having to fetch water bucket by bucket!"

Team leader Wang Xu quickly signaled the aunts to stop: "Hey! You guys are really interesting. If you feel tired in the cafeteria, should I apply for you to go to the workshop? Okay?"

This sentence made several aunts lose their power...

Squad leader Wang Xu continued, "Whose vegetables don't have soil on them? You have the nerve to say there's too much soil. You also want a well. How much does it cost to dig a well? You pay for it. Who said I'll dig it for you if you pay me?"

When squad leader Wang Xu saw that the group of aunts were about to fight back, he quickly softened his tone and said, "I didn't say that Comrade He Yuzhu couldn't help you, right? Since Comrade He Yuzhu took the initiative to help comrades, I can't stop him!"

Squad leader Wang Xu looked at Sha Zhu again and said, "Comrade He Yuzhu, then you can go over there. I can also help you get to know our comrades!"

It was also the first time that Sha Zhu saw someone change his expression so quickly. Looking at the righteous look of squad leader Wang Xu, he held back his laughter and went over to cut vegetables!

Actually, Sha Zhu wanted to improve his knife skills by cutting vegetables. A chef’s knife skills can only be improved through a lot of basic training so that he can become more proficient in the cooking process.

Sha Zhu said, "Auntie, leave the potato slicing to me!"

The aunt watched as He Yuzhu cut potato chips not only much faster, but also with almost the same thickness.

The aunt said, "Chef He, you are really good with your knife skills!"

Sha Zhu chuckled, and squad leader Wang Xu came over and curled his lips when he saw him.

Squad leader Wang Xu said: "The foundation of knife skills is cutting. Is this just the beginning?"

"Hello, you don't even help us cut it. Just go back and sit down!" said the aunt dissatisfiedly.

Sha Zhu nodded. He knew that squad leader Wang Xu was right. However, both the master and He Daqing had required Sha Zhu to only practice a small amount, whether it was cutting vegetables or cooking, and not to use excessive strength in his hands!

People like Sha Zhu are chefs with a traditional culture. If you look at the hands of squad leader Wang Xu and He Yuzhu, you can clearly see the difference. Sha Zhu applies hand cream every day to maintain the sensitivity of his palms. As long as his palms are sensitive, he can surpass squad leader Wang Xu after some training.

Sha Zhu actually knew that he should start to improve his hand strength and sensitivity after he turned 18, but now that He Daqing had run away, he could only improve his cooking skills in advance...