Siheyuan: From Being Called Shazhu

In a blink of an eye, He Yuzhu had been working as the "head chef" and "helping chef" for several days in a row.

Now, He Daqing has become accustomed to He Yuzhu going out after breakfast every morning and not coming back until he has dinner there in the evening.

Sometimes, when the weather was good and there was no wind, He Daqing would even carry He Yushui out and take a walk to He Yuzhu's side.

However, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, and after a few days of hard work, the garbage on the streets has been almost cleared. After lunch in the afternoon, everyone will be dismissed.

He Yuzhu took a small cloth bag of food and went home leisurely.

"Hey, whose young master is this? He still remembers that he has a home."

You know what, with a face... uh... It was a bit incongruous for He Daqing to say this with an expressionless face.

He Yuzhu couldn't help but want to laugh.

Fortunately, He Yuzhu had received professional training and was able to hold himself back.

"Dad, this is my salary, here it is."

Originally, He Yuzhu thought he could take this opportunity to change the subject.

However, the topic was diverted, but it was not diverted much.

"Can't you see I'm busy preparing things? I can't put them away by myself, so I have to wait for others to serve me."

Maybe He Daqing felt that he hadn't said enough, so he continued.

"You can either help me prepare the food or go back to the house and play with your sister. Don't show off in front of me. When I was your age, I was already earning a lot of money. Your food rations are barely enough to fill my stomach. What's there to show off?"

Well, this means He Daqing looks down on me.

Since He Daqing gave him two choices, He Yuzhu chose...

Only children make choices. He Yuzhu definitely wants them all.

Putting down his "salary", He Yuzhu ran into the inner room and played with He Yushui for a while.

Maybe it’s the mentality of an old father.

These days, even if He Yuzhu came back at night and He Daqing was already lying down, he would still run to the main room to play with He Yushui for a while.

There was even one time when He Yuzhu came back late and He Yushui had fallen asleep, but was woken up by He Yuzhu.

He Daqing was so angry that he almost chased him another two miles.

He Yushui is now about to celebrate his fourth birthday, and this is the time when he has the most fun.

In a few years, when He Yushui is 8 or 9 years old, he will be at the age where he will be abandoned by cats and dogs.

Looking at He Yushui who was having so much fun calling his brother "brother" all the time, He Yuzhu prayed silently in his heart, hoping that after another ten years or so, this little girl He Yushui would stop cheating her brother.

After playing with He Yushui for a while, He Yuzhu went out of the room and prepared the ingredients for tomorrow's New Year's Day with He Daqing.

"Hey, kid, you're good. You've been working hard outside these days, and your basic skills have improved."

He Yuzhu didn't know whether He Daqing was mocking him or sincerely saying that his basic skills were good.

I could only say "hmm" as a response.

He Daqing didn't care about He Yuzhu's reaction.

"After the New Year, if they still need you to help out, go. Your master is pretty good at cooking, so it won't hurt to learn more."

"Ah."

He Yuzhu agreed subconsciously, and then reacted.

"Ok?"

"Uh what? Go do your job."

He Daqing didn't explain anything to He Yuzhu, but just let He Yuzhu continue to work.

He Yuzhu then started to work silently.

He would never tell He Daqing that Master Sun was just a master, not a master.

Not to mention saying that Master Sun is a vegetable chef.

In this era, ordinary people celebrated the New Year with just those things.

Even if He Daqing is a cook, there won't be much more.

With He Yuzhu's help, the father and son quickly prepared the ingredients.

"Okay, I won't cook for a while. You should pick out two side dishes for me and make something for your sister. This will be a test of your cooking skills."

After putting all the things away, He Daqing said something to He Yuzhu and went back to the inner room.

If it were before, He Yuzhu might have been afraid of being tested on his skills by He Daqing.

But now, with clear memories, He Yuzhu is not afraid at all.

Soon, He Daqing's two side dishes and the food for himself and He Yushui were ready and brought to the table in the inner room.

He Daqing first used chopsticks to taste the dish that He Yuzhu had specially prepared for He Yushui, nodded calmly, and then began to feed He Yushui.

This made He Yuzhu look very upset.

Soon, after feeding He Yushui, the father and son also started eating.

Otherwise, how can we talk about He Daqing's big hand?

Originally, He Yuzhu thought that since He Daqing nodded, he had passed the test.

But unexpectedly, He Daqing found fault with He Yuzhu while eating.

One moment they said the vegetables were cut too thinly, the next moment they said He Yuzhu was lazy and didn't turn the spoon over when he should, resulting in some dishes not being cooked to the same degree.

But He Yuzhu couldn't say anything.

Because what He Daqing said were indeed some of his problems.

He Daqing must have pointed out at least eight if not ten problems with the meal.

By the time He Yuzhu finished cleaning the table, it was getting dark outside.

"Zhu Zi, Zhu Zi, the general is looking for you."

Outside the house, someone shouted, but the originally noisy yard suddenly became quiet.

He Daqing stopped He Yuzhu who wanted to go out, and walked out of the room through the curtain with a serious but expressionless face.

After He Daqing came out and saw that it was Master Sun, he felt relieved.

"Zhu Zi, come out, your master is here to see you."

"Oh well."

He Yuzhu, who was already prying open the door, agreed and came out.

This happened inside the compound, and in front of the neighbors. It would be a miracle if He Yuzhu let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Master, you are here, come in and sit down."

"Yes, brother, come in and warm up."

He Daqing also lifted the door curtain and made way for Master Sun.

It should be said that the father and son coordinated their movements extremely smoothly, leaving Master Sun no chance to interrupt.

Master Sun looked at the father and son, not annoyed, but nodded with a smile.

"Brother, I won't go in. I have something else to do. I heard Zhuzi said he has learned how to stew meat, so I want to borrow Zhuzi to help us make some. Do you think it's convenient?"

"Braised pork?"

He Daqing still looked at He Yuzhu with an expressionless face.

And now, He Yuzhu's forehead was already sweating.

You know, he is hiding the truth from both sides.

I told Master Sun that I learned how to smoke, stew and braise sauces from him just to make an excuse for my Northeastern accent.

But He Daqing didn't know.

Because he told He Daqing that the reason he speaks with a Northeastern accent now was entirely because he was abducted by Master Sun and his men.

Now, after what Master Sun said, everything was revealed.

Just as He Yuzhu was about to say something to make amends, He Daqing spoke first.

"Hey, brother, look at what you said. There is no such thing as convenient or inconvenient. Zhuzi has learned a lot since he was a child, but he is not proficient in any of them. It is his honor to be able to help you."

After saying that, he slapped He Yuzhu.

"Zhu Zi, why don't you hurry up and follow your master."

"Huh? Oh, oh, okay."

Since He Daqing has already said that "I learned all kinds of things since elementary school", then we can just get away with it.

He Yuzhu quickly walked to Master Sun's side.

"Dad, I'm going to help Master and the others first. You should go to bed early and don't have to wait for me."

Seeing this, Master Sun didn't say anything, but nodded at He Daqing with a smile.

"Brother, thank you for your help. I will take the pillar back first."

"Okay, brother, if you have nothing to do later, I'll go over and help after I've settled my daughter down."

Seeing that the two were getting further and further away, He Yuzhu felt relieved.

Master Sun chatted with He Daqing for a while, then took He Yuzhu back to their company's temporary base.

"Zhu Zi, this is the wild boar sent to our company. Take a look, the spices and other things are all here. Just tell me what to do with it."

He Yuzhu felt a little overwhelmed when he saw the wild boar, which weighed about 70 to 80 kilograms and had been cut up, on the chopping board.

To be honest, in later generations, He Yuzhu's smoked and marinated dishes became well-known in his area.

But, that's just parts of the pig, or chicken and some soy products.

I can only eat some beef, but that's the end of it.

With a whole wild boar like this one, He Yuzhu had no confidence at all.

You know, domestic pigs and wild boars are two completely different concepts.

Even if the meat on domestic pigs in later generations is lean, there is still fat in it.

When braising, the fat is stewed out and the aroma emerges.

However, the wild boar meat in front of me is not fat at all.

Just by looking at the quality of the meat, you can tell that if this thing is not cooked well, not to mention the taste, the texture alone will be terrible.

Even people with bad teeth may not be able to chew it well.

However, He Yuzhu has been forced into a job and has no choice but to do it.

"Master, let me be frank with you. I have never handled a wild boar before. If I fail to do it, don't blame me."

He Yuzhu rolled up his sleeves and discussed the advance preparations with Master Sun.

"Haha, don't worry, no one will say anything to you."

Master Sun smiled and assured He Yuzhu, then pointed to the five or six soldiers behind him and introduced them to He Yuzhu:

"These guys are from our company's kitchen. Let them help you out so you don't have to worry about your lack of strength."

After Master Sun finished his introduction, He Yuzhu also understood.

Originally, He Yuzhu was wondering, there are more than 100 people in Master Sun’s company, is there only one cook?

Otherwise, when the cook sprained his ankle, the quartermaster who had just been "demoted" from company commander would have to take over directly.

Now, He Yuzhu understood.

It turned out that they were divided into sections, and each person was responsible for the meals of a section.

The responsibility for Master Sun's part should have been borne by the unlucky cook.

He Yuzhu didn't know what to say about this. He could only silently thank the unlucky guy who gave him the opportunity.

He Yuzhu checked the spices on the table and nodded.

"Master, we have enough spices. Can I start now?"

"Well, you guys help."

After saying this, Master Sun suddenly thought of something and quickly added:

"Don't worry, they won't watch you when you add the ingredients. Also, take all the spices on the table away when you're done, so you don't have to worry about them being able to figure it out."