Siheyuan: A Family of Loyal and Brave People

With a flick of the knife, the bright red chicken blood flowed down the knife into the bowl and quickly cooled and solidified in the cold environment outside.

The rooster with its throat cut struggled hard, but due to the huge difference in strength, it could not break free from the human's hands. Its life force gradually faded away, and it finally returned to calm.

Seeing that the big rooster was completely motionless, He Yuzhu slowly loosened his hand, touched the sweat on his forehead, and let out a long sigh.

After so much trouble from morning till night, it finally calms down.

He Yushui, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly handed over the stainless steel basin, and Qin Huairu also brought hot water. They plucked the chicken, gutted it, and processed the internal organs.

In an age of material scarcity, everything must be used to the maximum extent possible.

Not only chicken meat, but also chicken feathers and chicken gall are available for purchase.

The whole family worked together and cleaned the big rooster in a short time.

Many children from neighboring families in the Central Courtyard watched the He family slaughtering pigs from afar, and their mouths were watering with greed.

Such a big rooster is delicious no matter how it is cooked. It is much better than the pickled vegetable steamed buns at home.

The neighbors looked helpless and had to pull the children back into the house and not allow them to watch anymore.

If you continue to watch, you will find that the child will not eat well at night.

Carrying the chicken back into the house, He Yuzhu picked up the kitchen knife and cut the chicken into pieces in a few strokes. He then heated the oil over high heat and made a large pot of stir-fried chicken. He also cooked a pot of soup with the chicken blood and pickles.

When the chicken was served on the table, He Yushui rubbed her hands together, her eyes shining.

He Yushui had only eaten a little at noon and was hungry, so this pot of fried chicken looked even more tempting.

"Don't rush to eat it, be careful of the burn."

He Yuzhu said this as he put a huge chicken leg into his sister's bowl.

He Yushui smelled the fragrance of the chicken leg and didn't take her brother's reminder to heart at all. She took a bite and it was so hot that she stuck out her tongue.

"Hey, it's true."

He Yuzhu shook his head, couldn't help laughing, and passed the other chicken leg to his wife.

"Huai Ru, you should eat more too."

The big rooster was lost and found again, which took He Yuzhu a lot of energy. How could he justify today's hard work if he didn't eat more?

The three of them had just picked up their chopsticks and were eating happily when they suddenly heard shouting from outside the door.

He Yuzhu frowned, put down his chopsticks and walked out.

When I opened the door, I saw an old woman with gray hair and wearing a worn cotton-padded jacket standing in front of the door with a broken bowl in her hand.

"Ma'am, why are you here?

What's up? "

The visitor was an old lady who had no children and lived in the backyard. Due to her old age, her hearing was not good, so the neighbors called her the deaf old lady.

The deaf old lady lives in the backyard and He Yuzhu lives in the front yard. The two families don’t have much interaction on weekdays. I don’t know what she meant by suddenly coming over with a bowl today.

"Zhu Zi, my family has just run out of food today.

It’s late, and it’s inconvenient to go out, so I want to borrow some steamed buns from you.”

The deaf old lady said somewhat embarrassedly.

The old lady was old and had difficulty moving. Seeing her standing alone in the cold wind, He Yuzhu felt pity and nodded without thinking much.

"Okay, wait a moment, I'll take it."

A few steamed buns are nothing to He Yuzhu, so he will try his best to help if he can.

He Yuzhu was about to turn around and leave when the deaf old lady suddenly sniffed and asked, "Zhuzi, what's that smell so good?"

He Yuzhu was slightly startled, and a bad premonition arose in his heart. He said awkwardly: "Nothing, I just made some meat dishes for my wife and sister to nourish their bodies."

"Oh, the weather has been cold recently, and I feel a little weak, you see..."

The deaf old lady who borrowed the steamed buns became even more greedy and even wanted to borrow some meat to take back home to eat.

He Yuzhu's face turned stern and he felt very unhappy.

The two families were just ordinary neighbors and did not have much friendship on weekdays. She had already done her best by being willing to lend the steamed buns, but she was still not satisfied.

If He Yuzhu agreed to lend the meat, the neighbors in the yard would definitely follow suit and come to ask for the meat.

A rooster is indeed a lot of food, but it is definitely not enough for the neighbors to share.

"Old lady, you are not feeling well, so go back to your room and rest. It is cold outside and it is not good to catch a cold.

I'll go back and get you some steamed buns."

He Yuzhu didn't want to waste time and prepared to take some steamed buns and send her away quickly.

The deaf old lady was very unhappy when she heard this. She took the bowl and stopped hiding it. She said directly, "Zhu Zi, I am your grandmother in terms of age. You have been back for such a long time and you have never visited me. Make a bowl of chicken for your grandmother today as a way of honoring your elders."

He Yuzhu is a man who responds to soft words and not hard ones. If the deaf old lady praises him a few more times and plays a pitiful role, he might even give her something.

Relying on his age and putting pressure on her, He Yuzhu refused to agree.

Not to mention chicken, He Yuzhu didn't even plan to give steamed buns to the deaf old lady.

"Calling you old lady is a sign of respect for you.

My grandmother passed away a long time ago, you are just trying to make up a relative.

It’s getting late, you should go back quickly.

I still have to eat, so please go on."

He Yuzhu ordered them to leave. The deaf old lady was so angry that her face was wrinkled and she looked ferocious, completely devoid of the kindness she had at the beginning.

"Shazhu, you little bastard, you don't know how to respect the elderly and love the young, you..."

The deaf old lady's sharp curses echoed in the central courtyard. Yi Zhonghai, who heard the noise, hurried out to check.

"Old lady, Zhuzi, what's going on?"

Yi Zhonghai was eating in the house, thinking about how to give Liu Haizhong a reprimand tonight so that he wouldn't be so presumptuous.

Who would have thought that before the whole hospital meeting started, something bad happened in He Yuzhu's family again.

"Yi Zhonghai, as the manager, you should take care of things.

The little bastards in the yard are so cocky that they don't take us old people seriously at all.

When I was making straw sandals for the troops, they were still playing in the mud.

Without me, would they be able to have the good life they have today?!"

The deaf old lady shook the broken bowl in her hand and complained to Yi Zhonghai.

"Old lady, calm down, calm down."

Yi Zhonghai said a few words of comfort, then looked at He Yuzhu and said, "Zhuzi, why did you make the old lady so angry? Hurry up and apologize to the old lady."

The deaf old lady is the oldest and most senior in the orphanage, has no children, is carefree, fearless, and is the most difficult to deal with bachelors.

Yi Zhonghai didn't want to argue with her, so he could only ask He Yuzhu to admit his mistake.

"fart!"

Unexpectedly, He Yuzhu not only did not give in, but instead glared and yelled, cursing: "You are an old woman with bound feet who has never even left Beijing, when have you ever made straw sandals for the army?!

He just makes up stories and talks nonsense!

The good life we ​​have today is the result of countless sacrifices. How dare you say such things! "

He Yuzhu may not care about other things, but he cannot tolerate any sand in his eyes when it comes to matters involving the army.

"you……"

The exposed deaf old lady pointed at He Yuzhu in frustration, her whole arm shaking.

"You what?!

I have been in the army before, do you really think I am ignorant and can let you fool me?"

He Yuzhu directly confronted him.

He was a veteran who had served in the army for several years and had even been to the front line. How could the deaf old woman's lies full of loopholes deceive him?