Siheyuan: Starting with one acre and three fen of land

After dinner, He Yuzhu sent the old man back to the backyard, settled him down, walked out of the room and back to the middle courtyard.

At this time in the He family's living room, Aunt Wang was cleaning up the leftover food scraps and dishes on the table.

"Aunt Wang, why haven't you gone home yet?" He Yuzhu stepped over the door and saw Aunt Wang helping to clean up, and shouted.

Aunt Wang looked up at him and smiled, "Zhu Zi, I'll help you clean it up. It won't be a big deal if it's done right."

He Yuzhu walked forward quickly and started to clean up: "Aunt, there are only a few dishes and chopsticks. I can do it myself."

Aunt Wang did not stop what she was doing and whispered, "Zhu Zi, speaking of that girl, I just remembered something that I almost forgot to tell you."

He Yuzhu paused and turned his head to look at her: "Aunt, go ahead. I'm listening."

Aunt Wang stopped what she was doing and continued, "The wife of the Ma family in Hutong told me today that someone spread bad things about that girl and she scolded him. She asked me to tell you about it."

He Yuzhu frowned and nodded: "Aunt Wang, I know about this. I will deal with it. Thank you for your reminder."

Aunt Wang waved her hand and continued to clean the table: "You don't need to thank me for this. This is all due to your kindness. Zhuzi, let's clean up the dishes first so you can go to bed early."

After saying that, Aunt Wang put the dishes and chopsticks into the wooden basin and walked towards the yard with it.

"Got it!"

He Yuzhu greeted them and followed behind with the remaining dishes and chopsticks.

With the help of Aunt Wang, the two quickly washed the dishes.

"Aunt Wang, thank you so much. Please go home first! I can clean up the living room myself."

He Yuzhu said goodbye to Aunt Wang, walked back to the living room, picked up a broom and swept the garbage on the floor.

After cleaning the living room, he took out his pocket watch to check the time. It was not too late.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, tapping his fingers on the table, thinking about what Aunt Wang had just mentioned.

Chen Xueru came here just yesterday, and rumors started spreading so quickly. It seems like we have to arrange someone to find the source this time.

He Yuzhu made a decision in his mind and immediately stood up and walked out.

Passing through the hanging flower gate and coming to the front yard, he saw Yu Shui and Xiao Yu playing.

"Yushui, I'm going to go out for a walk and will be back soon. If you can't wait, go to bed first."

When Yu Shui heard what he said, she shook her head and looked at him: "Brother, I'll wait for you to come back."

He Yuzhu smiled, waved and walked out of the yard.

After exiting the courtyard gate, He Yuzhu walked out along the alley, turned several intersections, and finally stopped in front of a courtyard.

He Yuzhu looked at the mottled courtyard gate, walked up and knocked on the door, then stood in front of the door and waited quietly.

After a while, footsteps were heard in the yard. Then a question was heard: "Who?"

"He Yuzhu, Zhima Hutong."

The people inside opened the gate when they heard the name. A long face appeared behind the door, looking at He Yuzhu.

The man stepped through the gate, looked around, and said to He Yuzhu, "Master He, what's the matter so late? Why don't you go in and talk about it first?"

He Yuzhu glanced inside and saw the dim lights and mottled shadows in the yard. From time to time, he heard bursts of noise, and knew that the small gambling stall had opened for business.

He shook his head: "Brother Ma, it's nothing serious, it will be over soon."

Seeing this, Brother Ma did not force it and waved his hand: "Master He, then tell me what's going on."

"Someone is spreading rumors about me today. Please help me find the source, Brother Ma." He Yuzhu said directly without hesitation.

After listening to this, Brother Ma touched his chin and thought carefully about the recent developments in this area. It seemed that there was such a thing.

He nodded and asked, "Do you want us to use some tricks, or just find the person?"

He Yuzhu heard this and thought for a moment, and decided that there was no need to let them do anything.

Although everyone says that Brother Ma is reliable, it is not appropriate to get involved in this kind of things, so as not to get implicated by them.

After he thought it over, he said bluntly, "Just tell me when you find someone. I have other plans for what's next."

Seeing this, Ma Ge thought that no matter what He Yuzhu thought, this was an easy job, so he nodded happily and agreed: "No problem, I'll take this job."

He Yuzhu took out a small roll of money from his pocket and handed it to him: "Brother Ma, I'll leave this matter to you."

Ma Ge reached out to take the roll of money, and quickly ran his fingers over the money. Knowing that it was a large amount of money, he smiled and said, "Okay, Master He, you are very open-minded. I will go and get the money quickly, and you just wait."

He Yuzhu bowed to him and said with a smile: "That couldn't be better. Brother Ma, thank you very much!"

"Master He, please take care!"

Ma Ge watched He Yuzhu's figure disappear into the darkness, tossed the roll of money in his hand, whistled, turned around and happily went back to the yard and closed the gate.

After leaving the yard, He Yuzhu walked back in the alley in the dark.

He thought along the way: "I don't know how long it will take to find it, but these local snakes are good at gathering information."

Riding a bicycle on the road early in the morning, He Yuzhu tightened his coat and muttered to himself: "The weather suddenly changed so quickly. It seems that this winter will be even colder!"

After crossing the streets and alleys, He Yuzhu finally arrived at the restaurant, parked his bicycle, rubbed his arms and walked into the kitchen.

After entering the kitchen, he instantly felt much warmer. He stretched and heard Liu Zixing's voice in his ears.

"Zhu Zi, you're here! How do you feel after being away for a few days?"

He Yuzhu looked in the direction of the voice and walked over with a smile: "Master Liu, good morning! I feel fine these days. I haven't done much by myself. I just speak."

"Haha, your master chef's moves are extraordinary!" Liu Zixing joked, his eyes teasing, and whispered, "Zhu Zi, are you dating someone?"

When He Yuzhu heard this, he was puzzled: "No way, how did you know this?"

"Hehe, a girl came to see you the day after you left. Zhang Mao remembers that she was the girl who came to see you last time." Liu Zixing laughed softly.

He Yuzhu felt uneasy when he heard this. He left in a hurry, and Chen Xueru came to look for him the next day, but couldn't find him. The day before yesterday, she went directly to the courtyard to look for Yushui.

He Yuzhu returned to the restaurant yesterday, and he didn't even remember to make a phone call. Thinking of this, he suddenly had a headache and smiled bitterly.

"What's wrong? Zhuzi. Does this matter need to be kept secret?" Liu Zixing was a little confused.

He Yuzhu shook his head and said in a dry voice: "That's not the case, it was just that something happened unexpectedly that day and I forgot to inform her about it."

When Liu Zixing heard this, the corners of his mouth curled up. He gave him a meaningful look, patted his shoulder, and left him there thinking quietly.

"It seems I have to make a phone call this morning to see what's going on." After thinking this over, He Yuzhu walked towards the stove.