Siheyuan: Starting with one acre and three fen of land

"dong dong dong~"

A knock on the door broke the silence in the room. He Yuzhu put down the paintbrush in his hand and shouted in confusion: "Who is it? Wait a minute."

He stood up and walked to the door, opened it and saw Aunt Qian standing outside. He smiled and asked, "Aunt Qian, good evening! What do you want to talk to me about?"

Aunt Qian smiled and nodded, and said, "Zhu Zi, my eldest son came back during the day. He has settled everything there and plans to set up a table, so he asked me to come and inform you."

He Yuzhu's heart moved and he remembered the agreement he had made with Zhao Xincheng.

He nodded and said, "Oh, about this! Did Cheng-ge say a specific date? I won't rest until two days later."

Aunt Qian saw that He Yuzhu's rest time did not conflict with hers, and a happy smile appeared on her face: "No problem, he said that these few days are fine. Then let the third child go with you and show you the way."

He Yuzhu breathed a sigh of relief and responded with a smile, "Aunt Qian, that's no problem. I'll be there early then."

Seeing that He Yuzhu had agreed, Aunt Qian nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, I won't bother you anymore. Zhuzi, you should also go to bed early. I see that you have been turning off the lights very lately."

He Yuzhu felt a warm feeling in his heart, knowing that Aunt Qian really cared about him.

"Okay! Aunt Qian, you are right. I will go to bed early."

He Yuzhu watched Aunt Qian's figure disappear into the night, closed the door, returned to his desk, and devoted himself to the drawing again.

Early in the morning, He Yuzhu steamed buns in the kitchen, tidied them up, walked out of the kitchen and went towards Zhao's house.

Arriving at the Zhao family's door, He Yuzhu knocked hard and shouted, "Xinli, are you up? Hurry up and wash up, come to my place for breakfast, and we'll leave early."

Zhao Xinli's voice came from inside the room: "Got it, Brother Zhuzi. I'll get up right away."

He Yuzhu heard the rustling sounds of people getting up in the house, nodded with satisfaction, then turned around and returned to the kitchen.

The winter wind howled as He Yuzhu and Zhao Xinli waited for the bus at the station. Zhao Xinli rubbed his red cheeks from time to time, trying to drive away the cold.

"Brother Zhuzi, look! The bus is coming!" Zhao Xinli suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted happily.

He Yuzhu heard the shouting and looked into the distance, only to see a bus slowly approaching with a conspicuous gas bag on the body of the bus.

He could not help but frown and smile bitterly. This bus with a gas bag on top was really unsafe.

But today there was no other way. It would take dozens of miles to get there by bicycle. I had to take Zhao Xinli with me, and I was afraid that my old bicycle would break down halfway.

He Yuzhu shook his head helplessly, took Zhao Xinli onto the bus, paid for the tickets.

The two of them sat on the bus, swaying with the bumps of the vehicle. After a long wait, the bus finally arrived at its destination.

He Yuzhu patted Zhao Xinli on the shoulder: "Xinli, wake up! We have arrived."

Zhao Xinli responded dazedly: "Oh~ Are we there yet?"

"Let's go! Get off and take me to Brother Cheng's house." He Yuzhu was the first to get off the bus.

As the cold wind blew, Zhao Xinli suddenly sobered up a bit. He looked up and around, then pointed to a road and said, "Brother Zhuzi, let's go that way."

He Yuzhu waved at him, signaling him to go ahead: "Okay, let's go! Let's go quickly, it's getting late."

Zhao Xinli led the way for more than ten minutes and arrived in front of a yard. He stopped, turned around and said, "Brother Zhuzi, this is it. Let's go in!"

The two walked into the yard and saw Aunt Qian and Zhao Xinren already busy in the yard.

Aunt Qian paused for a moment when she heard the door open. She turned around and saw two people coming in.

She wiped her hands on her apron and greeted him with a smile: "Zhu Zi, you are here! Come in and have a glass of water to warm yourself up."

"Aunt Qian, that's not necessary. Let's clean up together first and don't delay anything." He Yuzhu waved at Aunt Qian and started to help.

Zhao Xinrui in the room heard the noise in the yard, lifted the door curtain and looked out.

When she saw He Yuzhu standing in the yard, her eyes lit up and she ran towards him happily: "Brother Zhuzi, you're here!"

He Yuzhu stopped and turned to look at Xiaorui who was running over. He skillfully took out the candy and handed it to her.

He reached out and touched her head: "Xiao Rui, Brother Zhuzi will work first, you go to the house and wait for the delicious food."

"Okay, thank you Brother Zhuzi." Zhao Xinrui took the candy and ran back to the house happily.

Aunt Qian stood not far away, watching the familiar scene. She looked at He Yuzhu who was walking over with a smile on her face, her eyes full of admiration.

"Zhu Zi, you should go in and take a rest! We are the only ones here."

"Aunt Qian, there's really no need. Let's get started!"

With the addition of He Yuzhu, the pace in the yard increased a lot, and the ingredients were processed busy and orderly.

He Yuzhu looked at the washed ingredients in front of him, then turned his gaze to Aunt Qian: "Aunt, which kitchen is this? Some ingredients need to be marinated in advance."

Aunt Qian pointed to the west. "Zhu, the newly built room on the west side. Which ones do you think need to be pickled? I'll help you carry them in."

After Aunt Qian finished speaking, she turned to Zhao Xinren and ordered, "Second brother, go get some water. Fill up the water tank in the yard."

Zhao Xinren nodded, picked up the bucket and walked out of the yard.

He Yuzhu marinated the ingredients skillfully and stewed the chicken soup on the stove in advance.

He looked at the remaining ingredients that needed to be fried, then he wiped his hands and walked out of the kitchen.

In the yard, Zhao Xinren was pouring water into a vat. The water made a loud noise and the vat was almost full.

He Yuzhu walked up to him and said, "Brother Ren, let's take a break together."

Zhao Xinren put the bucket and the carrying pole away and responded with a smile: "Okay! I'll be there soon."

Walking up to He Yuzhu, Zhao Xinren bowed his hands in thanks: "Zhuzi, thank you so much for coming today."

"Hey! Brother Ren, you're welcome! Come, have a cigarette!" He Yuzhu took out a cigarette box and handed one to Zhao Xinren.

Zhao Xinren took a quick look and reached out to take it: "Zhu Zi, I won't be polite then. I just like this. Oh! It's still Daqianmen."

He skillfully took out a match, lit the cigarette in his mouth, took a deep breath, and had a satisfied look on his face.

"Zhu Zi, don't you want to smoke?" Zhao Xinren exhaled the smoke from his mouth and watched He Yuzhu put the cigarette box directly back into his pocket.

He Yuzhu smiled and shook his head: "Brother Ren, I'd better not smoke, so as to avoid the smell of cigarettes."

"Oh, that's right! Zhuzi, it's better not to smoke at this job! Look at what I say." Zhao Xinren said apologetically.

While the two were smoking and chatting in the yard, Zhao Xincheng walked in from the gate with a few people.

As soon as Zhao Xincheng entered the room, he saw He Yuzhu and his partner chatting, so he waved to He Yuzhu to come over.

He Yuzhu apologized to Zhao Xinren and walked over.

"Brother Cheng!"

Zhao Xincheng looked at him and joked, "Okay! Today we'll see how good you are at cooking. I've already said it."

He Yuzhu smiled confidently and said, "Let's not talk about other things, this will definitely not embarrass us! Brother Cheng, I'll go to the kitchen and start cooking."

He Yuzhu bowed to everyone and turned back to the kitchen.

Zhao Xincheng introduced the people who came in with him, "This is my brother from my courtyard. His family has been chefs for two generations and they are very skilled.

Even though he is young, he has mastered this skill."

"Brother Zhao, we are waiting!"

Zhao Xincheng smiled when he heard it: "Don't worry, Lao Lu. You will know after you try it."