Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

Page 171

"Wait, you're eating with me too? So, are you serving me or am I supporting you?"

Xu Damao was immediately displeased upon seeing this, but he was unable to move his body and could only worry helplessly.

"Why all the fuss about a meal? I'm supposed to be serving you, but I need to eat too. Besides, we've been neighbors for so many years, how much of your food could I possibly eat?"

He Yuzhu showed no sign of stopping, and Xu Damao had no choice but to endure the stench emanating from He Yuzhu while eating his favorite braised pork.

"Wait, what's that smell? It smells so good!"

"It tastes like braised pork, what else could it taste like!"

"It's definitely not braised pork, it smells like charcoal grilling, wait, it smells like lamb!"

Xu Damao stopped eating and sniffed the air as he spoke.

"You know what, I think I can smell it too."

He Yuzhu frowned slightly. After all, he used to be a cook in the factory canteen, so he was quite sensitive to these kinds of smells.

He put down his chopsticks and walked in the direction the aroma was coming from. Xu Damao watched him curiously from behind.

"Good heavens, what are Li Xiangdong and his wife doing in the yard?"

He Yuzhu walked to the window, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed loudly.

"Huh? Is that Li Xiangdong and Yu Li? What are they doing? Tell me quickly!"

Chapter 217 Grilled Skewers in the Courtyard

Xu Damao perked up, staring with curious eyes, eager to climb to the window and see what was going on.

"How is it? Has it marinated well?"

"Yes, Dong-ge, it's delicious."

Li Xiangdong and Yu Li were sitting in the middle of the courtyard. In front of them was an iron stove with various kinds of meat and vegetables neatly arranged on the iron rack with bamboo skewers.

"What kind of way is this to eat it? It looks delicious!"

"Yeah, Li Xiangdong loves to come up with all these new things, and Yu Li's mouth is really enjoying the ride!"

“I saw that meat was sizzling and oozing oil. My family doesn’t eat that much meat in a whole year.”

The fragrance and the spectacular sight attracted not only He Yuzhu and Xu Damao, but everyone in the courtyard peered out of their windows, yet no one dared to approach and disturb them.

Just then, Yan Bugui, wearing a thin jacket and pushing up his glasses, walked over.

"You young people really know how to eat! What's this called?"

"Grilled skewers."

Li Xiangdong couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to the old man, only Yu Li replied to him out of politeness.

"Barbecued skewers? This is the first time I've ever heard of them."

"This is mutton, right? Mutton is a good thing, but you young people are already full of energy, so eating such 'heaty' foods is not good for you. On the contrary, it is good for us older people to eat it."

After saying that, Yan Bugui sat down directly next to the stove, his stomach rumbling and his mouth constantly swallowing saliva. It was clear from his words that he wanted to ask for some mutton.

In his view, Li Xiangdong was the least short of money and food, and it wouldn't be bad if he could just smile and get some meat to eat.

"Teacher Yan, someone as knowledgeable as you, I wonder if you've ever heard this saying: 'Old people who meddle in other people's business often die young.'"

When Li Xiangdong called him Teacher Yan, Yan Bugui was secretly pleased, but he didn't expect this sentence to follow.

"Li Xiangdong, what... what are you saying? That's so uncivilized!"

Yan Bugui stood up, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"If you're still planning to keep getting in the way, then I have something even less polite to tell you. Want to try it?"

Hearing Li Xiangdong say this, Yan Bugui quickly stood up. After such a long contest, he knew that Li Xiangdong was not someone to be trifled with, and there was no need to make a fool of himself and let others laugh at him.

"Dong-ge, how did you come up with this idea? It's both creative and delicious!"

After Yan Bugui left, Yu Li looked at Li Xiangdong with admiration on her face.

"I'm glad you like it. Next time, get more ingredients and we'll eat at a place with a nice view."

Li Xiangdong laughed, saying that he really couldn't explain the origin of the barbecue.

"Does He Yuzhu live here?"

A middle-aged man suddenly ran into the yard and asked a question. Li Xiangdong looked up and saw that it was Zhang Feng, who had spoken arrogantly in front of him that morning.

"That room."

Li Xiangdong pointed westward, showing great disdain for Zhang Feng's rudeness.

Seeing Li Xiangdong sitting there eating, Zhang Feng was quite surprised, but he had something urgent to discuss with He Yuzhu, so he headed straight in the direction Li Xiangdong was pointing.

"Hey Fengzi, what brings you here?"

He Yuzhu had just returned to his room and was getting ready to take off his clothes and go to sleep after a busy day.

"Good heavens, what's that smell in your room, senior brother?"

As soon as Zhang Feng entered, he was nearly knocked over by the stench emanating from the house. It has to be said, He Yuzhu had thoroughly permeated the entire place with his stench.

"Alright, alright, let's get down to business."

He Yuzhu urged him somewhat awkwardly, saying that he was tired after a long day and just wanted to go to sleep early.

"Senior brother, have you heard? Our master is coming out tomorrow!"

"What? This old man is coming out tomorrow? How come so soon?"

"After all, they are so old. I heard it's to let these elderly people go home and have a proper New Year."

"This... what do you mean by calling me here?"

At this point, He Yuzhu paused and asked, having already roughly guessed Zhang Feng's purpose.

“A teacher for a day is a father for life, right? I think it wasn’t easy for our master to bring us out of school. He’s so old, he must have suffered a lot inside. As his disciples, shouldn’t we at least give him a welcome home and send him back home?”

"There's food and drink inside, so it won't be too bad."

"Senior brother, what are you saying? You and Master lived in the same courtyard. He used to help you and protect you in everything. Now that he's in trouble, you're just laughing at him?"

"Don't try to pin this on me! I'm heartbroken even if my master goes to jail!"

“Master will be released at 10 a.m. tomorrow. We’ll be there to greet him at the gate on time. Oh, by the way, aren’t you in charge of the factory’s sanitation now? Bring a new broom from the factory and sweep away the bad luck for Master.”

Zhang Feng made all the arrangements in one fell swoop, showing that he always acted this self-righteous way, no matter who he was in front of.

"To be honest with you, Fengzi, I can't go tomorrow."

He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment, but still refused.

"Why? Didn't we just agree on this? How can you be such a bad apprentice, He Yuzhu?"

Chapter 118 Qin Huairu teases He Yuzhu

Upon hearing He Yuzhu's attitude, Zhang Feng immediately became anxious and addressed him by his full name, not even bothering to call him "senior brother."

"Fengzi... your senior brother has his reasons too..."

"You have no idea, several factory leaders are targeting me right now. Just a few days ago they assigned me to clean the toilets, and now they've assigned me to clean the entire factory. Even if I had three heads and six arms, I couldn't finish it all!"

Seeing this, He Yuzhu sighed and said that although this was an excuse he made up to avoid picking up Yi Zhonghai, it was indeed the truth.

"Are the leaders targeting you? That shouldn't be the case. Didn't Director Yang and my mentor used to have a good relationship? Why isn't he stepping in to help you at a time like this?"

"Don't even mention it, it's all the extra work that Director Yang gave me."

Hearing He Yuzhu say this, Zhang Feng didn't know what to say.

"Besides, I can't wash off the stench I have every day, so going there would only bring bad luck to Master. So you should go, and remember to explain to Master for me."

He Yuzhu added that, of course, these were not the main reasons he didn't want to pick up Yi Zhonghai. He knew that Yi Zhonghai had completely fallen from grace, and if he were to side with him again, he would probably be even more unlucky than he was now.

As for Zhang Feng, he probably hasn't grasped the situation yet, and his time to be taught a lesson is still ahead.

"Okay, I'll be going now, senior. There's still a lot of work waiting for me at the factory."

After saying that, Zhang Feng hurriedly walked out. He had only completed less than half of the task Li Xiangdong had given him, and he was afraid he would have to stay up all night.

He Yuzhu escorted Zhang Feng to the courtyard gate and happened to see Qin Huairu leaning against the door frame, seemingly looking around. Naturally, he rushed over to chat with her for a bit.

"Sister Qin, it's so late, why are you standing here alone? What are you looking at? Aren't you cold?"

He Yuzhu walked behind Qin Huairu, gently patted Qin Huairu's shoulder, and then quickly withdrew his hand.

"Hey, look at these young people, dating, having meals together, and then getting carried home in a hug – isn't that great?"

He followed the direction of Qin Huairu's gaze and then saw the backs of Li Xiangdong and Yu Li not far away.

Qin Huairu's marriage was already unremarkable, and now she's a widow with no one to care for her or love her. She feels genuine envy when she sees others living happily, but even more so, she feels jealousy and hatred.

"Tch, so it's those two. Sister Qin, let me tell you, if you wanted to, you'd definitely be living a better life than them!"

He Yuzhu curled his lip and said disdainfully.

"What, you want to live with me?"

As Li Xiangdong and Yu Li's figures disappeared around the corner, Qin Huairu turned her gaze away and looked at He Yuzhu.

She knew He Yuzhu's cunning mind all too well, so she decided to tease this idiot since she had nothing better to do. After all, He Yuzhu had ruined her life so many times, causing her to lose her job and embarrass herself in the yard.