Siheyuan: Domineering life

The twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

With only a few days left until the Lunar New Year, the festive atmosphere is growing stronger. The whole world is filled with laughter and the sound of firecrackers, and the festive joy is everywhere.

The Yang family was no exception; in fact, their New Year's atmosphere was even stronger than that of the outside world.

Since his mother Wang Yuying passed away, Yang Jun has deeply felt the importance of having family by his side. Therefore, he tries his best to make the New Year's atmosphere more festive. Life is only 30,000 days long, and every day is unique. He doesn't want to waste his life in this aimless way. He tries to make every day meaningful. As time goes by, the people of his generation will slowly grow old, and the children will gradually grow up. The days they have together are limited, and he cherishes this time together very much.

Since Yang Chengdao and Yang Chengcai started their own families, they have been coming here to get together less and less. After all, they each have their own families and relatives, so they naturally come here less often. Therefore, Yang Jun feels more and more the importance of family reunions, and he cherishes every day he spends with his family.

In the future, the other children will grow up, they will have their own families, and the days they spend together will become fewer and fewer, so...

Yang Jun did not go to the fishing platform by the river; instead, he made an exception and spent time with his family in the backyard today.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, most of the servants in the household were on holiday, leaving a shortage of manpower. Therefore, Yi Qiushui and the others had to take charge of the work themselves. They had already purchased all the New Year's goods, but they still had to prepare three meals a day for dozens of people in the family. Since Yi Qiushui and the others had never done housework before, cooking was quite a challenge.

The children have never touched a drop of water since birth and can't even distinguish between grains, so don't expect them to help. The only one who can cook is Yang Jun, the head of the family, who was forced to put an apron on and be locked in the kitchen by Huang Yani and the others early this morning.

"We're out of ginger. Bring us some."

Yang Jun called out to the outside while cooking.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Nalan Qingmeng came in carrying a tray of scallions, ginger, and garlic.

"I'm coming."

After saying that, he joked, "Hey, we can't afford to hire a head chef like you. We need several assistant chefs to keep up with you."

"Hehe, of course we can't afford it. With a leader as high-ranking as me cooking for you, what more could you ask for?" Yang Jun laughed.

“No matter how high your rank is, you’re just an ordinary person in this family.” Nalan Qingmeng rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey, only you guys don't treat steamed buns as food. If we were outside, do you think anyone would dare to make me work?"

“You yourself said this is at home. As long as you're at home, you have to work.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Meng Wenya came in carrying a basket of freshly picked vegetables.

"Qingmeng is right. As long as you're in this family, don't act like a big boss."

"Oh, how pitiful I am, to have fallen to this state," Yang Jun sighed.

He can't not cook; none of the women in his family know how to cook, and besides, cooking is his hobby, and he enjoys cooking for his family.

"By the way, why haven't Chengdao and Chengcai arrived yet?" Yang Jun asked.

“Chengdao and his wife are currently on a business trip abroad and haven’t returned yet. They won’t be back until tomorrow morning. As for Chengcai… they went to deliver holiday gifts and will probably stay there for dinner tonight and won’t be coming back.” Meng Wenya said.

"Sigh, everyone's working so hard they're not going home, this New Year is really boring."

“It’s not Chinese New Year yet. When it’s Chinese New Year, the four of them will definitely come back for a reunion dinner,” Nalan Qingmeng explained.

"Hmph, they've all grown up and don't need me anymore," Yang Jun sighed. "It's the New Year, and all they know is to send gifts to their fathers-in-law, but they don't care about their own father."

"Pfft!"

Nalan Qingmeng and Meng Wenya burst into laughter upon hearing this.

“Old Yang, you’re not the kind of person who’s petty. Why are you making such a fuss over your own son?”

"How could I be complaining?" Yang Jun retorted, "It's the Lunar New Year, shouldn't they buy cigarettes and alcohol to show their respect to their own father?"

"You don't lack these things, why are you so concerned about them?"

"This isn't a question of whether they lack anything or not; it's a question of whether they have filial piety."

"Well... it's too early to say whether the child is filial or not. There are still two days until the New Year."

Yang Jun snorted coldly and said, "There's no point in saying all this now."

Indeed, it's pointless to talk about this now. Even if they send gifts in a couple of days, it will only be after being reminded by their elders.

All men are the same; once they get married, their minds are entirely focused on the woman, and they try every means to please and flatter her father-in-law, while they don't care about their own fathers at all. In their hearts, they always feel that it is only right for their own fathers to make sacrifices for their sons.

"We're out of soy sauce, open me a new bottle," Yang Jun said, tapping the wok with a spatula.

"You're such a difficult chef to please."

Nalan Qingmeng smiled and opened a bottle of soy sauce, placing it next to him.

"If you want to eat my cooking, you'd better be more diligent, right?"

As Yang Jun cooked, he chatted with them. And you have to admit, he was in a good mood, so the food he cooked was above average.

Meng Wenya placed the clean plates on the cutting board for him to serve the food.

"Alright, take it off the heat."

Yang Jun divided the freshly stir-fried celery and shredded pork into three plates.

"Take it away."

He was in charge of cooking, while the other women assisted him.

Normally, Yang Jun doesn't realize how difficult it is to cook for dozens of people, but today, after personally cooking for them, he truly understands the challenges of being a chef. Not only does he have to ensure that his family has hot meals, but he also has to guarantee the quality of the food, which is no easy feat.

In just a short while, his wrists started to ache from tossing the wok. Yang Jun rubbed his sore wrists and continued cooking.

This dish is sweet and sour pork with pineapple, and it was his first time making it. He put in his best effort to make it well, but because the heat was too high, the sugar was overcooked and it tasted bitter. It looked like the ingredients were going to be ruined.

He glanced back and, seeing no one behind him, he put the overcooked sweet and sour pork with pineapple into his spatial storage. Then he took out three identical portions of sweet and sour pork with pineapple from his storage space.

After doing all this, he glanced back guiltily, but luckily Meng Wenya and the others weren't paying attention to him.

As he divided the food from the pot into three plates, he said, "Serve the food."

At this moment, Huang Yani came in, glanced at the sweet and sour pork with pineapple, and then pinched a piece with her hand and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Hey, Lao Yang, your cooking is pretty good, almost as good as the chef at home."

"Heh, what are you saying? Can their skills compare to mine?" Yang Jun said arrogantly.

"You're getting cocky just because I called you fat. Do you really think your cooking skills are better than theirs?"

As Huang Yani spoke, she couldn't resist pinching a piece and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Um...it seems like the chef at home is really better at cooking."

Then he added, "I was referring to this dish, not all of them."

"You're such a picky eater," Yang Jun muttered.

These women lead refined lives, and over the years their palates have become quite discerning. They can instantly tell which dishes are delicious, and they immediately recognized the quality of this sweet and sour pork with pineapple.

Yang Jun was also feeling guilty, after all, this dish was originally made by Zhao Tiancheng, a first-class chef. Over the years, it had been kept in his space, and he would take it out to taste whenever he had time. And to be honest, to this day, no one has been able to surpass his dish.

At that moment, Yi Qiushui entered.

"Which dish is good? Let me try it."

"Um, this dish."

Huang Yani placed the half-eaten plate of sweet and sour pork with pineapple in front of her and said, "Old Yang's dish is really good, even better than the chef at home." Yi Qiushui didn't use her hands to eat it, but instead picked up a piece with chopsticks, tasted it, and nodded repeatedly.

"It's actually pretty good."

"Old Yang, this dish was the best today, I give you a thumbs up."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jun was speechless.

He wouldn't have taken the ingredients from his spatial storage if the dish hadn't been ruined.

"If you like it, eat more."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking."

So, Yi Qiushui, Huang Yani, and Meng Wenya shared the sweet and sour pork with pineapple right there in the kitchen, leaving the remaining two dishes for the children.

"Old Yang, your skills are good, keep it up."

The three of them ate and praised the food.

Yang Jun shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this.

He really wanted to take the ingredients directly from his spatial storage, so he could enjoy the food and save himself the trouble—a win-win situation. But the circumstances didn't allow it. He couldn't reveal his secret even in front of his family. With so many people in his family, the secret might get leaked, and then he would be in endless trouble.

"If you guys weren't watching me from here, my skills would be even better than usual," Yang Jun joked.

"Oh, so we're the ones who hindered your culinary skills?" Yi Qiushui.

After saying that, he said to Huang Yani and Meng Wenya, "Sisters, let's not get in the way, make room for Old Yang."

After saying that, the three of them took the three dishes out.

"Old Yang, keep it up!"

Before leaving, Huang Yani made a face at him.

After they left, Yang Jun used his mind to store the ingredients he had prepared into his spatial storage, and also took out several prepared dishes. These dishes were all made by famous chefs, and each one was above average, even better than the chefs at home.

About ten minutes later, Yang Jun called them in to serve the dishes.

An hour later, all the food was ready, and the family members had all arrived.

So everyone sat down to eat.

As the family grew, two tables became too small, so they split into three. The food on each table was the same, except that the food on the adults' table looked like leftovers that had been eaten.

After all, these were all high-quality dishes produced by the system. The women, with their sweet tooths, tried every single dish, and the dishes themselves looked rather plain.

Yang Chengzhi walked over, glanced at the food on the adults' table, pursed her lips, and then returned to the children's table.

"Dad, did you cook all the meals today?" his daughter, Yang Chenglan, asked.

Upon hearing this, Yang Jun's face showed a gratified expression. After all, he had put in the effort today, and these were all his achievements.

"It wasn't all done by me; your aunt and several other concubines helped out."

To everyone's surprise, Yang Chenglan pouted and said, "Dad, don't be in such a hurry to show off your achievements. What I mean is... is the food you cooked even edible?"

"What do you mean?" Yang Jun's eyes widened: "If you don't like my cooking, then don't eat it."

"No way, I'll starve to death if I don't eat."

Yang Chenglan made a face at Yang Jun, then quickly ran back to the children's table.

"You've all become so picky, you actually dare to complain about me," Yang Jun said with a laugh.

"Dad, it's not that we don't trust your cooking skills, it's just that you've never cooked in all these years," Yang Chengyun joked.

With the Chinese New Year approaching, the atmosphere at home was very harmonious. Everyone could see that Yang Jun was in a good mood, and even the children wanted to get close to him.

"Cooking skills aren't measured by whether you cook often or not; you have to taste it to know," said Yang Jun.

“Okay, let’s try Dad’s cooking today.” Yang Chengyun said with a smile, “Dad, don’t worry, even if your cooking isn’t good, I’ll still say it’s delicious. After all, you can’t let your image as an older man crumble.”

"Stop being silly, kid. Eat your food," Yang Jun said with a laugh.

Yi Qiushui: "Alright, alright, hurry up and eat, or the food will get cold."

Then, everyone started eating.

When tasting the first bite of the food, everyone approached it with a savoring attitude, after all, it was the first time the Yang family had cooked, and they all wanted to see how good their culinary skills were.

"Well, it's delicious."

"The food is so-so, not as good as what our chef makes."

Opinions on Yang Jun's cooking skills vary.

Since everyone is tasting different dishes, their evaluations will naturally differ.

A small portion of these dishes were taken from his spatial storage, while the majority were his actual culinary skills. In fact, his cooking skills were quite good, but they were only so-so for these people whose palates had been spoiled. Fortunately, the dishes produced by his spatial storage were of high quality, so the opinions were mixed.

"Dad, your cooking skills still need improvement," the children exclaimed.

"Eat it or don't, it's up to you." - Yang Jun

"You can't even criticize someone's cooking skills? Haha."

The whole family was amused.

However, some dishes were exceptionally delicious, such as the sweet and sour pork with pineapple, which the kids devoured. Several other dishes were also taken from the space, like the garlic-fried fish and the spicy chicken…

Overall, the children ate quite well, after all, it was the first time their father had cooked for them, and they were really looking forward to it.

"Old Yang, have a drink."

At this moment, Yang Qingxiang brought him the wine and poured him a cup.

"It's a rare occasion for everyone to be so happy today, so you should have a drink too," Yang Jun said.

Then, some more glasses were brought over, and everyone poured some wine.

"Come on, everyone, let's raise our glasses."

"Wishing my whole family peace, prosperity, health, and happiness."

"Here, cheers."

Everyone drank it all in one gulp.

"Nini, if you can't drink, then don't drink. Look how red your face is."

Yang Jun saw that Nini was drinking alcohol like she was taking medicine, and her face was burning with spiciness, so he tried to persuade her to stop.

"This wine is really awful, I'd rather have a soft drink."

Nini tossed the remaining half-glass of wine aside and started drinking her beverage.

"You guys are the same. Those who can drink, drink; those who can't, drink soft drinks." - Yang Jun. (End of Chapter)