Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 34 Pointing fingers
Living in this era means appropriately following the "rules" of this era.

Just like when we fully enter the era of ration coupons, it's impossible, or at least abnormal, to eat meat every day. Moreover, doing so in a big way will easily arouse envy and hatred, and being reported would be the least of your worries.

If you want to enjoy delicious food and drinks, most of the time you can only do it secretly.

After wandering around, Li Hongbing bought some pickles at Liubiju, some honey cakes and peach crisps at Zhengmingzhai, and finally some tea at Zhang Yiyuan.

Li Hongbing doesn't lack tea right now, but he still bought some.

Whether it's to cover up the truth or to compare it with the tea rewarded by the system, it doesn't matter if it costs a little money.

The quantities purchased were not large, so it wasn't too conspicuous.

Judging that it was getting late and he had stocked up on quite a lot of things in his system space, Li Hongbing ended his grain-buying trip for the day and went to the vegetable market instead.

In the kitchen of Fengzeyuan a few days ago, Li Hongbing's culinary skills and experience have been growing rapidly.

At the normal pace, he should have already accumulated enough experience points to advance from lv1 (Beginner Apprentice Cooking) to lv2 (Junior Cooking).

however.

The rate at which I gain experience has slowed down these past two days, and it hasn't increased at all.

Li Hongbing suspected that this was due to his lack of practical experience.

By observing, reading, taking notes, and thinking, one may improve their knowledge and understanding of culinary skills, but ultimately, one must put everything into practice.

However, in the kitchen, especially in a place like Fengzeyuan, let alone newcomers like Li Hongbing who have only been there for a short time, even those senior apprentices who have worked in the kitchen for three to five years rarely have the opportunity to practice, let alone take charge of cooking.

Taking advantage of today's opportunity, Li Hongbing plans to buy some ingredients and try cooking at home.

Unfortunately.

Li Hongbing arrived late; the meat stall was almost sold out.

However, at another restaurant, he happened to see that there were still some spare ribs left, so Li Hongbing bought them all.

These days, there's a shortage of meat, so everyone prefers fatty dishes, which are usually snapped up shortly after they're set up. On the other hand, dishes like spare ribs, which have little meat, aren't as popular, even if they're cheaper.

After making his own plans, Li Hongbing bought carp, tofu, and seasonings like scallions and ginger.

This is already quite a lot, considering that there are only two people in the family, Li Hongbing and Li Hongmei, who can't eat that much.

On the way back, Li Hongbing bought all the other seasonings he would need, such as rice wine.

to be frank.

In this era of scarcity, it's not easy to cook restaurant-quality dishes at home.

Leaving aside the essential requirements like stoves and fires, not every household has all the ingredients and seasonings they need, and some are even hard to find.

When Li Hongbing returned to the courtyard house, it wasn't too late yet, and the people who went out to work hadn't returned yet, but he was surrounded by onlookers.

"Oh my! Hongbing, what's the occasion? Why did you buy so much stuff?"

"Aunt Yan, I got paid a couple of days ago, so I bought some meat to treat myself."

"So many? There are only two of you, you and your sister!"

"These are Liubiju pickles?"

"Good heavens, there are also pastries from Zhengmingzhai!"

"Hongbing, you didn't spend your entire month's apprenticeship salary, did you?"

"Are you done living like this?"

"..."

Li Hongbing's return with a full load of goods naturally caused a sensation and aroused envy among the people in the front yard. However, while they were amazed on the surface, they were probably secretly criticizing Li Hongbing for being wasteful.

Li Hongbing didn't care what people thought; he was free to spend his money however he wanted.

As for sharing some with everyone who sees it, don't even think about it.

Even his own family doesn't have enough to eat. Even though he's not short of money right now, Li Hongbing isn't being overly generous.

Fortunately, while everyone was envious, they didn't lose their sense of propriety and make any unreasonable demands.

If you eat something from someone else's house today, you have to return it tomorrow, unless you never buy anything nice at home, otherwise your neighbors will laugh at you.

People value their reputation; no matter what they do behind someone's back, everyone cares about their image.

After taking his things home, Li Hongbing tidied them up and then took the still-breathing carp back out of the house.

At that time, animal husbandry had not yet developed, and animals were basically all wild.

The carp that Li Hongbing bought had been out of the water for almost half an hour, but it was still not completely dead, which shows its tenacious vitality and vigor.

"Hey! Hongbing, your fish is quite plump. It doesn't look very big, but it's quite heavy."

Not long after they entered the house, news of Li Hongbing's extravagant shopping spree and his return from his lavish spending spree reached the middle and back courtyards, and people immediately came to see what was going on.

"It's alright, enough for my sister and me."

Li Hongbing smiled and gave a response.

They weren't particularly close, but they were neighbors in the same compound. Apart from troublemakers like Yi Zhonghai, Li Hongbing didn't plan to pick fights with anyone.

Life goes on no matter what, but there's no need to make the whole hospital a battlefield, full of bitterness and resentment.

"Hongbing, I heard you also bought a lot of Zhengmingzhai pastries and Liubiju pickles?"

"Aunt Li, I did buy a little, but it wasn't as exaggerated as you said."

"Not only that, besides the carp we have now, there are also spare ribs in the house! I saw them just now."

"Oh dear, why are you buying spare ribs? Spare ribs don't have much meat. If you're going to buy them, buy some with fat, the fattier the better. You have to go early in the morning to buy them, otherwise they'll all be gone."

"You're still young and lack life experience. Your sister will definitely scold you when she gets back..."

"..."

Everyone chimed in with their opinions, and Li Hongbing simply smiled without offering any rebuttals to the experience they shared.

Opinions differ depending on the era in which fatty meat or ribs are better.

Moreover, Li Hongbing is currently an apprentice at Fengzeyuan, where the food, while not exceptionally good, is at least not lacking in oil and fat.

As for Li Hongmei, with Li Hongbing around, she naturally wouldn't have this problem.

and so.

Li Hongbing wasn't as enthusiastic about fatty meat as people of this era.

The people in the courtyard were a bit talkative, but Li Hongbing knew they meant no harm.

only.

Li Hongbing didn't need to explain these things to others, and he was too lazy to do so.

After chatting for a while, Li Hongbing regained his focus and prepared to concentrate on processing the carp in his hand.

With a slap of the knife, Li Hongbing ended the carp's last breath and then began to process its fins, gills, and scales.

Although it was his first time handling this, Li Hongbing had already watched the process many times in the kitchen and had basically mastered the tricks of the trade, so it wasn't a big problem.

however.

Just as Li Hongbing was doing these things, Yi Zhonghai's wife, supporting the deaf old woman from the backyard, came from the middle courtyard and appeared behind him.

The crowd tacitly made way for them. The deaf old woman looked at them for a few seconds, then, with a stern face, forcefully tapped her cane.

"Li boy, you're just wasting good stuff! This is such a fine carp, and you're just a new apprentice in the kitchen, do you even know how to handle it?"

(End of this chapter)