Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

After getting up and closing the door, He Yuzhu began to study his cheat system.

When He Yuzhu regained consciousness in the kitchen of Hongbinlou Restaurant, he knew that he had not only transmigrated, but also had a cheat code.

There were just too many people present at the time, so no in-depth research was conducted.

He Daqing definitely won't be back anytime soon, so now is the perfect time.

Name: He Yuzhu

[Age: 16 years old]

Life skills: None

Occupation: Chef

Talent: You reap what you sow; hard work brings rewards.

[Technology: Water Platform lv2 (125/200)]

【Knife Skill lv3 (145/400)】

【Temperature Control lv2 (31/200)】

【Seasoning Lv2 (19/200)】

[Skill: Tan Family Cuisine Lv1 (27/100)]

【White Casserole Lv2 (32/200)】

Sichuan Cuisine Level 2 (86/200)

Storage space

When He Yuzhu opened the system panel, he felt confident. He was already quite proficient in both Tan Family Cuisine and Sichuan Cuisine, having been taught Level 2 by He Daqing.

Tan Family Cuisine is the cuisine of officials and the wealthy, using carefully selected ingredients and focusing on light and delicate flavors.

In the past, the capital city was home to many high-ranking officials and nobles, and each family and household was extremely particular about food, with each having its own specialty to entertain colleagues and relatives.

He Yuzhu was young, and as he grew up, he didn't have many opportunities to learn how to make Tan family cuisine, so he only learned the basics.

If He Daqing had only learned Tan Family Cuisine, he would have starved to death long ago. He actually used Sichuan cuisine techniques the most in his daily life.

Bai'an is a position in the kitchen responsible for making pastries, mainly steamed buns, noodles, and twisted rolls. In a broader sense, it doesn't just refer to white flour, but also includes other pastries and snacks made from flour and starch.

He Yuzhu's skills in Tan Family Cuisine are only at the beginner level; he is much more adept at Sichuan cuisine and pasta dishes. This is the result of his experience of being responsible for three meals a day at home after finishing his studies.

To He Yuzhu's surprise, he actually had a talent.

"You reap what you sow" is a saying that resonates deeply with He Yuzhu.

If I had this talent in my past life, why would I have to worry about not getting into a 985 university? Even if it's just a 211 university, I could still become a winner in life.

However, it's never too late to have it now. As long as people work hard and put in the effort, they can reap the rewards and achieve great things. This is the greatest reward for workers.

As for storage space, there's not much to say about it; it's become an essential ability for time travelers.

In particular, a great famine will occur in a few years, and there will be a rationing system that will last for more than 20 years. Each person will only have a ration of about 30 kilograms per month. This amount of food can only sustain a person’s life, and in difficult times, even basic needs cannot be met.

With storage space, we can prepare and store some food in advance, so that my sister won't go hungry and He Yushui can eat her fill and grow up healthily.

Unfortunately, it's just a storage space, not a space for planting or raising livestock, so there's no output, which is a bit of a shame.

It is 51, just after liberation. Without the system, I would only be able to make a living like the original owner.

However, with the support of this system, He Yuzhu believes that he can avoid many detours and achieve greater success.

After closing the system panel, He Yuzhu fell into deep thought, pondering his current situation.

First, we need to force He Daqing to leave home. If he doesn't take any action within the next two days, we need to spread rumors about He Daqing and the widow Bai, making sure it's common knowledge in the neighborhood. That way, once He Daqing leaves, we won't be exposed.

As for the innocent Qin Huairu, she hasn't even gone on a blind date with Jia Dongxu yet. Jia Dongxu will be hanging on the wall for almost 10 years, so there's no rush to deal with Qin Huairu's bloodsucking.

The most pressing issue right now is how to raise He Yushui properly. After all, he is only a 7-year-old child. If He Daqing leaves, he will have to raise He Yushui on his own, which would make him a stay-at-home dad.

This is such a headache!

After some consideration, there was no solution. There's always a way out, so we could only try and figure it out as we went along.

He just hoped that He Yushui wouldn't blame him for not taking good care of her, after all, he was just a 16-year-old brother and really had no experience in taking care of children.

Putting aside all his thoughts, He Yuzhu closed his eyes, and then, with himself as the center and a radius of 10 meters, all the objects in the entire space appeared before his eyes.

This is a built-in ability of the system, like a radar. He Yuzhu can use his mental power to sense everything that exists within ten meters. Every item is as if it is right in front of him. Moreover, as long as the item is not fixed to the ground, He Yuzhu can directly use his mental power to store it in his space.

A 10-meter radius is enough to cover the east and west wing rooms, which are the homes of Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu.

He Yuzhu just looked around and didn't touch any of their belongings.

After all, there are bottom lines to being a person. Even though they might offend me in the future, I can't just take the money they've hidden away right now.

However, what interested He Yuzhu was a deposit slip in the locked drawer in the middle of his desk at home. On a whim, the deposit slip ended up in He Yuzhu's hands.

The words "350 million in savings" are handwritten on it.

Once it's in my hands, what use is it to the Qing Dynasty? Of course, I'll confiscate it, to prevent him from using it to support the White Widow.

Chapter 3 You unfilial son, I'll beat you to death!

When Beijing was liberated in 1948, the first set of RMB was issued. Due to the severe inflation of the legal tender, the face value of the first set of RMB was huge.

10,000 yuan in the first set of RMB was equivalent to one yuan in the second set of RMB, meaning that 100 yuan today is equivalent to one cent in the future.

He Daqing bought the three main rooms and one side room in the best location of this courtyard house a few years ago. The remaining money was the 3.5 million yuan on the deposit slip, which is equivalent to 350 yuan in the second set of RMB.

In an era when a box of matches cost only 200 yuan and a kilogram of rice cost only 1,100 yuan, this amount of money was a huge sum.

After receiving the passbook, He Yuzhu turned around and left the courtyard without saying a word, arriving at Gulou East Street, where there was a People's Bank.

He Yuzhu came in to queue, and soon it was his turn. He handed the deposit slip in his hand into the window: "Withdraw all this money."

The staff took a look, didn't say much, and readily counted out 350 ten-thousand-yuan banknotes.

The first set of RMB banknotes was very chaotic. At present, the largest denomination was only 10,000 yuan, and it would not be until the end of 1953 that a banknote of 50,000 yuan would be issued.

He Yuzhu put the money into two pockets, then left the bank with his head down. At the same time, he used his mental energy to scan behind him and quickly confirmed that there were no followers. He breathed a sigh of relief and then sent all the money into his spatial storage.

When I got home, I started cleaning the house, took out my spring clothes to air them out, changed the bed sheets and threw them in a large wooden basin. I searched the house for a long time but couldn't find any laundry detergent. Then I realized that I didn't have any laundry detergent at all and used laundry soap to wash clothes.

To be honest, He Yuzhu had never washed clothes by hand before, and always used a washing machine. Fortunately, the original owner had this experience, and after a little recollection, she knew how to wash clothes.

First, soak it in clean water, then lather it with Lighthouse brand soap, and then wash it by hand. After a while, two system messages suddenly flashed across He Yuzhu's eyes:

You have learned a new life skill – washing, at level 1.

[Add one to your washing experience]

He Yuzhu was very surprised. The original owner had washed clothes for so many years without showing any life experience. He had thought that these things would not be included. He did not expect that he had only washed clothes for a few minutes and the system would notify him that he had acquired a skill and give him some experience.

He Yuzhu felt that this skill was useless; what he received was specialized experience in washing clothes.

However, this also confirms that as long as the behavior meets the requirements of certain skills, the system panel will include the corresponding skills.

This made He Yuzhu extremely happy. As long as he studied more, he could master other professional skills and might not necessarily become a chef in the future.

When He Yuzhu finished washing the clothes, another notification appeared that his experience points had increased by one, which made He Yuzhu very satisfied.

Seeing that it was almost noon, He Yuzhu noticed that there were still steamed buns at home, so he went to the cellar and took out a cabbage.

The kitchen was located outside the east end of the gable wall, with a wood-burning stove, a wok, and a shed built on top of it.

Take half of the cabbage leaves, wash them, then cut them in half, and then cut the cabbage into thin strips.

After washing the pot, I struck a match, lit a handful of wheat straw and stuffed it in, added a few thin twigs, and then put some thicker twigs into the stove.

Scoop out a spoonful of pure white lard, then sauté scallions, ginger, garlic, and chili peppers until fragrant. Add the shredded cabbage, coarse salt, and other seasonings, especially a generous amount of balsamic vinegar.

The pickled cabbage was quickly prepared, and at that moment, another system message appeared in He Yuzhu's eyes:

[Chef Experience +1]

[Knife skills experience +1]

He Yuzhu was satisfied now. As long as he practiced more, he could gain experience and then improve his skills.

It's important to know that being a chef relies heavily on talent. Even with the same recipe and the same order of adding ingredients, the dishes will taste different depending on who cooks them.

Some people work as chefs their whole lives and their dishes are still just average, while others can create delicious food at a young age and become master chefs—that's talent.

With the system, there is no ceiling to one's career in the culinary industry; one can improve indefinitely.

Seven-year-old He Yushui, who was still in preschool, skipped and hopped into the house and shouted, "Brother, I'm hungry, have you cooked yet?"

The little girl in front of me had a small oval face, a thin, pointed chin, two thick, dark, and elegant eyebrows, and a pair of big, round, dark eyes. She was quite beautiful.

He Yuzhu's heart skipped a beat. Although they had just met, he suddenly felt a tender affection for her, as if she were his own family. He reached out and patted her head, smiling as he said, "I stir-fried your favorite vinegar-braised cabbage."

Hearing that it was her favorite food, He Yushui smiled sweetly and said, "Brother is so nice."

He Yuzhu brought the food over and even served her a large bowl of porridge. Without waiting for He Daqing to return, the two of them ate lunch.

Nowadays, children don't need to be picked up or dropped off at school; they can just go directly to school. After He Yushui left, He Yuzhu continued cleaning the house.

Around 3 p.m., He Daqing returned from outside, reeking of alcohol. He glanced at He Yuzhu, who was working, and wondered why his lazy son had decided to clean.

Without saying much, they went inside.