Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

noon.

After getting his food, Sha Zhu secretly packed the leftovers into his lunchbox. The lunchbox was completely full of cabbage, and the two lunchboxes contained eight steamed buns. He planned to take these home to eat that night, and if he couldn't finish them, he could eat them the next day.

He's no longer getting any treats, but luckily he works in the cafeteria, otherwise he'd have to spend a lot more money on food every month. He only has eight yuan left, and his salary has dropped to 35.5 yuan, so he doesn't have that much money to spend on food. He has to save every penny he can.

......

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Qin Jingru didn't receive any notice about hosting, so she left work early and went home.

Back at No. 95 courtyard, Qin Jingru found the door locked. She opened the door, took off the bell, fed the chickens, carried the chicken coop inside, locked the door, and went to No. 28 courtyard.

Qin Jingru arrived at courtyard number 28 and saw Lou Xiao'e with a flushed face. Seeing Wang Feng there as well, she glanced at Lou Xiao'e and asked with a smile, "Little one, has your period ended?"

Lou Xiao'e blushed and softly hummed in agreement.

Qin Jingru covered her mouth and chuckled: "Hehehe, my son, we're already so familiar, what's there to be shy about?"

When Wang Feng saw Qin Jingru, he asked with a smile, "Jingru, weren't you entertained today? Have you been back to courtyard number 95?"

"Well, Brother Wang Feng, there's no need to entertain anyone today, so I came back early. I went back to courtyard number 95 first, fed the chickens, and brought the chicken coop inside."

"That's settled then, Jingru. Goose's relatives have left, so we won't be going back to Courtyard 95 today. Tomorrow during the day, you can stay in Courtyard 28 and cook me a lot of food. I'll bring you the ingredients tomorrow morning."

"By the way, Jingru, do you have enough seasonings at home? If not, go and buy some as soon as possible," Wang Feng asked.

"That's enough. Don't worry, Brother Wang Feng."

"That's good."

That evening, Qin Jingru taught Lou Xiao'e how to cook. She made three dishes: braised fish, stir-fried rabbit, and stir-fried cabbage.

After dinner, Lou Xiao'e helped Wang Feng take a bath, and the three of them went to bed early.

It's been snowing a lot lately, so Wang Feng hasn't gone out treasure hunting. Anyway, his spiritual sense is getting stronger and stronger, making treasure hunting easier and easier for him. It's not too late to go treasure hunting when the weather gets a little better.

......

Early the next morning.

After getting up, washing up, and having breakfast, Wang Feng went out.

After wandering around outside, Wang Feng returned to courtyard number 28 carrying several large sacks.

"Jingru, here are thirty catties of pork, ten pheasants, ten rabbits, ten fish, some green vegetables and side dishes, thirty catties of rice, and twenty catties of wheat flour. Keep some for our own consumption, and cook the rest for me today. Oh, and use all your skills to cook it."

Qin Jingru opened the sack and was immediately shocked. So much meat? This adds up to over a hundred pounds of meat. Who is Brother Wang Feng's friend that he needs so much meat?

However, she didn't ask any more questions. She asked Lou Xiao'e to help her prepare the ingredients. There were so many, she probably wouldn't have been able to finish them all day without Lou Xiao'e's help.

"Brother Wang Feng, should we cook these chicken heads, chicken butts, and internal organs, as well as rabbit butts and internal organs together?" Qin Jingru asked.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Feng shook his head and said, "I don't want any of these. Keep these buttocks and internal organs for now, and give them to Aunt Wu when we get back to No. 95."

Qin Jingru smiled and nodded: "Hehe, no problem. I've noticed that Ya Ya has lost a lot of weight recently, so it's a good opportunity to nourish her body with these buttocks and internal organs."

Qin Jingru and Lou Xiao'e worked all morning to prepare all the ingredients. In such cold weather, preparing so many ingredients would have made them catch a cold if they weren't both healthy.

At noon, they simply made a braised pork dish, ate it, and then continued working.

In the afternoon, Wang Feng specially brought back two large pots and five large basins from outside, all of which he had prepared in his spatial storage space.

Two large pots are used for stir-frying vegetables, and five large basins are used to hold the vegetables.

The old coal stove wouldn't work for stir-frying large pots of food, so Qin Jingru and Lou Xiao'e worked together to set up two makeshift stoves, put large pots on them, and started stir-frying.

This was the first time Qin Jingru had ever made such a large-pot dish, but with her culinary skills, even stir-frying large-pot dishes wouldn't be a problem as long as she controlled the heat.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Qin Jingru wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and smiled as she said to Wang Feng:

"Brother Wang Feng, I've made braised pork and stewed pork belly, braised pheasant and stewed pheasant with mushrooms, stir-fried rabbit meat, braised fish, cooked rice, and steamed buns. When is your friend coming to pick them up? A lot of the dishes are getting cold now."

Wang Feng waved his hand and said with a smile, "Jingru, son, you've worked hard today."

Qin Jingru smiled and said, "Hehe, Brother Wang Feng, it's no trouble for us, as long as we can help you."

Lou Xiao'e wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and smiled.

"Brother Feng, we're all family. Don't talk about how hard it is. Jingru and I are just happy to be able to help you."

Wang Feng nodded: "Jingru, Erzi, why don't you go out for a walk first and come back in half an hour? It's not appropriate for you to see my friend when he comes over."

"Brother Wang Feng, let's go now. Goose, come with me to the Chinese medicine store to buy some seasonings. We've almost used up all the seasonings at home today."

"Um."

After Qin Jingru and Lou Xiao'e left, Wang Feng closed the door and stored all the food in his spatial storage.

With so much food, he won't have to worry about not having enough to eat even if he stays away from home for a month.

Half an hour later, Qin Jingru and Lou Xiao'e returned, carrying spices such as bay leaves and star anise.

Seeing that so much food was gone, even the large pots and basins were missing, Qin Jingru couldn't help but ask:

"Brother Wang Feng, did your friend take all the food?"

"Yes, they've all been taken."

"Brother Wang Feng, your friend has gone too far! Taking the food is one thing, but why did he take our big pots and pans too? These big pots and pans are worth a lot of money."

"Well."

"Hehe, Jingru, these big pots and basins don't belong to us. My friend brought them to me in advance to hold food," Wang Feng explained with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Qin Jingru nodded: "That's more like it. I thought these were all ours."

"Jingru, Erzi, get ready and we'll eat. You've both had a long day, so let's rest early after dinner," Wang Feng said with a smile.

"Um."

The two women dismantled the makeshift stove, tidied up the house, and then ate dinner.

For dinner, they ate braised pork and braised chicken pieces. Wang Feng had Qin Jingru set aside some of each dish for herself.

After dinner, Wang Feng asked Lou Xiao'e to boil water. They had all sweated a lot today and needed to take a bath before they could be lifted up high.