Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

In less than half a month, the cured meat that the Jia family had prepared was decreasing at a visible rate.

It wasn't just the Jia family; all the neighbors in the courtyard were consuming meat at alarming rates.

Yi Zhonghai stood under the eaves with a somewhat dazed look in his eyes, thinking to himself, "What kind of heavenly life have I been living lately?"

Two-thirds of the meat in his house was consumed, leaving very little.

After getting off work in the evening, he would eat meat and drink alcohol every day, which relaxed his long-standing tension.

Looking up at the Jia family's house, only two lonely strings of cured meat remained under the eaves. Yi Zhonghai's lips twitched.

He remembered that when his neighbors in the courtyard were making cured meat, they had clearly agreed to eat it during the Chinese New Year, but unexpectedly, the meat was all eaten before the New Year was even over.

You know, New Year's Day hasn't even arrived yet, and there's still a month or so until Chinese New Year.

Yi Zhonghai was also convinced, but the residents in the courtyard had visibly gained weight, and even he himself had gained quite a bit.

Yan Bugui's family has been quite troubled by their neighbors lately, who have been cooking meat all the time. His two sons are drooling with envy and are constantly clamoring for meat.

However, Yan Bu suppressed the idea, because he knew that this wasn't how life should be lived. The couple had already decided how often they would eat meat at home.

Of course, exceptions can be made in special circumstances. During this period, Yan Bugui saw his neighbors in the courtyard making meat like crazy and secretly ridiculed their behavior.

This is outrageous! It's even led to his family breaking the rule of eating meat several times.

Even after his cousin left, he still didn't buy meat to make cured meat because he felt it was a bit too early.

There's still so much time until Chinese New Year, wouldn't you want to eat this meat hanging under the eaves?

As Yan Bugui had predicted, few of the neighbors in the courtyard could stand it.

Aside from Li Jiuzhou and Sha Zhu, the meat their families ate was on a completely different level from what their neighbors in the courtyard ate.

While the residents in the courtyard were still enjoying their pork, Li Jiuzhou had already started eating beef.

People in the courtyard had seen Li Jiuzhou washing prawns, crabs, sea cucumbers, and abalone before.

But these ingredients are too expensive, and the neighbors can't bear to eat them.

Yan Bugui was extremely envious of the food at Li Jiuzhou's home; back in the day, his family was a regular at all the major restaurants in the capital.

Well, it's a long story...

It's not that he can't afford it, but every extra penny Yan Bugui spends now depletes his savings.

Things are different now; money still needs to be spent more frugally. However, on the day his cousin left, he made a decision.

He decided to slaughter a pig on New Year's Day, right in his yard, so that his neighbors could see what Yan Bugui was capable of!

Damn, if he keeps a low profile for too long, people will really think he can't afford to live!

So one morning, before the neighbors went to work, they announced that the Yan family would slaughter a big fat pig on New Year's Day!

Wow!

The news shocked everyone in the hospital, but after recovering, they showed anticipation.

Slaughtering a pig is a very important matter!

Slaughtering a pig on New Year's Day is considered the same as slaughtering a pig for the New Year.

Yan Bugui was very pleased with himself and said directly that there would be more than 150 jin of pork, and that every household would be able to get some meat!

There's a catch: they say you're getting meat, but you have to pay for it. Don't think that getting meat is free; you're dreaming!

The neighbors all know the rules!

Who will slaughter the pig?

Yan Bugui naturally felt that it would be best for the neighbors in the courtyard to help, so he invited the only two cooks in the courtyard, Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu, to his home.

Li Jiuzhou thought it was a good idea to ask the two of them to slaughter a pig, because Yan Bugui had paid them eight catties of meat each, and they could choose any part of the pig they wanted.

At the same time, he asked Li Jiuzhou to prepare a pot of stewed pork for the neighbors to try.

This surprised Li Jiuzhou. When did this old guy become so generous?

However, he didn't ask what it had to do with him.

On the evening of the first day, a large black pig was delivered to the yard and weighed in front of us; it weighed exactly 150 jin (75 catties).

The breed was the Hebei Black Pig, and at that time, the country basically consumed black pork.

Also known as the native Chinese pig!

The neighbors all gathered around to watch the spectacle, quite amused. If they had space in their yard, they would have loved to raise a few pigs themselves.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, around 6 a.m., everyone in the courtyard, regardless of age or gender, got up.

It was the first time a pig was slaughtered in courtyard number 95, and everyone was very happy. You would really miss it if you didn't come and see.

At this time, several families from the Intermediate People's Court were helping to boil water.

There was a boat-like object in the open space of the yard, also called a pig-slaughtering boat, used for scalding and plucking hair.

Li Jiuzhou and Sha Zhu were dressed neatly and sharpening their knives.

This knife must be sharp enough to sever the major artery in one cut!

Everything was ready, and the old men in the yard hurriedly pressed the pig onto the wooden board!

Li Jiuzhou, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, pressed down on the pig's head and said to Sha Zhu:

"Pillar, it's up to you now!"

Sha Zhu waved his hand: "Senior brother, you can rest assured about my abilities!"

Just as Sha Zhu was about to make his cut, the pig seemed to realize that he was about to die, so he struggled frantically.

Yi Zhonghai was accidentally kicked in the stomach and cried out in pain before letting go!

The result, naturally, was that everyone chased a pig all over the yard!

Luckily, there was Jia Zhangshi. When the pig ran up to her, she grabbed it by the waist and pinned it down. She's a ruthless woman!

The pig was put back on the chopping board, and the men were all sweating profusely.

Jia Zhangshi continued to chatter on and on to Yan Bugui, asking him to send her two catties of pork.

Yan Bugui, having been bothered by Jia Zhangshi's nagging, agreed to give her half a jin of offal.

Sending two pounds of meat? Don't even think about it!

Madam Jia was overjoyed at getting such a good deal. Even offal is meat, so she didn't mind, and neither did anyone else in the courtyard. What kind of conditions would anyone dare to complain about?

After getting ready, Sha Zhu was about to stab again when Yi Zhonghai interrupted him once more!

Sha Zhu was getting impatient: "Uncle Yi, what's going on?"

Yi Zhonghai paused for a moment, then said:

"Hey, don't look at any of the pregnant women in the yard, there's blood!"

"We'll come back and check after the blood is drained!"

As soon as Yi Zhonghai said this, many people seemed to realize something, and they all nodded in agreement.

Jia Zhangshi told her daughter-in-law, Tong Jie, to go back inside and come out later.

Liu Haizhong's wife also went back, and Yan Bugui also asked Yang Ruihua to avoid the situation first.

With everything ready, Sha Zhu swiftly and ruthlessly plunged his knife into the black pig's carotid artery, and blood gushed out.

Jia Dongxu and Xu Damao were carrying huge basins to collect pig's blood; this was their assigned task.

The gentlemen were not afraid of these things at all, and were quite interested in them; those who were not assigned to do so were rather disappointed.

A group of teenagers covered their eyes to watch this scene. Although they were a little scared, they were mostly curious. After seeing it so many times, they were no longer afraid.

Parents even made sure their children watched it to boost their courage!

Although the black pig was still struggling, it gradually stopped moving as it lost blood.

Next came scalding the skin and scraping off the pig hair. Everything was done in an orderly manner and filled with laughter.

Not only people from courtyard number 95, but also many people from other courtyards came to watch the excitement, hoping to get a share of the spoils.

After the pig was slaughtered, Li Jiuzhou cut some meat and blood to make a stew, while Sha Zhu helped cut the meat.

The stew was prepared in the Jia family's kitchen, with Jia Zhangshi personally tending the fire, her smile never fading.

In the short time it takes for Li Jiuzhou to turn around and go to the toilet, she can scoop up a large bowl of food and secretly put it away.

When Li Jiuzhou returned, he didn't say anything. Although he felt it was a bit lacking, he didn't mind.

We can't just use someone else's pot and firewood for free, can we?