Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Time flies like an arrow; more than two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

It is early December 1953. It hasn't started snowing in Beiping yet, but it won't be long.

The wind was howling, especially in the alley; it felt like it could blow your bones off.

People with thick earlobes are prone to frostbite at this time of year if they are not careful, so it is essential to wear a hat in the winter in Beiping, and it must be the kind with ear protection.

Li Jiuzhou was dressed very warmly, wearing cotton shoes and socks, two pairs of pants, and a coat over his clothes.

As long as you're riding a bike and only your eyes are visible, everything else that's visible is covered up.

Recently, Li Jiuzhou asked Da Hu in the backyard to buy a lot of old hens in the countryside.

His wife, Fan Bingbing, is about to give birth, so he needs to prepare nutritious food.

You can buy things like malted milk powder and milk powder without needing coupons.

Don't find it strange. This is Beiping, the capital of a country. Is it really that strange that you can buy milk powder and malted milk powder so easily?

Li Jiuzhou was also surprised when he went to sell them, but he wasn't surprised that he was able to buy these things.

Instead, they were surprised that malted milk powder was more expensive than milk.

In 1953, my country's milk powder industry was just starting out. A can of Red Star brand full-fat sweetened milk powder, produced in Inner Mongolia, cost only 25,000 yuan, which was about one kilogram.

A can of "Lekoufu" malted milk powder produced in Shanghai costs 5 yuan.

Expensive products naturally have their advantages; it's fair to say that malted milk powder has reached its maximum nutritional value in this era.

Li Jiuzhou bought ten cans of each type at a time, to keep them in reserve.

My younger sister, Fengjiao, had already started drinking.

In general, at this time, milk powder and malted milk powder are scarce nutritional supplements, mainly provided to special groups such as infants and patients.

Ordinary families rarely consume this; it's too expensive.

Even if you feel bad about buying one can for your child, that's all you can have. You'd be better off using that money to buy more meat.

Pork prices have dropped recently, just as winter began, to 2800 yuan per jin (500g), which is equivalent to 2.8 mao (0.28 yuan) in the new version of RMB.

A pound of pork costs less than 3 cents.

Holy crap, people outside are going crazy buying them! It's cheap, no doubt about it.

Moreover, the price has remained very stable, and there are even more of these products in the market than they can sell.

Li Jiuzhou didn't know why there was so much pork now.

As for beef, it's really rare. You can't buy it even if you have money. Don't even look at what time it is now, or what kind of family still eats beef.

In rural areas, cattle are a rare commodity, treated like treasures. Who would dare to kill one to eat?

They'd probably be drowned in spittle.

Even Fengzeyuan only sells beef occasionally; it's not available most of the time.

Pork is cheap now, and Li Jiuzhou didn't want to go to the market every day in the dead of winter, so he just bought a slaughtered pig.

The pieces of meat were cut up and hung up in the kitchen to be smoked, some to make cured pork and sausages.

Sha Zhu followed suit and brought back a pig the next day, doing the same thing as his senior brother.

It's really cheap. The two brothers bought pigs that weighed around 180 jin (50 kg), which is very rare.

When the two brothers bought the pork, the price had just risen to 3000 (3 mao) per jin.

A pig weighing over 180 pounds only cost less than 40 yuan.

It couldn't be more cost-effective; the money the He family father and son lost playing dice in the past two months was enough to buy one and a half pigs.

Sha Zhu is just a follower; he does whatever his senior brother likes to do.

Some people in the academy actually disapproved of what the two brothers were doing.

If you're going to buy meat, fine, but what's the point of buying a whole pig and keeping it at home?

Many people don't understand, but they just mutter a few words. They're not spending their money, so why are they meddling?

When his neighbors asked Li Jiuzhou about it, he explained that his wife was about to give birth and he didn't have time to buy groceries, so he simply prepared them at home so the meat wouldn't spoil in the winter.

The reasons are quite valid.

After Jia Zhangshi learned that the two brothers had bought a whole pig, she kept talking about it non-stop.

"They're trying to outdo us again. Damn it, do these two cooks think they're so great?"

Jia Dongxu didn't care about his mother. That's just how she is. She hasn't changed in all these years. Sometimes she even makes fun of her own son. So he just let her be.

Jia Dongxu said to Tong Jie, who was busy at the sewing machine:

"Honey, how about we buy a pig? It would be great to make smoked or cured meat."

After hearing this, Madam Jia looked at Tong Jie with anticipation.

Tong Jie didn't even look up when she heard this:

"Do we have room to put a pig in our house?"

She stumped both the mother and son with just one question.

The mother and son were quite embarrassed; the house was indeed a bit small, and there wasn't enough space to hang the meat.

Making some cured meat and sausages is fine to hang on the outside of the door or roof beam, but where do you put a whole pig? There's just no place.

Tong Jie made the final decision:

"Buy meat if you want to eat it. You can buy more to make cured pork or sausages, but buying a whole head is fine."

The mother and son both nodded upon hearing this.

It's almost the end of the year, and the Jia family's Sachima business is about to get off the ground.

Normally no one eats it, only during holidays like Chinese New Year when people place orders.

The Zhang family runs a tofu business every day.

Li Jiuzhou did teach them the tofu-making technique, but their business extends far beyond just selling tofu.

They also sell soy milk, tofu pudding, and dried tofu.

Soy milk is simple, but tofu pudding and dried tofu both require some skill.

It was too difficult to figure it out on my own without anyone teaching me, so I spent a little money to learn.

They even learned how to fry dough sticks.

Old Zhang's family is practically ready to set up a breakfast stall.

Sha Zhu, having nothing to do on his day off, started making braised dishes in his own kitchen.

He bought a pig; the offal is good for braising, mainly because it absorbs the flavor well.

Around 9 o'clock, the whole courtyard smelled wonderful.

After being trained by Li Jiuzhou, Sha Zhu's cooking skills improved by leaps and bounds. He could even tell the stall owner's century-old secret recipe when he went to eat braised pork.

The stall owner was so frightened that he almost chopped Sha Zhu with a knife.

Luckily, they were regular customers and the stall owner knew who they were.

For Li Jiuzhou, figuring out the recipe was too easy; he was a master chef.

If I were to go down to the market and make braised pork, where would they have a place to live?

Of course, Li Jiuzhou wouldn't do that, nor would he need to.

Lu Zhu (a type of braised pork) was very popular in Beiping (Beijing), but it wasn't considered a proper dish.

In this day and age, even going underwater is considered beneath respectability.

Sha Zhu made a whole pot of braised pork on a whim.

The thick soup in the large pot kept bubbling, and Sha Zhu gave instructions to his wife and sister respectively:

"Wife, go and invite my senior brother's family over for braised pork."

"Rain, go and invite the old lady over."

"Okay, brother!" He Yushui replied and ran to the backyard, she couldn't wait any longer.

Qin Huai didn't move, but instead asked:

"Zhu Zi, you've made way too much food in one pot. How can our two families possibly eat it all?"

Sha Zhu was speechless for a moment, then scratched his head in frustration at the pot full of food: "Whatever, let's eat first."

Sha Zhu was indeed careless; he accidentally made too much.

Li Jiuzhou helped his wife to Sha Zhu's house, and seeing a pot full of braised dishes, he was also very hungry.

Each person received a large bowl, filled to the brim with meat.

The deaf old woman ate while muttering and cursing:

"These are all low-class things. Back in the day, I would never have eaten such things."

"Wow, this sausage smells so good!"

No one can escape the "it smells so good" phenomenon, just like the old deaf old man from the old days.

Years later, during a difficult time, the deaf old woman fondly remembered the day she ate braised pork at Sha Zhu's house.

The broth is quite salty, and the minced garlic adds a wonderful aroma. The aftertaste is unforgettable, but it can also make your mouth dry.

Braised dishes are something you absolutely must eat when you feel like it; they're addictive.

They enjoyed the meal, but the others suffered.

Xu Damao had long since lost patience, and seeing that there was still a large amount of food in Sha Zhu's pot, he immediately asked:

"Brother Zhu, can I have some?"

"Yeah, Pillar, we're neighbors, how about we share some?"

The neighbors all chimed in, wanting to eat it and also wanting to take advantage of the situation.

Sha Zhu got up, walked outside, and addressed the crowd:

"Everyone, I only cooked this much. Giving it away for free would offend people. If you want some, just pay for it."

"Don't worry, it's definitely better than the braised pork you buy outside."

Many people were unhappy when they heard that money was involved.

The first one is Jia Zhangshi:

"Did Jiuzhou pay us? His whole family didn't pay, so why should we pay them? We're all neighbors, what's wrong with us taking a little of their meat!"

"Shazhu, if you're a man, just hurry up and get me a bowl. My Banggeng is waiting to eat braised pork offal."

After saying that, he handed the large bowl to Sha Zhu.

Everyone was stunned by what Jia Zhangshi said. "Your baby is only a few months old, how can it eat braised pork?"

Aren't you afraid of choking him to death? Jia Zhangshi is full of nonsense.

Sha Zhu wouldn't spoil her.

"Trying to get something for free? No way! Go away, go home."

Madam Jia wasn't angry; she rolled her eyes and said:

"Let me take a look, okay? If it's good, I'll buy it."

Sha Zhu didn't think much of it upon hearing this, and pouted:

"See?"

Jia Zhangshi walked straight into the kitchen and swallowed hard when she saw the bubbling soup.

Sha Zhu scooped it up with a spoon, meaning to show it to Jia Zhangshi.

Who knew that Jia Zhangshi would scoop a string of large intestines out of the pot and stuff it into her bowl.

There was quite a lot of large intestine on the string, but the bowl she brought today was too small.

Seeing that the bowl was quite large, Jia Zhangshi immediately hugged it to her arms, then ran out while making "ooh ooh ooh ah ooh" noises, in a very funny manner.

After realizing what was happening, Shazhu was furious.

"Damn it, Jia Zhangshi, you're robbing me outright!"

A group of people outside watched as Jia Zhangshi carried her large intestine home and ran away as fast as she could.

Everyone was still in shock.

"What a talent..." Yi Zhonghai muttered to himself, staring wide-eyed.