Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Two days later, the news that Da Hu was getting married on National Day spread throughout the compound.

These days, the neighbors aren't very interested in any happy events happening in the courtyard.

Because it really has nothing to do with them, there's no banquet, and there's nothing exciting to watch.

There is no prohibition from the authorities on holding weddings, funerals, or other celebratory events in the private sector, but the events should be simple and small-scale, and extravagance and waste are strictly prohibited.

Even if your family is well-off and you want to have a big celebration, there's nothing you can do about it.

With extremely limited resources, it is very difficult to hold a banquet.

Da Hu had also discussed it with his mother-in-law's family, and they decided not to have a wedding ceremony; the two families would simply sit down together for a meal, and that would be considered the wedding.

Surprisingly, Da Hu's mother-in-law only asked for a dowry of 10 yuan and nothing else.

It doesn't require three turns and one sound, nor thirty-six legs; it's that simple.

This gesture deeply moved Da Hu.

Without comparison, there is no harm; Ah Hao's wife and Da Hu's girlfriend live in the same courtyard.

Ah-hao's mother-in-law demanded an exorbitant dowry of 50 yuan, and the groom also wanted three turns and a radio, which cost a fortune.

Then look at Da Hu, he's completely won.

This also led Zhang Shih-hao to never want to go back to his wife's parents' home again. He thought he would just buy out her family and pretend he knew nothing about anything that happened to her family afterward.

They held onto the money they earned tightly.

On National Day, Da Hu invited several unmarried young people from the compound to go with him to pick up his bride.

When they came back, Li Jiuzhou set off the firecrackers and also gave Da Hu a big red envelope.

Although we didn't attend the banquet, the relationship is still there, and it's all a token of our goodwill.

Those who got married earlier, like Sha Zhu, Jia Dongxu, and Zhang Shihao, all gave Da Hu red envelopes.

The reason they didn't hold a banquet wasn't because they didn't have the money, but because they were afraid of it having a bad influence, so they simply gave a monetary gift instead.

It wasn't much money, but as Da Hu's older brother, Li Jiuzhou certainly couldn't be stingy, so he gave a full hundred yuan.

Sha Zhu gave 30 yuan as a return gift because Da Hu had also given 30 yuan when he got married.

Jia Dongxu gave Da Hu two yuan according to the gift list before the wedding.

Those who gave red envelopes didn't go to Da Hu's house for dinner, because they all knew what the situation was like now.

When Li Jiuzhou saw Da Hu's wife, he thought she was alright. She had a good figure and her face looked like she would bring good fortune to her husband.

The main reason is that Da Hu's mother-in-law is reasonable and doesn't try to compete with Zhang Shihao's mother-in-law's family.

Because of this, Liu Yulan scolded Wang Guizhen quite a bit.

The two families are neighbors, so they know everything that's going on between them.

Wang Guizhen (Da Hu's mother-in-law) didn't care about Liu Yulan's (Ahao's mother-in-law) opinion.

It should be noted that Zhang Shih-hao has not visited his mother-in-law and father-in-law since he came to pay his respects during the Spring Festival.

It's been more than half a year. Is it far from Nanluoguxiang to Qianmen Street?

A distance of six or seven kilometers is just a matter of catching one's breath for people in this era.

They just won't come. Do we need to spell out the reason?

You've really offended your son-in-law! You're making marrying off your daughter like you're selling her. Is she made of gold?

Liu Yulan was still smug, saying that her daughter was worth this price!

Wang Guizhen originally wanted to raise her daughter's dowry to the same level as Liu Yulan's daughter, but after seeing how things had been going on for a while, she felt she couldn't do that.

On the day of the bride's return visit, Da Hu easily rummaged through many valuable items.

The two pork knuckles weighed over 50 kilograms, along with malted milk powder, canned fruit, and other items—basically, lots and lots of bags.

The Wang family made a big splash in the courtyard, and the neighbors all praised Wang Guizhen for finding a good son-in-law.

These days, there aren't many sons-in-law this generous; pork now sells for 7 cents a pound.

This 50-plus kilograms of meat costs more than 35 yuan, not to mention the rare stuff like malted milk powder that you can't buy even if you have money.

Dealing with these things is a piece of cake for Da Hu, who is a purchasing agent.

If Da Hu puts all his effort into procuring supplies, that would be incredible.

Just kidding, if he wasn't worried about his mother-in-law's family not being able to afford it, he would have gotten some bear paws and dragons.

This little thing was enough to open the eyes of the neighbors in the courtyard.

Da Hu's wife was heartbroken; as the saying goes, a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl.

That's basically how it is these days; expecting a daughter to subsidize her family is probably not a good idea.

Now that I have my own home, my first priority is definitely myself.

Da Hu originally thought his wealth would make his wife worship him, but that very night he was beaten and scolded.

Wang Xiue sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), tears streaming down her face.

"That's my money, Big Tiger, you bastard..."

Da Hu could only awkwardly laugh and try to appease his wife, promising not to waste money again, just this once.

Judging from his wife's attitude, she is a family-oriented person and wouldn't blindly subsidize her own family, which puts Da Hu at ease.

Of course, this was also the first time that Da Hu had to take stock of his assets with someone.

Li Jiuzhou, the elder brother, knew some things, but not all of them.

Da Hu felt he needed to make things clear to his wife, since they were family.

There was 2,500 yuan in bank deposits, 700 yuan in cash, and a whole box full of various receipts.

His wife, Wang Xiue, was stunned; she had never seen so much money in her life.

In my memory, the most I've ever seen was 80 yuan, and that wasn't even mine.

"Dahu, you're such a man!" Wang Xiue said, then hugged Dahu and kissed him several times.

What else could Da Hu say? He would definitely mount his horse and exude the heroic spirit of a true Beiping man.

In a courtyard on Qianmen Street, Liu Yulan lay on the bed and began to complain to her husband, expressing her dissatisfaction with Wang Guizhen.

She was furious just thinking about what Da Hu brought back for his homecoming today.

It's worth noting that Zhang Shih-hao only brought some fruit and two bottles of wine on the day he returned to his parents' home.

Compared to this, Liu Yulan was almost furious.

You can't blame Zhang Shih-hao for this. I spent a fortune on my wedding, and he still expects me to bring expensive gifts for the homecoming.

Do you think I'm some rich landlord?

"Say something! How long has it been since your good son-in-law came? More than half a year, right?" Liu Yulan complained to her husband.

Old Liu remained very calm and slowly said:

"I told you long ago not to accept such a high bride price or make so many demands."

"But you just wouldn't listen. Looking around Beiping, who else would accept a dowry of 50 yuan and make so many demands?"

"What, is your daughter made of gold?!"

"If I were Zhang Shih-hao, I'd never even bother coming to see you!"

Liu Yulan was furious; she never expected to be betrayed by her own husband.

"You didn't spend the money you gave your daughter for her wedding, or did you just waste it? Now you're talking about me? You useless thing!"

"Tomorrow I'm going to talk to my daughter and see if Zhang Shih-hao even considers me, his mother-in-law, to be his wife."

Birds of a feather flock together; neither of them are good people.

Old Liu could have stopped it back then, so why didn't he?

He just wants to make a quick buck, he's never satisfied with taking advantage of others, he's a clueless idiot.

The best outcome is that the son-in-law isn't coming.

Living so close by, it's reasonable for the daughter and son-in-law to come at least once every three months, if not once a month.

My daughter has visited a few times, but my son-in-law never comes except for Chinese New Year.