Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

When Xu Damao and his wife returned to the house, Su Mei gave Xu Damao a good beating.

"I told you to want it, I told you to want it! It's all your fault, you've made such a fool of yourself!"

Xu Damao squatted down, grinning, as his wife punched and kicked him. The damage was like a tickle to him.

"Honey, why are you putting the blame on me? It's true I wanted it, but you kept saying I wanted more too."

"And since you were the one yelling loudly, I'll just hum a couple of times, hehehe..."

Xu Damao's smug and shameless manner made Su Mei feel extremely ashamed and indignant.

After a while of playful fighting, the couple finally sat down to discuss what to do.

After all, it was their first time getting married, so they were a bit excited and too engrossed in that aspect, making it difficult to control themselves.

Xu Damao comforted her, "It's alright, honey. Didn't the old lady move next door? She won't be able to hear us anymore. You can call out as you please; no one will bother us."

Su Mei rolled her eyes at him, not wanting to argue with him any further. Su Mei came up with a solution:

"Da Mao, let's move the bedroom too. It'll be quieter against the wall and no one will bother us. Besides, Mom and Dad already built a kang (heated brick bed) before."

Xu Damao did not hesitate at all and immediately took action.

The couple did their best to avoid being disturbed.

That night, Xu Damao couldn't resist the urge to cause some trouble again.

"Wife... want to get it done?"

"Hmm, let's do it..."

After the deaf old lady moved to the next room, she felt at ease and slept soundly. No matter how much Xu Damao and his wife made a fuss, they couldn't disturb her.

Since finding out his wife was pregnant, Shazhu has been getting up earlier and is more eager to leave work.

They also asked an acquaintance on their way back to Changping to inform the Qin family that their daughter was pregnant.

Sha Zhu couldn't go to deliver the good news in person; it was snowing outside, and his wife was pregnant, so he couldn't leave home.

It's good that my father-in-law and mother-in-law know. I'm newly pregnant now, there's no rush to do anything.

The Qin family was overjoyed upon receiving the news.

"Oh my god, she's finally pregnant!" Old Qin and his wife breathed a sigh of relief.

You should know that their daughter married into the city, and her husband's family is top-notch.

Both father and son were head chefs at Fengzeyuan Restaurant, and they were very well-known in the surrounding area.

In particular, her son-in-law, He Yuzhu, always brings a lot of things whenever he comes, even if he doesn't have time to come himself, he will ask Xu Damao, the film projectionist at the steel rolling mill, to bring them.

This move made people in the vicinity and surrounding areas very envious.

There were also gossips, saying that the Qin family's daughter had been married to someone in the city for almost two years and still hadn't gotten pregnant, so she was probably a barren hen.

Things are different now. My daughter is pregnant, so all the rumors are bullshit.

Upon learning this, Qin Dashan braved the light snow to go for a stroll, carrying in his pocket the cigarettes his son-in-law had brought him—Daqianmen cigarettes.

Sha Zhu had asked Xu Damao to bring one over before.

Do you know how much it costs?

You'll be shocked when I tell you, it's only 35 cents a pack, bro.

Who can afford to smoke in the countryside?

Qin Dashan wandered all the way to the brigade's supply and marketing cooperative, which was just a distribution center that sold miscellaneous things like tobacco, alcohol, and tea.

Inside, people were chatting and playing cards. In winter, when there's nothing else to do, the men liked to gather together to pass the time.

As soon as Qin Dashan entered, someone greeted him immediately:

"Hey, Dashan's here! Want to play a couple of rounds? Hey, you fucking smoke Daqianmen cigarettes, where did you pick them up?"

Qin Dashan's face darkened upon hearing this. Everyone in Changping knew he had a rich son-in-law. Wasn't it normal for me to smoke Daqianmen cigarettes? This bastard was just deliberately trying to embarrass him.

But he wasn't here to pick a fight with anyone. Qin Dashan smiled and took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his pocket to give to him.

"Qin Ermazi, so you know my eldest daughter is pregnant? What a coincidence, I just found out too."

"Come on, have a smoke. This Daqianmen cigarette was brought by my son-in-law through the film projectionist at the steel mill. There are several cartons, and I can't even finish them all. You guys help me use them up."

"Next time I'll have to talk about my son-in-law. We farmers can just roll our own cigarettes, why bother with this stuff? It's a waste of money..."

Qin Dashan's words left everyone present speechless and wanting to punch him; he was too arrogant.

So what if your daughter is pregnant? What's there to brag about?

There really are people who are jealous of the Qin family; their daughter married well, and her family benefits from it.

Qin Huairu hasn't gotten pregnant in almost two years, and they'd rather she never conceive, so that her son-in-law from the city will come back and see how smug Qin Dashan can be.

While Qin Dashan was showing off to the men, his wife also went to the place where the women gathered to show off.

"Big Chun's mother, you're still working in the fields in winter? What, you know my eldest daughter is probably pregnant?"

The couple had been holding their anger in for too long and finally had to get it out.

When the couple learned that their daughter was pregnant, they made a decision: sharing the news with relatives and friends was a must, and they also planned to make a trip to the city.

My daughter is pregnant, so she definitely won't be able to go back to her parents' home during the Lunar New Year. I also don't want her to take the risk of coming.

After discussing it, the couple decided to go see their daughter as a family and bring her some local specialties from the countryside.

On a day off, around 9 a.m., a horse-drawn carriage stopped at the gate of No. 95 courtyard.

Yan Bugui heard the commotion and immediately went out to check. He found a family of five who looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recognize them. However, judging from their attire, they were definitely from the countryside.

"Who are you?" Yan Bugui asked directly, as it was his duty.

Seeing that Yan Bugui didn't recognize him, Qin Dashan took off his hat.

"Brother Yan, I am Qin Dashan, Qin Huairu's father. My son-in-law sent a message back to the countryside a few days ago, so we came to see our daughter."

Yan Bugui suddenly realized and quickly stepped forward enthusiastically: "Oh, it's Brother Qin! I didn't recognize you with that hat on."

"Hurry, hurry, get into the yard."

When Sha Zhu got married, Yan Bugui was his accountant, so he was naturally familiar with his father-in-law.

Qin Dashan and his family unloaded the things they had brought.

Yan Bugui glanced at it but didn't say anything.

The things Qin Dashan brought were very valuable.

Because there was a cage of old hens, Yan Bugui counted, there were at least six.

Yan Bugui had already sent his son to call Shazhu, and the couple rushed to the gate of the courtyard.

Qin Huairu was very happy to see her family:

"Father, Mother, and my younger brothers, what brings you all here?"

"Zhu Zi sent a message back, and we were worried, so we came into town to check on you and brought some things with us," Qin Dashan said.

Qin Huairu was almost moved to tears. Seeing this, Sha Zhu quickly invited his father-in-law and his party into the courtyard.

He took out 50 cents and handed it to Yan Jiecheng: "Jiecheng, go to Zhengyangmen and call my father back. Tell him that my father-in-law's family has come and ask him to bring back some food and wine."

"Brother Zhu, just you wait and see, I guarantee it'll be done smoothly."

So he went to Sha Zhu's house to push his cart.

Seeing this, Yan Bugui smiled and shook his head: "Jie Cheng, half for each of us."

Yan Jiecheng nodded expressionlessly, and after riding a few dozen meters outside the courtyard, he began to curse loudly!

Xu Damao happened to be riding his bike past Yan Jiecheng when he noticed Yan Jiecheng cursing and found it odd. He muttered, "Yan Jiecheng must have lost some money, why is he cursing so rudely?"