Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

After watching his neighbors start displaying their supernatural abilities, Sha Zhu revealed a disdainful smile, then went inside to get a piece of beef, preparing to stir-fry it.

He originally planned to save it and secretly stew it with his wife in the house that night, but now, it seems unnecessary.

Seeing that there was no more excitement, Li Jiuzhou walked home with his hands behind his back, followed by Xiao Tieniu, who walked in the same way as him.

Li Jiuzhou picked up a turtle weighing over 5 jin (2.5 catties) from a corner of his yard. He had been raising this turtle for almost half a month, and it was time to take it out for a treat.

It weighs over five jin (2.5 kg), and Li Jiuzhou plans to braise half of it and stew the other half in soup.

Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to eat, so it's okay to eat later.

Little Iron Ox can even start a fire now; he sits on a small stool and helps his dad start the fire.

Before long, the smell came on and Xiao Tie Niu's drool started flowing down the corner of his mouth.

When the wind blew, all the neighbors in the yard could smell it; it was so fragrant it could make you dizzy.

Sha Zhu stood at his door for a long time, smelling the aroma before realizing that his senior brother was making braised turtle. He was a little tempted, but he didn't go.

He went, and Qin Huairu and the deaf old lady were going too. In the past, when food and meat were not scarce, it was fine. The two brothers were not short of money, so they could eat as much as they wanted. Besides, the deaf old lady also had money.

But things are different now. You need money and tickets. Although Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu are good at trading, they didn't get much stuff, just enough for their own families.

Now, the two brothers won't go to each other's houses for dinner unless they make plans in advance.

Ever since Yi Zhonghai said that they would live behind closed doors in their courtyard, everyone has been eating meat to their heart's content.

Some people might find eating pork every day tiresome.

No, you're overthinking it. Who the hell gets tired of eating pork? I'd love to eat it every day.

Of course, there were two chefs in charge of No. 95 compound, so they didn't eat pork every day.

We eat chicken, duck, fish, and pork in rotation.

The women in the courtyard are going to the market more often now, and each time they come back, their cloth bags are bulging.

This situation would naturally come to the attention of the neighbors in Compound No. 95.

What can they do even if they see it?

To say they're wasteful?

Are you asking for it?

This is how they've made their lives.

The residents of No. 95 Courtyard set aside all the money they needed for daily expenses and saved each month, and only used the rest for living expenses.

When they have extra meat, they don't want to save it; instead, they take it out and eat more meat.

It's a matter of choice. The average income in the other courtyards isn't bad either. As for how you'll live, that's up to you.

The residents of No. 95 are quite united now. They don't gossip about each other, and that's enough. It's easy to achieve unity of thought, and of course, unity of action as well.

Before, I was afraid the neighbors would smell the meat when I cooked it in the yard, but now I'm not afraid anymore, and I can eat it however I want.

As for the fragrance drifting to other courtyards, that's from the air drying process; it has nothing to do with us.

Of course, a few self-proclaimed righteous individuals went to the neighborhood committee to report them.

They say the people in Compound No. 95 eat meat every day, and the aroma wafts into their compound, making everyone drool.

If a fragrance is just a fleeting scent that passes quickly, then it's gone. But this one is a continuous stream of fragrances.

People with a sensitive nose can even tell what kind of dish is being made just by smelling it.

This made them even more eager, which was no different from killing someone by breaking their spirit.

Director Wang was puzzled when he received the message. Weren't they told to keep a low profile? Why are they eating meat every day? And they've even gone further.

So he took a few people from other courtyards to see how the residents of No. 95 lived.

When we arrived, the doors were all tightly closed, but we could still faintly smell a fragrance in the air.

A middle-aged man pointed to Li Jiuzhou's kitchen and said:

"Director Wang, this household, in particular, smells the best; they eat meat every day!"

His words were full of resentment, as if Li Jiuzhou eating meat every day was like killing his mother.

Director Wang said irritably, "This household belongs to Li Jiuzhou, the canteen manager of the steel rolling mill. You all know him, right? You have a problem with him eating a little better?"

"His monthly salary is only a little over 150 yuan. Isn't it normal for him to eat meat every day?"

"There's a reason why other people are doing well. Why can't you all live as prosperously as those in Building 95?"

"It's all because they're incompetent and useless, yet they have the nerve to say they don't unite the masses."

"This kind of thinking is unacceptable. If you're so capable, make a good life for yourself. Don't come to the neighborhood committee for this kind of thing in the future."

"It's incredibly shameful to be jealous of others when you're incompetent yourself."

"Nothing else, I'm leaving."

After finishing his sentence, Director Wang didn't linger and quickly walked back.

A group of people were left standing in the alley, looking at each other in bewilderment. Director Wang's words made them feel utterly ashamed.

Actually, Director Wang wanted No. 95 Courtyard to keep a low profile, but after seeing the tightly closed gate, she understood.

The residents of No. 95 Courtyard seem to have reached a tacit understanding that they live their lives behind closed doors.

Eat whatever you want; you don't need outsiders to make sarcastic remarks.

I'll close the door and you can do whatever you want.

Director Wang thought that it was good to have a large courtyard that could unify thinking and make management easier.

Other courtyards, however, did not share this tacit understanding; some people even liked to keep an eye on what their neighbors were eating all day long.

If they find out you ate meat today and bring it up, they'll think the meat was of dubious origin.

If his neighbor eats one more meat meal than him within five days, he'll be talked about to death.

Actually, there are really no secrets in living in a large courtyard; your neighbors already know everything about your family.

He knows you have the ability to eat meat every day, but he just doesn't want to admit it. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't mess with you.

Your well-being makes me even more uncomfortable, even if you eat one more piece of meat than me, it's unacceptable!

During this period, the residents of No. 95 courtyard have witnessed a lot of arguments and fights among people in the nearby courtyards.

Courtyard No. 96 is next to Courtyard No. 95, and their liaison officer wants to learn from Courtyard No. 95 and build a stove together.

Of course, this was not initiated by a private individual, but by three liaison officers.

They want to gradually emulate the lifestyle of people in Building 95; it would be a lie to say they aren't envious.

So I decided to start by building the stove.

After a unanimous vote at the meeting, the residents of No. 96 Courtyard agreed to build a stove.

So every household contributed the same amount of money, and then the liaison officer arranged for people to do the renovations and for all materials to be purchased, ensuring that every household could have a new stove.

As a result, something went wrong. Some people wanted their stoves to be built bigger, while others wanted them to be smaller, so they used different materials.

On the second day of work, the entire courtyard was filled with people fighting and bleeding.

They started swinging bricks, and the three liaison officers suffered the most.

They are the initiators; when things become unmanageable, they are the ones who resolve them.

In the end, it was Director Wang who came to handle it. She scolded all the residents in the courtyard for more than two hours, and they were all numb with anger.

As the saying goes, if you're slow at one step, you'll be slow at every step. The residents of No. 95 Courtyard had collected all three essential items (turn, turn, and ring) very early on. Back then, no tickets were needed; if you had money, you could buy as many as you wanted.

Now you can't buy it even if you have the money; it's priced but unavailable.

Long ago, they built kang (heated brick beds) and stoves, and every family lived very comfortably.

It can be said that the residents of Building 95 are consuming and enjoying life earlier than expected.

It's difficult to do these things now; even if you build a stove, there's not much meat to cook.

As for the kang (heated brick bed), those who have never slept on one wouldn't want to build one.