Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

On the morning of the third day after Old Lady Zhang passed away, it was still dark in Beiping in winter. Fortunately, there was no wind today, otherwise it would have been unbearable.

At this time, Li Jiuzhou had already gotten up. Old Lady Zhang was to be buried in the morning, and as a neighbor, he had to go.

His wife, son, and daughter were still asleep when the noise of him getting up woke Bingbing.

"Wear more clothes, don't catch a cold," came Bingbing's concerned voice.

Li Jiuzhou bent down and kissed Bingbing's forehead:

"Don't worry, honey, you can go back to sleep. It's still early."

If it weren't for something important, who the hell would want to get up early in the dead of winter? Wouldn't it be nice to cuddle with your wife?

But there's no way around it; some things are unavoidable.

After Li Jiuzhou finished dressing and washing up, he went to the Zhang family.

Their house was brightly lit, and many neighbors had already arrived.

A black coffin was placed in the mourning hall, the lid of which had been opened and the inside had been laid out.

Now we just wait for the time to come, then we'll put Grandma Zhang's urn inside, and then put in some clothes and other things.

Although the body had already been cremated, the Zhang family still went to buy a coffin.

Moreover, buying a coffin is not easy; it's not something you can just buy whenever you want. At that time, timber was subject to centralized procurement.

Private individuals cannot purchase them; approval from the local street office is required.

This is why ordinary people can apply to buy coffins, but officials basically can't use them, and are not allowed to...

Li Jiuzhou was assigned a task: to be one of the Eight Immortals carrying a coffin.

It's definitely impossible to lift it even a little bit.

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The Zhang family chose a cemetery outside the city. You're the one who's going to carry their load?

So they rented and modified handcarts to transport the goods.

Some people ask why we don't use oxcarts or horse-drawn carriages?

There's a risk; if the horse or the cow gets spooked, that would be huge news in Beiping!

Because practice reveals the truth, and the people of Beiping have already paved the way.

Li Jiuzhou remembered seeing a newspaper article last winter about someone passing away near Zhengyangmen.

It was transported by horse-drawn cart; the family did not choose cremation but burial.

The result was that horses were pulling the coffin on a cart at breakneck speed.

Isn't this scary? Who on the street wouldn't be frightened when they see this?

The horse was eventually brought under control, but the coffin lid shattered on the ground, and the corpse rolled several times.

The photos in the newspaper were clearly visible, without even any blurring; they were extremely creepy.

After learning their lesson, they all pulled the carts by hand.

Lifting it would be too strenuous, so we chose to pull it by hand.

The arrangement of the Eight Immortals was also very particular; they were all young men with strong yang energy, and they all had to be married.

There are many customs and traditions surrounding the requirement of being married before.

Therefore, Li Jiuzhou, Shazhu, Xu Damao, Dahu, and the other eight pillars of the courtyard all had to pull or push the cart.

This is hard work, but there's no other way; this is the only option right now.

At 6:30 a.m., Yan Bugui arranged for the Zhang family to put the old lady's urn into the coffin.

At this point, there's a small detail: someone needs to wrap the urn with several layers of red cloth to secure it.

The filial sons and virtuous grandsons kneel on the ground, bury their heads in their hands, and weep bitterly. It must be genuine; the weeping must be heartfelt.

This was the first time that Sha Zhu and Xu Damao had done this kind of work. Last night, under Yi Zhonghai's instructions, the two brothers practiced several times in advance.

Now I'm quite familiar with the process and I've secured it properly before placing it in the coffin.

Li Jiuzhou stared blankly at the coffin nails and hammer in his hand; it was the first time he had ever done something like this.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai walked to Li Jiuzhou's side and whispered in his ear:

"Jiuzhou, pull yourself together, don't embarrass yourself..."

Li Jiuzhou looked up at Yi Zhonghai and made a joke:

"Uncle Yi, will we be doing this kind of work a lot more often in the future?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled and patted Li Jiuzhou on the shoulder:

"You young people will have to go through this sooner or later. When I die, you'll help me nail down my coffin. Don't worry, I'll tell Dongxu before I die that I specifically ask you to nail down my coffin."

Hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, Li Jiuzhou laughed. He stopped talking and began to pound on the metal, silently chanting in his mind:

"Eighty, eighty, eighty!"

Of course, there was also Da Hu who did the same work as him.

When the coffin lid was completely nailed shut, the filial sons and grandsons of the Zhang family burst into loud cries. This was the proper procedure, and nothing that needed to be done could be omitted.

At exactly seven o'clock, Yan Bugui shouted:

"Lift the coffin!"

Li Jiuzhou and the other eight people shouted at the same time:

"one two three……"

With Yi Zhonghai and the Zhang family leading the way, a large group of neighbors were already watching when they arrived at the front yard.

go to bed?

Why sleep? It would be a little regrettable not to see this. Don't underestimate our curiosity...

Men, women, young and old—everyone was there, all stopping to watch.

As they left the courtyard and placed the coffin on the cart, Liu Haizhong lit a string of firecrackers, signaling them to set off! Li Jiuzhou and the other eight took turns pulling the cart forward.

The streets were packed with people, people watching the spectacle...

It took nearly two hours of effort before Grandma Zhang was finally laid to rest.

It was almost noon when I got back, and I was exhausted.

The meeting truly ended after lunch. Of course, the Zhang family still had some minor procedures to follow, but that was their business and had nothing to do with Li Jiuzhou or other outsiders.

The first thing I do when I get home is take a shower to get rid of bad luck; it's an old tradition.

It's not common for elderly people to die like this in the nursing home. The last one to pass away was Old Jia, and he died in a very grand manner.

People in other courtyards usually don't ask their neighbors for help; they generally solve the problem themselves.

The same applies to their courtyard; if you don't help with a funeral, you'll be ostracized by your neighbors.

If your family ever has any problems in the future, they won't come. That's just how social relationships work.

In rural areas, it's a phenomenon; everyone lends a hand.

People in the city can only stick together for warmth.

Of course, the funeral industry will flourish in the future as society develops, but definitely not now.

The Zhang family wanted to invite Yi Zhonghai, Baxian, and other key figures to dinner that evening, but they all declined.

I dare not eat anymore, for fear of eating the Zhang family's clothes and food.

Not to mention the grain, we bought only high-priced grain, and coffins cost 45 to 65 yuan each.

The Zhang family has already spent several hundred dollars on such a simple and shabby funeral.

The people in the courtyard are reasonable; they eat what they should eat and don't eat what they shouldn't, so there's no need to cause trouble for others.

The Zhang family is considered well-off; families in even worse circumstances don't bother with funerals at all. They just go through the motions and don't even buy a coffin. They just buy a mat, roll it up, and bury the person directly.

It's not that we don't want to do it, it's that we can't afford it, and the conditions don't allow it. Keeping it simple is fine.

Many people do this; it's nothing unusual in Beiping (Beijing).

Moreover, most people are understanding; after all, life is already so hard, so it's best to keep things simple.

That afternoon, Li Jiuzhou woke up to find it was snowing lightly.

My son, Tie Niu, and a bunch of little rascals were fighting and bickering in the yard, seemingly divided into two camps.

The two sides confronted each other, shouting and threatening to kill, displaying an exceptionally fierce momentum.

Li Jiuzhou didn't stop them; instead, he watched with great interest.

Go ahead and fight, fight to the death, it's not like you'll kill anyone.

These little rascals, with their tiny arms and legs, and dressed so warmly, I wouldn't even cry unless they hit my head or face.

But when you fight, there are no rules. You can't just hit someone in the face or head.

What's the point of fighting then?

Soon, some little rascals fell for it and started crying, followed by a chorus of cries.

Li Jiuzhou saw it clearly: the first to cry was Bang Geng, who was punched in the face by his own son, Tie Niu.

Then it was Shi Tou, Sha Zhu's son, who was also punched in the nose by Tie Niu and burst into tears.

Sha Zhu watched from the corner, sighing and muttering to himself:

"My silly son, I've taught you so many times: when you see a fist, don't dodge, fight it head-on and see who's tougher. How could you forget? Sigh..."