Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

After listening to his senior brother's words, Sha Zhu went home, pushed his bicycle, and ran outside. Once outside the courtyard, he pedaled a few times and the bicycle sped away.

Yan Bugui was heartbroken. What a fine Flying Pigeon bicycle! It's such a waste to let your silly Zhu ride it.

Sha Zhu rushed to his father's new home in a great hurry.

It was a large courtyard, and the car was carried into the yard. The neighbors were already familiar with Sha Zhu and greeted him as "Zhu Zi" (a nickname implying someone who is easily fooled).

In the past, Sha Zhu would definitely stop, take out a cigarette, and chat with the neighbors in the yard for a while, but today he was busy.

He gave a perfunctory reply and headed to the backyard.

At that moment, He Daqing and his wife were plucking feathers from an old hen.

Bai Lian is pregnant, and He Daqing will prepare some nutritious meat dishes for her every few days to help her recover.

Seeing his eldest son rushing over in such a hurry, He Daqing's heart skipped a beat. He stood up and asked:

"Zhu Zi, why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen in the yard?"

Sha Zhu noticed that his father's expression was somewhat anxious, and immediately realized that he had been too hasty, and it was normal for his father to misunderstand.

So he waved his hand, smiled, grabbed a stool, sat down, and started plucking chicken feathers together, while also explaining the whole story of how he came here.

He Daqing was stunned and speechless for a moment.

On the contrary, Bai Lian had a smile on her face ever since Sha Zhu started speaking:

"Hehe, our Zhuzi has grown up, he even knows how to think about girls now."

"Honey, I think you'll be a grandfather soon."

Sha Zhu's face immediately turned as red as a monkey's bottom after his stepmother said that, and he lowered his head shyly.

He Daqing, who was still in a daze, couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard that he was going to be a grandfather.

My son is 17 years old. He's tall and strong, about 1.78 meters, and his face resembles mine, making him look quite mature.

He said he still had humanity even in his twenties.

A few years ago, it would have been normal for a seventeen-year-old to find a wife. He Daqing got married at that age, and the following year he had He Yuzhu.

But this time, the news my son brought back might be a bit tricky; he's taken a liking to someone else's blind date.

They're practically neighbors; if they really try to steal it, there will be conflict regardless of whether it succeeds or not.

This is still at a disadvantage for us; doing something like this might cause gossip among our neighbors.

However, there is still room for maneuver. Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu have only just started dating and haven't gotten together yet.

He Daqing took out a cigarette and tossed one to his son.

Sha Zhu was very perceptive and took out a match to light it for him.

After taking a few deep breaths, He Daqing slowly said:

"Son, I'm at a loss about this. It's a bit tricky. It's not appropriate for us men to get involved. I'm afraid it'll have to be like what your senior brother said, that your Aunt Bai has to step in."

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu looked at Bai Lian with pleading in his eyes.

Bai Lian smiled upon seeing this.

"No problem, let's set off now. We'll take the chicken back to the old house to stew. I'll go and find out what's going on after Matchmaker Qin leaves the courtyard."

Sha Zhu clapped his hands excitedly:

"Auntie, I'm counting on you! Whether my dad can hold his grandson soon depends on you!"

"You silly child, we're family, no need for formalities, just you wait and see!"

The three packed some things, and there were five people in two bicycles.

Bai Lian also has two sons.

Back at the hospital, the family acted as if nothing had happened, and cooked as usual.

He Daqing strolled around chatting with his neighbors.

Only Li Jiuzhou was secretly laughing. He wanted to see how this would turn out and was looking forward to the outcome.

Qin Huairu had a sumptuous lunch at Jia Dongxu's house and was quite satisfied with it.

There was fish, meat, peanuts, and fruits; they treated her fairly well.

I chatted with Jia Dongxu for a bit; it was a normal blind date process, the two young people getting to know each other.

Jia Dongxu was extremely satisfied with Qin Huairu, and he was overjoyed!

Madam Jia and Matchmaker Qin were in the outer room, discussing the betrothal gifts.

In this day and age, it's not that the bride price is discussed only after everything is agreed upon; women can also make requests during the blind date.

The matchmaker, Qin, naturally brought up the conditions offered by the Qin family.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi was greatly alarmed:

"What? Two hundred thousand, and you still want a sewing machine?"

"Does that mean ten tables are needed for relatives?"

"You want a perfect score?"

"No, no, it's too expensive!"

Jia Zhangshi's voice was so loud that Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu in the inner room naturally heard it clearly.

Qin Huai, who had been smiling, suddenly turned pale.

Qin Huai couldn't help but mutter to herself:

These conditions weren't set by the Qin family, but by the man who proposed marriage to them.

They even said it wasn't enough for the Qin family to set their own conditions.

Despite such favorable conditions, the Qin family still didn't marry her off, which shows just how popular Qin Huairu was.

She was notoriously difficult to marry in the surrounding area; money was not an issue, nor was the bride price.

But when they got to the Jia family, they acted as if they weren't worth anything, damn it, who do they look down on!

Your Jia family only has Jia Dongxu as a decent person; he's good-looking, but that's about it.

Matchmaker Qin's face also fell. Were these conditions too high?

Do you understand the concept of waiting for a high price? Even though we're all human, there's always someone who's willing to pay that price!

This is the price for Huairu from their family; anything less wouldn't be worth it, and even if it were more, the Qin family wouldn't want it.

If it were an ordinary girl, she could get married for tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan, but Huai Ru from their family is no ordinary girl.

He was considered the pillar of his family.

Not only is she beautiful, but she also keeps the house neat and tidy, and she's even more adept at farming than the men.

Young men from all around the area were incredibly rare to find.

Their parents also cherished girls like that.

Marrying a girl like that would make her a pillar of support. A few hundred thousand might be a lot, but it would definitely be a huge win.

The villagers aren't fools either; they're incredibly shrewd when it comes to accounting, knowing exactly how much rice a family might have or lack.

Qin Huairu's exorbitant bride price might scare many people away, but there are definitely young men who will rush to her aid for love.

It's not like there aren't wealthy families in the countryside; every family has its share of secretly hiding some money!

Matchmaker Qin didn't want to say anything more, and Jia Zhangshi didn't understand the value of a beauty from the surrounding villages.

There's already prejudice; what's the point of explaining further?

"Alright, ma'am, take your time to consider it. This is the price for Huairu, not a penny less."

"It's getting late, I still need to take Huai Ru to catch a bus back to the countryside."

After saying that, he shouted into the inner room again:

"Huai Ru, let's go."

"Here you are."

After saying that, he nodded to Jia Dongxu:

"I'll be going now..."

Jia Dongxu raised his hand, wanting to chat with Qin Huairu a little longer, but it felt like something was stuck in his throat, making him unsure of what to say for a moment.

Qin Huairu came out and nodded to Jia Zhangshi, then followed the matchmaker Qin out of the Jia family's house.

After Qin Huairu left the house, she noticed a young man with a mature appearance watching the two of them from the main room next door.

Qin Huai glanced at him, then turned and left.

After watching the two walk towards the front yard, Yi Zhonghai quickly headed towards the Jia family's house.

"Sister-in-law, Dongxu, how is he?"

Madam Jia was very unhappy; a country girl was making such an outrageous demand.

If it were a city girl, she definitely wouldn't hesitate.

Excluding the cost of the sewing machine, a dowry of 200,000 yuan is considered normal in the city. Buying a sewing machine is essentially for their own household use. (Matchmaker Qin said the sewing machine would be part of the bride's dowry.)

It all boils down to a dowry of 200,000 yuan plus the cost of the wedding banquet.

There will also be monetary gifts, which can almost cover the cost of the bride price and the banquet.

In the end, it all comes down to the cost of a sewing machine, around 1.2 million.

But Jia Zhangshi just couldn't accept it no matter how she listened. To put it bluntly, she looked down on Qin Huairu, who came from the countryside, and felt that he wasn't worth the price.