Courtyard house: Just the right amount of pressure, leaving you bewildered but not brain-damaged.

Wu Guizhen's grocery shopping trip was comparable to the journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures.

He had barely taken two steps after leaving the hospital when neighbors stopped him, asking with concern what had happened to Yi Zhonghai's face.

After finally managing to stammer and fool them, they were blocked by the next wave of neighbors.

The backlash from Yi Zhonghai going out with his chubby face ultimately fell on Wu Guizhen.

The walk from No. 95 courtyard to the market should only take a dozen minutes, but it took us more than half an hour. We had to talk until our lips were thin.

When Wu Guizhen returned to the courtyard with two ounces of pork, three cucumbers, a bunch of chives, and a few eggs, she was greeted by a rich aroma of meat as soon as she entered the front gate.

"Rain, come here. I'm in a good mood today, I'll teach you a few tricks."

He Yuzhu's loud voice could still be heard clearly in the courtyard.

"Let me test you first: what do you use to remove the fishy smell from pork?"

"Scallion and ginger water and star anise." He Yushui's tone was very confident.

"Oh right, what about beef and lamb? Did Dad teach you how to make them?"

"Hmm...it should be these too." The sound of the rain had subsided considerably, but fortunately, the windows were poorly sealed, so Wu Guizhen could barely hear it.

"Hehe, you've shown your weakness, haven't you?"

"Let me tell you, blanching beef and mutton is the key to removing their gamey smell."

"Don't rush to cut the whole piece of beef. First, use an awl to poke many holes so that the blood can seep out."

"Soak it in water for a while after cutting it."

"When blanching, in addition to scallions, ginger, and star anise, you also need to add some fennel and Sichuan peppercorns."

Having finally gotten a chance to show off in front of his younger sister, He Yuzhu cherished it greatly. He acted more like a teacher than Yan Bugui, using both hands and mouth to explain and demonstrate at the same time.

"No need for all that trouble with the lamb. See the radish? Cut it in half, poke holes in it, and blanch it in the pot with the lamb."

"Boil it for a while, then take the radish out and throw it away. This will reduce the mutton's gamey smell by at least half."

"As the old saying goes, the smell of pork comes from the skin, the smell of beef comes from the blood, and the smell of mutton comes from the fat."

"When you cook meat in the future, remember this: when you buy pork with the skin on, first use tongs to singe the skin black."

"The key to beef is soaking it to remove the blood."

"The fattier the mutton, the stronger its gamey flavor, making it a perfect match for radishes."

Not only did He Yushui listen attentively, but Gao Xiaosheng, who was sitting in the living room, also perked up his ears, and Wu Guizhen in the yard couldn't move for a long time.

"Brother, what if we don't have radishes? And we can't just stew mutton all the time."

Rainwater wasn't content with just learning the basics. She would cook for Gao Xiaosheng every day from now on, so learning more culinary skills was never a bad thing.

"Hehe, of course there's a way. Let me teach you a few more tricks."

It was rare for his younger sister to be so well-behaved in front of him, and He Yuzhu smiled so hard that his teeth were showing. He even imitated Gao Xiaosheng and rubbed Yushui's little head.

"Hey, hurry up and tell me, you've messed up my braids." He Yushui raised her hand and slapped away her brother's clutches.

"Okay, remember that."

He Yuzhu wasn't angry. His younger sister had been treating him differently for a long time, and he had at least touched her twice earlier.

"Put the mutton in cold water, add some rice vinegar, or a small handful of mung beans, dried orange peel, or dried hawthorn to remove the gamey smell."

"You can also crack two or three walnuts and throw them into the pot."

"If none of these are available, then we can only sprinkle some Sichuan peppercorns."

"As long as you don't cover it, you can get rid of most of the muttony smell."

"Take them out when the water boils, and then you can stew or stir-fry them, it's all up to you."

"You stand here today, watch carefully, and learn well. I guarantee you'll be a great cook in the future."

Wu Guizhen muttered to herself, repeatedly reciting the few tips for removing fishy smells that Sha Zhu had told her.

She has been cooking for over twenty years, and this is the first time she has ever heard of these methods.

After waiting a while longer, Wu Guizhen heard the rhythmic sound of chopping vegetables coming from Gao Xiaosheng's kitchen. She sighed and continued walking home.

"Zhonghai, you're not asleep?"

Pushing open the door, Wu Guizhen saw Yi Zhonghai sitting in the living room smoking and asked in a low voice.

"It's too noisy to sleep."

Yi Zhonghai frowned and gave a perfunctory reply, looking out the window with a look of annoyance.

Wu Guizhen followed her husband's gaze and instantly understood.

Isn't that the window of Gao Xiaosheng's house facing the covered walkway in the middle courtyard?

In the sweltering summer heat, no one would close their windows during the day; Yi Zhonghai must have overheard the He siblings chatting.

Or perhaps it's the smell of beef and mutton?

"Zhonghai, Zhuzi is naive, and Yushui spends all his time at Gao Xiaosheng's house. If this continues, what do you think will happen...?"

Seeing her husband's increasingly grim expression, Wu Guizhen stopped speaking before she could finish, gently put down the cloth bag, and sat down on the chair next to Yi Zhonghai.

After a moment of silence, Yi Zhonghai let out a cold snort.

"Ignore him. As long as Gao Xiaosheng can't cause any trouble, and we teach Zhuzi a lesson, he'll naturally know which side to stand on."

"Guizhen, cook dinner early tonight, and send some to your godmother in the backyard when it's done."

After tossing and turning in bed for half an hour, Yi Zhonghai kept thinking about how to save face and rebuild his prestige.

Punishing Gao Xiaosheng through the factory union is definitely not going to work.

Even asking Director Wang of the neighborhood office to put pressure on Gao Xiaosheng didn't work; even the deaf old lady's influence was useless.

No matter what, he was in the wrong first, so he deserved to be slapped a few times.

It wasn't until he heard that He Yuzhu had gone to Gao Xiaosheng's house that Yi Zhonghai suddenly realized that things were more serious than he had imagined.

There are quite a few young people in the courtyard.

Sun Youtian, needless to say, is definitely Gao Xiaosheng's accomplice.

He Yuzhu also showed signs of being misled.

If Yan Jiecheng, Liu Guangqi, Xu Damao, and those other youngsters are all won over, the future of the elderly care industry will be bleak!

More than a decade later, he was old and frail, while these kids were in their prime. If they banded together to take advantage of his family's wealth, Dongxu alone would definitely not be able to stop them.

After much thought, Yi Zhonghai finally came up with a solution that was barely logically consistent.

Didn't the deaf old lady advise him to let He Yuzhu help him take care of his elderly parents?

Why not act as a matchmaker and let the old lady recognize Zhu Zi as her god-grandson? This would also solve the old lady's problem of having food.

Yi Zhonghai didn't think of this matter as too simple; instead, he devised a meticulous three-step plan.

The first step was to have his daughter-in-law, Wu Guizhen, deliver meals to the old lady every day, do her laundry, and tidy up the house, thus creating a culture of respect for the elderly in the courtyard.

Then he called on the Yan family, the Liu family, and the Jia family to help share the old lady's housework, and persuaded Zhuzi to cook a meal for the old lady every few days.

Once the relationship between the two is established, it can be suggested that they become godparents. With the old deaf woman's shrewdness, she should be able to easily manipulate the clueless Zhu Zi.

"this……"

"Zhonghai, I'm planning to make you stir-fried pork with cucumber slices and stir-fried eggs with chives for dinner tonight, and steam a few white flour buns. How about I take them to Grandma tomorrow?"

Wu Guizhen is not a generous person. She has no problem improving her husband's meals, but she can't bear to give such good food to her godmother.

Yi Zhonghai also looked pained, and after hesitating for a while, he slowly shook his head, "No, just today. Take a small portion of each dish, and add some pickled vegetable shreds to make a small plate to send over."