Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Don't touch my parents!

"It smells so good, I just couldn't resist..." Xu Damao muttered softly, his voice trembling with tears.

"Now you know, right? Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you," He Yuzhu said irritably.

"Hmm, hmm." Xu Damao finally learned his lesson. He carefully tore off a sparrow leg, tested the temperature to make sure it wasn't too hot, and then gently took a small bite, chewing it carefully. After chewing a couple of times, his little eyes suddenly lit up like stars.

"Mmm, mmm, delicious, so delicious!" In the blink of an eye, a roasted sparrow disappeared into his stomach at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After finishing his own skewer, seeing that He Yuzhu hadn't touched it, he handed over the remaining one without thinking: "Brother Zhu, you have some too!"

This action surprised He Yuzhu. The little guy's eyes clearly showed reluctance, but his movements were swift and decisive.

"You can eat it yourself, there's more left, we'll bake more if it's not enough."

"Hehe." Upon hearing this, Xu Damao immediately withdrew his hand and devoured the second one in a whirlwind.

He Yuzhu then started eating his skewer, even sprinkling some chili powder on it. The portion wasn't large, considering he rarely ate spicy food, and besides, he hadn't formally studied Sichuan cuisine.

As soon as the spiciness spread on his tongue, he took a bite and felt a tingling sensation on his tongue.

"Cough cough...cough cough cough!" He Yuzhu coughed repeatedly, choked by the spiciness, and turned to leave. Xu Damao wasn't much better off, but he still forced himself to continue eating.

"Hiss—ha—" Another bite, and the intense spiciness shot straight to my head. My body was clearly not used to this kind of stimulation yet.

"Hehe, Brother Zhu, so you can't eat spicy food either? And you put in so much." Xu Damao covered his mouth, looking smug.

"Mind your own business, it's more satisfying with a little spice," He Yuzhu retorted stubbornly.

"Then let me try some too," Xu Damao said shamelessly, leaning closer.

"Okay, but you have to finish it all and don't waste any."

"How could we waste it? This is real meat!" Xu Damao patted his chest and assured him.

He Yuzhu tore off a sparrow leg and handed it to him. Xu Damao took it and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it vigorously, but regretted it the next second.

"Hiss—ha—water! I want water!" The spiciness made his nose and eyes run down his face.

"Hahaha, serves you right for making fun of me earlier!" He Yuzhu laughed so hard he almost fell over.

"Water! Water! Waaah..." Xu Damao cried and kept shouting.

"Zhu Zi, what are you doing here? Why is Da Mao crying?" Chen Shuxiang asked as she came out of the inner room.

"It's nothing, Mom, he just got burned by the chili peppers."

"You child, if you can't eat it, don't force yourself. It's so uncomfortable to cry from the spiciness. Quickly pour him some water to rinse his mouth."

"Okay, Mother."

"Glug glug—" Xu Damao gulped down a large bowl of water in one go, and the burning sensation in his mouth gradually subsided.

His eyes were full of resentment as he looked at He Yuzhu—he could have eaten a few more bites, but the spiciness made him drink too much water. He seriously suspected that Brother Zhu was deliberately messing with him so that he would eat less.

"Don't look at me like that, it makes me feel uneasy," He Yuzhu said helplessly.

Xu Damao rubbed his round belly, which was gurgling with water, and said pitifully, "I'm full... but I still want to eat."

"It's nothing, just take a piss and you'll be fine. You can still eat dinner."

"Would you like some more grilled food?"

"Grilling is too much trouble, let's stir-fry one tonight and make a soup."

"Will it taste as good as grilled food?" Xu Damao licked his lips, full of anticipation for Brother Zhu's cooking skills.

"You'll find out when the time comes. Alright, go back inside. Don't stare at them here anymore. Those last two are for your grandpa to have with his drinks." He Yuzhu urged Xu Damao to leave quickly when he saw him still staring longingly at the remaining roasted sparrows.

"Oh, okay." Xu Damao slowly made his way out of the kitchen, glancing back every few steps.

We sent that kid away, not because we were really afraid he'd eat, but mainly because he was getting in the way and hindering our work.

He Yuzhu took a small knife and began to slice the sparrow meat.

After slicing five sparrows, there wasn't much meat left, so he sliced ​​five more to barely make half a plate. He still needed to add some side dishes to fill the whole plate.

Next, he cleaned the clay pot, added water, put in the remaining whole sparrow and its skeleton, added scallions and ginger slices, and simmered it slowly over a fire.

Then I went to the cellar and took out radishes and cabbage. I cut the radishes into thin strips, sprinkled them with salt and marinated them to draw out the water for later use.

He removed the tender hearts from the cabbages and set them aside separately. After completing the preparations, he began to chop the cabbages.

Tonight's menu is: stir-fried sparrow meat, clear sparrow soup, shredded radish and dried shrimp, vinegar-dressed cabbage hearts, plus a hot and sour cabbage dish.

This meal was quite lavish. Actually, He Yuzhu wanted to treat himself—he had accomplished something big last night, saving people from danger, and today he had solved the problem of finding milk powder. He was in a great mood.

As dusk fell, He Daqing returned. The moment he entered, he was greeted by a delicious aroma, initially mistaking it for pigeon meat.

He walked into the kitchen, lifted the lid of the casserole, and poked at the meat in the plate with his chopsticks. He immediately laughed, "Good lad, you've really got some skills! There must be at least twenty sparrows in this!"

Seeing the two roasted eggs, he asked, "Were these specially saved for me?"

"Yes, it was specially saved for you to have with your drinks."

"Good lad, you still remember your old man!" He Daqing patted He Yuzhu's head with satisfaction.

"I'll heat it up for you in a bit."

"Is there anything else I can help with?" He Daqing nodded.

"No need, please go to the backyard and bring the old lady over. This sparrow soup is very nourishing."

"Okay, I'll go check on your mother and sister first," He Daqing said, turning and walking into the inner room.

"Daqing, what are you and Zhuzi talking about?" Chen Shuxiang asked from inside the room.

"It's nothing, just that your son has done well. The dishes tonight are quite plentiful."

"Of course, the two little ones were busy all afternoon," Chen Shuxiang said with a smile.

"Oh, Da Mao helped too?"

"Uncle He, I only plucked a few hairs," Xu Damao said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Well, you've done your work, so eat more tonight." He Daqing smiled and patted his head.

"hey-hey!"

"I'll go to the backyard to pick up the old lady first. Zhu Zi is so thoughtful; he made something delicious and didn't forget about her."

Then hurry on your way, and be careful on the road, lest you bump into or hurt that old lady.

understood.

He Daqing slowly moved to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), bent down to look at his sleeping little daughter, and gently tapped her small nose with his fingertip.

The little guy twisted his head in dissatisfaction. He Daqing laughed loudly when he saw this, then turned around and stepped out of the room.

Not long after, He Daqing helped the hard-of-hearing old lady back.

Before the old lady even entered the house, she could smell the delicious aroma wafting from under the door. As soon as she stepped inside, she raised her voice and called out towards the kitchen:

My dear grandson, what delicious food did you make today? It smells so good!

He Daqing hadn't given any hints beforehand, only saying that her eldest grandson had specially found some good things to give her as a gift, urging her to come and try them quickly.

The old lady smiled broadly and happily followed him toward the kitchen.

After He Yuzhu finished listing the names of the dishes, the old lady's smile widened even more.

These wild animals aren't easy to eat on ordinary days—sparrows aren't too hard to catch, but the difficulty lies in the fact that adults don't have time usually, and children don't have the skill to catch them.

Here, please try this bowl of sparrow soup and this plate of stir-fried sparrow meat.

Oh my goodness, my grandson has really grown up to be very capable!

These are all rare items. Did you catch them all yourself?

I caught it with Da Mao. Grandma, please go back inside and warm up. I'll be serving dinner soon.

Good, good, good! Great Qing, if you ask me, Zhu Zi's cooking skills have indeed been passed down to you in some respects.

"Come on, he's still far from good enough." He Daqing still refused to admit defeat.

What? Are you afraid your grandson will surpass you in the future?

How old is he?

He Daqing's face immediately turned a dark red.

To be honest, he never seriously taught his son any cooking skills.

The kid only said that he secretly learned it by watching him cook, but I never expected that his skills were already three or four-tenths of his level.

Although he didn't know exactly what dishes his son could cook, his current skill level was already enough to make him, as the father, feel a little embarrassed.

Okay, okay, whatever you say is right, let's go inside now.

He Daqing didn't want to dwell on this topic any longer, fearing that he might upset the old lady and end up getting another beating with her cane, which wouldn't be worth it.

"Let's go!" The deaf old lady glared at He Daqing, her mind perfectly clear—she knew exactly what the old man was thinking.

Hey.

Once inside, the deaf old lady didn't forget to praise Xu Damao a few times. She also grabbed Chen Shuxiang's hand and kept saying that she had given birth to a good son and that she had been trying different methods to help her mother recover these past few days.

He Daqing stood to the side, his face clearly showing his embarrassment.

The old lady's words were clearly directed at him, implying that he hadn't brought anything decent home.

How could he not want that too?

But nowadays, ingredients in restaurants are already scarce and strictly regulated.

As for bringing lunch boxes—the kitchen doesn't even have any ingredients, so you can't just bring back some leftovers, can you?

He Daqing thought that kind of thing was too dirty.

With He Yuzhu's loud shout of "Serving the food!", Xu Damao rushed out first, followed closely by He Daqing.

Just as several dishes were placed on the table, He Yuzhu came in carrying a plate of steaming hot roasted sparrows.

He Daqing leaned closer to smell the fragrance, then turned to the deaf old woman and said:

Grandma, how about we, your father and I, have a couple of drinks with you today?

Great! With such a lavish spread, it would be a shame not to have a couple of drinks.

"It's a pity my eldest grandson is still young, otherwise I would have had him drink a few cups with you," the deaf old lady said with a smile.

"Then you'll have to wait patiently, Zhu Zi is still so small!" Chen Shuxiang chimed in with a smile.

Perhaps the aroma of the food was too tempting, or perhaps she was simply too hungry, but He Yushui couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.

Upon seeing this, He Yuzhu immediately turned around and ladled in some rice porridge.