Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

Chapter 285 Waste wood

"Come on!" Old Lady Wang waved her hand. "Go clean the fish. I'll watch you scale it."

Yu Haitang grabbed the carp tremblingly, and the fish suddenly jumped up and splashed water on her face. She screamed, and the fish flew far away.

"Oh my God!" Old Lady Wang slapped her thigh. "If you can't even catch a fish, what else can you do?"

At noon, Wang Jianjun came back for lunch and smelled a burning smell as soon as he entered the house. He saw his mother sitting at the table with a dark face, his wife with messy hair and greasy face, and a plate of braised pork that looked like charcoal on the table.

"This..." He was about to speak when he was interrupted by his mother.

"Jianjun," said Mrs. Wang, distressed, "with your wife's cooking skills, you'd better give up the idea of ​​treating us to a meal!"

Yu Haitang couldn't hold back any longer, tears fell down: "I, I just want to win honor for my family..."

Wang Jianjun looked at his wife's tear-stained face and suddenly felt distressed. He picked up a piece of burnt meat and stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed it twice and swallowed it hard: "Actually... it's not that bad."

Old Mrs. Wang was so angry that she stamped her feet and said, "Just spoil her!" Then she slammed the door and went into the inner room.

Yu Haitang was cleaning up the dishes and accidentally broke a plate. Wang Jianjun sighed and rolled up his sleeves: "Let me do it."

He awkwardly swept the debris and suddenly said, "How about... on your birthday, just say you're not feeling well and treat me another day?"

Yu Haitang wiped her tears, looked at her swollen fingers, and finally nodded. At this moment, she suddenly missed the simple home-cooked meals at her sister's house, and her brother-in-law's favorite sweet and sour pork ribs that he would specially add every time he saw her.

Yu Haitang stood in the courtyard with a net bag carrying two cans of oranges and a red scarf. She hesitated for a long time before she dared to knock on the door.

"Sister..." As soon as the door opened, she forced a flattering smile, "I brought some snacks for Little Peony."

Yu Li glanced at the net bag and didn't take it: "What trouble have you gotten into again?"

"Look at what you said!" Yu Haitang squeezed into the room and put the can on the table. "I just want to... I want to invite you and brother-in-law to my place to celebrate my birthday."

Sha Zhu, who was playing with the child, sneered: "Hey, you're not going to show off your Moscow restaurant?"

Yu Haitang's face turned red and white, and her nails dug into her palms: "I, I've figured it out. It's still the warmest to eat with family..." She suddenly grabbed Yu Li's arm, "Sister, please teach me how to cook a few dishes! Jianjun loves the four-happiness meatballs you make the most..."

Yu Li shook her hand off: "Now you know how to cook? What were you doing before?"

"I was wrong, isn't that okay?" Yu Haitang suddenly started crying, "Look at my hand..." She stretched out her finger covered with a Band-Aid, "I got burned while learning to cook at my mother-in-law's house..."

Sha Zhu glanced at her hands with red nails and snorted, "Your nail polish is redder than soy sauce, how can you cut vegetables skillfully?"

"Brother Zhuzi..." Yu Haitang suddenly turned to Shazhu and said in a sickly sweet voice, "I heard that you hosted a birthday party for a big boss back then?"

Yu Li looked up alertly: "What do you want to do?"

"I just want to ask Brother Zhuzi for some advice..." Yu Haitang twisted her scarf, "Come to my kitchen on your birthday and take a look. I'll go buy any seasonings you need..."

Sha Zhu slammed the enamel pot on the table and said, "You want me to be a free cook? No way!"

"Brother-in-law!" Yu Haitang stamped her feet anxiously, "If you don't help me, the people in Jianjun's unit will really laugh at me to death!" She suddenly wiped her tears, "Last time when their director's wife celebrated her birthday, they invited the chef from Cuihualou..."

Yu Li and Sha Zhu looked at each other and suddenly understood something.

"You deserve it!" Sha Zhu stood up and was about to leave, "I'll let you show off every day!"

"Brother-in-law!" Yu Haitang held Yu Li's arm with one hand and Sha Zhu's arm with the other, shaking him, "I know I was wrong! I am being bullied by the family members of the military unit every day, saying that I don't even have a specialty dish..."

Yu Li softened her heart and pulled a stool to sit down: "If I had known this would happen..."

"Sis!" Yu Haitang's eyes lit up, "How about holding the birthday party at our house? Brother Zhuzi will be the chef, and I'll say I learned it from my sister!"

"You wish!" Sha Zhu glared angrily, "I'm very busy!"

"Give me the money! I'll pay!" Yu Haitang hurriedly flipped through her wallet, "According to Cuihualou's banquet price..."

"Bang!" Yu Li slammed her wallet on the table. "He Yuzhu! If you dare to take the money, you will sleep in the kitchen tonight!"

Sha Zhu touched his nose and laughed: "How can that be possible..." He glared at Yu Haitang, "I can cook, but there are two conditions."

"You say!" Yu Haitang nodded rapidly.

"First, you are responsible for cutting the mounds and helping out." Sha Zhu raised his finger, "Second, on my birthday, in front of everyone, give my wife a cup of tea and say 'Sister, you've worked hard.'"

Yu Haitang's face flushed instantly, but looking at the little Peony smiling at her in Yu Li's arms, she finally nodded.

On Yu Haitang's birthday, in the kitchen, Yu Haitang was wearing Sha Zhu's old apron and clumsily cutting cucumber strips. The cucumber strips on the chopping board were uneven in thickness, as if they had been gnawed by a dog.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Sha Zhu grabbed the kitchen knife. "Your knife skills are so bad that even a dog would shake his head when seeing it!" He picked up three cucumbers and stacked them together. With a few slashes, he cut the cucumbers into strands as thin as hair. "Look! Do it like this!"

Yu Haitang stared at the translucent cucumber shreds and suddenly remembered the first time she met Sha Zhu many years ago - at that time, he showed off his skills in his own home in order to show off.

"What are you doing?" Sha Zhu threw a head of garlic to her, "Peel it clean!"

When the smoke rose, Yu Haitang was choked and coughed, but she did not avoid it. She looked at the flames when Sha Zhu stirred the wok, and suddenly felt that it was more dazzling than the neon lights of the department store.

Suddenly, Wang Jianjun's voice came from the front yard, offering a treasure: "Everyone, try this Moutai, my father specially prepared it for you..."

"Shut up!" Yu Haitang leaned out and yelled, "Can't you see I'm cooking?"

The guests in the room were stunned. Wang Jianjun stood there with the wine bottle in his hand, looking at his wife, who was wearing an apron and had a face covered in soot. He suddenly felt that she was more alive than ever.

When the last dish of sweet and sour pork ribs was served, Yu Haitang tucked in the corner of her apron that was stained with sauce. When someone praised the dish, for the first time, she did not mention her husband's position, but proudly said: "This four-happiness meatballs was taught to me by my brother-in-law!"

The guests didn't know who the brother-in-law Yu Haitang was talking about, so someone asked. Yu Haitang introduced Sha Zhu's situation to everyone. When everyone heard that it was Director He from the steel rolling mill, they had all heard of him.

"Director He of the steel mill?" Director Liu of the Industrial Bureau almost dropped the meatballs he was holding back into his bowl. "Director He is a famous chef. He has been the chef in many units and military regions."

The guests at the table suddenly became agitated. Director Zhao put down his chopsticks and said, "Oh my! I heard that Master He's squirrel mandarin fish was praised by the senior leaders!"

Wang Jianjun stood there in a daze, holding the bottle of Moutai. His cousin, the deputy section chief who always boasted that he "knew the chef of Cuihualou", was now craning his neck to look into the kitchen.

Yu Haitang smiled, turned around and lifted the kitchen door curtain: "Brother-in-law! Everyone wants to see you!"

Sha Zhu was squatting in front of the stove tasting soup and almost choked when he heard this. Yu Li smiled and pushed him: "Go ahead, hero."