Siheyuan starts to activate the task system

After entering Zhang Yuan's house, Zhang Yuan enthusiastically took out some candies of various kinds and handed them to He Yushui, asking her to try them first to satisfy her craving. Facing He Yushui's good intention of offering to help cook, Zhang Yuan smiled and waved his hand, politely declining, "I am an experienced cook, and these little things are not difficult for me. Why should I bother you, a distinguished guest, to do it! Just sit in the living room and rest, waiting to taste the delicious food I cook."

He Yushui listened and nodded obediently to show her understanding. Then, she rolled her eyes and asked curiously, "Then... can I visit your room?" There was a hint of expectation in her words.

Seeing her sincerity, Zhang Yuan readily agreed: "Of course no problem! Take a look around." In fact, He Yushui had been to Zhang Yuan's house before, but that was only to borrow money for emergency. After getting the money, she left in a hurry and didn't have time to stay for a while. Now, she finally had the opportunity to take a good look at this place.

Walking into Zhang Yuan's room, He Yushui seemed to have entered a whole new world. The first thing that caught her eye was the spacious and tidy desk in the study, on which were placed all kinds of stationery and books; the bookshelf next to it was filled with a wide variety of books, ranging from literary classics to professional maintenance books, and then looking at the bathroom, it was clean and tidy, with all kinds of toiletries neatly arranged.

He Yushui was amazed by every detail. These exquisite furnishings were exactly what she had dreamed of. She couldn't help but sigh secretly that this was her ideal home!

He Yushui carefully pulled out a literary book from the bookshelf. The cover was a little old, but the title was particularly eye-catching - "How the Steel Was Tempered"; she discovered this book by chance in the school library. She only read half of it before being interrupted by other things and had not been able to finish it. Now she finally has the opportunity to pick it up again and continue reading it.

Although the kitchen in Zhang Yuan's home is not spacious, it is neat and tidy. However, there are not many food supplies, only a ham and an old hen. These are gifts from his kind and generous sister Rong. Rong has always been considerate and the things she gave Zhang Yuan were mostly expensive and rare candies, wine and cigarettes.

Despite the limited ingredients, Zhang Yuan decided to show off his cooking skills. He skillfully picked up the kitchen knife, cut the ham into thin slices, and then stir-fried it with green peppers. In a blink of an eye, a dish of ham and green peppers with good color, aroma and taste was ready. Then, he beat a few eggs, added bright red tomatoes, and quickly stir-fried them a few times. A plate of tempting scrambled eggs with tomatoes was ready. Finally, Zhang Yuan put the old hen into the casserole and slowly stewed it to fully release the deliciousness and nutrition of the chicken.

Since learning how to cook, Zhang Yuan has had a unique view on food. He knows that if you want to make delicious food, you can't be stingy with oil. Therefore, during the cooking process, he poured oil into the pot without hesitation and showed off his cooking skills. For a while, the smoke filled the air and the aroma overflowed, attracting people from the whole yard to stop and greedily sniff the tempting smell.

"Wow, it smells so good! Whose food is this? It smells so good!"

"Humph, apart from that prodigal son of Zhang Yuan's family, who else would be so lavish in using oil to cook? What a waste!" someone complained indignantly.

"But then again, this smell is so tempting. Just smelling it makes my stomach growl." Another person couldn't help swallowing.

The first to be affected were naturally the people living in the front yard. They were so angry that they yelled, "Zhang Yuan is such a jerk! He cooks the dishes so deliciously, but how can we neighbors live?"

However, Yan Bugui's family was different. As usual, they simply moved the dining table to the yard, greedily sniffing the fragrance in the air while eating their own meals with relish, as if the wonderful taste was emanating from their table.

When the tempting aroma drifted into the middle courtyard, Yi Zhonghai and the aunt were eating, and they both smelled the smell at the same time. The bowl of boiled cabbage on the table, which had only two drops of oil on it, suddenly became tasteless, but Yi Zhonghai's face remained unchanged. He just mechanically picked up a piece of cabbage with chopsticks and put it into his mouth, then picked up the cornmeal porridge beside him and drank it down.

"Old Yi, do you think we should buy some meat to eat?" The old lady couldn't resist her greed after all, and asked Yi Zhonghai in a low voice.

"Well..." Yi Zhonghai had actually been thinking about this for a long time. When he saw the lady bring it up, he nodded and said, "Okay, go get that small piece of sausage from the cupboard and cut it up. We can improve our food tonight."

"Okay!" When she heard that she could eat meat, the auntie immediately smiled and hurriedly stood up. But before she could stand up straight, Yi Zhonghai called her back:

"Wait, don't get up in such a hurry. Remember to close the door behind you. Don't let anyone see you!"

"Yes, yes, yes, look how impatient I am! I'll go close the door right now." The aunt responded, walked quickly to the door and closed it gently.

The auntie quickly stood up and rushed to the door, as if she was afraid that something would break in. In fact, it was not Yi Zhonghai's fault for being stingy. After all, he had experienced similar things several times before. Every time he bought meat and went home happily, and just put the fragrant meat on the table, the neighbors around heard the news and came to watch. Faced with these enthusiastic neighbors, Yi Zhonghai really couldn't refuse, so he had to bite the bullet and pretend to be generous, and share some meat for everyone to try. However, after this happened several times, Yi Zhonghai and the auntie found that they couldn't even taste a bite of meat! What's worse is that as soon as Yi Zhonghai walked into the yard with meat, he would be surrounded by a group of neighbors at the door of his house. In desperation, Yi Zhonghai no longer dared to eat meat at home in a blatant way, and could only enjoy this delicacy sneakily like a thief.

As an old lady carefully carried a plate of sausage into the house, everyone knew that only steaming could avoid producing too strong a smell and avoid being noticed. But what was even more surprising was that the sausage in front of her was so small and exquisite! It was only about two-thirds the length of the index finger, and it was carefully cut into ten pieces.

Just as Yi Zhonghai was about to put one of the sausages into his mouth, a crisp knock on the door suddenly came, interrupting his action. He couldn't help but wonder: Who could be visiting at this time?