Life in siheyuan era

The First Aunt's narrative made Zhou Zhiyuan secretly relieved. Words could crush a person, and this was an era where public opinion was fearsome and reputation was paramount. The benefit of having many allies was now apparent.

"First Aunt, you understand me the most," Zhou Zhiyuan said, trying to get closer, but the First Aunt didn't respond.

He turned to look at the First Aunt and saw her staring at his right hand in surprise. He heard her ask in a low voice, "What's wrong with your right hand?"

She had noticed something. Zhou Zhiyuan might be left-handed, but using his left hand to wash vegetables while his right hand's four fingers were stretched straight was a problem.

This strange action surprised the First Aunt, and she stared at the right hand, asking in a low voice.

The First Aunt's reaction was what Zhou Zhiyuan wanted. He replied calmly, "I was injured on the battlefield. These four fingers can't bend."

He spoke lightly, but the First Aunt grabbed his right hand, raised it to her eyes, and examined it carefully. She saw a deep knife mark on the second joint of the four fingers.

Looking at the scar, the First Aunt asked, "How did you get hurt?"

Zhou Zhiyuan replied indifferently, "During a close combat, I grabbed the enemy's bayonet, and with my left hand, I pulled out a dagger and slashed the enemy's neck. My hands didn't coordinate well, and my right hand loosened slightly, so the tendons of my fingers were cut by the enemy's bayonet."

He said it nonchalantly, but the First Aunt gasped and asked in a low voice, "It must have hurt a lot, right?"

"I didn't feel anything at the time..." Zhou Zhiyuan still replied calmly, "I was busy fighting the enemy and forgot the pain. I waved my dagger and killed a few more enemies. Only after the battle did I realize that the tendons of these four fingers were severed."

As he spoke, Zhou Zhiyuan withdrew his right hand and added, "After the battle, the military doctor stitched up the tendons of these four fingers. It's fine now."

He had thought it through. He could expose his disability to gain the sympathy of his neighbors, but for some people without sympathy, he needed to use force to deter them.

The First Aunt would spread his words. This kind of thing should not be said too much. The simpler, the better. Let others fill in the details.

Zhou Zhiyuan achieved his goal, carrying the vegetable washing basin towards his own kitchen, as if he didn't see Jia Zhangshi.

Just now, when he was talking to the First Aunt, Jia Zhangshi stood in front of the door, watching. She could hear some words and not hear others.

This sense of mystery aroused Jia Zhangshi's curiosity. Seeing Zhou Zhiyuan leave, she quickly walked to the First Aunt's side and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with Zhou Zhiyuan's right hand?"

The First Aunt sighed softly and replied, "It's crippled. That child is ruthless enough. He grabbed the enemy's bayonet with his right hand and cut the enemy's neck with a dagger in his left hand. In that moment, the tendons of his four fingers were cut by the bayonet, but he didn't even know it and killed a few more enemies. Only after the battle did he realize he was injured."

Hearing her recount it, Jia Zhangshi shuddered, "Grabbed the enemy's bayonet, cut the enemy's neck, killed a few enemies..." These words were full of murderous intent.

At this time, she remembered what Xiaodang said, "Second Uncle Zhou's eyes are cold."

Remembering this sentence, Jia Zhangshi knew why Xiaodang said that. Zhou Zhiyuan had killed people, and it was the kind of extremely fierce killing method—cutting the enemy's neck.

Thinking of this, Jia Zhangshi was afraid, and the First Aunt was also afraid, turning around and walking into the house.

Jia Zhangshi stood by the pool and glanced at Zhou's kitchen, then hurriedly turned and walked into her own gate.

This scene was seen by Zhou Zhiyuan standing in the kitchen, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He had achieved his goal.

The capital was different from the plateau, and the city was different from the battlefield. The friendly relationship between neighbors had a premise, "Don't mess with me."

The courtyard was not peaceful. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was human nature. Liu Guangtian complained about him not working, and who knows what would happen next?

For him, whatever happened, let it end here. In the army, he worked hard to become the strongest soldier; back home, he just wanted to be a filial son, and for his family to live a peaceful life.

For him, making dinner and seeing his parents' smiling faces made him very happy.

At this time, he had to consider making dinner. Among the three things, cabbage, potatoes, and radishes, he first faced the radish and prepared to start.

He placed the white radish on the cutting board, put the kitchen knife next to it, stood up straight, and closed his eyes slightly.

She couldn't hold back any longer. She went out of the room and glanced at Zhou's kitchen, then hurriedly walked to the backyard and came to the Old Deaf Woman's room, impatiently repeating Zhou Zhiyuan's words.

The Old Deaf Woman was knowledgeable and experienced, and the First Aunt wanted to hear her opinion.

The Old Deaf Woman listened quietly to the statement and asked a question, "What is he doing now?"

"He was washing vegetables by the pool just now, and now he is probably cooking. He said he wanted his parents to come home and eat a ready-made meal."

The First Aunt's answer made the Old Deaf Woman nod lightly and say affirmatively, "This child is quite filial."

The First Aunt agreed, "He cooked the meal last night, and I saw Zhou Dehou and his wife were very happy."

"Of course they are happy to eat the food cooked by their son!"

The Old Deaf Woman sighed and then said, "Killing the enemy is the first priority on the battlefield. Back then, Zhao Zilong charged into Cao Jun's formation seven times, killing fifty-six generals and countless soldiers. Who said Zhao Zilong was not a good person?"

The Old Deaf Woman watched a lot of operas and used the characters in the opera to speak. Seeing the First Aunt pondering, she continued, "There is also that Wu Erlang, who fought and killed Ximen Qing in the Lion Tower and killed more than twenty people in the Mandarin Duck Tower. Who said Wu Erlang was not a good man?"

These two characters were well-known to women and children, and they killed enough people, but no one felt terrible. The First Aunt nodded.

Seeing her move, the Old Deaf Woman continued, "Zhao Zilong and Wu Erlang are both people who value love and righteousness. I think Zhou Zhiyuan is also this kind of person. He is knowledgeable and reasonable, and he is a filial child, and his parents are in charge. What is there to be afraid of?"

The Old Deaf Woman's words cleared away the doubts of the First Aunt, and she suddenly remembered something, hurriedly said goodbye, walked out of the backyard, and came to the door of Zhou's kitchen, pushed open the door and saw Zhou Zhiyuan frying vegetables.

Zhou Zhiyuan was stir-frying shredded radish. It was said to be shredded radish, but each shredded radish was only thinner than a little finger. To be precise, it was a pile of radish strips.

His level was just like this. Hearing the movement, he turned his head and saw the First Aunt coming in. Zhou Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Are you worried that I can't cook?"

The First Aunt walked over and looked, asking, "Stir-fried radish strips?"

"No..." Zhou Zhiyuan replied embarrassedly, "Radish shreds and vermicelli soup."

Hearing this dish, the First Aunt smiled and said, "It's not done this way. I'll teach you how to cook in the future."

"Okay..." Zhou Zhiyuan replied briskly, "I'll ask the First Aunt for advice more often in the future, but not tonight. It's past five o'clock. Is dinner ready?"

These words reminded the First Aunt, and she quickly said, "You can do it slowly, I'll teach you later."

The First Aunt left, and Zhou Zhiyuan put the stir-fried radish strips in the steamer, poured cold water on them, and let them cook slowly, then turned around to clean the iron pot.

He brushed the iron pot clean, added firewood to the stove and lit a big fire, then poured in soybean oil, added scallions and cabbage, stir-fried a few times, turned around to face two potatoes, concentrated for a few seconds, stretched out his right thumb to press on the potato, and stretched out his left hand to grab the kitchen knife and cut down.

His process of cutting vegetables had successively experienced the cabbage and radish levels, and he slowly found this energy. The potato was the last level, and also the most difficult level.

The potato was small and slippery, and it was not easy to grasp the pressing force of the right thumb, and it was even more difficult to master the peeling of the kitchen knife in the left hand, but he still had to speed up, the cabbage in the iron pot couldn't wait, and the corn cakes pasted in the iron pot couldn't wait even more.

He forced himself with two things that couldn't wait. When the potato pieces entered the pot, he poured cold water and pasted the corn cakes, covered the pot and took a long breath, and then thought of a serious problem, "Will my brother be able to eat his fill tonight?"

Thinking of this problem, it was certain that Zhou Zhining would go hungry tonight.

Zhou Zhining was pretentious, and he wanted to pursue a "beauty" in everything. Food didn't necessarily have to be perfect in color, aroma, and taste, but it must have a shape and appearance. The steamed bun must be a pagoda shape, the corn cake must be an oval shape, and the dishes must be soup is soup, water is water, green leaves are green leaves, and potatoes are potatoes.

His requirements were not high, but Zhou Zhiyuan felt that he couldn't do it tonight. The corn cakes pasted were not oval, but round, square, and it seemed that there were also angular ones, triangular, rhombus, which should be colorful.

Thinking of these problems, Zhou Zhiyuan was not sure, but Zhou Dehou and Lin Shurong's happy expressions made him feel relieved. No matter what the food was like, his parents were happy.

Turning to look at Zhou Zhining, his heart was raised again. Zhou Zhining was solemnly looking at the lid of the pot. The opening of this lid would directly affect his appetite.

Zhou Dehou opened the lid and looked, and said happily, "They are all cooked."

Lin Shurong happily replied, "Let's eat."

Zhou Zhiyuan looked at the colorful corn cakes, and then looked at the paste in the pot. If the potatoes were put in too early, a chemical reaction would occur, and the mushy potatoes would turn into starch, which would have a very strong bonding effect.

This pot of cabbage stewed potatoes turned into cabbage paste, while the pot of radish shreds and vermicelli soup was clear and watery.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Zhou Zhiyuan turned to look at Zhou Zhining's solemn face and said softly, "This... there is also a bag of biscuits on the bookshelf."

Zhou Zhining also turned to look at him and replied calmly, "There is also an oval corn cake, and there is also salt and MSG in the radish strips and vermicelli soup, which should allow me to eat it. I'm not too hungry tonight."

He expressed his understanding to Zhou Zhiyuan, but at this moment, Sha Zhu's shout came: "Zhiyuan, the welcome banquet is starting."

Hearing this shout, Zhou Zhining solemnly said to him, "In the future, if you don't eat at home, don't cook."

Zhou Zhining decided not to endure it anymore. Zhou Zhiyuan made a pot of rotten food, but he ran out to eat, and this kind of behavior that could not share weal and woe should be condemned.