Chapter 46 No such fate

"Oh my god, he's a local, how could he go the wrong way?"

Li Zhiguo was speechless. It seemed that Sha Zhu could only be a chef for the rest of his life.

"That's right. When he was a kid, he sold buns and received fake money. He was never destined to make money."

Xu Damao was in a very good mood when he talked about Sha Zhu. He chatted with Li Zhiguo for a long time before returning to the room.

……

At night, in the future, Li Zhiguo did not take any measures and really planned to have a child. Raising a child is a way to provide for your old age.

Rely on your wife when you are young, and rely on your children when you are old. How wonderful!

Intermediate Courtyard, Jia Family!
Jia Zhang cried, made a fuss, and even went to Yi Zhonghai to criticize her son, but that was it.

At night, Jia Zhang was lying on the small bed with red and swollen eyes. Not far outside the curtain was her daughter-in-law's big bed.

Listening to the young couple whispering to each other, she felt very upset.

"Dongxu, do you think I'm pregnant? I've been feeling hungry lately."

Chen Bihua had just been married for a short time, but the two of them had never taken any protective measures.

"It's good to have one, it must be a boy, Li Zhiguo will be envious."

Jia Dongxu was excited. It was good to have a child, but he couldn't be a bachelor like his uncle.

"Dongxu, what do you think we should name our child?"

"I've already thought of it. My full name is Jia Geng and my nickname is Bang Geng.

The book says that the word "geng" means "straight", and the word "bang" is needless to say. Our son will definitely be a good boy in the future."

Jia Dongxu was in high spirits. He felt full of energy when he thought about having a son.

Just then, my mother got up and went to the kitchen, probably to drink some water.

"Bihua, our family's life will definitely get better and better in the future."

"Yeah, Dongxu!"

There was only one room in the Jia family's house, and the kitchen was in the corner. Jia Zhang went there to drink a few sips of water and came back after just a few steps.

I subconsciously looked at the big bed over there and saw that my son had fallen asleep, but my daughter-in-law was kindly pulling the corner of the quilt for him.

"Bihua, you've been married for a while now. Do you know how to give birth to a child? I haven't seen any news between you and Dongxu."

Upon hearing this, Chen Bihua looked confused and didn't know how to explain it.

Should she tell her mother-in-law that it was done in the moment she drank the water?
"Mom, after dinner tomorrow, you go out for a walk. Dongxu and I will rest early."

In the end, Chen Bihua still decided to maintain her man's dignity.

"That's more like it. Let's cook the meat tomorrow and have it for lunch. Just save some for Dongxu."

Jia Zhang was greedy, but she couldn't afford a banquet at home, so she just ate the meat.

"Okay mom, you should get some rest too."

Chen Bihua soon heard her mother-in-law's snoring, but she couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

……

Time flies, and January has passed in the blink of an eye.

On February 3rd, the steel mill paid another salary.

On the 6th, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Little New Year in the north has arrived, and every family has a reunion dinner.

It just so happens that today is Friday, so I don’t have to rush to rest and I can make a sumptuous dinner, especially dumplings.

Early in the morning, Qin Huairu got up to clean the house, getting rid of the old and building new, to get rid of bad luck.

Li Zhiguo also yawned and had to go out to buy some vegetables. They were fresh in the morning and everyone in the yard was watching.

"Morning, Damao!"

"Li Zhiguo, it's rare to run into you so early in the morning."

The wedding date of Xu Damao and Tang Chunyan has been set. After the Chinese New Year, the old Xu couple moved to the old house with their daughter and vacated the house for Xu Damao to use as a wedding house.

"Isn't it the Little New Year? I'm going out to buy some food and take your sister Qin to work."

Li Zhiguo suddenly thought of something, "By the way, how is your cooking skill going? Do you want to ask Lao He to give you some pointers?"

“There’s nothing wrong with my cooking skills!”

Xu Damao was upset. Can't we just have a good chat?

"Da Mao, I'm going out to buy some groceries. Watch the pot. When the porridge is ready, call your sister to have breakfast.

Come back early today and make some bread dumplings. After we move out, we'll be relying on you at home."

Mother Xu came out of the front room carrying a basket of vegetables, her eyes suddenly lit up, "Hey, Li Zhiguo, you are going to buy vegetables today, right? Let's go together. The food station delivered a 300-pound fat pig yesterday.

If you go early, you can buy a piece of fat meat three fingers wide, full of oil. "

"Sister Xu, you go first. I have to send my wife to work."

Li Zhiguo gets a headache whenever he mentions fat meat.

"Then you're in for a treat. I'm not going to chat with you anymore. I have to get up early."

Mother Xu walked away quickly without daring to say hello to anyone else, as all the aunties in the courtyard were her competitors.

"No, what did you just call my mom?"

Xu Damao was confused. Were they brothers as agreed? Why was there such a generation gap between them?

"Sister Xu! Damao, let's talk about our own affairs. You are still my brother."

Li Zhiguo connected the water and prepared to wash up.

"No, when did you become so familiar with my mother?"

Xu Damao was scared. It was a good thing that his mother had to move away, otherwise he would have to recognize an uncle in the future.

"Brother, have you gained anything?"

After the young man handed over the bowl of noodles, he squatted beside it and waited.

Li Zhiguo slurped a mouthful of noodles and said with a smile: "You don't understand this, right? Fishing is about your state of mind. Whether you get anything or not, you have to be happy for the whole day."

"You are quite free then! You are not working."

The young man was thinking, what kind of state of mind is this? Can it be used to make a living?

"I'm not idle. Jiang Ziya fished until he was over 70 before he left the mountains. It's too early for me."

While Li Zhiguo was talking, he did not forget to eat his noodles, making sure they didn't get cold.

"Oh, big brother, you have waited long enough for this day. You don't want to get married anymore."

"Young man, you don't understand this. Jiang Ziya has a wife, so how can I be worse? My wife is working and earning money."

Li Zhiguo took a big bite of the fried egg; it was delicious.

Young man, you are struck by lightning. Even a man like you can have a wife.

Li Zhiguo ate the noodles with big mouthfuls and drank the soup at the end to avoid wasting food.

"Okay, I'll give you the bowl. Go back and work hard. Hard work makes a man rich. I have high hopes for you."

"Hey!"

The young man got the bowl and chopsticks, turned around, and for some reason he wanted to run away from this person.

In the afternoon, Li Zhiguo put away his fishing rod. As expected, he came up empty-handed today.

But when he got back, there was a big fish weighing about three pounds hanging on the handlebars, enough to eat.

"Hey, you caught another big fish."

Yan Bugui has already returned to the school. The lower grades he teaches finish school at around 3 o'clock.

"I've been busy all day, and this is all I can find. There's nothing to do."

Li Zhiguo is very humble because this is no different from what he bought with his own money.

"Oh, this is still called no progress, it's a big profit."

Yan Bugui was extremely jealous. He had gone fishing several times before, but only once had he caught a small fish that was only three fingers wide.

"Let's stop talking. I have to go back to find Damao. By the way, is Damao back?" Li Zhiguo's cooking skills have not been good enough in his two lifetimes combined. He has to ask for help. When his wife comes back, she can cook dumplings. It will be nice to have an early meal during the Little New Year.

"He just came back."

Yan Bugui was still looking at the fish. Why wasn't he so lucky? No, he had to ask Li Zhiguo to go together some other day.

"Glad you're back. I have something to do with him, so I'm leaving first."

Li Zhiguo pushed his bicycle towards the central courtyard. There were houses on both sides of the corridor, with four households living in them.

"Look, Li Zhiguo has caught another fish."

"Really? He's so lucky! It's another big fish. It's worth a day's wages for others."

"Li Zhiguo is a good person except for his bad character. He is much better than Jia Dongxu in other aspects."

Everyone in the courtyard was talking about it and was full of envy.

When Jia Zhang heard the noise, she lifted the door curtain and came out. She saw that the bad boy had really caught a fish and hated God for being blind.

Li Zhiguo had no time to show off today, so he hurried to the backyard and shouted, "Da Mao, are you back?"

"Li Zhiguo, why did you call my Damao? He's kneading dough inside."

Xu's mother came out of the house and saw, "Wow, you caught fish again, you are really good at it."

"I've been staying at the moat for a day, and that's all. Sister Xu, my cooking skills are not good, so I want to ask Damao to come over and help me, and he can also practice his cooking skills."

Li Zhiguo originally wanted to ask He Daqing, but when he thought that others also had to cook, he simply asked Damao.

"That's good. I'll call someone out right away."

Xu's mother was worried that her son wouldn't have enough hot meals if they moved away, so he has been doing intensive training recently.

After a while, Xu Damao came out of the house with a numb face and flour on his arms.

"Li Zhiguo, you want me to help you in the kitchen? You are insulting my dignity!"

"Da Mao, look at what you said. When your wife marries into the courtyard, you will still have to rely on the neighbors to help each other.

I am in the yard every day, and I will have many opportunities to help your wife in the future."

Li Zhiguo knew that Xu Damao was a villain, but now he was at most a bronze rank, so he could easily control him.

"No, don't help my wife."

Xu Damao was anxious.

"You don't have to help, but come and help me make a New Year's Eve dinner. Let me see how good your cooking skills are."

Li Zhiguo pulled Xu Damao into the house, and then took out the vegetables bought in the morning and some necessary things.

"Help me stew these bones and make them thicker. Beng is thinking of making trouble. Send a bowl to my sister Xu later.

Chop the ribs and make braised ribs. Chop the pork into stuffing and mix it with green onions to make a scallion-flavored stuffing. Then, make three pounds of flour and roll it into dumpling wrappers and wrap them.

Oh, and this fish, add some pickled cabbage to make a pickled fish, and cook two sausages, that’s about it, I’m counting on you.”

Xu Damao looked numb, and it took him a while to come back to his senses and said, "Can you finish three pounds of white flour?"

"You can still eat it tomorrow, or make it into fried dumplings. Hurry up and get busy. Otherwise, I'll call Fengling to help you."

Li Zhiguo really wanted to find a helper.

"No, let my sister rest! She has no strength to chop the stuffing."

Xu Damao is still very protective of his sister. He would rather cheat on his parents than on his sister.

"Okay, then you can start working. I'll ask Feng Ling to try your cooking skills later. I have something else to do, so I won't invite you."

Li Zhiguo then went to the main room, took out half a bowl of peanuts from the cupboard, took out the wine bottle, poured half a tael of wine and started drinking.

"I……"

Of course Xu Damao wanted to smash the big bone, but then he thought that his mother also wanted to drink this soup.

I wanted to step on the meat a few times, but then I remembered that my sister would eat the stuffing.

"Since Yu was born, why was Liang born?"

Xu Damao wanted to cry but had no tears. He seemed to be trapped by Li Zhiguo and could not do anything bad.

He also thought of his daughter-in-law who had not yet married into the family, and who would have to face Li Zhiguo in the yard every day in the future.

After a while, Yan Bugui came over with some flower fertilizer he made himself.

"Hey, you're drinking alone."

"It's Uncle Three. Look at you. You're still taking care of my potted plants all day long. Come here and let's have a drink."

During the Little New Year, Li Zhiguo didn't mind losing a little wine.

"That's a good feeling!"

Yan Bugui hurried into the house. Isn’t this a good deal? There are also peanuts.

Li Zhiguo poured a glass of wine for everyone, and ate the peanuts with his hands without picking up chopsticks.

Yan Bugui took a sip of wine and felt that this was what life was all about.

"Hey, Li Zhiguo, is anyone else at home? Why do I hear some noise in the kitchen?"

"Uncle, Xu Damao is busy. Ignore him and let's drink."

Li Zhiguo also didn't want Xu Damao to fail in society, otherwise it would be difficult to trick him into helping next time.

"No, he helps you in the kitchen? No, I have to go and take a look."

Yan Bugui reached out and grabbed some peanuts, then ran to the kitchen with his wine glass.

"Da Mao, it really is you!"

In the kitchen, Xu Damao, wearing an apron, was chopping meat with great effort. The big bone in the pot next to him was already stewing, and the broth was bubbling and the aroma was fragrant.

"It's Uncle Three!"

Xu Damao turned his head and revealed a smile that was uglier than crying.

"Da Mao, why...did Li Zhiguo threaten you?"

Yan Bugui's mind worked quickly, but he had no idea how Li Zhiguo had calculated this.

"No threat, he's not a good cook, I offered to help him, we are good brothers."

Xu Damao didn't know how to explain it, so he could only flatter himself.

"That's great of you. You're doing good things. Go ahead and do your thing. I still have to drink with Li Zhiguo."

Yan Bugui left with mixed feelings. A new one was planted in the yard. Fortunately, he didn't know how to cook.

When they got to the house, Yan Bugui couldn't help asking, "Li Zhiguo, how did you deceive Xu Damao?"

"Why would I lie to him? He and I are good brothers."

Li Zhiguo looked sincere.

Yan Bugui thought to himself, the word "brother" is almost ruined by you, isn't your brother Dongxu miserable enough?
"Li Zhiguo, I noticed something is missing from your window, and I happen to have some window grilles.

There is a handicraft class in school today, and the students cut a lot of them. I asked them to collect them all. I will send some to you later to stick on the window for a festive occasion. "

Yan Bugui was afraid, thinking that he had drunk some wine and might end up losing the big picture because of a small one.

"Uncle, you are too polite. I don't have any glue at home. Can you help me stick it on?"

Li Zhiguo didn't expect that the third uncle could have such ideological awareness and rush to help him?

"It's just a small thing. I just like to put up window decorations."

Yan Bugui took a sip of wine with tears in his eyes and grabbed two peanuts. At least he didn't lose anything.

"Qin Huairu, your man has caught a big fish again."

"Third Auntie, I'll go back and kill the fish."

Qin Huairu was so happy that she wanted to go back quickly to cook.

Who would have thought that the third auntie would actually say: "The fish has been killed and stewed, and even the dumplings have been wrapped. We are just waiting for you to go back and cook them."

"Ah, my man can't cook."

Qin Huairu was surprised. What was going on?
(End of this chapter)