My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 144: Dog Meat Hot Pot

Looking at the shop owner's expression, Zhang Lei's lips twitched, and he felt a chill run down his spine. He thought to himself, "Damn, this shop owner is really honest; he really is the cheapest."

He thought for a moment, this wine shouldn't kill anyone, it definitely won't. After all, the people in the courtyard all have "plot halo" (a kind of special privilege), so this amount of wine shouldn't be a problem for them.

Before Zhang Lei could even speak, the boss patted his chest and said, "Young man, don't worry, this wine won't kill you."

After hearing his boss's words, Zhang Lei immediately gave a thumbs up: "Great!"

With the shopkeeper's "sincere" introduction and assurances, Zhang Lei decisively bought twenty kilograms.

Anyway, if someone really drinks themselves to death, they'll come looking for the boss; it has nothing to do with me.

On the recommendation of Boss Zhao, Zhang Lei bought two jin of the best bulk liquor—for himself to drink that evening.

Soon, Zhang Lei returned to the courtyard house with a pile of things.

He took out a piece of pork belly and a bunch of vegetables from his storage space beforehand and hung them on the handlebars.

The contents of the vehicle were quite a sight, attracting many people in the yard to peek inside.

Everyone in the courtyard was envious of the amount of stuff in Zhang Lei's car.

Zhang Lei rode all the way to He Yuzhu's house and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Silly Zhu! Silly Zhu! Come out and get your things!"

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu quickly opened the door and saw so many things hanging on Zhang Lei's car. He smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits and hurriedly carried them into the house.

After putting everything at Sha Zhu's house, Zhang Lei pointed to the bag containing dog meat and bones and said, "Sha Zhu, I went to great lengths to get this. You're in for a treat today."

Sha Zhu leaned closer and sniffed it, his eyes lighting up: "Dog meat?"

Zhang Lei gave a thumbs up: "A true expert!"

Sha Zhu said smugly, "That's right, there's no meat that I can't smell."

However, he quickly frowned, looked at the bag, then at the dishes on the table, and said, "Zhang Lei, besides a piece of pork belly, why is everything else vegetables? Isn't there a bit too little meat?"

Zhang Lei patted Sha Zhu on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Zhu Zi, think about it, this isn't just for you to eat. There are so many people in this yard eating together. A little meat is enough. These days, a little meat is considered a good dish."

He pointed to the large jar of wine and said, "Besides, didn't you see how big this jar of wine I got for you? It's a 99-cent vintage. With the dishes you made and this wine, I guarantee they won't utter a sound after eating it all."

Sha Zhu beamed with joy upon hearing Zhang Lei's flattery.

But watching Zhang Lei's departing figure, I felt like something was off.

After Zhang Lei returned home, he took out some of the things he had prepared in advance, such as mushrooms, green vegetables, enoki mushrooms, tofu, etc.

Seeing that Zhang Lei had taken so many things, and there was so much fabric in the back seat, Ye Shuqin quickly helped him carry them.

After Zhang Lei put the things away, Ye Shuqin said, "Honey, why did you buy so much?"

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "I didn't forget to ask you which fabric color you liked, so I bought a lot more."

As Ye Shuqin looked at the fabrics, she liked them more and more, and her eyes lit up.

When she turned her head and saw the large amount of groceries Zhang Lei had brought out, she couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Honey, why did you buy so many groceries?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "I'm going to Sha Zhu's place for dinner tonight. You guys have hot pot at home. This is the food I prepared for you."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Ye Shuqin said, "Since you're going to eat at Sha Zhu's place, I'll call Yu Shui over later and have her eat here. Otherwise, it'll be awkward for a young lady like her to eat too much with a bunch of you men."

Zhang Lei thought about it and agreed, saying, "Okay, you can handle it."

As for the meat, Zhang Lei took out some of the dog meat and some of the mutton, and said to Ye Shuqin, "Cut this meat into thin slices, and you can have it for hot pot tonight."

Just then, Ye Shuqi and Ye Shuhua walked in.

Seeing so many things, Ye Shuqi happily picked up the cloth and looked at it, saying, "Honey, the cloth you bought is too good. It's such a waste to give it to us as practice."

Zhang Lei looked at her and said, "I have plenty of these cloth coupons, so feel free to use them to practice. I'll buy more if you need more."

Ye Shuqi happily ran up to Zhang Lei and kissed him, saying, "You're so good to me, my husband."

Ye Shuhua, looking at the meat on the table, said happily, "We're having hot pot tonight?"

Zhang Lei looked at Ye Shuhua, flicked her nose, and said, "Smart."

At this moment, Ye Shuhua pointed to the dog meat on the table and asked, "Master, what kind of meat is this? I've never seen it before?"

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "This is called fragrant meat. You can have some. It smells amazing; I guarantee you'll drool while you eat it."

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, Ye Shuhua quickly picked it up and examined it, saying, "Honey, really?"

Zhang Lei nodded.

Ye Shuqin, who was standing to the side, stepped forward and whispered to Ye Shuhua, "This is dog meat."

Upon hearing the words "dog meat," Ye Shuhua was startled, her hand trembled, and she dropped the meat on the ground.

Seeing the meat fall to the ground, Ye Shuqin quickly picked it up and scolded Ye Shuhua, "What are you doing, being so clumsy?"

Ye Shuhua said aggrievedly, "Honey, this is dog meat."

Zhang Lei nodded and said, "Yes."

Ye Shuhua feigned a pitiful expression and said, "The dog is so cute, how can you bear to eat its meat?"

Looking at Ye Shuhua's expression, Zhang Lei found it amusing and said, "What do you know? As the saying goes, 'Dog meat is so delicious that even immortals can't stand it.' That tells you how good dog meat is."

Ye Shuhua gestured directly to the master and said, "I dare not eat it."

Zhang Lei sighed and said, "Fine, if you don't want to eat, there's still mutton and plenty of vegetables. Eat whatever you want. If none of you dare to eat, save it for me when we get back."

At this moment, Ye Shuqi stepped forward and said, "Honey, I'm not afraid. As long as it's meat, I'm not picky."

Ye Shuhua looked at Ye Shuqi and stammered, "Second sister, you..."

Ye Shuqi looked at Ye Shuhua and said, "What's wrong? You've had a couple of good days and you've already lost your bearings, being so picky."

Ye Shuqin then smoothed things over, saying, "Alright, Shuqi and Shuhua don't want to eat, but we can. The master has prepared plenty of meat."

Zhang Lei added, "Yes, just tell me what you want to eat. We have plenty of food."