Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

When Qin Huairu returned to the Jia family home, Jia Zhangshi noticed that Qin Huairu's bowl was empty and glanced at her sideways, asking, "Where's the meat?"

Qin Huairu lowered her head and said with a wronged expression, "Mom, I went to knock on the door, but Aunt Wu wouldn't open it, so there was nothing I could do."

Jia Zhangshi pointed at Qin Huairu's head and cursed, "Useless, useless, Qin Huairu, you can't even get a little meat? Tell me, what use are you? I'm punishing you by not letting you eat lunch. You're useless, eating is just a waste of food."

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears, feeling incredibly wronged. She gritted her teeth and finally spoke her mind.

"Mom, I told you long ago, given the relationship between our family and Aunt Wu's family, there's no way she'd give us any meat. If you think I'm useless, then go and try it yourself."

Madam Jia glared fiercely at Qin Huairu, questioning her incredulously, "Qin Huairu, what did you say? My Jia family is a prestigious and wealthy household, and I am your mother-in-law. You want me to go to someone else's house to beg for meat? How dare you be so disrespectful? I'll beat you to death, you jinx!"

As she spoke, Jia Zhangshi slapped Qin Huairu hard across the face.

"Smack."

Qin Huairu's face instantly turned bright red, and a clear handprint appeared on her face. She covered her cheek, tears welling up in her eyes, and she cried out in grievance.

"Waaaaah."

Not satisfied with slapping Qin Huairu, Jia Zhangshi pinched Qin Huairu hard until she got tired and then let her go.

"Waaaaah, Mom, are you even being reasonable? You know it's impossible, yet you still make me do it, and when I can't, you hit me?" Qin Huairu cried out.

When Jia Zhangshi saw that Qin Huairu still dared to talk back, she glared at her with her triangular eyes and pretended to pinch her again, which immediately frightened Qin Huairu into silence.

"Qin Huairu, let me tell you, in the Jia family, no matter if it's right or wrong, what I say is law," Jia Zhangshi shouted, her neck stiff.

"Grandma, I want meat! I want meat! Go get me some meat, I haven't had meat in ages!"

When Banggeng saw that her mother couldn't get any meat, she immediately lay down on the ground, rolling around and yelling.

"Qin Huairu, are you dead? Hurry up and bring out the cornbread, do you want my precious grandson to starve to death?"

Madam Jia helped the stick up, revealing her large, yellow teeth, and smiled as she comforted him:

"Bang Geng, your mother is useless. She can't get any meat. This afternoon you come with Grandma and see how Grandma gets the meat. Grandma promises that my good grandson will have meat to eat today."

"real?"

When Bang Geng heard that he could eat meat in the afternoon, he immediately stopped making a fuss.

Madam Jia rubbed the curly hair on the stick, glanced at Qin Huairu, and nodded, saying, "Of course it's true. Do you think Grandma is as useless as your mother?"

"Okay, Grandma is so nice. I'm going to eat lots of meat this afternoon." Banggeng laughed happily.

Qin Huairu pretended not to hear Jia Zhangshi's veiled remarks, wanting to see what her mother-in-law was capable of.

"Grandma, I want to...eat meat too," Little Dang said in her childish voice, her eyes filled with longing as she looked at her grandmother.

Madam Jia glared at Xiao Dang: "What are you doing eating meat, you good-for-nothing?"

"Waaaaah."

Xiao Dang was so frightened by Jia Zhangshi's gaze that she burst into tears, and Qin Huairu quickly stepped forward to comfort her.

Banggeng walked up to Xiaodang, pinched Xiaodang's thin face, and said with a smile, "Don't cry, Xiaodang. When Grandma gets the meat, I'll save some for you."

"Okay, brother." Xiao Dang smiled sweetly.

......

2:30 p.m.

Jia Zhangshi, carrying the stick, walked out of courtyard number 95.

Qin Huairu originally wanted to take Xiao Dang with her, as she was also eager to see how capable her mother-in-law was. However, she was frightened away by Jia Zhangshi's fierce gaze, who said that this was a family heirloom craft that could only be passed down to Bang Geng.

Jia Zhangshi led Banggeng to the neighboring courtyard number 78. It was a detached courtyard with a single entrance. This courtyard was relatively secluded, and not many people usually passed by. Seeing that the door was locked, Jia Zhangshi said to Banggeng:

"Banggeng, you stand at the intersection and keep an eye out for Grandma. If anyone comes this way, run quickly and tell Grandma, okay?"

Bang Geng patted his chest loudly, "Grandma, don't worry, I'll definitely keep an eye on things for you."

With that, Banggeng ran toward the intersection.

Jia Zhangshi looked around with her triangular eyes. Seeing that no one was around, she took out an iron L-shaped hairpin from her hair, inserted it into the door lock, and then easily opened the door with a gentle twist.

Madam Jia chuckled, put the hairpin back in her hair, pushed open the door, and went inside.

She had been eyeing this courtyard for a long time. The residents, like Yi Zhonghai, were all childless and had no descendants. The couple usually worked during the day and were rarely home.

Banggeng was overjoyed to see his grandmother go inside, and he watched the crowd of people coming and going even more intently.

As soon as Jia Zhangshi entered the house, she closed the door, quickly went into the kitchen, and saw a piece of cured meat weighing more than a pound, along with several pounds of wheat flour and more than ten pounds of cornmeal. She packed all of these things into a burlap sack, took it, and left.

As for going to find money, she really didn't dare, mainly because she was afraid of wasting too much time and being discovered.

The current Jia Zhangshi is not the same as before. During her time in prison, she studied law and knew that if she did those things and got caught, she would be arrested again.

However, as long as you are careful and don't get too greedy, there shouldn't be any major problems.

She'd been cooped up for ages, not having eaten meat in ages. Now she only had a little over thirty yuan left of her retirement savings, and she couldn't bear to spend it on meat, so she had no choice but to risk going out.

Jia Zhangshi moved quickly; from entering the house to taking her things and leaving, it took no more than two minutes.

After stepping outside, Jia Zhangshi closed the door without locking it, quickly walked to the intersection, and pulled Bang Geng away from the scene.

"Grandma, where's the meat? Did you get any meat?" Banggeng asked.

Jia Zhangshi shook the sack in her hand and grinned broadly:

"Here it is, more than a pound of meat, Banggeng. Come on, let's go home and have your mom cook meat for us."

When Banggeng opened the sack and saw how much meat was inside, he immediately burst out laughing.

"Grandma, you're amazing! Unlike my mom, she never gets any meat, she's so useless."

"Hehe, now you know how amazing Grandma is, right?" Jia Zhangshi grinned.

The two returned to courtyard number 95. The third aunt saw Jia Zhangshi carrying a large bag of things and asked in confusion:

"Mrs. Jia, what are all those bags and packages you're carrying?"

Madam Jia glared at the third aunt and curled her lip in disdain: "What's it to you? Trying to take advantage of me? No way."

After saying that, Jia Zhangshi pulled the stick and walked towards the central courtyard.

The third aunt watched Jia Zhangshi's retreating figure and spat lightly, "Tch, what a piece of trash, such an ill-mannered thing."

Banggeng returned to the house and shouted, "Mom, Mom, Grandma got a lot of meat! Quickly cook some meat for us!"