Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

The Intermediate People's Court, the Wang family.

After lunch, Qin Jingru brewed a pot of ordinary tea and poured a cup for Wang Feng and He Yushui respectively.

The three of them drank tea, and Wang Feng and Qin Jingru took turns comforting He Yushui, but He Yushui's mood remained very low.

"Brother Wang Feng, Sister-in-law Jingru, thank you both for today."

After He Yushui finished speaking, she opened the door and walked into her room.

"Rain, come over for dinner tonight," Qin Jingru called out to Rain's retreating figure.

He Yushui turned around and said, "No, I have to go to school this afternoon. Thank you, Sister-in-law Jingru."

After seeing He Yushui return to the house, Qin Jingru sighed.

"Brother Wang Feng, Yushui is really pitiful. Her mother is gone, her father abandoned her when she was six, and she has such an unreliable brother. She also ran into Yi Zhonghai, that black-hearted bastard, who robbed her of the living expenses her father sent her. This Yi Zhonghai is really too evil. People like him should be arrested and shot."

"Hehe, Jingru, Yi Zhonghai was definitely finished this time, but who told Shazhu to be so stupid? He not only didn't report it to the police himself, but he also stopped Yushui from doing so and even beat Yushui up. Just you wait and see, when Shazhu, this kind of idiot, dies, no one will even collect his body," Wang Feng laughed.

Qin Jingru said bitterly, "That idiot Zhu is really stupid beyond belief. Yi Zhonghai has done such a heartless thing. It would be better to just report it to the police and have Yi Zhonghai arrested."

Wang Feng also sighed: "It's a good thing that Yu Shui and Sha Zhu have broken off their sibling relationship. When Yu Shui returns to the hospital, we should take care of her as much as possible. Yu Shui was quite good to me before."

"Yeah, Brother Wang Feng, don't worry, I also feel sorry for Yu Shui."

"By the way, Brother Wang Feng, shall we go to Courtyard No. 28 this afternoon? We still have a chicken at home that we can bring."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Feng said, "Sure, we'll be there in a bit."

Qin Jingru nodded her head: "Okay, then I'll go pack the chicken first, and make chicken soup for you guys tonight."

......

Noon the next day.

The second canteen of the steel rolling mill.

After getting off work at noon, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu went to the second canteen for lunch as usual. Yi Zhonghai saw Sha Zhu and was about to talk to him to ease the tension.

But when Sha Zhu saw them, he acted as if they weren't there, saying expressionlessly, "What dishes do you want?"

Yi Zhonghai gave a wry smile: "Shazhu, I want two cornbread buns and a serving of cabbage."

Sha Zhu took the money and chose two of the smallest steamed buns, putting them into Yi Zhonghai's lunchbox. When the ladle went into the dish, it came out full, but by the time it reached Yi Zhonghai's lunchbox, there was only some soup and water left. A serving of cabbage only had a few cabbage leaves.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai felt very bitter. He didn't say anything, and just stood aside with his lunchbox waiting for Jia Dongxu.

When it was Jia Dongxu's turn, Sha Zhu flipped the wok for him, which made Jia Dongxu furious. Just as he was about to scold Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai pulled him away.

The two found a table and sat down. Jia Dongxu said indignantly, "Master, look at this! Sha Zhu is tossing the wok for me like this. These two steamed buns aren't even big, and there are only a few strands of shredded potatoes. How am I supposed to eat this?"

Yi Zhonghai opened his lunchbox and said with a wry smile, "I'm about the same. These two cornbreads are the smallest ones, and there are only a few cabbage leaves."

Jia Dongxu's face darkened: "Master, Sha Zhu has gone too far. Even if he's in a bad mood, he shouldn't be flipping the wok for us like this."

Yi Zhonghai sighed deeply: "Dongxu, just make do with this. Shazhu will calm down in a few days."

"Well, that's all we can do."

The two ate less than half full before heading to the workshop.

For the next three days, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu went to the second canteen for meals, and unsurprisingly, they were both cooked by Sha Zhu.

These past few days, Yi Zhonghai has been the subject of much gossip and whispering among his coworkers in the workshop, which has made him increasingly silent.

It's obvious that the news of him embezzling living expenses must have reached the factory. However, because he was an eighth-grade worker, Sha Zhu didn't report or explain anything to the factory, and he wasn't punished.

Today, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu went to another food serving window. But as soon as the lady serving the food saw them, her hands trembled like she was shaking a sieve. She kept shaking the sieve, and what was originally a full spoonful of vegetables ended up with only a few leafy greens left in their lunchboxes.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu knew without a doubt that Sha Zhu had already spoken to everyone in the second canteen.

Yi Zhonghai is alright; he has money, so he can just spend a little more to buy an extra meal.

But Jia Dongxu was different. If he spent too much money at the canteen, there wouldn't be enough food for his family. Helpless, he could only eat half a meal before going to work, which caused him to be so hungry that his hands would tremble every day.

They could indeed eat at the first canteen, but it was too far away, and the round trip would involve a considerable amount of walking. If they ate at the first canteen, plus the time spent queuing for food, they wouldn't have time to rest at noon.

Actually, the third canteen is the closest to their workshop, but Qin Jingru works there, so they get their food thrown around in the wok. Now, Sha Zhu's second canteen is also throwing their food around in the wok, which makes Jia Dongxu both angry and helpless.

Yi Zhonghai had been trying to mend his relationship with Sha Zhu these past two days, but Sha Zhu completely ignored him. In the morning, he wanted to go to the factory with Sha Zhu, but Sha Zhu left early, which made him very discouraged. He was listless at work all day.

Jia Dongxu had no choice but to eat at the first canteen every day; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to get enough to eat at work, and his body wouldn't be able to handle it.

However, Yi Zhonghai still insisted on eating in the second canteen. Even though he was being tossed around in the hot pot, he still wanted to say a few more words to Sha Zhu to ease the tension.

......

Sunday arrived, a sunny day without snow. Wang Feng brought out a deck chair early in the morning to sunbathe at the door.

Sudden.

An unexpected person with a zombie-like face appeared before his eyes.

He Daqing.

Behind He Daqing were Sha Zhu and He Yushui, as well as Yan Fugui, Aunt San, Aunt Wu, Lao Hu and others. Almost everyone from the front yard had arrived.

Seeing this, Wang Feng knew there was going to be a good show, so he quickly shouted into the house, "Jingru, come out quickly!"

"They're here."

Qin Jingru ran out of the house with a rag in her hand, and asked in confusion, "Brother Wang Feng, did you call me for something?"

Wang Feng pointed in He Daqing's direction and said, "Yushui's dad is back. Let's go take a look."

Upon hearing this, Qin Jingru immediately perked up.

"Brother Wang Feng, let's go!"

With that, Qin Jingru threw down the rag in her hand, grabbed Wang Feng, and ran over.

He Daqing, along with He Yushui and Shazhu, stormed into Yi Zhonghai's house. Seeing that the door was closed, he kicked it open.

The door to Yi Zhonghai's house was kicked open with a bang, and two pieces of the door panel fell off.

"Yi Zhonghai, you come out here!"

He Daqing roared, and everyone in the courtyard heard it and rushed towards the central courtyard.