Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

The next day, early in the morning.

Qin Jingru made chicken noodle soup, using leftover hen broth from last night.

"Brother Wang Feng, time to eat noodles."

"They're here."

After washing up, Wang Feng put away his toiletries, sat down, and began to eat noodles in large mouthfuls.

The noodles were made with premium flour, and the portion for the three of them wasn't very large, about the same as a normal portion for an average person. Wang Feng ate slightly more than Qin Jingru and Lou Xiao'e.

While eating his noodles, Wang Feng looked at Qin Jingru and asked, "Jingru, has the factory not been treating anyone lately?"

Qin Jingru put down her bowl, sighed, and said, "What kind of hospitality is there now? I haven't had a single one since I started working this year. There's no meat in the factory. Our third canteen only gets about ten pounds of meat a day, which we make into minced meat and eggplant dishes, which count as a meat dish."

Upon hearing this, Wang Feng nodded and didn't ask any more questions, continuing to eat his noodles heartily.

"Brother Wang Feng, yesterday afternoon, I saw Sister Lan being beaten by a man at the factory gate. I originally wanted to go and help, but Sister Lan took out some money from her pocket and gave it to the man, and then the man left. I asked Sister Lan later and found out that the man was her husband."

At this point, Qin Jingru sighed: "Brother Wang Feng, you have no idea how awful Sister Lan's man is. He's either drunk every day or gambling. When he comes back, he beats Sister Lan and her daughter. He also asks Sister Lan for money all the time, and beats her if she doesn't give it to him. I saw many bruises on Sister Lan's body yesterday."

Seeing Qin Jingru's indignant expression, Lou Xiao'e asked curiously, "Sister Jingru, are you and this Sister Lan on good terms?"

Qin Jingru nodded: "It's alright. Sister Lan takes good care of me at the factory, and we get along very well. She's like a friend to me."

"Sister Jingru, your sister Lan's man is so awful, why don't you get a divorce? She should be a full-time employee, right? Even if you get a divorce, you can still get a house and raise your child on your own. That's better than staying with a man like that, isn't it?" Lou Xiao'e asked doubtfully.

Qin Jingru waved her hand: "This matter is quite complicated. I heard from Sister Lan that her workstation was transferred to her by her mother-in-law before she passed away. She was also made to sign some kind of agreement. Anyway, if Sister Lan wants to divorce her husband, she has to return the workstation to him and pay him some money."

Lou Xiao'e stared wide-eyed, her face filled with disbelief. She had never seen a family calculate so clearly before.

Wang Feng sighed, "Liu Lan is really unlucky. If she doesn't divorce this man, her life is over."

"Brother Wang Feng, do you think we can help Sister Lan, at least help her get rid of this man?" Qin Jingru said hurriedly.

During her time at the factory, Qin Jingru spent every day with Liu Lan, who treated her very well. No matter what she did, Liu Lan supported her unconditionally and wouldn't let her do dirty or tiring work. Qin Jingru had long considered Liu Lan a friend.

"Brother Feng, since Liu Lan is Sister Jingru's friend, let's help her if we can," Lou Xiao'e chimed in.

Wang Feng pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Jingru, how about this, you go ask Liu Lan later where she lives, and I'll think about how I can help her."

Wang Feng's idea was simple: since this matter was troublesome, he would just deal with the person who caused the trouble. Killing the person would solve all the problems. Killing an ordinary person posed no risk to him at all. Now that he had the power, he could even summon people remotely. Solving problems was that simple and brutal.

"Brother Wang Feng, why do you need Sister Lan's address? How do you plan to help Sister Lan?" Qin Jingru asked, puzzled.

"Alright, stop asking questions and just do as I say."

Wang Feng waved his hand. He was going to kill someone, so how could he let Qin Jingru and the others know about this?

"oh."

Qin Jingru nodded and didn't ask any more questions. Since Brother Wang Feng said he could help Sister Lan, then he definitely could. She unconditionally trusted Wang Feng.

After breakfast, we brewed a pot of tea, and the three of us chatted while drinking it.

It was almost ten o'clock when Qin Jingru finally rode her bicycle to the steel mill.

Wang Feng didn't go to the steel rolling mill; he could easily complete the tasks there anyway.

......

Qin Jingru went to the third canteen of the steel rolling mill to look for Liu Lan, but she couldn't find Liu Lan in the kitchen after searching around.

"Aunt Li, where's Sister Lan? Didn't she come to work today?"

Aunt Li put down the cleaver, pointed to the small room in the back kitchen, sighed, and said:

"Liu Lan is in a bad mood today. She hasn't said a word all morning. I bet her husband beat her again. Liu Lan just finished washing the vegetables and went to rest in the small room. Jingru, you're close to Liu Lan, why don't you go and talk to her?"

"Yes, thank you, Aunt Li."

The small room in the back kitchen is where they usually store miscellaneous items, and they can also rest there when they have nothing to do.

Qin Jingru pushed open the door to the small room and saw Liu Lan squatting on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She quickly went over to comfort her, "Sister Lan, what's wrong? What happened?"

When Liu Lan saw Qin Jingru, she quickly wiped away her tears, shook her head, and didn't say a word.

"Oh dear, Sister Lan, you're making me so worried! Tell me what's wrong, and we'll figure something out together," Qin Jingru said anxiously.

Liu Lan broke down in tears: "Waaaaah, waaaaah, Jingru, that bastard Chen Jian owes more than a hundred yuan in gambling debts. He's going to sell my daughter to pay off his debts. Jingru, I know you have money. Can you lend me a hundred yuan? Don't worry, I'll pay you back slowly when I get my salary."

Upon hearing that it was only one hundred yuan, Qin Jingru nodded in agreement: "No problem, Sister Lan, I'll go home and get the money for you at four o'clock this afternoon."

At this point, Qin Jingru added, "Sister Lan, have you thought about this? That bastard owes gambling debts this time and wants to sell his daughter, but what about next time? This can't go on like this, can it?"

Liu Lan wiped away her tears: "Jingru, but... but what should I do? I can't just stand by and watch this bastard sell my daughter to a child trafficker!"

Qin Jingru sighed. Liu Lan's situation was too complicated, and she didn't know what to do.

"Sister Lan, tell me your home address. If you have time in the next couple of days, I'll take Brother Wang Feng to your house. Maybe Brother Wang Feng can help."

Liu Lan looked at Qin Jingru with a puzzled expression and asked, "Wang Feng? What could he possibly do?"

"If I divorce that bastard Chen Jian now, I'll have to give him back my job and pay him 100 yuan in compensation. Where am I going to get the money to pay him? Even if I did, I'd lose my job. How am I going to support my daughter?"

"Oh dear, Sister Lan, please tell me the address first. We can't do anything about it, but maybe Brother Wang Feng can," Qin Jingru said anxiously.

"Oh well."

Liu Lan gave the address to Qin Jingru. She didn't know what to do now, so she could only try anything as a last resort.