Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Qin Jingru returned quickly after He Yushui left.

"Jingru, our coal has run out. Go to Aunt Wu's house and get us some new coal."

"OK."

Qin Jingru took a new piece of coal from the kitchen and went to Aunt Wu's house to exchange it for coal.

Aunt Wu's family is made up of only Aunt Wu herself, who supports Ya Ya by pasting matchboxes. Their life is already much more difficult than that of other families. Wang Feng and Qin Jingru usually take good care of Aunt Wu's family. Although a single piece of coal is not worth much, their coal often goes out, so it adds up to a lot.

Qin Jingru replaced the coal, quickly lit it, and started another coal stove to boil water for tea.

After bustling around for almost an hour, the tea was finally brewed. Qin Jingru poured Wang Feng a cup of tea and said:

"Brother Wang Feng, I just went to Aunt Wu's house and saw that Ya Ya has lost a lot of weight recently, and her complexion is a bit sallow."

Wang Feng sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it. With the rationing reduced, the little money Aunt Wu earns from pasting matchboxes isn't enough to buy the expensive grain."

Qin Jingru frowned and said, "Brother Wang Feng, can you think of a way to help Aunt Wu's family? I really like Ya Ya. Her ration has only been reduced by 10%, and she's already so thin. Didn't you say before that the ration would be reduced further? If it's reduced again, won't they starve to death?"

Wang Feng thought for a moment and shook his head helplessly: "I'm afraid that won't work. It's not a problem to arrange a job for Aunt Wu. She can go to your kitchen. The key is that there's no one to take care of Ya Ya. There's no one we can rely on in our yard. Aunt Wu doesn't feel comfortable leaving Ya Ya with someone else."

Qin Jingru rolled her eyes and said, "Brother Wang Feng, if she were working in our kitchen, wouldn't it be enough to just have Aunt Wu bring Ya Ya to work? Ya Ya is almost six years old, she doesn't need much care. Just get her some food for lunch. With Aunt Wu and me, and everyone in the kitchen watching over her, what trouble could possibly happen?"

Wang Feng was taken aback, then asked, "Jingru, will this work?"

"Sure, why not? I'm in charge in the kitchen, hehe. If anyone dares to say anything, I'll have the whole kitchen staff flip the wok for them," Qin Jingru said with a smile.

Hearing Qin Jingru's domineering tone, which already sounded a bit like a leader, Wang Feng laughed:

"Hehe, that's good then. I'll talk to Li Huaide tomorrow and ask him to give me a spot as a handyman."

"Yes, yes, this way Aunt Wu and Ya Ya can eat a free meal in the cafeteria and get 18 yuan a month. Even if the ration is reduced, they won't have to worry about going hungry."

"Brother Wang Feng, Aunt Wu is a very strong-willed person. We've offered her a job, even if it's just a general labor position, it'll still cost over six hundred yuan. I doubt she'll accept it. What should we do?"

Wang Feng said speechlessly, "Jingru, are you stupid? This is a workstation, not some cabbage. Even if we were brothers, we wouldn't just give it to her like that. Of course, she should pay it back slowly. After she starts working, you can have her pay us back five yuan a month."

"Hehe, Brother Wang Feng, I thought you were going to give your workstation to Aunt Wu for free. To be honest, I was a little heartbroken just now."

"Alright, Jingru, tell Aunt Wu about this later."

"Um."

......

At this moment, in the pond in the middle courtyard, Aunt Wu was killing pheasants and rabbits. Several middle-aged women stood next to her, looking at Aunt Wu with great envy.

Whenever Wang Feng's family kills pheasants or rabbits, they always ask Aunt Wu to help. The key is that Wang Feng's family doesn't want the chicken heads, tails, or internal organs. What kind of year is this? These families haven't eaten any meat since after the New Year. Chicken heads, tails, and internal organs are considered delicacies.

However, as everyone knows, Wang Feng's family has always had a good relationship with Aunt Wu's family, so they can only be envious. It's impossible for them to have such a good thing.

Aunt Wu is now very skilled at killing chickens and rabbits. After all, she has killed quite a few. She can kill a pheasant and a rabbit in an hour, and she can chop the meat into pieces.

She put the chicken in one large bowl, the rabbit meat in another large bowl, and the rest of the chicken heads and tails in yet another bowl.

Now that she knew Wang Feng and Qin Jingru were giving her family special treatment, and that they genuinely didn't eat chicken heads or chicken butts, she didn't stand on ceremony anymore and took the chicken heads and butts home. With so many chicken heads and butts, she could give Ya Ya a good boost these next couple of days.

Carrying two large bowls, she arrived at Wang Feng's house and saw Qin Jingru cleaning the area in front of the door. She smiled and said, "Jingru, the pheasant and rabbit are ready. You can take them home now."

"Yes, thank you, Aunt Wu."

Qin Jingru wiped her hands, took the two large bowls, and said with a smile.

Aunt Wu grinned: "Jingru, I know that you and Wang Feng are helping me and Yaya in a roundabout way. If anyone should be thanking someone, it's Aunt Wu who should thank you and Wang Feng."

Qin Jingru smiled slightly: "Aunt Wu, wait here for me for a moment, I have something to tell you."

With that, Qin Jingru took the two large bowls and went back into the house.

Soon, Qin Jingru came out with two empty bowls, handed them to Aunt Wu, and then said:

"Aunt Wu, it's like this, Brother Wang Feng has a job as a kitchen helper, but the quota has been reduced. You're having a hard time making ends meet by pasting matchboxes every day, so we were thinking of letting you work in our kitchen. You can also bring Ya Ya with you. You and Ya Ya can eat a free meal in the cafeteria every day at noon. The job fee is 600 yuan. You can pay me back 5 yuan every month after you get your salary. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Wu's eyes instantly reddened, with tears welling up in them. She was deeply moved; Wang Feng and Jingru had been so kind to her family that she didn't know how to repay them.

She only earns about ten or eight yuan a month pasting matchboxes every day. This is only because Yaya is sensible and often helps her paste matchboxes. Otherwise, she would be all alone, and with the rationing being reduced, she simply cannot support Yaya.

Even with Ya Ya's help, the money she earns each month from pasting matchboxes is just enough to get by. She simply can't afford the expensive grains. Ya Ya has lost a lot of weight recently, and her complexion has turned sallow.

She's been extremely anxious lately, like a cat on a hot tin roof. She knows very well that if she accepts this job, she and Ya Ya will owe Wang Feng and Jing Ru even more, to the point that they might not be able to pay it back. But she has no choice; for Ya Ya's sake, she has to accept it.

Even if it takes her entire life to repay Wang Feng and Jing Ru's kindness, she has to accept it because she truly can't afford to raise Ya Ya anymore.

"Jingru, thank you so much. I... Yaya and I will remember your and Wang Feng's kindness for the rest of our lives," Aunt Wu said earnestly, her eyes red-rimmed.