Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Upon hearing Qin Huairu's words, Qin Jingru frowned and said matter-of-factly:

"Qin Huairu, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

"We never flip the wok for people in our cafeteria. The people in charge of serving food serve so many people every day, sometimes more, sometimes less, that's normal. You can't expect our cafeteria to serve the exact same amount of food to everyone, can you?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu smiled and nodded: "Okay, Jingru, I understand. I'll head back now."

"Um."

As Qin Huairu walked out of Wang Feng's house, her face instantly darkened.

She was certain that Liu Lan had tossed the food in the pan for her at lunchtime today. Couldn't she tell whether the food was tossed or not? The portion sizes were vastly different.

Everything was fine before, so why did she start flipping her food at lunchtime today? Did Jingru find out something? Is she trying to get revenge on her?

Thinking about this, she felt inexplicably irritable.

She hadn't even started framing Wang Feng yet, and now she was being tossed around like a frying pan. Not only did she not gain any benefit, but she also offended Jingru and Wang Feng for no reason, which made her want to cry.

It seems that Wang Feng and Jing Ru must have discovered something last night, which is why they wanted to retaliate by flipping the wok. It will probably be even more difficult for her to be alone with Wang Feng in the future.

Back at the Jia family home, Qin Huairu put her bag on the table, sat weakly on the bed, and looked very unwell.

Seeing Qin Huairu's lifeless appearance, Jia Zhangshi glared and burst into a tirade:

"Qin Huairu, who are you giving me that look for? Hurry up and cook, do you want to starve me to death?"

Qin Huairu sighed deeply: "Mom, I was eating at the third canteen today, and I got flipped in the wok."

"What?"

Jia Zhangshi jumped three feet high, somewhat incredulous.

"Qin Huairu, tell me, Qin Jingru, that country bumpkin, dares to flip the wok for you? She's really gone too far."

"You're coming with me to Wang Feng's house. If I don't teach that bitch Qin Jingru a lesson today, I'm not Zhang Xiaohua."

Jia Zhangshi pulled Qin Huairu towards Wang Feng's house, but Qin Huairu stopped her.

"Mom, I just went to Wang Feng's house and asked Jingru. She denied it. I guess it's because of what happened yesterday. Wang Feng and Jingru found out something, and that's why Jingru wants to get revenge on me."

"what?"

Madam Jia asked in surprise, "Qin Huairu, didn't you do nothing yesterday? What did they figure out?"

Qin Huairu shook her head: "I don't know either. Anyway, Jingru wouldn't flip the wok for me for no reason. She and Wang Feng must suspect me. Now that Wang Feng is suspicious of me, I don't think our previous plan will work."

"How can this be allowed?"

Upon hearing that she couldn't control Wang Feng, Jia Zhangshi immediately became furious and pointed at Qin Huairu, launching into a tirade of abuse:

"Qin Huairu, you're such a useless piece of trash! How can you be so incompetent? You can't do anything right. What good are you?"

"You didn't do anything, yet you've already been discovered, you useless thing."

As Jia Zhangshi spoke, she grew angrier and angrier, finding Qin Huairu increasingly unpleasant. If she weren't afraid that Qin Huairu would remarry, she would have slapped her across the face long ago.

Qin Huairu sighed, "Mom, I'm not sure if Wang Feng and Jingru have figured something out. Liu Lan was the one who tossed the food for me today. I'll try serving at a different window tomorrow. If it's the same at a different window, then I can be sure that Jingru is starting to get revenge on me."

"If that's the case, then our previous plan definitely won't work."

Qin Huairu is now 90% certain that Wang Feng and Jingru must have figured something out, which is why they asked the kitchen staff to toss the food for her. Otherwise, it wouldn't be such a coincidence. They never tossed food for her before, but today they did.

"Why."

Jia Zhangshi also sighed and said, "Qin Huairu, if it doesn't work out with Wang Feng, then you should quickly find another target. Otherwise, with your salary of 27.5 yuan, your mother and Banggeng will starve to death."

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

......

The Intermediate People's Court, the Wang family.

Qin Jingru made braised pork and stir-fried mutton with scallions for dinner. She was decocting Chinese medicine while cooking, so the aroma of the meat didn't spread out, but the strong smell of Chinese medicine was carried by the wind and could be smelled throughout the entire courtyard.

Now that the portion sizes have been reduced by 30%, she is more cautious when cooking.

Others don't even have cornmeal to eat, so if her family were to eat meat regularly, they would definitely be reported, since they weren't eating wild boar meat, but domestic pork and mutton.

Eating pheasants and rabbits is perfectly acceptable, since they were caught while hunting, and nobody can say anything about it.

The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.

Sitting inside, eating cornbread, Jia Zhangshi had already cursed Wang Feng and Qin Jingru a thousand times in her heart. Suddenly, she smelled the Chinese medicine and immediately burst into a tirade of curses:

"That little bastard Wang Feng, he's been taking Chinese medicine all day long, why doesn't he just die from it?"

"And Qin Jingru, that lowly country girl, dared to cook for Qin Huairu. They deserve to be childless for life."

Qin Huairu frowned and said, "Mom, what's the point of all this cursing? Wang Feng is taking Chinese medicine because he injured his hand before, not because he can't have children."

"Bang."

Madam Jia slammed her chopsticks on the table and yelled, "I'm going to scold them! These two little beasts have such high wages, yet they don't know how to be filial to their mother. They even falsely accused me of stealing money before, causing me to be jailed. So what if I scold them?"

"That little bastard Wang Feng is taking Chinese medicine every other day. Qin Jingru has been married into the family for so long, and there's still no sign of pregnancy. This is karma!"

Qin Huairu sighed and ate her cornbread by herself. She was too lazy to argue with someone like Jia Zhangshi.

Smelling the Chinese medicine, Banggeng ate his cornbread and looked at Qin Huairu, saying, "Mom, I haven't eaten meat in ages. When are you going to bring some back for me?"

Qin Huairu gently stroked the pheasant's curly fur and comforted it, "Good boy, pheasant. When Mom goes to work and earns money, I'll buy you meat to eat."

"When will you be able to make money?" Banggeng asked persistently.

Qin Huairu sighed softly, "It'll be soon, it'll be soon."

Now Qin Huairu doesn't even dare to promise to buy meat after she gets her salary. With her salary of 27.5 yuan, it's not even enough to buy three catties of meat on the black market.

Meat is now selling for ten yuan a pound on the black market, and the factory doesn't supply meat or vegetables, so their family probably won't be able to eat meat for a long time.

The Intermediate People's Court, the Wang family.

Qin Jingru brought the dishes to the table and said with a smile, "Brother Wang Feng, Banxia, ​​dinner's ready."

"Um."

Qin Jingru served Wang Feng a bowl of rice and a piece of braised pork before serving herself rice. As for Lu Banxia, ​​she served herself rice, of course.