Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

When Wang Feng saw that Qin Huairu had knelt down before everyone in the courtyard, he sighed. It seemed he would have to hide in courtyard number 28 again tonight.

After all, reputation is still very important in this era, and he is the only cadre in the institute. It would be unreasonable for him to refuse when everyone in the institute is helping him.

Yan Fugui walked up to Qin Huairu, helped her up, and looked down at the crowd, saying loudly:

"Since everyone is willing to help, let's all meet in the front yard after dinner."

Yan Fugui paused, looked at Qin Huairu, sighed, and said:

"Qin Huairu, this is all we can do to help you. You should be prepared, since we searched the whole area yesterday but couldn't find any. If we can't find any tonight, we're powerless to help you."

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears, nodded, and bowed deeply to everyone in the courtyard:

"Thank you, thank you, Uncle San, thank you, neighbors. I, Qin Huairu, will never forget your kindness. If we still can't find Banggeng tonight, then it's just that Banggeng is unlucky. I will not ask you to continue searching for me in vain."

When everyone in the courtyard heard that Qin Huairu only asked them to help search for tonight, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

They have to go to work, and running about 20 miles back and forth every night is exhausting for them.

Most people were unwilling to look for Bang Geng this time, since they had already tried and it would be pointless. However, Qin Huairu had knelt down and begged them, so they could only help her one last time to make her give up completely.

Yan Fugui waved his hand: "Alright, everyone go back and eat, everyone can go home now."

"Why."

After everyone dispersed, Wang Feng pushed his bicycle and followed Qin Jingru back into the house.

Back inside, Qin Jingru poured Wang Feng a cup of tea and asked, "Brother Wang Feng, shall we go to our usual spot tonight?"

They haven't told Lu Banxia about Lou Xiao'e yet, and Qin Jingru is also speaking evasively.

Wang Feng nodded: "This stick has most likely been kidnapped by a kidnapper. Even if we go looking for it, it's a waste of time."

"Banxia, ​​do what you did yesterday: lend out the bicycle and say your headache hasn't gotten better, so don't go."

"OK."

Lu Banxia nodded her head without asking why. Anyway, Wang Feng was her man, and she just needed to be obedient. Besides, she had only moved into the courtyard not long ago and was not as familiar with the affairs of the courtyard as Wang Feng was.

"Jingru, hurry up and cook. We need to meet in the front yard after dinner."

"Um."

Qin Jingru agreed and went to the kitchen to cook. The rice had been cooked for a while, but she hadn't dared to cook until Wang Feng came back, for fear that the food would get cold and not taste good.

In the evening, Qin Jingru made a stir-fried green pepper with cured pork and a hot and sour cabbage dish, which was ready in less than twenty minutes.

After finishing their meal and drinking a pot of tea inside, Wang Feng and Qin Jingru pushed their bicycles to the front yard.

When the two women arrived at the front yard, most of the people who had gone to look for the sticky rice stalks the night before had already arrived. Yan Fugui saw Wang Feng pushing two bicycles and couldn't help but ask:

"Wang Feng, is Banxia's headache still not better?"

"Well, during lunch just now, Banxia told me that her head was still hurting a lot, and she was barely managing to get through the day at the factory, so she asked me to bring the bicycle over for everyone to use," Wang Feng explained.

Upon hearing this, Yan Fugui sighed and said, "Alright then."

Wang Feng lit a Daqianmen cigarette for himself, and the others smoked while listening to Yan Fugui's instructions on how to find the route.

Tonight's search route was slightly off. A search route that was originally planned for three to four people was reduced to two people. This way, we can search more routes, which increases the chances of finding the sticky goat.

However, Wang Feng and Qin Jingru insisted that they did not need anyone to follow them. His explanation was that they both had bicycles, and having someone follow them would only slow them down.

After hearing Wang Feng's explanation, everyone fell silent.

As soon as he finished his cigarette, the rest of the people arrived. Yan Fugui quickly assigned tasks and arranged the search route. The thirty or so people in the courtyard walked out of the compound in a grand procession.

Just like yesterday, Wang Feng and Qin Jingru took a stroll outside, turned a corner, and went back to courtyard number 28 for tea.

......

At 10:20 p.m., Wang Feng did the same thing as last night: he went back to courtyard number 95 first and asked Qin Jingru to come back in a few minutes.

When Wang Feng returned to courtyard number 95, most of the people in the courtyard had already returned, except for Qin Huairu, who had not yet returned.

Upon seeing Wang Feng, Yan Fugui quickly stepped forward and asked, "Wang Feng, how are you?"

Wang Feng shook his head: "Didn't find it."

"Why."

Yan Fugui sighed and didn't ask any more questions. They had worked for nothing again tonight, and several teams were still not back, but he had given up hope.

Jia Zhangshi has been unusually quiet these past two days, not saying a word the whole time. She's afraid that if she speaks, she'll offend the people in the courtyard, and then they won't help her family, which would be troublesome.

At the same time, she was also afraid of offending Qin Huairu. Last night, Qin Huairu slapped her, and she didn't even dare to fight back. She was really afraid that Qin Huairu would give up and marry someone else with Xiaodang, and then she would be completely finished.

With Qin Huairu's looks, even though she has already had two children, it would be very easy for her to find an old bachelor. She understands this better than anyone else.

A short while later, Qin Jingru returned to the courtyard, and Yan Fugui, as always, responsibly went up to ask her:

"Jingru, how's it going? Did you find a good story?"

Qin Jingru slowly shook her head: "Didn't find it."

"Sigh, it seems like the hope of finding the 'sticky bird' is slim. It's been two days already; if they were going to find it, they would have found it long ago."

Yan Fugui sighed and shared his thoughts.

Needless to say, everyone in the courtyard knew this, but Qin Huairu just wouldn't give up.

Just as everyone was sighing, Qin Huairu and the remaining groups of people returned to the courtyard.

When she heard that no one had found any trace of Bang Geng, Qin Huairu's expression remained remarkably calm.

She bowed deeply to everyone and said, "Thank you all for tonight. It's getting late, so please go back and get some rest."

After speaking, she walked slowly towards the central courtyard with a blank expression, leaving everyone looking at each other, somewhat puzzled. They felt that Qin Huairu was acting strangely tonight, clearly being somewhat unusual.

Seeing this, Yan Fugui waved his hand and said, "Alright, everyone has worked hard tonight. Go back and get some rest, so as not to affect tomorrow's work."

"Jingru, let's go back." Wang Feng spoke first.

"OK."

As soon as Wang Feng and Qin Jingru left, everyone else in the courtyard went home.