Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

The Intermediate People's Court, the Wang family.

At noon, Qin Jingru made spicy diced chicken and stir-fried rabbit with wild pheasant and rabbit.

Today, Qin Jingru didn't brew any Chinese medicine. The aroma of meat wafted on the wind, and the entire courtyard could almost smell its tempting fragrance.

This made everyone in the hospital hate Wang Feng's family to the core, yet they were powerless to do anything about it.

Every time Wang Feng's family cooks meat, the children smell the aroma and clamor to eat it. But in this kind of year, how can ordinary families like theirs afford meat? There's no other way but to feed the children a meal of bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat.

......

The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.

As Jia Zhangshi ate her cornbread, she smelled the aroma of meat wafting from Wang Feng's house. She kept swallowing her saliva, cursing Wang Feng's ancestors for eighteen generations in her heart.

She glared hatefully in the direction of Wang Feng's house, then said to Qin Huairu:

"Qin Huairu, we've already given the money to the money-grubbers, why hasn't Banggeng come back yet?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu's face instantly turned ashen. She sighed and said:

"Bang Geng may not be coming back for the time being."

"What?"

Upon hearing that Banggeng wouldn't be coming back, Jia Zhangshi instantly flew into a rage, stood up, and shouted:

"Qin Huairu, didn't those child traffickers say they'd release the sticks if we paid them?"

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears, her heart already filled with despair.

"Waaaaah, Mom, Bang Geng still hasn't come back. The flower seller must have gone back on his word after receiving the money. I bet Bang Geng has already been sold to the countryside by the flower seller."

"Oh my god! Those damned bastards! They're the worst of the worst! I gave them all my retirement money, and they still won't give me a proper burial. I curse them to die a horrible death, to be buried by no one, and to go to the deepest hell!"

Jia Zhangshi plopped down on the ground and began to cry and scream.

This time she was truly devastated. Her retirement savings were gone, and her beloved grandson was gone too. Now she wished she could eat the flesh and drink the blood of those beggars.

Qin Huairu ignored Jia Zhangshi. After finishing her cornbread, she lay down on the bed with her eyes wide open, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

The stick is gone, her heart is dead, and she doesn't know what to do next.

......

Zhongyuan, Yi Zhonghai's house.

An older woman smelled the aroma of meat wafting from Wang Feng's house, put down her cornbread, sighed, and said:

"Old Yi, have you found a suitable elderly person to care for at the factory recently? If not, we can adopt one from an orphanage."

Yi Zhonghai's face was dark, and he said in a deep voice, "You don't need to worry about this. I know what I'm doing. If it really comes down to it, we can go to the orphanage."

Hearing Yi Zhonghai's somewhat harsh tone, the middle-aged woman wasn't angry and slowly spoke:

"Old Yi, I'm not rushing you. You know we're both getting old. There's no one we can rely on in the compound anymore. And given the character of the people in the compound, if we get old and can't move, they'll definitely exploit us to the point of having no descendants."

"While we can still move around, I can still take care of the child, and you can still work for another ten years or so, let's adopt a child now, and we can raise the child to adulthood."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, his tone somewhat impatient.

"Okay, I understand. I've been looking in the factory for a while now, but I haven't found a suitable one yet."

"Besides, don't you know what kind of situation Old Wei is in the next courtyard? He was adopted from an orphanage. He finally raised the child with great difficulty, but when the child's parents came looking for him, the child just ran away with them."

"Well, you figure it out then."

The older woman sighed and stopped trying to persuade her.

During this period, Yi Zhonghai took on three apprentices in the third fitter workshop. All three apprentices were orphans.

He implied to his three apprentices that as long as they were willing to support him in his old age, all the family's wealth, including the house, could be left to them after they passed away.

His house is private property. He bought it back when houses could still be bought and sold, and it can be bequeathed to someone else through a will.

But his three apprentices were all stubborn and unwilling to find another father, so Yi Zhonghai couldn't do anything about it.

The thought of growing old with no one to care for him and being exploited by the people in the compound filled Yi Zhonghai with rage.

He hates Qin Huairu the most now for deceiving him by saying that Banggeng was his son. He has always treated Banggeng as his son, thinking that he would have his own son to take care of him when he got old, so there would be no problem of no one taking care of him in his old age, and he would not have to worry about being exploited.

But who knew that Bang Geng wasn't his son? This made him so anxious that his hair turned white.

Now that Bang-geng has been kidnapped by Hanako, he feels an indescribable sense of joy.

Yi Zhonghai sighed inwardly. Without Bang Geng, he had originally wanted Sha Zhu to take care of him in his old age, but then that incident happened, which not only caused him to lose all his savings, but also made Sha Zhu treat him as an enemy.

He Daqing took away his last savings last time, and even took two small yellow croakers, which made him feel intense hatred towards He Daqing and his family.

However, he didn't let He Daqing off easy either. The last time He Daqing took his money and returned to Baoding, he wrote a letter to Widow Bai, telling her about it. Now He Daqing is back dressed in rags, and I heard he's even lame. He guesses that this must be related to Widow Bai.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth inwardly. He had seen how miserable it was to be exploited and left with no descendants. He absolutely could not be exploited and left with no descendants in his life. He had to find a suitable person to take care of him in his old age.

Thinking of this, he lost his appetite and put down his bowl before leaving.

Seeing this, the older woman was about to advise Yi Zhonghai to think more positively, but in the end, she could only sigh.

......

The front yard, the Yan family's house.

Today, Liu Yuhua went back to her parents' home for a special meal, leaving the Yan family alone at home eating sweet potatoes.

When Yan Jiefang smelled the aroma of meat coming from Wang Feng's house, the sweet potato in his hand tasted like nothing at all.

"Dad, how long are we going to keep eating these sweet potatoes? I really can't eat anymore. Can't we eat white flour buns every two days like my sister-in-law?" Yan Jiefang said with a bitter face.

Yan Jiekuang chimed in, "That's right, Dad. We've been eating sweet potatoes for so long, and look at me, I've lost several pounds recently."

Yan Jiecheng ate his sweet potato silently, and apart from his hatred for Wang Feng and the people in the courtyard, he was basically detached from worldly desires.

"Bang."

Yan Fugui's face darkened, and he slammed his fist on the table, roaring:

"You two little brats, all you know is eating! Don't you know what kind of situation our family is in?"

"Now the ration has been reduced by 30%. In our family, only Jiecheng and I earn money. You're lucky if you have sweet potatoes to eat. If you don't want to eat them, then don't. We'll save them for dinner."

When Yan Jiefang saw that his father was angry, he didn't dare to say anything more. He lowered his head and started eating the sweet potato again.

Yan Jie, however, was stubborn and kept muttering, "Dad, it's all your fault. Our family was so rich. If you had taken out all that money and those big and small yellow croakers earlier, we might not have been robbed. We could eat our fill of that money even if we lived a lifetime."

"What did you say?"

Yan Fugui's face was ashen, his eyes bloodshot, and he glared angrily at Yan Jiekuang. He had already put down the sweet potato in his hand and was about to slap him.

"No...it's nothing."