Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

Director Wang arrived at No. 95 courtyard. As soon as she entered the front yard, she was spotted by Yan Fugui, who was watering the flowers. He immediately came to greet her, shamelessly fawning over her.

"Director Wang, is there something you want to announce in our hospital? I'll notify everyone to hold a hospital-wide meeting right away."

"No need, Lao Yan. I'm here to see He Yuzhu."

Director Wang raised his hand to interrupt Yan Fugui and continued walking towards the Intermediate People's Court.

"Oh, you're looking for Sha Zhu? Director Wang, I'll take you there. Sha Zhu's been staying home lately," Yan Fugui said shamelessly.

Director Wang waved his hand: "I know how to get to He Yuzhu's house, I can go by myself, you go and do your own thing."

"Oh, Director Wang, take care."

Director Wang walked from the front yard to the middle yard. When the residents saw her, they all came up to greet her, thinking that she had something to announce. When Director Wang said that she had come to see Sha Zhu, everyone followed to watch the excitement, thinking that Sha Zhu had committed some serious crime that Director Wang had come to his door in person.

Upon arriving at the Intermediate People's Court, Director Wang immediately spotted He Daqing and He Yuzhu sitting at their doorstep. She quickly walked over to He Yuzhu and said:

"He Yuzhu, your street sweeping job has been arranged. The salary is 12 yuan a month. Come to the street office at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. I will have Officer Chen take you to familiarize yourself with the area you are sweeping."

After a pause, Director Wang warned, "He Yuzhu, you weren't originally supposed to be doing street sweeping, but considering your special circumstances, I've assigned you this job. I'm warning you, if you're going to sweep the streets properly, then don't blame us at the street office for punishing you, or you'll behave like you did at the steel mill."

"Yes, yes, Director Wang, don't worry. If He Yuzhu dares to cheat or shirk his duties, I will definitely teach him a lesson."

He Daqing nodded and smiled repeatedly. When he saw that Sha Zhu was still standing there in a daze, he slapped Sha Zhu hard on the back of the head again.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and thank Director Wang!"

"Thank you, Director Wang," Sha Zhu said with a bitter face.

Director Wang nodded: "Remember to report to the subdistrict office at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. I have other things to do, so I'll be leaving now."

"Oh, Director Wang, take care."

When everyone in the courtyard saw that Director Wang was about to leave, they hurriedly asked, "Director Wang, when will the rations be reinstated? If they aren't reinstated soon, our families will run out of food."

"Director Wang, my son Er Gou is also unemployed. Could you please arrange a street sweeping job for him?"

"Director Wang, what about my third son? He's eighteen now. Could you arrange a street sweeping job for him too? I don't want 12 yuan a month, just 10 yuan will do."

Director Wang turned around and sighed deeply: "Everyone, hang in there. We haven't received any notification from above yet about when the quota will be restored. I will let you know when the notification comes down."

"Also, He Yuzhu's situation is special, and the neighborhood office arranged the job for him. Most families in your compound are in much better circumstances than those in other compounds, so you shouldn't even think about it."

After saying that, Director Wang left without looking back, leaving behind a group of people sighing and lamenting.

......

The Intermediate People's Court, the Wang family.

Qin Jingru returned to the room, poured Wang Feng a cup of tea, and said indignantly:

"Brother Wang Feng, Director Wang is being way too good to Sha Zhu! Why is he even assigning him a job?"

Wang Feng, Qin Jingru, and Lu Banxia were also present just now, and they saw Director Wang make Sha Zhu sweep the streets.

Wang Feng took a sip of tea and explained with a smile, "Sha Zhu's kidney was cut off, and his manhood was also severed. Didn't Yu Shui tell you? Sha Zhu can't do heavy work in his life. If he doesn't find a job, He Daqing can't support him forever, right? The neighborhood committee arranges jobs based on the situation. I guess He Daqing must have gone to Director Wang and told her about Sha Zhu's situation, and that's why Director Wang arranged a job for Sha Zhu."

"By the way, most people in the courtyard don't know about Sha Zhu's genitals being cut off and his kidney being chopped off. You must not tell anyone, otherwise Yu Shui and Sha Zhu and his father will hate us to death."

Qin Jingru nodded: "Brother Wang Feng, don't worry. We know what to say and what not to say."

Lu Banxia took a sip of tea and said, "This He Daqing really has no family ties at all. His son is in such a bad state, can't he at least let Sha Zhu recuperate at home for a year or two? He's a chef with such a high salary, it's not like he can't afford to support Sha Zhu. Sha Zhu's injuries have only just healed, and he can't wait to send Sha Zhu back to work."

"That's right. I feel that He Daqing is even more annoying than Sha Zhu. Sha Zhu used to fawn over Qin Huairu, which is his own business. At least his behavior wasn't that annoying. But He Daqing, he tattles on my parents. I hate this kind of petty person the most." Qin Jingru agreed.

Wang Feng laughed and said, "I told you all long ago, where are the good people in our courtyard? When my father, Wang Defa, was killed by robbers while he was out shopping in the countryside, no one in our courtyard, except for Aunt Wu, came to help. I couldn't even borrow a stool from them."

"Also, if I hadn't been an adult at the time, Yi Zhonghai and his gang would have definitely taken advantage of me. Even so, when I was about to get married after my blind date with Jingru, I was renovating the house, but Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong wouldn't let me. They even sent Sha Zhu and Jia Dongxu and their gang to beat me up. Luckily, I can fight back and beat them all up, otherwise they would have definitely bullied me to death."

"Hehe, if Yi Zhonghai were to send people to beat us up again, I would definitely beat them so badly they wouldn't even recognize their own mothers," Qin Jingru said with a laugh.

Wang Feng rolled his eyes: "Do you really think they're idiots? These people in the courtyard are all bullies who prey on the weak. I beat up Sha Zhu and the others a few times, and I knocked out a few of Jia Zhangshi's teeth. See who dares to mess with me now?"

"By the way, I also beat up Yi Zhonghai twice. Let me tell you, in our compound, the strongest fist is the only true rule. I gave you guys a ten-ingredient tonic soup because I was worried that you would be bullied by these people in the compound when I wasn't around."