Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

"Brother Feng, you're back? Why so soon this time?"

When Wang Feng returned to Courtyard No. 28, Lou Xiao'e was very excited and quickly pulled him back to the living room.

"Hehe, things went very smoothly over there. I got there and resolved it quickly," Wang Feng explained with a smile.

Hearing that things went smoothly over there, Lou Xiao'e was very happy and asked:

"Brother Feng, you probably haven't had breakfast yet, right? I'll make you some noodles now, you can rest for a while."

Wang Feng nodded: "Yeah, I'm a little hungry."

Lou Xiao'e had just gotten up and hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so we ate together.

Not long after, Lou Xiao'e brought over two large bowls of noodles, which were egg noodles.

As the two ate noodles, Lou Xiao'e asked, "Brother Feng, how are my parents? How much ginseng and tiger bone wine did you bring for them this time?"

Wang Feng didn't speak, but held up five fingers.

"Huh? Only five bottles?"

Lou Xiao'e was clearly a little disappointed; five bottles was too few. However, considering that Beijing was too far from Hong Kong Island, it was probably inconvenient to bring too many things, so she wasn't angry.

Wang Feng rolled his eyes and said speechlessly, "It's five cases, a total of sixty bottles. If each of them drinks an ounce a day, it'll be enough for them to drink for a year. I'll bring them some more when I go there again."

"Huh? Five boxes?"

Lou Xiao'e instantly broke into a bright smile, and said happily with a coquettish tone, "Thank you, Brother Feng, you're so good to me."

She knew how effective ginseng and tiger bone wine was. Once her parents finished these five cases, their health would definitely be much better than before. As their daughter, even though she wasn't by their side, she could still consider it a way of fulfilling her filial duty.

Wang Feng smiled slightly, didn't reply, and ate his egg noodles in big mouthfuls.

After breakfast, Lou Xiao'e brewed a pot of tea, and the two of them drank the tea while listening to Wang Feng talk about things in Hong Kong.

After finishing the pot of tea, Lou Xiao'e used the excuse that Wang Feng was too tired to pull him back to his room to rest. Of course, she would have to sleep with him.

......

One o'clock in the afternoon.

After having lunch with Lou Xiao'e, Wang Feng left courtyard number 28 and returned to courtyard number 95.

During this time, while Lou Xiao'e was cooking, he went out again and brought back a lot of food, including pork, mutton, and beef.

Entering the front yard, I didn't see Yan Laokou's family. Passing through the hanging flower gate, I arrived at the middle yard.

Today is Saturday, and everyone in the compound has gone to work, leaving only some elderly people and children in the compound.

As soon as Wang Feng arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, he was spotted by Qin Jingru, who was sitting at the entrance holding her child.

"Brother Wang Feng, you're back! I thought you wouldn't be back for a month," Qin Jingru said excitedly.

"Hehe, nothing happened over there, so I came back."

Wang Feng smiled, took the child from Qin Jingru's arms, played with him for a while, and then went back to the house with Qin Jingru.

He told Qin Jingru about the situation in Hong Kong again, saying that everything was going smoothly, the company was developing rapidly and making a lot of money, which made Qin Jingru very happy.

After chatting for a while, Wang Feng took Qin Jingru back to her room for a nap. As for the child, he was very well-behaved and fell asleep after being coaxed for a while.

......

5:10 PM.

When Lu Banxia returned home from get off work, she was overjoyed to see that Wang Feng had already come back.

Before long, a rich aroma of meat wafted from Wang Feng's kitchen, making Jia Zhangshi's mouth water. She then started cursing loudly in the direction of Wang Feng's house.

"That damned little brat, he came back and immediately started poisoning things. It's making me so hungry."

Looking at the cornbread in her bowl, Jia Zhangshi glared fiercely at Qin Huairu with her triangular eyes and cursed:

"Qin Huairu, you good-for-nothing! How can you be so useless? Li Huaide is the director of the steel mill, such a powerful and capable man, and you managed to lose him! Now our family is living off your meager salary of 27.5 yuan. Do you want to starve your precious grandson and your old mother to death?!"

Banggeng looked pitifully at Qin Huairu, and kept swallowing as he smelled the rich aroma of meat.

Banggeng now understands clearly that Wang Feng's family eats meat, and even if his mother goes to ask for meat, she won't get any, and no matter how much he cries and makes a fuss, it's useless.

Bang Geng's hair is now yellowish and his face is pale, which are obvious symptoms of malnutrition. Qin Huairu is heartbroken to see this, but she is helpless.

"Why."

Qin Huairu sighed deeply and stroked Banggeng's curly hair to comfort him, "Banggeng, just bear with it a little longer. When Mom earns money, I'll buy you something delicious."

Banggeng pursed his lips. How long had this lied to him? It had never come true.

Qin Huairu then looked at Jia Zhangshi, and said with a wronged expression, "Mom, what's the point of bringing this up all the time?"

"Didn't I do this all for the sake of this family? Do you think I wanted this? Now I work myself to the bone in the factory every day just to support this family. If you continue like this, we can't live like this anymore. I'll just give my job back to you and remarry with Banggeng and Xiaodang."

"Qin Huairu, you dare?"

Madam Jia glared fiercely at Qin Huairu, her eyes filled with a savage intensity, as if she wanted to devour Qin Huairu alive.

Qin Huairu sighed helplessly: "Mom, you've been nagging about this for half a year now. If you keep going, I really won't be able to live like this."

"Fine, fine, I won't say anymore, okay? But this can't go on like this. Li Huaide has cut ties with you, won't you go after other leaders in the factory?"

Madam Jia turned her head away, her mood extremely bad, but she dared not pressure Qin Huairu too much and could only try to persuade her gently.

Qin Huairu pursed her lips. She wanted to, but the leaders weren't stupid. Given their family's situation, who would dare to take over?

For the past six months, she would go to see Li Huaide every now and then, trying to salvage their relationship, but Li Huaide seemed to have made up his mind and had no feelings for her at all.

If Li Huaide hadn't been afraid she would make a big fuss, she might not have even kept her job in the kitchen.

Over the past few months, Wang Mazi and Tieguai Li have been drained of their savings, and it's now difficult for them to get anything from her. They barely make ends meet with a monthly salary of 27.5 yuan.

Fortunately, Guo Da Piezi gives her ten yuan every month, and she also had more than three hundred yuan saved up when she was with Li Huaide. Otherwise, her family would not have been able to survive for the past six months.

There's a woman named Jia Zhangshi in the family who has an insatiable appetite. The money she earns each month isn't even enough to buy cornmeal, and her savings are dwindling. If this continues, her family will really starve to death.