Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

I went to the brigade headquarters first and greeted the brigade leader.

Then they went directly to Qin Jingru's house, cooked a meal there, and Xu Damao and Zhang Dabiao stayed at the brigade headquarters that night, while Qin Jingru went home to stay, and they packed up their things the next morning.

Qin Jingru's family was naturally very happy to see her return. Her mother pulled her into her arms and asked her how she was doing. After all, she was her own daughter, so how could she not feel heartache?

Meanwhile, the brigade leader and Qin Jingru's father started a fire again and prepared some cornmeal dumpling soup for the group. Steaming cornbread was too much trouble at this time, and cooking was out of the question, as they didn't have anything at home that they could offer to entertain guests.

But Zhang Dabiao waved his hand—

"Use this!"

"Holy crap, Da Biao, you even carry seasonings with you when you go out?"

"This thing is convenient."

What he took out was hot pot base, cut into small pieces and wrapped in oil paper.

Then he took out a tube of Chen Keming egg noodles, the kind that weighs one pound, and put it all in the pot.

The Qin family members were drooling – were they really going to give up on this life?!

These are clearly top-quality noodles; one pound at a time?!

Not only that, Zhang Dabiao was also thinking: "Da Mao, you shouldn't have let your dad take all the local specialties back at noon. There's no cured meat, no mushrooms, no side dishes at all, and the noodles alone are not very appetizing."

Xu Damao rolled his eyes at him: "Da Biao, are you even speaking human language? This is fine flour, and you're complaining about the lack of side dishes when you have this to eat?!"

"And in the dead of winter, where would you find shiitake mushrooms in the mountains? Even if you did, they would have been picked and eaten long ago. Are you crazy? I did manage to get some dried shiitake mushrooms today, but those things need to be prepared in advance."

The two chatted amongst themselves while cooking noodles, and Qin Jingru weakly interjected, "Brother Da Biao, we have cabbage and radishes at home."

Zhang Dabiao raised an eyebrow: "Get a cabbage and a radish."

We'll make do with Chinese cabbage, and Zhang Dabiao rarely eats radishes, but they're a perfect match for hot pot!

They were going to pay him, but Qin Dahe refused and even gave them a string of pickled cabbage as a gift.

Everyone was thoroughly enjoying the aroma of the hot pot broth. A child wearing open-crotch pants and with his bare bottom exposed was even hiding outside the kitchen, drooling...

Seeing this, Zhang Dabiao immediately added two small pieces of hot pot base and a tube of noodles, saying, "Let's eat them together."

He couldn't bear to see his children go hungry, and he couldn't bear to see himself being watched while he ate.

Qin Jingru's mother was stunned: "Jingru, Zhang Dabiao... is this how you eat in the city?"

Qin Jingru nodded: "Brother Da Biao is very generous when it comes to food and drink."

She dared not tell her family that she was eating meat every day, and that she had roast duck yesterday. Although Qin Jingru was young, she understood that she couldn't flaunt her wealth at this time.

Seeing how generous Zhang Dabiao was, the brigade leader also ran back home and brought back half a pound of cured meat and two eggs.

Qin Dahe didn't have anything particularly impressive to offer, so he gritted his teeth and asked Qin Jingru's mother to bring out the wheat flour and cornmeal in the house to make extra cornbread and pancakes for the guests, so they could take them home for the journey the next day.

Qin Huairu's father, Qin Dashan, also came over after smelling the aroma, bringing over a dried rabbit and a bundle of vermicelli.

The noodles were cooked in no time, and Zhang Dabiao and Xu Damao, who were starving, started munching away on their large bowls.

The others also got a lot of noodles. Then, they added some water to the remaining broth, and everyone added the glass noodles, pickled cabbage, and Chinese cabbage to the broth. They ate their fill of the hot pot, and the children were all beaming with joy.

The dried rabbit was chopped up and thrown into the pot. It was just so-so to begin with, but after being cooked in the hot pot broth, you know what, it actually tasted pretty good!

Most of the rabbit meat was served to Zhang Dabiao and Xu Damao, who were guests, and the broth and noodles were brought by them.

You know what, Zhang Dabiao couldn't bring himself to eat cornbread, but pancakes dipped in hot pot broth, filled with rabbit meat and pickled cabbage, actually tasted pretty good!

After eating and drinking his fill, Xu Damao went to the courtyard to smoke and chat with Qin Dashan and Qin Dahe. In particular, he took the opportunity to reveal Qin Huairu's affair with the Jia family.

Qin Dashan and Qin Dahe were stunned by what they heard, especially Qin Dashan when he learned that his in-laws had been sentenced to six months of labor reform and had also committed fraud by soliciting donations, losing more than a thousand yuan in compensation...

Da Biao's life is getting better and better now...

Sigh... the more he did this, the more he regretted it.

If they had persuaded Huairu back then, they would be living the good life now. Moreover, they noticed that in such a short time, Qin Jingru had visibly gained weight, which must be due to the good food and drink she was enjoying in the city.

Of course! There's oil and fat in his food every day. As long as it's edible, Zhang Dabiao never limits his intake.

Moreover, Qin Jingru ate all the cornmeal in the house, so Zhang Dabiao doesn't eat cornmeal!

I wouldn't trade those days for being a landlady like Qin Jingru!

After eating and drinking her fill, Qin Jingru told Zhang Dabiao and then unloaded the 20 jin of cornmeal she had bought from the tricycle.

"Jingru, what's wrong with you...?"

"You're staying with Da Biao, he's providing you with food and lodging, so you can't bring anything home anymore!"

Her mother grabbed Qin Jingru immediately, saying that being so greedy was just like Qin Huairu following in her footsteps.

Zhang Dabiao waved his hand: "That was earned by Jingru herself."

"what?"

Qin Jingru then explained that she had been pasting matchboxes at the neighborhood office. It hadn't taken long and didn't pay much; she estimated it would only earn her about 5 yuan a month.

But Zhang Dabiao said he also gave her 5 yuan a month for pocket money, but he dared not say it was a salary, and no one had the right to complain about giving his "adopted" sister 5 yuan for pocket money.

I'm taking her back to Qinjiatun today, so I've already paid her some pocket money in advance.

Just imagine, having a girl at home every day cleaning for you, serving you tea and water, doing your laundry, even pouring water for you to wash your feet, cooking and washing dishes...

Tell me, is 5 yuan a month worth it?

According to Zhang Dabiao's own habits, why bother soaking his feet? He just takes off his socks and goes straight to bed, and then washes them together with his bath in a few days.

Therefore, he felt that Qin Jingru should be paid a salary, otherwise he would feel uneasy.

You should be paid for your work; that's only fair!

As for Qin Jingru's schooling, since her household registration isn't in the city, there's no point in even discussing it. It's normal for girls from the countryside to stop going to school after graduating from elementary school.

Moreover, Zhang Dabiao didn't have that ability.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Zhang Dabiao and Xu Damao went back to the brigade headquarters to rest. They had eaten too much, and it was mostly carbohydrates, so they were a little dizzy from the carbohydrates. Soon they were snoring.

I'm really exhausted today.

------------

The next morning, when they woke up, they found that Qin Jingru had prepared pancakes, millet porridge, and pickled vegetables for Zhang Dabiao and Xu Damao, and delivered them directly to the brigade headquarters.

Not only that, they also brought a kettle, a basin, and a towel to help Zhang Dabiao wash up...

Even landlords couldn't live a life more like this, could they?