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

The whole courtyard fell silent. Zhang Dabiao turned around and looked at Banggeng, who was crying there.

That's good now that they've admitted it; the rest is up to Fatty Liu.

But unexpectedly, Qin Huairu, Jia Dongxu, and Yi Zhonghai launched an attack.

"Zhang Dabiao, are you satisfied now? Did you really have to drive your child to this state? Banggeng is your cousin! You're his uncle!"

"Zhang Dabiao, you've gone too far. The child is starving. If you, as his uncle, gave him a roast chicken, wouldn't all this trouble be avoided?"

"Our Bang Geng is still a child. He was just too hungry. Guang Qi, please forgive him."

"Exactly, Da Biao, half a roast chicken only costs a dollar or two, there's no need to make such a fuss..."

"Zhang Dabiao, are you trying to wipe us out completely?"

"..."

He's being condemned by everyone!

Even Liu Guangqi was starting to panic.

Zhang Dabiao picked at his earwax and blew on it as he did so.

"Hungry?"

"Who isn't hungry these days?"

"Guangqi, what else do you have at home besides roast chicken?"

"There are also a few cornbread buns that I made this morning."

"Are there fewer cornbread buns?"

"no."

"Hey everyone, did you hear that? Bang Geng isn't hungry, he's just craving it!"

"Go ahead and go find your dad, go find your godfather, whatever you want! Why are you messing with the neighbors?"

"You think you can steal just because you're hungry or craving something? You think you can steal just because you're a kid? There's no such logic in the world!"

"Master Liu, the thief has been found. It's up to you to decide whether to handle it officially or privately."

Zhang Dabiao returned to his seat. He was only responsible for forcing the thief out. He had already confessed, so if he went to report to the police, it would be somewhat illegitimate since he wasn't the victim.

Throw all the problems back at Fatty Liu and see what he does.

How to handle it is up to the aggrieved party.

Under the eager gazes of everyone, Liu Pangpang "thought" for a while.

"Either report it to the police and have them take the person away, or offer compensation."

The Jia family immediately demanded compensation from them.

"Then let's follow your compensation standards after Zhang Dabiao was robbed by your family before: borrowing... stealing one, pay eight times the amount, and the person who started the fight should pay 5 yuan."

"Let's say half a roast chicken is worth two yuan. Jia Dongxu, you give Guangqi 21 yuan, and make Bang Geng sweep the yard for a week as punishment. That'll settle things."

Liu Pangpang waved his hand. Anyway, there was already a standard last time, so he would just follow the previous standard. He was too lazy to think about it.

My son is a grown man, I can't let him get beaten up for nothing.

Upon hearing that they would have to pay 21 yuan in compensation, the Jia family's expression immediately changed.

How much does half a roast chicken cost?

"Second Uncle, isn't this a bit too much? Our family can't afford to pay for it..." He started complaining about being poor again.

But Liu Pangpang slammed his fist on the table!

"What are you saying! I'm an old man! The only old man in the courtyard!"

"If you can't afford to pay, that's fine. Just hand it over to the police. They'll decide how much to pay!"

This startled Jia Dongxu. It was just a wrong name, why were you so angry?

In the end, they could only offer compensation, but after going around in circles, Jia Dongxu resorted to his old trick of pleading poverty, and in the end, it was his godfather Yi Zhonghai who paid for it.

Yi Zhonghai – [What a terrible thing!]

After everything was over, Liu Guangqi, in front of all the neighbors, nodded and said to Jia Dongxu—

"Jia Dongxu, keep your son in check. If this happens again, he'll be a repeat offender."

"I could just take him straight to the police station, don't say I didn't warn you." That night, the Jia family locked themselves in and gave Bang Geng a good beating, and Yi Zhonghai couldn't stop him even if he tried.

Jia Dongxu, Bang Geng, Yi Zhonghai, and Qin Huairu—their hatred for Zhang Dabiao grew stronger.

But they were powerless to do anything about it and dared not move.

Because of Zhang Dabiao, six people have already been executed!

Moreover, this kid is tough, so even if you hate him, you wouldn't dare to touch him.

Meanwhile, Liu Guangqi went to Zhang Dabiao's place and got a roast chicken. You Hongjuan loves this flavor. Actually, she likes duck necks, but no one would dare give her any.

When it comes to supplementing nutrition for pregnant women, Zhang Dabiao didn't know what was suitable, so he asked Liu Guangqi to get a few glass bottles and fill them with milk. Drinking more milk can't hurt, right?

How about some pecans to supplement our nutrition?

In short, eating more meat, eggs, and dairy products is never a bad thing.

As for the rare supplies that Zhang Dabiao had acquired, Liu Guangqi was numb to it all. He simply said nothing more and paid three times the price set by the price bureau.

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

The next day, Zhang Dabiao resumed his normal school routine and went to school with the other children in the neighborhood.

Then they saw Banggeng limping out the door, giving Zhang Dabiao a hateful glare.

It's alright. I guess Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu went all out, but it probably won't do much good for Bang Geng.

When Zhang Dabiao left, Qin Jingru ran out to see him off. Zhang Dabiao could tell that this little girl also wanted to go to school.

But either she has to go back to Changping, otherwise Zhang Dabiao has no way to get her to go to school in this city; he really doesn't have that ability.

The urban-rural dual system is not something to be taken lightly.

When I returned in the afternoon, Director Wang and Li Huaide came to my door.

No, what's the matter between you two?

Li Huaide's goal is to increase the production of cream cakes, and ideally, add some black bread and rye bread from the Russian side.

But most importantly—they need a lot of bear-flavored sour cream, which is a versatile sauce for them.

Borscht is a good choice, as are beef stroganoff (beef stewed in sour cream), perimeni (Russian dumplings filled with a mixture of minced meat, often served with sour cream or butter), blini, and Olivier salad...

These all use sour cream.

They certainly enjoy sweet, high-sugar cream or honey cakes, and chocolate also suits their taste, but what they lack most right now is sour cream.

What the hell is Zhang Dabiao supposed to do?

But this matter is very important to Li Huaide.

"No, Uncle Li, don't their bear experts have a special diet? Why are you looking for me? I can't make much cream even if I whip it every day!"

Li Huaide also said helplessly, "These are difficult times to begin with, and on top of that, our relationship with the Russians is a bit tense, so there are some materials that we really can't get our hands on."

"I have no choice. This is a very important part of my work after I take office. I can't afford to mess it up as soon as I arrive, so Uncle Li came to ask you for help."

"You can make several kinds of cream, can you make Suzhou-style sour cream?"

Zhang Dabiao was speechless. Did you really think I was Doraemon's all-powerful wish-granting machine?

"I've never tried this before, and I don't know the recipe. And the most crucial problem is that we don't have animal-based heavy cream. This stuff is really troublesome to make."

He didn't want to take this job; he couldn't handle it.

I'm not a chef.

Li Huaide persisted: "If you can figure it out, if you can get the formula, I'll give you a full-time job in the steel rolling mill canteen!"

Zhang Dabiao rolled his eyes: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Zhang Dabiao, Li Huaide became anxious. He looked around for a long time and suddenly saw Qin Jingru cooking in the kitchen.

"Is your little cook at home every day?"

"Doesn't she go to school?"