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

"What kind of era is this? You invite any poor relative to dinner? How are we supposed to make a living?!" Madam Jia Zhang rushed over with her hands on her hips, her triangular eyes scrutinizing Qin Mancang from head to toe.

"And you, Qin Mancang, right?"

"Who sent you? Do you have a letter of introduction? You're not here as a refugee, are you?"

"Trying to freeload off us? This is the Jia family, not the Qin family!"

"You're dreaming! Go back to where you came from! Go wherever you want to go, but don't come to our house to take advantage of us!"

"..." Qin Mancang was speechless. He knew that Jia Zhangshi was difficult to deal with, but he didn't expect her to be like this.

"Grandma Jia, I've come to seek refuge with Uncle Da Biao, not with my sister."

"Don't worry, I won't eat the food from your Jia family."

"Sis, I'm going to go to the bathroom now. I still need to continue tending the vegetable garden."

Qin Mancang shook off Qin Huairu's hand and went straight outside the courtyard. He didn't want to have anything to do with the Jia family, lest Uncle Dabiao misunderstand.

Qin Huairu stood there stunned for a long time. Why was her younger brother so distant from her?

And there was a hint of resignation in his words?

What exactly happened?

Madam Jia pinched Qin Huairu, making Qin Huairu scream, "Mom, what are you doing?!"

"What are you standing there for? Go do the laundry and cook! Do you want to starve this old woman to death?!"

"Let me warn you, if you give away even a single grain of our Jia family's grain, I won't let you off the hook!"

Upon hearing Qin Huairu's scream, Qin Mancang, who had just passed through the main hall, paused for a moment, but then lowered his head and continued walking out.

The clan has said so, and the family has also reminded us, that we should just pretend that Qin Huairu never existed.

It all started because the older sister, Qin Huairu, broke the contract because she was greedy and a snob. If it weren't for her decision, Zhang Dabiao would be Qin Mancang's brother-in-law now. Uncle Dabiao has 20 yuan in his pocket, why would he need them to pool their money to be his scapegoats?

The older sister made a mistake, the cousin was brought in to pay off the debt, and the younger brother was sent to pay with his life.

What else is there to say?

In the future, let's try to minimize contact.

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

At noon, Zhang Dabiao and Qin Jingru returned to the courtyard house after school, and Qin Huairu came looking for them.

"Zhang Dabiao, what's going on with Mancang? He said he came to seek refuge with you. What happened in Qinjiatun?"

Zhang Dabiao gave Qin Huairu a strange look, then glanced at Qin Mancang, who had come out of the courtyard after hearing the noise. Seeing that he remained silent, he shook his head and said, "He didn't say anything, why should I tell you?"

"Qin Huairu, the matter of Qinjiatun has nothing to do with you, so don't bother asking about it." Zhang Dabiao waved his hand and pushed his bicycle back to the small courtyard.

"Zhang Dabiao, what happened?! Jingru, you also went back to the village the day before yesterday and yesterday. What happened?" Qin Huairu felt increasingly uneasy, so she grabbed her cousin Qin Jingru and asked.

Qin Jingru said helplessly, "Sister, the clan chief said that we should just pretend you don't exist in the village. Whether it's good or bad, it has nothing to do with you."

Why do you care so much?

"If anything happens at home, your dad will write you a letter or send you a message."

"Come here, Xiaodang, let's go have dinner with your aunt."

Qin Jingru didn't give Qin Huairu any clear answer, but instead took Xiao Dang back to the small courtyard for dinner.

Qin Huairu was left standing alone in the courtyard, unsure of what to say.

Everyone avoided her, as if she were some kind of monstrous monster.

Jingru was already resentful about being used to pay off debts, and Zhang Dabiao, who was already at odds with her family, was used to that attitude.

But what about Qin Mancang?

That's my own younger brother!

Qin Huairu felt as if she had been abandoned by the whole world in an instant.

No, I need to call the commune this afternoon and send someone to Qinjiatun to ask.

Zhang Dabiao didn't care what Qin Huairu thought or did; she was someone he had no connection with, so why should he care?

In the afternoon, Zhang Dabiao rode his tricycle, picked up some vegetables and salted fish from the small courtyard, as well as wild vegetable biscuits and other snacks, and took Qin Mancang to the factory.

Qin Mancang didn't know why Zhang Dabiao had brought him along, but he didn't ask any further questions.

Zhang Dabiao still delivers vegetables to the factory twice a month, honestly working as a temporary purchasing agent. This is called going through the motions of a fake operation; only in this way can everyone understand and believe that he has a lot of supplies.

Upon entering the factory, Zhang Dabiao immediately handed over the goods to Tian Baocheng: "Brother Tian, ​​I didn't receive much this time; it was all from my vegetable garden."

"It's barely enough to complete the tasks, but no more than that."

Tian Baocheng was also anxiously scratching his head: "Da Biao, I know the situation in the countryside. Our factory's purchasing staff haven't met the purchasing standards for several months. Everyone is having a hard time now."

"But could you spare a little more of the supplies from your other facilities for our factory? Our factory recently hired a lot more people, which has increased the logistical pressure."

Zhang Dabiao shook his head: "Those are the collective supplies of our Youth Mutual Aid Association. I can only use my own share."

"The factory is having a hard time, and so are a lot of my neighbors. We even sold half of our supplies at the listed price to help the neighborhood office. We don't have much left for ourselves."

"I reckon I just barely manage to meet my monthly quota."

"I'll try my best to figure something out, but don't count on me. After all, I'm just a temporary purchasing agent."

Tian Baocheng handed him a cigarette: "Alright, I'll write a report to the higher-ups. The factory canteen doesn't even have enough cornmeal. This won't do."

"It's affecting production, isn't it? And they're still urging us to produce more to export and earn foreign exchange. We can't even feed ourselves, how can we earn any money?"

He had originally wanted to ask Zhang Dabiao if he could guarantee the supply of the personal goods he wanted—refined rice and flour, milk candy, tea, pork, and so on—but he didn't want to ask because there were other people around.

"Who is this?"

Tian Baocheng pointed at Qin Mancang.

Zhang Dabiao then introduced himself: "My...nephew is coming to stay with me. Could the factory get him a temporary purchasing permit?"

Hearing Zhang Dabiao say this, Qin Mancang was stunned. He thought he was just here to run errands, so why did Zhang Dabiao give him the status of a temporary worker?

Is this necessary?

Upon hearing this, Tian Baocheng frowned.

Zhang Dabiao and Qin Mancang thought he was in a difficult position because he couldn't do it, but unexpectedly, he patted Zhang Dabiao on the shoulder and said, "Dabiao—"

"What are you saying?"

"Given your contributions to the factory, what's wrong with wanting a permanent position?"

"You personally brought your people here, and you only want a temporary purchasing permit? Are you slapping your brother Tian in the face? Your nephew is my nephew!"

"A permanent position? Do you want it? Just nod your head, and I'll go find the factory manager and the Party Secretary right now and get it done for you in no time."

"Even if they don't allow it, your brother Tian still has quotas."

Tian Baocheng slapped Zhang Dabiao's shoulder repeatedly.

Just kidding, Zhang Dabiao is now the darling of their Red Star Daily Necessities Manufacturing Factory!

Anyone who dares to oppose Zhang Dabiao is opposing all the workers and leaders of the factory!

An invention enabled the factory to take off independently, and everyone was promoted accordingly.

Everyone owes Zhang Dabiao a favor!

His demands must be met in excess!