A little madman moved into the courtyard house next door.

The famine is getting worse, and not only are residents' rations of grain, oil, and pork being reduced, but factories are also seeing a reduction in their rations.

In order to meet the production targets for steel products, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill has expanded its workforce to 11000 workers in the past two years. With the addition of managers at all levels, the total number of employees is close to 1.

This factory is so big, but its monthly pork quota is only about 2400 jin (1,200 catties), which is less than 80 jin (40 catties) of pork per day on average.

With so little pork, some oil and fat had to be given to the workers, and some had to be reserved for entertaining guests. The factory leaders' private kitchens had changed from serving large amounts of meat and fish to vegetarian dishes, only these dishes contained more oil and fat than what the workers ate.

The factory's special kitchens switched to serving vegetarian dishes, and the lunchbox that Sha Zhu brought back also became filled with vegetarian food.

In the evening, Qin Huairu was washing clothes in the yard when Sha Zhu came in carrying a net bag containing lunchboxes.

Qin Huairu went up to him and said, "Silly Zhu, what delicious food did you bring today?"

Sha Zhu said smugly, "These shredded potatoes are stir-fried with rapeseed oil, they smell amazing!"

"Bang Geng is in for a treat again. He's so lucky to have you, his silly uncle."

"Of course! Bang Geng is so affectionate towards his silly uncle, I can't let him down!"

"Silly Zhu, I'll head back now." Qin Huairu happily carried the lunchbox toward the Jia family's house.

…………

Jia Dongxu got off work, and Qin Huairu had already prepared dinner.

The Jia family started eating dinner. On the table, besides a box of shredded potatoes, there were four cornbread buns, a bowl of cornmeal porridge, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.

As usual, Jia Dongxu and Banggeng snatched the shredded potatoes from the lunchbox, and in no time they had finished the whole box.

Banggeng even picked up a cornbread and dipped it in all the soup in the lunchbox, making the lunchbox look as if it had been washed.

A while later, dinner was finished. Banggeng put down his bowl and chopsticks and complained, "It's always potato slices or shredded potatoes every day. That idiot Zhu is really something. Doesn't he know I haven't eaten meat for a week?"

Jia Dongxu chimed in, "Exactly! All he ever does is bring back vegetables. He's such a useless piece of trash."

"Mom, tell Shazhu tomorrow. If he doesn't bring me meat back, I'm not going to be close to him anymore."

"That's right, Qin Huairu, you have to tell Shazhu tomorrow. If he doesn't bring back meat, you're not going to do his laundry."

"Okay, I'll talk to Shazhu tomorrow and ask him to find a way to bring the meat back."

"Fine, I'll go talk to Shazhu myself." Bang Geng said, then got up and walked outside.

The Jia family didn't even consider that they had been suffering from famine for the past two years. While other families were struggling to afford a bowl of cornmeal porridge, they had stir-fried dishes every day and meat every few days.

They take other people's kindness for granted. They eat the meat with one hand, and then curse the cook with the other.

Besides the Jia family, there probably isn't another family like them!

…………

Sha Zhu returned to the house and said to He Yushui, "Yushui, go and fry me a plate of peanuts to go with your drinks."

He Yushui rolled her eyes at Sha Zhu and said, "Brother, the peanuts you brought back were taken by Bang Geng a long time ago. There aren't any left!"

"Oh, so the stick took it? Never mind then." Shazhu picked up the wine he brought back from the kitchen and started drinking.

………………

Banggeng arrived at Shazhu's house, but He Yushui had already eaten and gone back to her room.

Only Shazhu was inside. As soon as Banggeng entered, he shouted, "Shazhu, you good-for-nothing, can't you bring back some meat? I haven't eaten meat for days!"

Sha Zhu said, "Heh, you dare call me Sha Zhu?"

"Everyone calls you Silly Zhu. I'm an adult now, why can't I call you that? I'll just call you: Silly Zhu... Silly Zhu... Silly Zhu..."

"Hey, you're still pretending to be an adult in front of me."

"I'm an adult now, what's wrong with calling you 'Silly Pillar'?"

Sha Zhu looked at Bang Geng, and his mind started to wander. His name was Sha Zhu, but he wasn't really stupid; he liked Qin Huairu, not Bang Geng.

Bang Geng calls Sha Zhu "Silly Zhu" to his face and behind his back every day. Doesn't Sha Zhu have any complaints?

How could Sha Zhu not know what kind of person Bang Geng had become, spoiled by Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu since childhood?

With just a few words from Qin Huairu, Sha Zhu willingly handed over his lunchbox and ration book. He could be so heartless even to his own sister; what kind of family affection could he possibly have?

Sha Zhu kept using the "kissing joke" to curry favor with Qin Huairu, hoping to turn his nominal shares into actual control.

Looking at the plump, white hamster in front of him, Shazhu began to plan how to remove this stumbling block.

Suddenly, Sha Zhu had a brilliant idea!

"Hey, there's no meat left at the Red Star Steel Mill, I wanted to bring some back for you but there isn't any!"

"Shazhu, this is your problem. If you can't even handle this much, what use are you?"

"Hey, it's actually very simple to eat meat. I have a way that will not only let you eat meat, but let you eat meat every day."

"What method? Sha Zhu, tell me quickly."

Sha Zhu took a sip of his drink and said, "You've been to Tianqiao to listen to storytellers, haven't you? Do you remember the storyteller who told you about Yanzi Li San? He's the one who was a chivalrous hero who robbed the rich to help the poor."

Banggeng scratched his head and said, "I remember, that Yanzi Li San was incredibly skilled at scaling walls and roofs."

"Bang Geng, look at Xiao Sanfeng next door. His family eats meat every day. That's a heartless capitalist, while we're all poor. I can teach you a skill so you can rob Xiao Sanfeng to help us out of poverty."

"Really? That's great! I want to be like Li San, the Swallow! I want to rob the rich to help the poor, and I want to eat meat every day! Silly Zhu, quickly teach me your skills!"

"Alright, starting tomorrow, come over every day after you finish eating. I'll teach you that Robin Li San's Robin Hood skills."

"Okay, I'll come tomorrow." Bang Geng said and left.

As Sha Zhu watched Bang Geng's departing figure, he thought to himself, "Sister Qin, in order to prevent my child from getting lost, I have no choice but to teach Bang Geng to be even worse."

"Wow! I'm so smart. I have to reward myself."

Sha Zhu got up, closed the door, and went back inside to reward himself.