I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

Feeling Qin Huairu's body temperature and smelling her faint fragrance, He Yuzhu couldn't help but feel a surge of desire. He scratched his head and said, "I don't know about that. The factory says it's called... a work-for-a-job program. I know even less about my uncle's situation; he rarely even leaves the workshop. But to be honest, being an official isn't much different from before. It's just that you don't have to be in charge of the main cooking pots anymore. You just wander around the canteen and occasionally cook a small meal. It feels about the same."

Qin Huairu's eyes flickered: "Zhu Zi, can I ask you for a favor?"

He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment: "Sister-in-law Jia, please tell me first, and I'll see if it's possible."

Qin Huairu's expression darkened: "Zhuzi, do you really have to talk to Sister Qin like this now? You won't even call her Sister Qin anymore?"

He Yuzhu hurriedly explained, "Sister-in-law Qin... don't misunderstand, my uncle said we can't call her that randomly, we can't break the rules."

Qin Huairu looked heartbroken: "Zhuzi, we've known each other for so many years, how could you treat your sister like this? I just wanted to hear you call me 'sister,' I didn't ask you to do anything bad."

Looking at her, He Yuzhu was about to reach out but then stopped himself: "Sister Qin, tell me first what you need my help with?"

Qin Huairu nodded tearfully, "Bang Geng is injured, and the doctor said he needs to eat more nourishing food, but my family is really struggling financially; we can't even afford stewed meat. Zhu Zi, could you lend me some money? If it's convenient, could you bring me one or two lunchboxes of leftovers when you come back? Zhu Zi, I'm begging you, please believe me, I will definitely repay you handsomely in the future."

Seeing that He Yuzhu hesitated for a moment before rummaging through his pocket and pulling out a large black ten, Zhou Weiguo was instantly enraged and rushed out to kick him hard in the buttocks.

The kick startled the two of them, but Zhou Weiguo did not stop and slapped He Yuzhu four times across the face.

"Uncle! Uncle! Stop hitting me! I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Zhou Weiguo grabbed He Yuzhu and, in front of Qin Huairu, angrily berated him: "You brain-dead idiot! A few kind words from someone and you're completely out of control? You think you've got too much money? Tell me, how much money have you lent Qin Huairu?"

He Yuzhu frantically tried to explain, "Uncle, it really isn't much money, not much at all..."

Seeing that He Yuzhu was still rambling on, Zhou Weiguo raised his hand to slap him again.

Upon seeing this, He Yuzhu narrowed his eyes in fright and said, "I'll talk, I'll talk! Uncle, I'll talk!"

Zhou Weiguo then stopped and said, "You brat, if you hide anything, you're finished, and I'll beat you up."

He Yuzhu rummaged through his clothes for a while and found a small notebook. He glanced at Zhou Weiguo, then stepped aside slightly and began to flip through it.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Weiguo knew something was wrong and snatched the notebook away.

"Hey, hey, hey! Uncle, Uncle! Don't look! That... you can't look! Uncle, I'm begging you, give it back!"

Zhou Weiguo raised his leg and kicked He Yuzhu directly in the stomach, then quickly flipped through three or five pages.

"On June 18, 1951, Jia Dongxu got married. She's so beautiful. I want to marry someone just as beautiful. Her name is Qin Huairu, and I'll call her Sister Qin."

November 11, 1953. Today, Sister Qin was scolded terribly by Jia Zhangshi. Sister Qin is so pitiful. Sister Qin asked me to borrow 5 mao (0.5 yuan), and I generously gave her 1 yuan.

March 1954.3.8, 5. Sister Qin's family was having a very hard time; they had no meat to eat. I bought a chicken for Yushui, but Sister Qin was so pitiful, so I gave her the whole pot of meat. Sister Qin even borrowed five yuan from me and held my hand, thanking me profusely.

March 15, 1955. Sister Qin was crying so hard. If she hadn't borrowed 50 yuan, her mother-in-law would have beaten her to death. I couldn't let Sister Qin get hurt.

I flipped through it briefly, and it turned out to be Sha Zhu's diary.

Qin Huairu sensed something was wrong and quietly turned around and ran back to the Jia family.

Zhou Weiguo kicked He Yuzhu hard in the buttocks, causing He Yuzhu to curl up on the ground in pain.

He turned around and went straight back to the house, where Zhou Weiguo started calculating in his notebook.

The diary only had thirty or forty pages in total, with at least thirty pages dedicated to Qin Huairu and only a few pages to cursing He Daqing.

All things considered, the total is 206.3.

Zhou Weiguo turned around with a menacing look and looked at He Yuzhu behind him, while He Yuzhu shrank back and looked scared.

Zhou Weiguo pointed at He Yuzhu and asked, "Besides what's written in the notebook, is there any other money that wasn't recorded? Or money for which IOUs were issued?"

He Yuzhu rubbed the hem of his clothes and stammered, "No, that's all."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Weiguo picked up a broom from the side and said, "I'll give you one more chance to organize your thoughts."

He Yuzhu said in a panic, "Yes, yes! But... not much. Sister Qin... Qin Huairu only borrowed more twice, and I had her write me a note. I thought we were neighbors, she wouldn't go back on her word for something like this."

Zhou Weiguo looked at him like he was an idiot and said, "Did Qin Huairu ever pay you back even a single penny?"

He Yuzhu was stunned when he heard this.

He looked up and thought for a long time before saying, "Does giving me a cornbread count?"

Zhou Weiguo picked up a broom and started whipping the buns: "I'll make you eat cornbread, I'll whip you until you're nothing but steamed buns! You're driving me crazy, you're a complete idiot!"

Ten minutes later, Zhou Weiguo, holding Qin Huairu's two IOUs and He Yuzhu's diary, stood directly at the Jia family's door.

Qin Huairu looked at Jia Dongxu, who was still sleeping in bed, with a look of fear on her face. Then she ran to the window and saw Zhou Weiguo walking to her door. She couldn't help but show a look of despair on her face.

Zhou Weiguo showed no mercy, pounding on the Jia family's door: "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Is anyone from the Jia family still alive? Come out here breathing and give me an explanation!"

Jia Dongxu and Banggeng were sleeping soundly in the inner room when they were woken up by the noise.

Last night, Jia Dongxu smoked Qin Huairu's cigarettes and drank half a bottle of wine, then slept until now.

Looking like he hadn't slept properly, Jia Dongxu shouted directly into the outer room, "Qin Huairu, are you out of your mind? Someone's knocking on the door, why aren't you opening it? Who's crazy to be banging on the door like that? That's really disgusting!"

After scolding him, he turned around, hugged the stick, and tried to go back to sleep.

Qin Huairu breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw Jia Dongxu lie down again.

With a look of panic, she opened the door and pulled Zhou Weiguo inside, but didn't dare close it.

Seeing Sha Zhu in the distance and the IOU in Zhou Weiguo's hand, Qin Huairu couldn't help but rush over, grabbing Zhou Weiguo's hands and whispering in fear, "Weiguo, I beg you, I beg you, please don't shout anymore, I beg you."

Zhou Weiguo looked at Qin Huairu with a strange expression, then asked with some doubt, "Don't tell me that you borrowed so much money from Zhuzi and your Jia Dongxu didn't even know?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Huairu's face turned even paler as she pleaded, "Weiguo, I beg you! Weiguo, please don't make a fuss, don't shout, okay? Don't shout!"