Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

After the dark and grueling cleaning, Banggeng behaved himself for several days, walking to the steel mill by himself after school. Li Feng watched from the side, knowing exactly what was going on. He knew that the brat was only temporarily intimidated by him; his inherent laziness, cunning, and penny-pinching habits hadn't changed at all.

I'm thinking it's time to take some drastic measures and carry out a sting operation.

The first thing to do is to cut off the special canteen service at the Jia family's canteen. The current head of the security department is about to retire, and Li Feng, the deputy head, basically makes all the decisions, big and small. He directly assigned several reliable young officers to guard the main gate every day after get off work without fail, keeping an eye on the people in the canteen, especially Sha Zhu.

"Comrade He Yuzhu, wait a moment, this is a routine inspection."

The first two times, Sha Zhu stubbornly cursed and swore, but then, from his bulging canvas bag, he pulled out a full aluminum lunchbox, one containing glistening braised pork and the other fragrant scrambled eggs. With the food laid out, Sha Zhu was speechless and was immediately fined 10 yuan.

He was caught again the second time and was punished even more severely.

After several such incidents, Sha Zhu's meager salary was almost gone, which broke his heart.

I'm really scared now, and I dare not bring lunchboxes home anymore.

With Sha Zhu's grain supply route cut off, the Jia family's life immediately became difficult. Bang Geng hadn't smelled meat for days, and even the oil in the stir-fries was rarely seen. Jia Zhangshi's face was long and drawn, and she spent her days at home making veiled accusations, sometimes cursing Li Feng for being immoral, sometimes cursing Sha Zhu for being useless, and even cursing Qin Huai for being a jinx.

Qin Huai had no choice but to take over the job. She didn't know any skills and was lucky to earn a little salary each month. She also had to give three yuan to Jia Zhangshi. If it weren't for Jia Zhangshi's flirtatious advances, she wouldn't even have enough to eat.

It was a day off, and the sun was shining brightly in the courtyard. Many neighbors were outside sunbathing, washing clothes, and picking vegetables. Li Feng pushed his bicycle back from outside, its bell jingling.

The most eye-catching thing was that there was half a pig tied to the back of his bicycle!

The thick layer of fat and the tender, reddish-brown lean meat looked incredibly tempting under the sun.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Li Feng slowly unloaded the half-portion of pork, which weighed at least ten kilograms, from the truck, deliberately weighing it in his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that behind the window of the Jia family, Jia Zhangshi's old face was almost pressed against the glass, her eyes wide open, staring straight at the pork, almost green with greed.

Li Feng knew what was going on, so he carried the pork back to his room. He left the door ajar, and a few minutes later, he came out empty-handed, hurriedly pushing his bicycle, muttering, "Oh no, oh no, I forgot about the important thing!"

Anyone who saw him would think he had suddenly remembered something urgent. The courtyard looked the same as usual, but things were not peaceful on the surface.

Inside the room, Jia Zhangshi paced anxiously, peering through the cracks in the window, her eyes fixed on Li Feng's room, which wasn't properly closed. The image of that half-eaten pork haunted her mind, making her itch with desire. Unable to contain herself any longer, she grabbed Banggeng, who was pretending to do his homework at the table but was actually daydreaming and picking his toes.

"My dear grandson, you saw it all, didn't you?" Jia Zhangshi said in a low voice, pointing in the direction of Li Feng's house, "So much meat, can he finish it all by himself? It's such a waste to let it go bad!"

Banggeng, terrified of being disciplined these past few days, shrank back, saying, "Grandma, I won't dare. He'll definitely beat me if he finds out."

"What are you afraid of!" Jia Zhangshi's triangular eyes widened in surprise. "He didn't even lock the door, he must have completely forgotten about it. We'll just take a small piece, just one! With so much meat on his body, how could anyone tell? Not even a ghost would know!" She continued to encourage her grandson, "Think about it, braised pork smells so good! How many days has it been since you've had it?"

Banggeng bit his lip, his heart pounding. He was afraid of Li Feng's slaps and broom, but his stomach was growling with cravings, and his grandmother's words were ringing in his ears. The image of glistening braised pork popped into his mind, and he couldn't help but swallow several times.

"Just... just one small strip?" Bang Geng was a little tempted and asked in a low voice.

"Yes! Just one small one!" Seeing her grandson relent, Jia Zhangshi quickly assured him, "Go quickly, while no one's watching! Grandma will keep watch for you!"

Ultimately, his cravings prevailed, coupled with a sliver of hope in his heart. The crooked thoughts that Bang Geng had just suppressed were stirred up again by his grandmother. Like a mouse stealing oil, his heart pounded wildly. He tiptoed out of the house, looking around furtively, and then crouched down to feel his way towards Li Feng's half-open door.

The courtyard seemed quiet.

Uncle Yan Bugui was tending to his few half-dead potted plants under his windowsill, slowly watering them with a watering can. Auntie was washing clothes by the sink, soap suds splashing everywhere.

As Banggeng reached out to push the door, the third uncle paused his watering of the flowers and glanced at him over his reading glasses. The middle-aged woman also slowed her washing of clothes and glanced this way out of the corner of her eye.

The moment Bang Geng's hand touched the cold wooden door, Jia Zhangshi poked half her head out from behind her own door, winking and gesturing at him, urging him to hurry up.

The door opened a crack, and Banggeng's slender body nimbly slipped inside.

The half-eaten, white pork belly sat conspicuously on the table against the wall. The pungent smell of meat assaulted his nostrils, making his heart pound even faster.

He tiptoed to the table, touched the cold skin of the pork with his finger, and then recoiled as if burned. Banggeng glanced back at the doorway; Grandma was still peeking in. Gritting his teeth, he pulled a piece of oiled paper from his pocket—Grandma had prepared it. He clumsily tried to tear a strip of meat from the side of the pork, but the meat was a bit tough and difficult to handle.

Banggeng finally managed to tear off a strip of fatty meat about two fingers wide, quickly wrapped it in paper, and hurriedly stuffed it into his pocket.

He felt guilty, and his chest felt like it was on fire. He slipped to the door, peeked through the crack, and saw that there seemed to be no movement in the yard. He took a deep breath, opened the door, and, head down, tried to run home.

"stop."

A voice sounded behind him, like a bucket of cold water poured over his head. Bang Geng froze, slowly turning around to see Li Feng standing under the moon gate, staring at him expressionlessly. He had no idea when Li Feng had returned.

"What are you hiding in your arms?" Li Feng's voice was calm, but Bang Geng's legs trembled as he listened.

"N-nothing..." Bang Geng's voice was so soft it was like a mosquito's hum.

Seeing that things were going badly, Jia Zhangshi rushed out of the house with a scream, spreading her arms to protect her grandson with the stick behind her back: "Li Shan! What are you doing, scaring my grandson!"

Li Feng ignored her and walked straight to Bang Geng, reaching into his tightly clutched chest and pulling out the paper.

Li Feng opened the paper in front of everyone, and the strip of fat was particularly eye-catching under the sun.

"Caught red-handed." Li Feng held up the strips of meat so everyone in the yard could see them clearly. "Jia Geng, this time you've stolen from me."

Banggeng burst into tears and sat down on the ground with a thud.

Jia Zhangshi wanted to throw a tantrum, but looking at Li Feng's cold eyes and the way the neighbors were pointing and whispering, she felt like she had a feather stuck in her throat and could only open her mouth, unable to say a word.

At this moment, Uncle Yan Bugui cleared his throat and spoke up: "Hey, sister-in-law, that's where your family went wrong. How can you just take meat from Section Chief Li's house like that?"

The old man's idea was simple: since he had helped testify, Section Chief Li should show his appreciation by giving him some of the meat.

An older woman chimed in, "That's why the kid was quiet for just two days, and now he's back to his old ways!"

Looking at Jia Zhangshi, whose face was ashen, and Banggeng, who was crying uncontrollably, Li Feng knew that the fish had been caught safely.

Next, it's time to wrap up.