The entire courtyard is full of villains

“It’s my dad, no doubt,” Yan Jiecheng said, his neck stiff. “But you all said that children and grandchildren have their own blessings, and for the sake of this family, he should choose to die!”

Yang Ruihua was stunned by these words, her face filled with disbelief. Yan Bugui, on the other hand, remained unusually calm, sneering, "Fine, fine! You truly are my son! I'll let you die, but first give me back those eight yellow croakers! If you return the yellow croakers, I'll die right now!"

Upon hearing this, a hint of embarrassment flashed across Yan Jiecheng's face: "The yellow croaker isn't yours, it belongs to our family, why should we return it to you?"

"That's what I got from selling my shop!" Yan Bugui said, suppressing his anger.

“This shop was passed down from my grandfather! I remember him saying when I was a child that the shop should be passed on to the eldest son and grandson!” Yan Jiecheng refused to back down.

The father and son's argument grew louder and louder, quickly attracting the attention of people in the courtyard. The crowd gathered around the Yan family's house, pointing and whispering.

"Has the eldest son of the Yan family gone mad?"

"Who knows? Anyway, their family is always causing trouble!"

Chapter 209 Obtaining Grain

"Hey, is he really that stupid now?" a nonchalant voice rang out. Yan Bugui and his son looked over at the same time, and Zhang Erhe strode in from the front door. "Old Yan, you've got some good news! Your stupid son has woken up. Maybe in a while, you'll be able to stand up and run around all over the place too."

As Zhang Erhe spoke, he gestured with his chin towards the father and son. The two exchanged a glance, and Yan Bugui gritted his teeth and shouted, "Zhang...Er...He!"

"What's wrong? Why are you calling me grandpa?" Zhang Erhe walked up to him and glared at him fiercely!

The two men immediately fell silent. Zhang Erhe glanced at them, spat on the ground, and said, "Pah, you two cowards." Then he went straight to the east wing.

Once he entered the house, the father and son simultaneously hurled a curse at each other, then glared fiercely at each other and started arguing.

In the east wing, Guan Xue was feeding Gou Dan milk powder when she saw Zhang Erhe enter. She asked in surprise, "Erhe, why did you suddenly come back today?"

"I have to go on a business trip." Zhang Erhe had already thought it through on the way. He was worried about the bunch of filthy people in the yard while he was away, so he planned to send Guan Xue back to her parents' home. It would be safer with Old Guan and Guan Baishi looking after her. "Pack your things and call Jiao Jiao along. I'll take you back to your parents' home."

"I understand." Guan Xue didn't ask any more questions; she trusted her man.

She handed the bottle to Gou Dan, and the little guy finished it in a few gulps. Zhang Erhe took it with a smile: "My dear boy, do you miss your dad? Come here, let Daddy hold you."

Guan Xue packed her things, found Zhang Jiao, and wrapped Gou Dan in a bed sheet. Zhang Erhe picked up the bundle, carried Zhang Jiao, and Guan Xue followed behind carrying Gou Dan.

Once outside, the three got into the car. As soon as Guan Xue got in, she saw two large bags of flour and some meat on the back seat, and her eyes widened immediately: "Erhe, what's this...?"

Zhang Erhe turned around and gestured for people to shut up, then whispered, "Quietly. I might be away on a business trip for a while, so I can't let you all go to your father-in-law's house for free. They have a detached house, so you and your family can have a nice meal."

Guan Xue nodded understandingly and didn't say anything more.

The car left the alley, and apart from Zhang Jiao teasing her younger brother, the couple remained silent the entire way. Upon arriving at the father-in-law's house, Zhang Erhe first carried Zhang Jiao inside. Seeing that no one was around, he picked up a bag of flour and placed it in Old Guan's kitchen.

When Zhang Erhe carried in the flour, Guan Baishi thought it was something else, but when Zhang Erhe carried in the meat, Guan Baishi realized it was just flour and meat, and covered her mouth in surprise, saying, "Young master, what are you doing...?"

"Mom, I have to go on a business trip soon, so Guan Xue and Jiao Jiao can stay here for now," Zhang Erhe said in a low voice. "Don't make a fuss about the grain and meat, just cook something for them every day. You have a detached house, so just be careful, it should be fine."

"Understood, son-in-law." Madam Guan nodded.

After settling Guan Xue and the others in, Zhang Erhe instructed Zhang Jiao, "Listen to your mother at Grandma's house and don't run around. When Dad comes back, he'll take you to eat candied hawthorns."

"Okay, Dad." Zhang Jiao came over, pulled Zhang Erhe down to squat, and kissed him on the cheek. "Dad, please be careful on your business trip."

"Understood." Zhang Erhe rubbed his daughter's head, turned and went out, driving towards Tianjin. Although grain was safe anywhere if stored in his spatial storage, Beijing was under the emperor's nose. If grain transported by water came directly here, it would inevitably arouse suspicion. The coast was safer. Besides, after staying in Beijing for so long, it was a good time to go out and relax.

A week later, after wandering around Tianjin for several days, Zhang Erhe finally sent a telegram to Li Huaide at a leisurely pace. He had spent much of his time strolling along the Tianjin coast; if he hadn't carried a letter of introduction from the steel mill, claiming he was there to purchase seafood, he might have been mistaken for a spy. He visited many places, finally finding an undeveloped beach in Huanghua County to use as the meeting point before leisurely returning to the Tianjin post office to send the telegram.

Li Huaide, who was in Beijing, had been waiting anxiously. As soon as he received the telegram, he immediately mobilized people from his father-in-law's office, along with the steel mill's transport team, gathering more than twenty trucks, and hurriedly set off for the place Zhang Erhe had mentioned. They traveled for a whole day, from morning till night, and Li Huaide was exhausted and hungry. When they finally arrived, they found only Zhang Erhe there.

"Erhe, this..." Li Huaide got out of the car and asked anxiously.

"Brother Li, the grain is all taken care of." Zhang Erhe leaned over and said, "We're government officials, so they don't want to deal with us. The grain has already been released by the sea."

"How many?"

"20 jin, all of it is top-quality white flour."

"And the price?"

"Calculate it at four yuan."

"Four pieces?" Li Huaide exclaimed in surprise, "That's a huge bargain!"

“But Brother Li,” Zhang Erhe pulled him aside, “people say we have too many bills here, and it’s hard to handle them. We should try to use gold to offset them.”

Li Huaide gritted his teeth: "Okay! I'll get it done when I get back, but I won't be able to gather the money in a short time..."

"It's alright, just bring the grain back first, and give me the money and gold later."

Li Huaide patted Zhang Erhe's shoulder hard: "Erhe, we brothers don't need to thank each other! But your sweetheart will remember!"

Zhang Erhe led his men towards the sea. Fortunately, the trucks all had lights. When they arrived at the seaside, Li Huaide's men were astonished—they had only heard they were there to haul goods, but they hadn't expected so much grain. "Everyone, hurry up and load the grain," Li Huaide added, "When we get back to the steel mill, each person will get two jin of grain!"

"Thank you, Director Li!"

"Don't just thank me! Without Section Chief Zhang, I wouldn't have been able to buy the grain!"

"Thank you, Section Chief Zhang!" Everyone immediately responded with renewed enthusiasm.

Watching everyone enthusiastically filling containers with flour, Zhang Erhe pulled Li Huaide to his jeep, opened the trunk, rummaged around, and found two watch boxes. "Here, one for you, and one for your sister-in-law."

Li Huaide opened the box, and inside lay a pure silver steel watch. He quickly took it out, put it on his wrist, and said with a smile, "Erhe, this has cost you again."

“What’s the big deal?” Zhang Erhe waved his hand. “They have all that stuff in their channels.” He pointed into the carriage. “There’s also some imported liquor and cigarettes inside. I’ll give you half later.”

Li Huaide unconsciously licked his lips: "Erhe, is it really that profitable to do business on the water?"

Zhang Erhe nodded: "They'll definitely make money, but this job is also very risky. They dare to go toe-to-toe with the maritime anti-smuggling team on Hong Kong Island."

"It's tough to do any business," Li Huaide nodded with deep feeling.

"I also got some seafood, which is stored in a warehouse in Tianjin. I'll take it with me when I leave," Zhang Erhe said.

“Sure, seafood is good,” Li Huaide replied. “When we get back, I’ll cook some seaweed soup for the workers to give them some extra nutrition.”

"As expected of you, Lao Li, you always think of the workers." Zhang Erhe gave a thumbs up.

“Of course,” Li Huaide said with a righteous expression. “I am a well-known and excellent factory director of the steel rolling mill.”

"Old Li, I won't say anything else, but this batch of grain absolutely cannot end up on the black market, or we're doomed."

“I know perfectly well without you having to tell me,” Li Huaide said. “After these grains are stored, the factory will take 10 jin, and my father-in-law will need the remaining 10 jin. My father-in-law is very grateful to you for this. I will definitely visit him this Chinese New Year; he has been wanting to see you for a long time.”

“That’s great,” Zhang Erhe replied.

Chapter 210 The Soft-Hearted God

By the time all the flour was loaded, it was already past 2 a.m. Li Huaide decided to let everyone rest on the spot—if they drove back at this hour, it would be dawn by the time they reached Beijing, and so much flour would easily attract attention. He calculated the time and let everyone rest until around 10 a.m. before setting off for the factory.

When the convoy returned to Beijing, it was nearly 8 p.m. Li Huaide told Zhang Erhe to go back and rest first, while he himself led the convoy to the factory warehouse; tonight would be busy.

Zhang Erhe parked his car at the alley entrance and carried his things towards the courtyard. Just as he reached the gate, he saw a large-headed doll slowly inching its way out. As it got closer, he realized it was Xiaoyu from the back house. The child, though thin before, was still considered normal. Now, however, her head appeared unusually large, she had to hold onto the wall to walk, her feet were swollen, and her shoes were cut open and barely held together with straw rope!

"Uncle Erhe." Xiaoyu forced a smile.

"Xiaoyu, what's wrong?"

"I'm going to the restroom."

Where is your grandma?

"Grandma went out to pick wild vegetables with some people today."

Zhang Erhe looked her over and said, "Wait a minute, come to my house after you're done using the restroom."

"What's wrong? Uncle Erhe, is Jiaojiao back?"

"You'll see when you get here." Zhang Erhe felt uneasy. He had heard Jiao Jiao say that Xiao Yu couldn't go out, but he didn't expect it to turn out like this. The swelling on her feet was clearly a sign of long-term malnutrition.

After a while, Xiaoyu slowly came over, supporting herself against the wall.

"Uncle Erhe".

"You can't walk now?"

"I can walk, but my feet are very swollen, so I have to walk slowly," Xiaoyu quickly explained.

Zhang Erhe walked over and pressed his hand on her instep. Each press left a dent, which slowly swelled up after a while. He didn't say much, turned around and went into the kitchen. Seeing that there were still more than ten kilograms of cornmeal in the house, he picked up the bag and said, "Xiaoyu, your little sister Jiaojiao went back to her maternal grandmother's house with Aunt Guanxue. This cornmeal is about to spoil, so you can take it back and dispose of it."

"Huh?" Xiaoyu's eyes widened. She was young but not stupid—at this time, grain was a life-saving treasure, how could it spoil so easily? Uncle Erhe was clearly trying to help her family. She quickly shook her head: "Uncle Erhe, no, no, I dare not take this grain."

"Take it." Zhang Erhe stuffed the grain into her hand without saying a word. "Take it back and when your grandma comes back, have her come find me."

"I understand." Xiaoyu looked at Zhang Erhe's serious face, didn't dare to refuse again, and went home with the grain.

She had barely lain down when there was a knock at the door. Xiaoyu struggled to get out of bed: "Grandma!"

At the doorway, an old woman with a hunched back slowly walked in. Her cotton shoes were also torn and tied with a cloth bag, barely allowing her feet to touch the ground. "Grandma picked some wild vegetables today, and I'll cook some wild vegetable porridge for you to drink."

"Grandma, we have cornmeal at home!"

"Silly child!" Grandma Xiaoyu's tears were welling up; the child was hallucinating from hunger!

Seeing that her grandmother didn't believe her, Xiaoyu laboriously dragged the sack of flour over, "Look!"

Grandma Xiaoyu walked over and suddenly widened her eyes: "Where did this come from?"

"It was given to you by Uncle Erhe. He also asked you to go there."

Grandma Xiaoyu was terrified—Zhang Erhe had a notorious reputation, as evidenced by the plight of the Yan family in the front yard. How could a lonely old woman like her not be afraid? But since he had called, she dared not refuse. She first cooked some cornmeal porridge for Xiaoyu, then took the sack of flour and went to Zhang Erhe's house.

Zhang Erhe frowned as he looked at the bag of flour in her hand: "Why did you bring it back again?"

“Erhe,” Grandma Xiaoyu said with a smile, “Xiaoyu is such a naive child. Grain is so precious these days, how could I possibly accept yours? I’ll bring it back to you right away.”

“Alright,” Zhang Erhe waved his hand, “No one in the family will eat this cornmeal, it’ll go bad if you leave it here, take it back.” He paused, “I remember you used to do odd jobs at the neighborhood office, you had some income every month, how come now…”

"Sigh," Grandma Xiaoyu said with a wry smile, "The neighborhood committee used to have a lot of work, and they'd give us the extra tasks. Now there's less work, and they prioritize giving it to families of martyrs and military personnel. Xiaoyu's father is just an ordinary person, how could we possibly get any?"

Zhang Erhe looked at the old woman, who was so thin she looked like she could be blown away by a gust of wind, and said, "There's a temporary job at the steel rolling mill to clean the toilets. It's a bit dirty, but it's 10 yuan a month and includes one meal. Would you like to do it?"

"Yes! Yes!" Grandma Xiaoyu nodded quickly, her eyes shining.

“Okay, I’ll give the logistics department a heads-up later. You know what to say, right?” Zhang Erhe stared at her.

Grandma Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant and nodded quickly: "Erhe, I understand. Just say that the neighborhood committee took pity on me and recommended me to go."

"Good, I understand." Zhang Erhe said, "Work hard at the factory, mind your own business, and don't look at useless things. Keep an eye on things in the yard from now on. I don't need to tell you what to do if anything happens, right?"

"Understood, understood!" Grandma Xiaoyu replied repeatedly.

"I only gave you this job because you care about Xiaoyu. Don't just leave Xiaoyu with her mother after you get the job."