The entire courtyard is full of villains

"No way!" Grandma Xiaoyu quickly waved her hand. "Xiaoyu is my son's flesh and blood, how could I do that?"

"That's fine."

Grandma Xiaoyu then carried the grain and slowly returned to the courtyard.

Zhang Erhe washed his face and went to sleep; driving all day these days was exhausting. The next day, he slept until the sun was high in the sky, tidied himself up, and headed to his father-in-law's house—Li Huaide had said he could get three days off this time.

In Old Guan's courtyard, he was off work today and found a rocking horse that Guan Linpeng used to play with when he was a child. Zhang Jiao was sitting on it and swaying back and forth, which amused the dog in Guan Xue's arms, Gou Dan, who was also eager to get on.

"Bang!" The door was pushed open, and Zhang Erhe walked in. Zhang Jiao saw him at a glance, jumped off the rocking horse, and ran to him, shouting, "Daddy!"

Zhang Erhe lifted her above his head: "Jiaojiao, did you miss Daddy?"

"I missed it!" Zhang Jiao kissed him a few times on the face before letting him put her down, and then ran back to ride the rocking horse.

Guan Xue handed Gou Dan to Guan Bai Shi, then walked over and patted the dirt off Zhang Erhe: "You two, father and daughter, the father is not acting like a father, and the daughter is not acting like a daughter."

"So what?" Zhang Erhe waved his hand. "My daughter kissed me, and I'm happy about it."

Old Guan also came over: "Erhe, you're back from your business trip?"

"Hmm, why are you taking a break today?"

"Yesterday, Director Li informed us that we don't need to work today; it's considered a day off."

Zhang Erhe nodded. It seemed that Li Huaide had stored the grain in the warehouse guarded by the old guard.

The family watched Zhang Jiao ride the rocking horse. As noon approached, Guan Baishi came over and asked, "Erhe, what do you want to eat for lunch?"

Zhang Erhe thought for a moment and said, "Let's have some dumplings. It's been a long time since we've had them."

"Okay, there's meat at home that you brought. I'll go to the market and see if there are any radishes, so we can make radish dumplings."

"Mom, wait a minute." Zhang Erhe stood up. "There are some leek sprouts I made in the car. Let's have leek sprout dumplings."

"Where do you get leek sprouts these days?" Guan Xue asked in surprise.

"I got this while on a business trip. Some people in Tianjin grow it in greenhouses," Zhang Erhe explained casually, then went out and brought in a bundle of leek sprouts from the car. Guan Baishi took it and went into the kitchen to get busy.

Old Guan took Zhang Jiao to practice calligraphy. Guan Xue coaxed Gou Dan and came over to ask, "When did you get back?"

“I got back late last night, so I didn’t come over.” Zhang Erhe thought for a moment and then told her about finding a job for Xiaoyu’s grandmother. “Yesterday, when I saw Xiaoyu, her head was terribly big and her feet were swollen. If this continues, I’m afraid something bad will happen.”

Guan Xue leaned her head closer and smiled gently: "I never thought that the infamous 'cold-blooded' Zhang Erhe would have a soft heart."

Chapter 211 Forced to Work

Unlike the harmonious family in Zhang Erhe's family, the Yan family has been in complete chaos these past two days.

That night, Yan Jiefang had worked hard all day, and when he returned home, he learned that his older brother, Yan Jiecheng, had been faking his madness. He was so angry that he jumped up. He was a junior high school student, about to graduate, but because of that bastard Yan Jiecheng's act of pretending to be crazy, he had become a sanitation worker, and his reputation in the area was already ruined.

He kept comforting himself with the idea of ​​"supporting his family," but then he realized that Yan Jiecheng was faking it—so what was he working so hard for?

Yan Jiecheng was still spouting nonsense when Yan Jiefang, his eyes bloodshot, grabbed a stool and smashed it over Yan's head without a word. Yan Jiecheng was knocked to the ground, forced to curl up and cover his head.

"Stop hitting! Stop hitting!"

Yang Ruihua then realized what was happening and rushed over to hug Yan Jiefang around the waist: "Jiefang! What are you doing? That's your brother!"

"I don't have a brother like that!" Yan Jiefang gasped for breath, struggling to shake her off. "He doesn't even care about the life or death of our family! He's the one who made the mistake, why should we bear the burden? He ruined the family, then pretended to be stupid, and dumped the burden on me! Do you know how disgusting it was when I first started shoveling latrines? But for the sake of the family, I endured it! I just wanted to keep the family afloat! But that beast Yan Jiecheng actually pretended to be stupid and comfortably enjoyed the burden I carried! What am I to him? Let go, I'm going to beat him to death!"

Yan Jiefang was furious. He had become strong and powerful from doing heavy work in the past six months. In a fit of rage, he broke free from Yang Ruihua and picked up a stool to smash it over Yan Jiecheng's head.

Just then, Officer Wang, who had rushed over early that afternoon to mediate the situation, witnessed the scene and shouted in fright, "Yan Jiefang, how dare you!"

Yan Jiefang didn't listen at all. Fortunately, Yang Ruihua saw that things were going badly and pounced on her, smashing a stool on her with a "bang," making her stagger. Officer Wang quickly led his men over and pinned Yan Jiefang down to the side.

"Let me go! Let me go! I'm going to beat this son of a bitch to death!" Yan Jiefang struggled desperately.

Yan Jiecheng, seeing his brother's crazed state, was terrified and didn't know what to do. Yan Jiedi and Yan Jiekuang, who was outside, quickly came in and helped Yang Ruihua up. Yang Ruihua grimaced in pain, "Jiefang, what are you doing?"

"I don't care, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch Yan Jiecheng!"

Officer Wang was a bit of a headache. She had come to mediate, but she hadn't expected things to turn out like this. She patiently advised, "Yan Jiefang, you're a grown man now. Why are you being so impulsive? How are your parents supposed to live? Yan Jiecheng is no human being. You don't need to risk your life for him. You're not even twenty yet. You have a good future ahead of you."

"It's all gone! It's all gone!" Yan Jiefang cried out in anguish. "I became a latrine cleaner, and that's all I'll ever do for the rest of my life!"

"Nonsense!" Officer Wang scolded. "Do you know that Master Shi who was received? He's also a sanitation worker! There are 360 ​​professions, and every profession can produce an expert. Work hard, and maybe you'll be received in the future too. Listen to me, better days are ahead. Don't ruin your life for someone like Yan Jiecheng."

Having worked with the masses for many years, Officer Wang calmed Yan Jiefang down with just a few words. Seeing that he was no longer impulsive, Officer Wang gave a signal to the two other officers, who then released him.

“Alright, Yan Jiefang,” Officer Wang said. “I came here tonight because Yan Jiecheng went to the subdistrict office this morning and said he wanted to split up the family property, saying you were going to starve him to death. I couldn’t make the decision at the time, so I came to verify the situation with you.”

"That's not true!" Before Officer Wang could finish speaking, Yan Bugui glared fiercely at Yan Jiecheng. "No matter how bad Yan Jiecheng is, he's still my son. Even tigers don't eat their cubs. How could I do such a thing?"

"You're lying!" Yan Jiecheng retorted angrily. "It was clearly a plan you discussed with my mother and Yan Jiefang to give me only one cornbread a day! How can I, a grown man, not be hungry with just one cornbread? You're treating me like a fool!"

"You just like to play dumb, don't you? Keep pretending!" Yan Jiefang added angrily.

"Hmph, you wish! If I keep pretending to be stupid, you'll starve to death!" Yan Jiecheng said to Wang, his neck stiff. "Anyway, I don't care, we have to split up! After we split up, I'll have a monthly ration, and whether I starve to death or not will have nothing to do with the Yan family!"

"You make it sound so easy!" Yan Bugui said, barely containing his anger. "You've swindled all the family's most treasured possessions, and now you want to split the family property? Yan Jiecheng, are you even human?"

"Whether I'm human or not is none of your business!" Yan Jiecheng retorted without backing down. "Besides, what you have to offer is just yellow croaker, isn't it? The government has repeatedly warned against private individuals keeping yellow croaker, so who gave you permission to hide it?"

Yan Bugui hadn't expected him to be so shameless. He said defiantly, "Anyway, I don't agree to split the family business unless he returns those eight yellow croakers to me. Then he can do whatever he wants!"

Yan Jiefang chimed in, "Exactly! If this son of a bitch hadn't been ripped off, and if I had a family with yellow croaker as a safety net, I wouldn't have ended up as a latrine cleaner!"

"I don't care, I want to separate from the family!" Yan Jiecheng was determined.

The mediation that evening ended unhappily. Officer Wang thought he would try again in a couple of days when both sides had calmed down, so he led his people home.

But early the next morning, Yan Jiefang kicked Yan Jiecheng awake, who was still asleep: "From today onwards, I'm in charge of the Yan family! You go out to do odd jobs, and you have to pay for your meals every day. If you don't pay, even if there's shit in the house, you won't get a bite!"

"Why should I? Give me back my quota!" Yan Jiecheng shouted.

Yang Ruihua pushed Yan Bugui out of the inner room and said, "Your ration quota has been deducted every month to offset those eight yellow croakers. Once it's used up, the deduction will stop."

"You're a feudal patriarch!" Yan Jiecheng exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Then go ahead and sue me," Yan Bugui said sinisterly. "I'm just an old man with bones. At worst, I'll give up this old sheepskin and exchange it for your lambskin!"

Yan Jiecheng shuddered at his gaze and muttered, "It's just odd jobs. It's not like I haven't done them before."

"Go now!" Yan Jiefang roared.

And so, Yan Jiecheng started going out to do odd jobs every day again. But there were many unemployed people in Beijing, and his body had deteriorated from lying at home for so long. He couldn't get light jobs, and he couldn't do heavy jobs. Fortunately, Yang Ruihua still cared about him and secretly saved him a cornbread every day.

After eating cornbread for three or four days in a row, Yan Jiecheng couldn't take it anymore. That morning, instead of looking for work, he rushed to the Qianmen Police Station. After registering at the entrance, he found the police officer who had handled his case and wanted to ask if there were any leads.

But the police told him that they had been investigating all this time but had not found the person named Cui Yingying.

Undeterred, Yan Jiecheng left the police station and went to Cui Yingying's former residence. When the gate finally opened, he hurried inside.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" the person inside asked warily.

Yan Jiecheng smiled ingratiatingly: "Hello comrade, I'm looking for a resident here."

Which resident?

"Cui Yingying".

The person inside looked him up and down: "I remember now, you're the fool who was tricked before, right? I told you long ago, there's no one named Cui Yingying here."

"Comrade, I want to go in and take a look. Maybe she left some traces..."

The man shoved him, saying, "Go away, the police have checked several times already, there's nothing there." He glanced at Yan Jiecheng with disdain in his eyes, "I advise you to be down-to-earth and stop thinking about these useless things. Those swindlers are long gone. Weren't you just after her looks? Really..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door slammed shut with a "bang".

Yan Jiecheng stood there, his face turning red and white in turns.

Chapter 212 Tigers Don't Eat People

At Old Guan's house, the family enjoyed a delicious meal of leek dumplings. Guan Xue carried the sleepy Gou Dan into the inner room, while Zhang Jiao ran outside to count ants. Old Guan approached Zhang Erhe and hesitated before speaking, "Son-in-law, yesterday Factory Director Li came back with a lot of grain. Could you use your connections at the factory to get some for the family?"

"Are you out of food at home?" Zhang Erhe asked.

“Yes, there is,” Old Guan said, rubbing his hands together. “But the neighborhood committee reduced the rations again a couple of days ago. An old acquaintance from the Northeast wrote to say that they’re also short of food there—if even such a good place as the Northeast is short of food, next year will probably be even harder for us here. I’m not worried about myself going hungry, but I’m worried about Xue’er, Jiao Jiao, and Gou Dan suffering. I’m old enough that it’s not a big deal if I don’t make it, but the children are still so young…”

Zhang Erhe patted his shoulder and, for the first time, changed his tune: "Dad, don't worry. I got that batch of grain through connections; our family won't lose out. Don't worry about the grain; put your mind at ease."

Old Guan finally breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good."

“However,” Zhang Erhe cautioned, “once that batch of grain is put into the factory’s small warehouse, your work won’t be too easy. Remember, don’t take anything without permission. I’ll take care of things if the sky falls; but if you do take anything, don’t blame me.”

"No, absolutely not!" Old Guan hurriedly assured him.

"Now that the quotas are smaller, people are more likely to get confused. Don't associate with your fair-weather friends, or you'll fall into their trap."

"Understood." Old Guan nodded repeatedly.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Erhe greeted Guan Xue, put a few bags of grain in the car, and drove to Qiqige's courtyard. Ever since Ma Qianli passed away, Guan Xue had often come to take care of her, but Zhang Erhe, to avoid suspicion, had only come twice—once when Qiqige gave birth and once when the baby celebrated its one-month anniversary.

Four months after Guan Xue gave birth, Qiqige gave birth to Ma Qianli's posthumous son. Old Guan personally named him Ma Yue. On the day the child turned one month old, Zhang Erhe, in front of Wu Qian and Sun Xiangdong, adopted Ma Yue as his godson. He knew this gesture was somewhat unnecessary, but he also understood that Qiqige was always worried that he would forget their bond if Ma Qianli were gone. Sure enough, this reassured Qiqige completely.

Today, Zhang Erhe drove to the courtyard and had just stopped when he saw an older woman wearing a red armband leading a man in his forties knocking on the door and calling out, "Widow Ma, open the door!"

Zhang Erhe's eyes darkened, and then he heard Qiqige's voice from inside: "Bai Ganshi, my husband has been dead for less than a year, and I have no intention of remarrying. If you want to introduce someone, introduce your daughter instead."

"Hey, you're going against the neighborhood committee's policy!" the old woman outside snapped. "The policy says widows have to remarry. What's wrong with Old Wu? If he hadn't taken a liking to you, who would want a widow who's killed two men, with two burdens in tow? Food rations are tight right now. Old Wu said he'd give you an extra fifteen jin of cornmeal. Go to the neighborhood committee tomorrow to get your marriage certificate! Otherwise, you won't get a single penny of manual labor from the neighborhood committee!"

Qiqige's voice inside was filled with grievance: "My man died on a mission for the country, and the steel mill gave him a martyr's plaque! If you do this, I'll go to the steel mill and complain!"

The middle-aged woman wearing the red armband hadn't expected her to bring this up. She paused for a moment, then became even more defiant: "So what if he's a martyr? Policy is policy!"

"The policy doesn't say anything about forcing widows to remarry, does it?" Zhang Erhe got out of the car with a gloomy face, his anger rising—if he hadn't happened to come here today, he really wouldn't have encountered this situation.

The older woman turned around, saw him, and, hands on her hips, asked, "Who are you?"

Zhang Erhe laughed angrily: "I work for Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill."

"The steel rolling mill? This has nothing to do with your steel rolling mill!" The old woman spoke defiantly, but seeing Zhang Erhe's expression, she was clearly a little guilty, yet she still insisted, "Widow Ma's husband is dead, and she doesn't work at the steel rolling mill, so it's none of your business. It's our street office's job to urge a widow to remarry, so mind your own business!"

"Fine, so you're using the neighborhood committee as an excuse, huh?" Zhang Erhe stepped forward. "I'd like to ask, which document stipulates that widows must remarry? Show it to me! If you can't, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Before she could finish speaking, the courtyard gate opened. Qiqige came out with red eyes, holding Ma Yue in her arms, followed by Ma Yunduo. "Second Brother."

Zhang Erhe frowned: "What's going on?"

“Second brother, I don’t know either,” Qiqige pointed to the man in his forties next to her. “A few days ago, this clerk from the neighborhood office came and said that the government was allowing widows to remarry, and introduced me to him. I said I didn’t want to, but she came to my door several times, saying that I was a ‘widow who had caused the deaths of two men,’ and that I should be grateful that someone wanted me, and that I shouldn’t pretend to be reserved and affect the neighborhood office’s work.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Erhe laughed in anger: "Fine, very well! Which street are you from?"