The entire courtyard is full of villains

“It’s better that he’s in.” A calculating glint flashed in Yi Zhonghai’s eyes. “After he comes out, he can only do odd jobs at most. Qin Huairu is in the workshop, so she’s completely at my mercy. Their family was already struggling to make ends meet, and now that Qin Huairu has taken over the job, their life won’t be any better.”

“We’ll give them a little something extra every month, like training a hawk, slowly grinding it down. In time, they’ll naturally have to treat us with utmost respect.” Yi Zhonghai became more and more confident as he spoke. “When I go back to the workshop in a couple of days, I’ll transfer Qin Huairu to my side. Once I have her under my control, the Jia family won’t be able to escape my grasp.”

He patted Tan Saihua's hand: "Saihua, don't worry, I've made all the plans. Our retirement will be perfect."

Seeing her husband's confident demeanor, Tan Saihua's worries gradually dissipated, and she softly hummed in agreement. The oppressive atmosphere in the room finally eased a bit.

"Meeting time! Each household must send at least one person to the yard for a general meeting!"

In the east wing, Yi Zhonghai and his wife had just finished planning their retirement when they heard Officer Wang from the neighborhood committee calling from outside the courtyard. When they went out, Officer Wang was standing in the middle of the yard with documents in his hand. Seeing Yi Zhonghai, he frowned slightly: "Yi Zhonghai, are you feeling better?"

"Much better, thank you, Director Wang," Yi Zhonghai replied quickly.

“Okay, go to the neighborhood office and pay 5.76 yuan later.” Officer Wang said without looking up.

Yi Zhonghai was stunned: "Pay money? Why?"

"You broke the public toilet, are you going to charge for repairs?" Officer Wang glared at him irritably. Yi Zhonghai's face flushed instantly—falling into the latrine was embarrassing enough, but being brought up in public made him want to disappear into the ground.

By this time, the people in the courtyard had gradually arrived. Officer Wang glanced around and asked, "Has everyone come? If not, just say so."

Liu Haizhong looked at the backyard, and Yi Zhonghai looked at the middle yard, both shaking their heads to say that everyone was there; only Yan Bugui blinked and said, "Officer Wang, no one from Zhang Erhe's family is here."

"Forget it!" Officer Wang scoffed. "People like Zhang Erhe who don't understand unity don't matter whether they come or not!"

"Oh? I'd like to ask you a question in return, how did Officer Wang—the one who talks badly about people behind their backs—become an officer in the subdistrict office?"

A lazy voice came from the gate. Zhang Erhe pushed his bicycle in, followed by Guan Xue, with their daughter Zhang Jiao sitting on the crossbar. When they got closer, he took Zhang Jiao off the bicycle and told Guan Xue to take the child back first. He then walked step by step toward Officer Wang, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Wang's face instantly turned bright red. He hadn't expected that a casual remark would be caught red-handed by the person in question.

"Officer Wang, why don't you tell us?" Zhang Erhe asked again, his smile growing wider.

Officer Wang gripped the document in his hand, glared fiercely at Zhang Erhe, but dared not respond. He could only hastily change the subject: "Now, the decision is being announced—this year's drought in many areas has led to poor harvests. The higher-ups have decided that the grain rations for everyone in our city will be temporarily reduced!"

"I'll read out the specific reduction figures clearly, listen carefully!" Officer Wang cleared his throat and raised his voice a few decibels. "For heavy manual laborers, the reduction is from 45 jin to 38 jin; for light manual laborers, it's from 35 jin to 27 jin; for mental laborers and unemployed residents, it's from 32 jin to 24 jin; for children, it's from 18 jin to 15 jin, but there will be no reduction for children under 3 years old!"

As soon as he said that, the courtyard erupted in chaos, the noise like boiling water.

"How can the price drop so much? We already don't have enough to eat, this is going to kill us!"

"That's right! Food is already scarce; if it's cut back any further, we won't be able to survive!"

"What are we going to do now..."

Officer Wang shouted "Quiet!" several times until his voice was almost hoarse, before the murmurs in the courtyard gradually subsided. He glared at the crowd, his tone impatient: "Do you have any more objections? Speak one by one!"

The first to step forward was Aunt Wang from the backyard annex, clutching the hem of her clothes as she asked, "Officer Wang, how do you distinguish between heavy and light physical labor?"

“Working in the workshop is considered heavy physical labor, logistics is light physical labor, and office work is mental labor,” Officer Wang explained. “Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong in your institute are heavy physical laborers, while Yan Bugui is mental laborers.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Jia Zhangshi squeezed out and said urgently, "Officer Wang! Only Huai Ru in our family has a grain ration. How are we going to survive?"

“There are government regulations for your situation.” Officer Wang glanced at her. “You’ll have to work in the commune where your household registration is located, earning work points to exchange for grain.”

"Huh? I'm not going back!" Jia Zhangshi was stunned for a moment, muttering to herself, but Wang, the clerk, ignored her.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai stepped forward, his tone pleading: "Officer Wang, could you reduce the price a little? Everyone's having a hard time, please be lenient..."

"Yi Zhonghai, where do you get the audacity?" Officer Wang interrupted him directly, his face darkening. "The whole country is cutting back, even the higher-ups are cutting back, why is your institute the only exception?"

She scanned the courtyard, asked again, "Any more objections?" and seeing no one else speak, she picked up the documents and turned to leave. The people in the courtyard lost their lively mood and dispersed in twos and threes, their faces clouded with worry.

P.S.: New book recommendation! Please follow the updates and add it to your bookshelf! I'm just running out of traffic. I was chatting with another author, and it seems the higher the author's level, the less traffic they get. If all else fails, I'll have to switch accounts!

Chapter 63 Guessing it Right Every Time

In the west wing, Madam Jia was still muttering, "I'm not going back! I married into the city back when the last emperor was alive, why should I go back to the countryside? Let's see what they can do to me!"

"Mom, stop nagging!" Qin Huairu rubbed her throbbing temples, her tone tinged with annoyance. "I definitely won't let you go back, don't worry."

Jia Zhangshi breathed a sigh of relief—she had deliberately made a fuss just now because she was afraid that Qin Huairu would really send her back to the countryside.

Qin Huairu said in a deep voice, "Luckily we didn't offend Yi Zhonghai to the death tonight, otherwise our family would be finished."

"Why?" Jia Zhangshi asked, puzzled.

"Didn't you hear what Officer Wang said? The grain ration for manual laborers is 38 jin. If I'm transferred to logistics, I'll only have 27 jin left!" Qin Huairu looked at her with exasperation. "Our family can't do without Yi Zhonghai now—not only do we need him to help me stay in the workshop, but we also need him to subsidize our grain rations. There are only two people in his family, so they consume less grain. You absolutely must watch your mouth and not provoke him again!"

Jia Zhangshi reluctantly pouted, "Okay, okay, I'll be more careful next time, alright?"

The atmosphere was even more oppressive in Yan Bugui's house in the front yard. Yan Bugui was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks, and the cigarette in his hand was almost burning his fingers.

"Old Yan, what are we going to do?" Yang Ruihua asked, her eyes red. "Our three boys are at the age where they can eat a lot. Before, we could barely eat our fill by exchanging refined grains for coarse grains, but now that the rations have been reduced, we're about to go hungry!"

"What else can we do?" Yan Bugui sighed. "From now on, we'll exchange coarse grains for sweet potatoes and yams, dry them, and eat them as is. We can't starve to death."

Yang Ruihua glanced at the door and lowered his voice: "How about... we take out the money we've saved at home and stock up on some on the black market?"

"No!" Yan Bugui immediately waved his hand, his tone resolute. "That money is a life-saving fund; it cannot be touched!"

"Isn't this the time to save lives?" Yang Ruihua said anxiously, reaching out and twisting his arm hard. "All you know is saving! You'll regret it if someone wipes us all out one day!"

Yan Bugui grimaced in pain, but still stubbornly insisted, "We've only just gotten this far! We need to save the money for emergencies!"

The backyard presented a different scene. In the east wing, Liu Haizhong sat with his legs crossed, completely unconcerned: "Officer Wang said that I do heavy physical labor, so my ration will be reduced less. The three children also get a share. At worst, the second and third sons will eat less; it would be a waste for them to eat too much!"

The Xu family across the street didn't care at all. Xu Fugui leaned back in his chair, slowly smoking a cigarette: "My son and I are both projectionists. If we're really short of food, we can just go to the countryside and show a few movies. We'll definitely get some food in return." Xu Damao laughed along, completely unconcerned about the food shortage.

While everyone in the compound was worried about food, Old Lady Long in the backyard didn't care at all—with Yi Zhonghai and his wife taking care of her, she never had to worry about food.

The simpleton from the Intermediate People's Court didn't care at all. He was waving the bottle of liquor he had "deducted" from the factory and humming a little tune. Even in famine years, a cook wouldn't starve. He was a good cook and could always get some extra money from the canteen. Besides, it was just him and his sister He Yushui at home. Even if the food ration was reduced, they could still make sure they wouldn't go hungry.

The Zhang family in the front yard didn't take the grain reduction seriously at all. The night before, Wu Liqun was in a good mood and specially invited Guan Xue and her daughter to his home for a delicious roast duck meal. When they returned home that evening, Guan Xue blushed and took the initiative to approach him, wanting to continue the Zhang family line. Zhang Erhe naturally complied—who could remain virtuous in the face of such a proactive beauty?

The next morning, Zhang Erhe, who had been working hard all night, was still sound asleep when the door was pounded on. As soon as Guan Xue opened the door, Sun Xiangdong rushed in with red eyes, followed by Wu Qian, who was wringing his hands anxiously.

"Erhe! How can you still sleep?" Sun Xiangdong yanked off Zhang Erhe's blanket, exasperated. "Didn't your yard notify you last night that the grain ration was being reduced?"

"They notified me," Zhang Erhe yawned, slowly sitting up. "What's there to be unable to sleep about?"

"What do you mean, what do you mean? That's all money!" Wu Qian stepped forward, his voice trembling. "The black market grain price increased fivefold last night! Second brother, can you find a way to get another batch of grain? Let's sell another batch, just one batch!"

Zhang Erhe stretched and waved his hand, "Alright, eldest brother, third brother, this money shouldn't be ours to earn. With grain prices soaring like this, how can I possibly get cheap grain?"

Sun Xiangdong slammed his fist on his head, regretting, "I should have listened to you! I should have sold it more slowly back then!"

"Don't be upset." Zhang Erhe glanced at him. "Don't be fooled by the soaring grain prices last night. There might be a crackdown on the black market in the next couple of days. Even if you sell a lot, it'll just be giving the police station credit."

He changed the subject and looked at Wu Qian: "By the way, did your job go through?"

"Second Brother, you are truly my savior!" Wu Qian's eyes lit up, and his tone instantly became excited. "Thanks to you for urging me to buy a job and transfer my household registration—I just transferred my wife's household registration to the city the day before yesterday, and last night I was notified that the grain ration was being reduced and that people without household registration would be sent away!"

He felt a surge of satisfaction at the thought, his voice rising several decibels: "Several people in my compound used to laugh at me, saying I was wasting money. Last night, when they heard about being deported, they burst into tears! This morning, someone even came to me asking for connections to buy a job, and I just told them 'too late!'" With that, Wu Qian bowed solemnly to Zhang Erhe, "Second Brother, if you hadn't reminded me, even if my family had savings, we would have been dragged down by the household registration issue sooner or later. Thank you!"

"Alright, just listen to my advice." Zhang Erhe waved his hand, then changed the subject, "By the way, you two are here, where's Lao Si?"

"Don't even mention it!" Sun Xiangdong said helplessly. "Who knows which old woman's bed she's sleeping on this time? Qian'er and I looked for her in two places this morning, but we couldn't find her. That kid, of all things, why does he have to like women in their thirties!"

"Boss, you just don't understand!"

A nonchalant voice came from the doorway. Ma Qianli walked in wearing a brand-new work uniform, patted his collar, and said, "Old women know how to take care of people! You just pat her butt and she knows what to do; unlike those greenhorns who have to be waited on by their fathers. Besides, they don't care about a long-term relationship, they just want a few bucks, so what?"

"Alright, alright, I can't argue with you!" Sun Xiangdong was momentarily speechless, then his gaze fell on his work clothes, and his eyes lit up. "Your uniform... from the steel mill?"

"Of course!" Ma Qianli puffed out his chest and said proudly, "Comrade Ma Qianli, the security officer of the steel rolling mill! What do you think?"

"Not bad, kid!" Sun Xiangdong looked him up and down. "Did the second brother arrange this for you?"

"Mm!" Ma Qianli nodded, his playful smile fading.

"I was worried you'd get arrested, but now you're the one arresting people! Keep up the good work!"

"Boss, I'll definitely do my best!"

“That’s right.” Sun Xiangdong nodded.

Ma Qianli laughed again: "I knew you two would be here! I didn't go home for the past two days because I was with training. When I got back last night, I heard about the food rations, and I knew you two would have to talk to your second brother about it—and I was right!"

Chapter 64 Land Cruiser

Zhang Erhe finished dressing, picked up his watch from the table and glanced at it: "Hey, it's already past 10 o'clock. How about we brothers have that farewell dinner we talked about last time today?"

“I’m fine with it!” Sun Xiangdong was the first to agree, and Wu Qian nodded as well: “I’ll listen to my second brother.”

“Alright, let’s go now.” Zhang Erhe said to Guan Xue. Just as he stepped out the door, Ma Qianli suddenly spoke up: “Second brother, I’ve noticed you’ve changed—you never used to tell your wife before you went out.”

Zhang Erhe's heart tightened, but he said calmly, "People always change after experiencing life and death."

The four of them left the compound and headed towards Qianmen Street. When they were almost there, Ma Qianli led the way and turned into a small alley: "Brothers, let's eat here today. The proprietress is an acquaintance of mine. Her family is from Horqin, and the mutton is all brought over from there. It's just as good as Donglaishun!"

Zhang Erhe glanced at Sun Xiangdong and Wu Qian, who remained silent before following him into the small shop in the alley.

"Qiqige!" Ma Qianli called out as soon as he entered the door.

Soon, a woman who was almost 1.8 meters tall walked out. She was voluptuous and a typical Mongolian Land Cruiser!

"Oh, it's Little Ma!" Kiki teased with a smile. "What's wrong, missing your big sister?"

"Stop fooling around." Ma Qianli slapped his buttocks with practiced ease, the ripples on his hips spreading out in layers. "I brought my brothers here for dinner today. Cut three lamb legs, bring a hot pot, and find a quiet spot."

"Okay." Qiqige glanced at Zhang Erhe and the other two, smiled and nodded, then turned around and swayed her hips as she went to the kitchen to give instructions.

Sun Xiangdong swallowed hard, while Wu Qian stared wide-eyed. Ma Qianli patted him on the shoulder: "Stop staring, your eyes are going to pop out! If you really want to get to know him, I'll put in a good word for you?"

"No, no, I can't mess with a friend's wife," Wu Qian quickly shook his head.

"I've heard the saying 'Don't be polite to your friend's wife'?" Ma Qianli winked and joked, making Wu Qian blush instantly.

Without further teasing Wu Qian, Ma Qianli led the group into the inner room, lifting the curtain. A square table was placed on the earthen kang (heated brick bed). He took the lead and sat on the kang, Sun Xiangdong opposite him, Zhang Erhe sitting next to him on the inner side, and Wu Qian sitting in the seat closest to the door. Not long after, Qiqige led two little girls in, carrying a steaming copper pot, a leg of lamb, and side dishes. As soon as they were set out, the room was filled with the aroma of the copper pot.

Qiqige picked up her wine glass, her slender fingers tapping the rim three times lightly, and said in a cheerful voice, "The three of you are Xiao Ma's friends, so you are my friends, Qiqige's friends! Let me toast you all first!" As soon as she finished speaking, she tilted her head back and drank the wine in her glass in one gulp, her movements swift and bold, carrying the spirit of a grassland girl.

Zhang Erhe and the other two quickly picked up their cups and drank the wine.

Seeing that everyone had drunk the wine, Qiqige covered her mouth and smiled, then reached out and took off her heavy Mongolian robe—underneath was a close-fitting white silk lining that perfectly outlined her curvaceous figure. Even Zhang Erhe couldn't help but secretly swallow, while Sun Xiangdong and Wu Qian stared wide-eyed.

Qiqige chuckled, cleared her throat, and began to sing a grassland drinking song: "The grassland eagle spreads its wings and flies, its left wing taps three times, its right wing taps three times..."

As soon as the song began, Ma Qianli grinned mischievously and poured drinks for the three of them: "Qiqige's song has a trick: three cups for the left wing, three cups for the right wing. You can't not finish them!" The first time he came here, Qiqige got him completely drunk by doing the same thing. Now that he has his brothers with him, it's the perfect time to "get revenge."

The three had no choice but to drink cup after cup. The left wing had just finished three cups when the right wing handed them three more, and the barrel of wine was quickly emptied. Qiqige rolled up her sleeves, ready to open another bottle, but Sun Xiangdong quickly waved his hands, begging for mercy: "Qiqige, I admit it! Drinking any more will make me look bad right there!"

Qiqige looked at Ma Qianli, and seeing him nod in agreement, she stopped trying to persuade him. She raised the last glass of wine to toast everyone, then turned and swayed her hips as she left.