Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1116 Target at Sea
In the courtyard of No. 95, several people were already sitting in the main room of the Jia family's house. However, Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu were chatting and laughing in the kitchen, which made the deaf old lady very uncomfortable.

The deaf old lady used the excuse of visiting to call Qin Huairu out, but unexpectedly, Qin Huairu was followed by Sha Zhu. Sha Zhu, wearing an apron, looked a bit out of place, but he had a silly smile on his face and seemed to be in a good mood.

Qin Huairu glanced at the old man, then quickly turned to greet the deaf old lady, saying, "Grandma, it's an honor for our family to have you here. I will definitely take good care of you. Please sit down, I'll go to the kitchen and get busy, it will be ready soon."

"That's right, old lady, why did you have to call us out? If you hadn't called, the braised pork would have been on the table already," Sha Zhu joked from behind.

The deaf old lady was now feeling uneasy. She was certain that Yi Zhonghai wanted Sha Zhu to take care of her in her old age, but more importantly, he wanted to tie Sha Zhu to the Jia family. If that were the case, Sha Zhu would truly become a crony, saving Yi Zhonghai a lot of trouble and money, while Sha Zhu would fall into an abyss.

She had originally intended to stop Yi Zhonghai from having this idea, but when she saw Sha Zhu, she had some doubts. Could Sha Zhu have already been bewitched by Qin Huairu? If so, things would be complicated. Should she remind him or not? The deaf old lady looked at the smiling Sha Zhu, put aside her thoughts, and said with a smile, "Then hurry up and go. I'm waiting for my grandson's braised pork."

"You can hold it up, Sister Qin. Let's hurry up. Oh, and Auntie, could you keep an eye on Xiao Dang and Huaihua? They're in the inner room." After saying that, Sha Zhu went into the kitchen.

The deaf old lady looked at Yi Zhonghai, who calmly lowered his head and drank his tea. The deaf old lady sighed and said, "Zhonghai, Shazhu is still a very innocent child. What you are doing will harm him. Think about it yourself. This child has had a hard life. You can't ruin my eldest grandson."

This can be considered a warning from the old lady to Yi Zhonghai. Yi Zhonghai was also very uneasy. He knew very well about the old lady's connections outside, and he was afraid of offending the old lady and ultimately losing more than he gained. So this time, he refused to admit that he had done anything underhanded.

Yi Zhonghai made up his mind, raised his head, looked at the deaf old lady and said, "Grandma, you're overthinking it. This Sha Zhu is just kind-hearted and is only helping the Jia family. By the way, you don't know, Sha Zhu didn't want to eat with us at first, saying he wanted to avoid suspicion. It was only after I told him that you wanted to eat his braised pork that Sha Zhu agreed. Don't worry, it's just a New Year's Eve dinner, nothing will happen."

No sooner had Yi Zhonghai finished speaking than the door to the main room of the Jia family was kicked open, startling both Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady who were sitting in the room. They both looked towards the door and saw the curtain being lifted, and Jia Zhangshi stormed in, holding the hand of seven-year-old Banggeng. Banggeng's face was flushed, and he looked like he had been frozen.

When the deaf old lady saw that it was Jia Zhangshi who came in, she scolded, "Zhang Cuihua, what's wrong with you again? What are you doing, causing trouble during the New Year?"

Jia Zhangshi was freezing. She was cold and hungry all the way, and her temper flared up. Why was Qin Huairu able to stay warm and cozy at home? Her husband was there during the memorial service, and her father-in-law was there too. Why was she hiding at home?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Banggeng cried the whole way, but then he realized that his face felt colder and more uncomfortable after shedding tears, so he stopped crying and held it in all the way home.

But what Jia Zhangshi didn't expect was that there was someone in the house, and it was the deaf old lady she feared the most. She had forgotten that she was supposed to have New Year's Eve dinner at her own home today.

Upon hearing the deaf old lady's rebuke, her expression immediately changed, becoming unusually calm. Her ability to change her expression was truly remarkable. Jia Zhangshi said, "Oh, old lady, you've come. I didn't know. I'm just feeling a bit irritable because I'm cold. Please bear with me. I'll go warm myself by the fire. Please sit down."

After Jia Zhangshi finished speaking, she tried to pull the stalk of a dog, but found it was gone. Yi Zhonghai said from the side, "The stalk of a dog has gone to the kitchen. It's probably hungry. You should go warm yourself by the fire, drink some hot water to warm up, and change your clothes. Today is New Year's Eve, no matter what, we should be happy, right?" Jia Zhangshi glanced at Yi Zhonghai but didn't respond at all. She was now regretting listening to Yi Zhonghai's encouragement yesterday. Otherwise, she wouldn't have suffered like this today and lost five yuan.

After that, nothing else happened to the Jia family. Around 1 p.m., Sha Zhu finally started serving the dishes. There were ten dishes, including fish, chicken, meat, eggs, and tofu. Compared to the other families in the compound, this meal was very lavish. In addition, Sha Zhu was a chef himself, and his cooking skills were passed down from generation to generation. After two or three dishes were served, the aroma filled the entire No. 95 compound.

The Liu family in the backyard were also having their New Year's Eve dinner, but they still had two separate tables. This disappointed Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu. The two brothers had always thought that their lives would be better after their eldest brother passed away, but unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and their lives became even more difficult.

On the square table in the fritters were four dishes: scrambled eggs, braised pork, stir-fried cabbage with pork cracklings, and peanuts. Next to them was a bottle of liquor, which looked like it was bulk liquor bought from the supply and marketing cooperative.

After Liu Guangqi ran away with his money, the Liu family's life became difficult. You can't see the dishes on this table. The meat and eggs were all issued by the factory. Because he was a blacksmith, and people in the blacksmith workshop needed to do heavy work, the factory didn't issue flour but gave him five catties of meat and five catties of eggs instead.

Apart from the little bit on the table, the rest was made into cured meat by the second aunt, who planned to let Liu Haizhong eat it slowly. The eggs were also locked up.

Looking at the low table where the Liu brothers were sitting, there was a plate of mixed noodles, a bowl of millet porridge for each of them, and in the middle of the table were a plate of pickled vegetable shreds and a plate of fried cabbage with pork cracklings.

The two brothers didn't dare to say much. Ever since their eldest brother ran away, Liu Haizhong's temper had gotten worse and worse. In the past, he would beat the two brothers because they had made mistakes. Now, Liu Haizhong would beat them without any reason. He would just take his anger out on the two boys when he was in a bad mood.

Auntie Er poured Liu Haizhong a drink and said, "Look at the Zhongyuan family, how rich they are! They can still buy fish and chickens in this situation. Tsk tsk, the Jia family is getting all the benefits."

"Why do you care what they do? What Lao Yi is up to, others may not know, but you can't fool my eyes. Just you wait, he'll deal with them sooner or later." Liu Haizhong sipped his wine and ate an egg.

The second aunt didn't say anything more, but casually remarked, "When I went to the toilet just now, I saw the third uncle. He came back from outside with his third son, and they were carrying a big bag that was bulging inside. It looked like they brought back a lot of things."

"Huh?" Liu Haizhong was stunned. In his opinion, the Yan family was not as good as his family. Although the eldest brother took all the family's money, he was a level six blacksmith with a decent salary. He had recovered in the past two months. But the Yan family had also spent all their savings on a wedding. With Old Master Yan's stingy salary of twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents, it was no wonder that he could recover.

Liu Haizhong's eyes darted around, and suddenly he looked at Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu at another table. The two brothers didn't realize that their father was watching them and kept eating with their heads down, thinking that they should finish eating and leave as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)