Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

At 5 p.m., Wang Feng returned to Nanluoguxiang.

He spent the entire day wandering around Beijing.

In the morning, he went to the courtyard house where the masked man in black lived, and also to the government compound, but he pretended to be passing by, just glancing inside. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, he left.

Back at No. 95, he hung a pheasant and a rabbit on the handlebars and pushed his bicycle into the front yard.

When Yan Fugui saw the pheasants and rabbits hanging on Wang Feng's handlebars, he quickly greeted him with a smile and even helped lift the back of his bike for him.

"Wang Feng, your pheasants and rabbits are quite plump! Which pigeon market did you buy them from? I haven't seen pheasants and rabbits at the pigeon market in ages."

"Teacher Yan, I caught this myself on the mountain," Wang Feng replied with a smile.

"Wang Feng, you can hunt too?" Yan Fugui asked, somewhat surprised.

"Hehe, these are all things my dad taught me. Alright, Teacher Yan, I'll stop chatting with you now, I'm going back first."

As Wang Feng spoke, he pushed his bicycle toward the Intermediate People's Court.

But as he pushed, he felt incredibly strained. When he looked back, he saw Yan Fugui holding onto the back of his bicycle.

Wang Feng stared coldly at Yan Fugui: "Old Man Yan, what do you mean?"

Yan Fugui adjusted his glasses and said with a smirk:

"Hehe, Wang Feng, don't misunderstand. I wanted to discuss something with you. You're going to kill these pheasants and rabbits, right? Let me tell you, your third aunt is the best at killing chickens and rabbits. Once your third aunt has killed them for you, just give me the innards, the chicken head, the chicken tail, and so on."

Wang Feng smiled slightly. He had to admit, this was very much like Yan Fugui. Sure enough, he felt he had lost out as soon as he didn't gain any advantage.

However, he didn't want Yan Fugui to take advantage of him, even if he didn't eat the chicken head and the chicken butt.

Seeing Wang Feng smile, Yan Fugui asked with a beaming smile, "Wang Feng, you agree? Don't worry..."

Before Yan Fugui could finish speaking, Wang Feng raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Teacher Yan, you should just focus on watering your flowers. My Jingru can do all that, so don't bother Auntie."

After saying that, Wang Feng pushed his bicycle and headed towards the Intermediate People's Court.

Seeing Wang Feng leave with the pheasants and rabbits like that, Yan Fugui's heart was bleeding, and at the same time, he felt a trace of hatred towards Wang Feng.

"Brother Wang Feng, you're back? Are you alright? Are you tired? Oh, Brother Wang Feng, you even caught a pheasant and a rabbit!"

As soon as Wang Feng returned to the Intermediate People's Court, Qin Jingru greeted him with a smile and immediately bombarded him with a barrage of questions.

"Let's go back inside and talk about it first."

"Um."

Qin Jingru was beaming as she carried a pheasant in one hand and a rabbit in the other.

Madam Jia Zhang was sitting at the doorway sewing shoe soles, and she saw this scene clearly. She said to Qin Huairu inside the house:

"Qin Huairu, I just saw Wang Feng bring back a pheasant and a rabbit. Once they've cooked them, you go and ask me for the meat. Let's see what that wretched girl Qin Jingru has to say then!"

"Mom, I don't want to go. I don't want to see Jingru," Qin Huairu said with a wronged expression.

Madam Jia glared fiercely at Qin Huairu and shouted, "You're not going? If you dare not go, you can go back to the countryside and carry manure for me! How dare you defy me?"

When Wang Feng returned home, Qin Jingru poured him a cup of tea and gently massaged his shoulders and back.

"Brother Wang Feng, where did you go hunting today? I didn't see your hunting gear."

"Well."

"Jingru, I don't need tools to hunt. I just use snares on the mountain. Alright, you don't need to worry about these things. Go and kill the pheasant. Everyone in the yard will be off work soon."

Wang Feng casually brushed Qin Jingru off with a perfunctory reply.

"Okay, Brother Wang Feng, you rest first, I'll go kill a chicken right away."

As she spoke, Qin Jingru took the pheasant and walked towards the pool.

"etc."

"What's wrong with Brother Wang Feng?" Qin Jingru asked curiously.

"Jingru, ask Aunt Wu to help you kill this pheasant. I don't like to eat the innards, head, and tail. Aunt Wu has helped me before, so let's give these innards, head, and tail to Yaya and the others to help them recover."

"Yes, Brother Wang Feng, I'll listen to you. I really like Ya Ya too. You know, this little girl is so well-behaved. She often comes to play with me, and she even helps me with housework when she sees me doing it," Qin Jingru said with a smile.

If these internal organs, chicken heads, and chicken butts were given to someone else, Qin Jingru would definitely be unhappy. These are all good things! Wang Feng doesn't eat them, but she likes to. However, when she heard that they were for Ya Ya's family, she had no objection.

Qin Jingru brought the pheasant to Aunt Wu's house and knocked on the door.

"Knock knock knock".

"Aunt Wu, are you home?"

Aunt Wu opened the door and saw Qin Jingru. She immediately greeted her with a smile.

"It's Jingru, Yaya, your sister Jingru is here."

As soon as Ya Ya heard that Sister Jingru had arrived, she rushed out on her short legs, hugged Qin Jingru's long legs, and said in her childish voice, "Sister Jingru, did you come to play with me?"

Qin Jingru rubbed Ya Ya's little head and said with a smile, "Yes."

After saying that, she looked at Aunt Wu and said, "Aunt Wu, my brother Wang Feng hunted a pheasant today. I would like to ask you to help me kill the pheasant. If you don't mind, you can have the innards, the head, and the tail."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Wu waved her hand and said, "Oh, I thought it was something serious. I'm good at killing chickens. Don't worry, I'll kill one for you right away. But let's forget about the chicken head, the butt, and the internal organs. Everyone's having a hard time these days, so you should keep them for yourselves."

Qin Jingru smiled slightly: "Aunt Wu, don't worry, my brother Wang Feng knows how to hunt, we won't lack food, and we don't like to eat offal or chicken heads and butts. Okay, it's settled then."

After saying that, Qin Jingru stuffed the pheasant into Aunt Wu's hand and went home.

After Qin Jingru left, Ya Ya asked in her childish voice, "Mommy, will we have meat to eat tonight?"

Aunt Wu wiped away her tears, patted Ya Ya's head, and nodded with a smile, "Okay, how about we make meat for Ya Ya tonight?"

"Yay, we get to eat meat!"

......

Aunt Wu was quite quick and efficient; she killed the pheasant in just over half an hour and thoughtfully chopped it into pieces, even plucking all the feathers very cleanly.

Another half hour passed, and the pheasant stew with mushrooms was ready. The pheasant weighed more than three pounds, and after removing the internal organs, head, and tail, it still weighed about two pounds.

Wang Feng brought back the pheasant and rabbit openly and honestly today, so he didn't brew any Chinese medicine. The aroma of stewed pheasant and mushrooms immediately filled the courtyard.

Qin Jingru placed a chicken leg on Wang Feng's plate and smiled sweetly, "Brother Wang Feng, come and try my pheasant stew with mushrooms."

Wang Feng nodded and was just about to eat when he heard a knock on the door.

"Knock knock knock".

Upon seeing this, Wang Feng frowned. Could it be that Qin Huairu had come to borrow meat again?

"Jingru, go open the door."

"Um."

Upon opening the door, Qin Huairu indeed arrived with a large bowl and a stick behind her.

Qin Jingru forced a smile: "Sister, what brings you here?"

Qin Huairu patted Banggeng's head: "Banggeng, this is your aunt, and that's your uncle. Hurry up and greet them!"