Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

With Yan Fugui no longer blocking his way, Wang Feng quickly walked into the front yard. He encountered many people along the way, but most of them would subconsciously keep their distance from him.

Jia Zhangshi was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles when she saw the rooster and white flour hanging on Wang Feng's bicycle. She muttered curses under her breath.

"Eat, eat, eat until you die, you damned little bastard! You have so much good stuff and you don't even know how to use it to show your respect to your old mother. You deserve to have your whole family die."

"Mom, keep your voice down. If Wang Feng hears you, it'll be troublesome," Qin Huairu advised.

"So what if I heard? If you piss me off, I'll go to his house and hang myself! You little slut, are you itching for a beating? How dare you talk back to me? Hurry up and cook some food, do you want my precious grandson to starve?"

"Mom, I didn't talk back to you. I'll go cook right away."

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears. Her heart was truly bitter. Having such a mother-in-law meant not only endless housework but also the torment of her mother-in-law's beatings and scoldings.

When Wang Feng arrived at the Intermediate People's Court, he saw building materials such as timber and cement placed at the door of Li's house. Li was not there, presumably having gone home for lunch.

He parked his bicycle outside, then carried the rooster and flour inside.

Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to stew the rooster first and steam more white flour buns so he could take them out and eat them tomorrow. After all, he had a time-stopping space, so whenever he took them out, they would be hot.

They filled the stove with new coal, started boiling water to kill the chicken, and then poured out three pounds of flour to start kneading the dough.

His steamer can only steam about twenty large steamed buns at a time; otherwise, he would steam more to avoid the trouble.

Arriving at the pool in the middle courtyard, he spent a full hour plucking the feathers, killing the chicken, cleaning its internal organs, and cutting it into pieces.

When the birds in the courtyard saw him killing a chicken, none of them dared to approach him and speak to him.

I should have asked Aunt Wu to help kill the chicken; at worst, I could have given her the innards, head, and tail.

Aunt Wu was one of the few people in the compound who treated his family well; I remember she lent them soy sauce a few days ago.

She usually helps his family quite a bit; when his clothes were torn before, Aunt Wu helped him mend them several times.

Aunt Wu became a widow at the age of 28 and is now 35. She raises her son and daughter alone and supports the family of three by pasting matchboxes. Her family is indeed struggling financially.

However, Aunt Wu is a very stubborn person. All this time, she has never borrowed money or food from her neighbors.

After Wang Feng went back inside and stewed the chicken, the steamed buns were already cooked. He packed the steamer basket into his spatial storage, and that was it. He wasn't going to do anything else anyway, since he wasn't hungry.

The aroma of stewed chicken gradually wafted through the air. The deaf old woman was the first to smell it, and suddenly the white steamed bun in her hand no longer smelled good.

"Shufen, whose family is stewing chicken? Go and get me a bowl."

"Grandma, it's Wang Feng stewing chicken. I just saw him kill the chicken," an older woman said.

Upon hearing that it was Wang Feng who stewed the chicken, the deaf old woman waved her hand and said, "Forget it, forget it, I'll just eat steamed buns. That kid Wang Feng is not someone to mess with, so I'd better not cause any trouble."

"Yes, ma'am."

......

The front yard, the Yan family's house.

Yan Fugui divided the pickled vegetables into two portions: one for Yan Jiecheng and one for Yan Jiefang, emphasizing fairness and impartiality.

Yan Jiekuang suddenly smelled the aroma of chicken soup and immediately felt that the pickled vegetables were no longer appealing.

Yan Fugui coughed lightly: "Eat, eat. Just treat the cornbread as chicken."

The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.

The cornbread-eating boy smelled the aroma and threw the cornbread on the ground.

"Grandma, I want to eat chicken! I want to eat chicken! I don't want to eat cornbread! Please tell my mom to get the chicken back for me!"

Banggeng cried and screamed, stomping mud all over the cornbread on the ground.

Little Dang looked at Qin Huairu with longing and said, "Mom, I want to eat chicken too."

"Bang Geng, Xiao Dang, stop fooling around. It's Wang Feng's family stewing chicken. He won't give us any chicken to eat," Qin Huairu explained gently.

"No, I want to eat chicken! You figure something out, I want to eat chicken right now."

Banggeng threw the chopsticks on the ground and lay down on the ground, throwing a tantrum.

"Smack."

Madam Jia slammed her hand on the table, her triangular eyes coldly fixed on Qin Huairu: "Go ask some damned, childless brat for a bowl of chicken. Can't you see my precious grandson wants to eat chicken?"

"Mom, we just had a fight with him this morning, and he won't give us any chicken."

Qin Huairu said with a bitter face, glancing at Jia Dongxu out of the corner of her eye as she spoke.

Unfortunately, Jia Dongxu simply turned his head away, pretending not to see it.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go! You jinx! If it weren't for my Dongxu, you'd still be carrying manure in the countryside right now."

Madam Jia, cursing and swearing, handed the ancestral large bowl to Qin Huairu and kicked her out.

Qin Huairu looked at the huge bowl in her hand. This bowl was as big as a washbasin. Even if she took the whole chicken, it would probably only fill half a bowl.

"If you don't get chicken, you're not eating today, you useless jinx."

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears and walked step by step toward the Wang family.

Seeing this, the birds in the courtyard also became interested in watching the spectacle, all wanting to see if Qin Huairu could get any meat.

Qin Huairu arrived at Wang Feng's house, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

"Knock knock knock".

Who is it?

"Wang Feng, it's your sister Qin. Please open the door, I need to talk to you."

Wang Feng was taken aback, but quickly realized that they had come to ask for meat.

He wanted to see if the white lotus had awakened yet, and to what extent it could go.

Of course, even if Qin Huairu is a delicious piece of pork belly, he can't eat her. Otherwise, he'd have to support her whole family, or at least raise some hamsters for her. He doesn't want to raise an ungrateful wretch.

Upon opening the door, he saw a huge bowl, even larger than his washbasin, and Qin Huairu's pitiful gaze.

"Sister-in-law Jia, what is it? Tell me."

"Wang Feng, could you lend me some chicken? I'll pay you back when my son Dongxu passes away. You know that only Dongxu in my family gets a ration, and the children are crying for food every day. As their mother, I just can't bear it."

Qin Huairu spoke while wiping away tears.

These tears really do come so easily; it's a real waste of her talent that she's not acting in movies.

Wang Feng pointed at the large bowl in Qin Huairu's hand and asked, "Even if I gave you a whole chicken, your bowl wouldn't be full, would it?"

"I just don't understand how you have the nerve to go to someone's house with such a huge bowl and ask for meat."

"Wang Feng, just give me a little bit. Don't worry, Sister Qin won't take your money for nothing. I can help you with your laundry and tidy up your room."

Wang Feng smiled slightly and shook his head: "No, unless you trade steamed buns for meat, don't even think about it."

"Steamed buns? We don't steam any at home."

Wang Feng gave a wicked smile, pointed at Qin Huairu's grain sack, and said, "Aren't there two big, white steamed buns here?"

"Wang Feng, I never thought you were this kind of person! You...you're shameless!"

Qin Huairu blushed, spat, opened the door, and ran out crying.

Wang Feng smiled knowingly. It seemed that this white lotus had not yet awakened.

Qin Huairu arrived at Sha Zhu's house and knocked on the door.

"Knock knock knock".

Who is it?

"Your Sister Qin."

Sha Zhu opened the door and saw Qin Huairu's beautiful face with tears streaming down her face, which broke his heart.

"Sister Qin, who bullied you? Tell me, and I'll get revenge for you."

Qin Huairu's eyes were brimming with tears as she cried and wiped them away.

"Waaaaah, no one bullied me. It was my mother-in-law who saw that my dog ​​was craving meat, so she told me to go to Wang Feng's house to ask for chicken. Wang Feng wouldn't give it to me, and my mother-in-law said that if I didn't get any meat, she wouldn't give me any food today."