The Courtyard House: He Yuzhu Returns with Boundless Hatred for Revenge

"Rain, put your homework aside for now, go knead some dough, we're going to steam white flour buns today."

He Yushui immediately put down her pen: "Brother, are we having meat today?"

He Yuzhu looked at her expectant face and smiled. "I'll go to the market and see if they have any chickens. I'll buy one to help you recover."

"Really?" He Yushui was excited when she heard there was chicken. "I'll go knead the dough right now!" she said, skipping and hopping towards the kitchen.

He Yushui had forgotten when she last ate chicken. Anyway, her brother always had chicken in his lunchboxes, but she never got a turn. Now that she thought about having a chicken for dinner, her mouth watered.

He Yuzhu turned and left the courtyard, heading towards the nearby market. The market didn't have many good vegetables left at this time, but after wandering around, he actually found a fellow villager selling chickens.

Back at the courtyard, He Yushui had already started the dough rising and was sitting on the threshold waiting for her brother to return. Seeing that He Yuzhu had indeed brought back a chicken, she happily ran over, "Brother, let me help you!"

"No need, you can play by yourself for a while. I'll take care of the chicken myself."

After cleaning the chicken, he put the whole chicken into a clay pot, added the medicinal herbs he had bought earlier, and secretly added a little bit of spiritual spring water from his space. He then covered the pot and brought it to a boil over high heat.

Soon, a rich aroma of chicken soup wafted out, mixed with a unique fragrance, filling the entire courtyard.

In the west wing of the Jia family's house, Banggeng was the first to smell the aroma. He threw the cornbread he was holding onto the table and started making a fuss again, "Grandma, I want chicken soup! Shazhu's family is stewing chicken again!"

Madam Jia Zhang herself was drooling with envy; the aroma kept wafting into her nose, making her feel nauseous. She glared at Qin Huairu with her triangular eyes and yelled, "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear Bang Geng say he wanted chicken soup? Hurry up and go get a bowl from Sha Zhu's house!"

Qin Huairu, having only been married into the family for a few years, was far from being as shameless as she had become after becoming a widow. Clutching the hem of her clothes, she whispered, "Mom, how can we possibly ask for this? We just had a falling out with Sha Zhu yesterday..."

"What's there to be embarrassed about? If he could give it to Sha Zhu before, why can't he give it to you today? You heartless bastard, just go to his door and ask for it. If he dares not give it to you, I'll scratch him to death."

Qin Huai looked at Jia Dongxu as if pleading for help, hoping her man would say something. They'd just fallen out, and now she was going to ask for food while heavily pregnant? What kind of nonsense was that?

Jia Dongxu felt her gaze, irritably exhaled a smoke ring, and avoided her eye contact. To be honest, he hadn't had anything greasy for two days, and his mouth was practically watering. The aroma of the chicken soup was actually quite tempting. Finally, he mumbled, "Mom told you to go, so just give it a try."

Qin Huairu's heart sank. This was her man; she had been blind to marry him.

Seeing that Qin Huairu still didn't move, Madam Jia started yelling, "What are you dawdling for, you little slut? Hurry up and go get a bowl!"

Forced into a corner, Qin Huairu had no choice but to move to the kitchen and grab a rice bowl. Jia Zhangshi saw it, snatched it from her, and turned to pull a huge bowl, bigger than her face, from deep inside the cupboard, shoving it into her hands: "Use this, and get back as much as you can!"

Qin Huairu looked at the large, heirloom-sized bowl from the Jia family in her hand, feeling incredibly embarrassed; the bowl was almost the size of a small basin. She steeled herself and carried the bowl out of the house.

A gust of cold wind blew, sending a shiver down her spine. She pulled her cotton-padded coat tighter around herself and slowly made her way to He Yuzhu's door. She instinctively reached out to push, but the door wouldn't budge. She tried harder, but it still wouldn't move. Only then did she realize that the door was bolted from the inside.

She was furious. Who was she guarding against? When had Qin Huairu ever been treated like this? Every time she came to Sha Zhu's house, she was always allowed to walk right in.

After taking several deep breaths, he barely managed to suppress his anger. He raised his hand and gently knocked on the door, trying to make his voice sound as weak as possible. "Zhu Zi, Zhu Zi, open the door. It's me, your Sister Qin."

Inside, He Yuzhu was smoking, while He Yushui stood anxiously beside the chicken soup, drooling almost dripping from her mouth. Hearing this, He Yuzhu sneered inwardly, "They've come, just as I thought."

Upon reaching the door, he didn't open it immediately. Instead, he asked through the door in a detached tone, "Who is it? What do you need?"

"Zhu Zi, it's me, your sister Qin. Open the door, I have something I want to tell you."

He Yuzhu then slowly unlatched the door, opening only halfway. His tall figure blocked the entrance, showing no intention of letting her in. His gaze swept over the conspicuous large bowl in Qin Huairu's hand, his eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

"Sister-in-law Jia, what are you doing here in this freezing weather instead of staying home to take care of your husband and mother-in-law?"

Qin Huairu felt a tightness in her chest from his words, clenching her teeth, but quickly composed herself, feigning weakness and pitifulness, and forced a smile.

"Zhu Zi, look, I'm pregnant and my mouth really doesn't taste right. Everything makes me nauseous. The smell of your chicken soup is so tempting. Besides, Bang Geng is growing too, and he loves Uncle Zhu Zi's chicken soup the most. You made so much, could you spare a bowl for me and the baby to enjoy?"

If it were the old Sha Zhu, seeing Qin Huairu like this, he would probably have softened completely and wanted to give the whole casserole to Sister Qin.

But He Yuzhu just watched her performance coldly, without a ripple in his heart, only endless disgust.

"Hmph," He Yuzhu scoffed.

"Qin Huairu, do you have any shame?"

Qin Huai thought she had misheard. What was that silly Zhu saying to her? This couldn't be real; it must be an illusion. How dare he!

"What do I have to do with you? Is your husband Jia Dongxu crippled or dead? Is your mother-in-law bedridden? How can you, a pregnant woman, with your big belly and a bowl bigger than your face, come to my doorstep, an unmarried young man, begging for food?" Her voice suddenly rose, almost shouting, to make sure the neighbors, especially the Jia family in the west wing, could hear her clearly.

"Jia Dongxu, are you fucking dead? Are you even a man? You can't even support your own wife and kids, so you have to make your wife embarrass herself by begging like a beggar?! Are all the men in your Jia family dead, and you're just relying on your woman to sell her pitiful side for food?"

This series of questions was like a series of resounding slaps, not only hitting Qin Huairu's face, but also directly slapping her into the west wing!

Jia Dongxu heard everything clearly inside the house, and instantly his head throbbed with anger, veins bulging on his forehead! In this era, the most taboo thing for a man was to be called useless and unable to support his family. He Yuzhu's words were like tearing off Jia Dongxu's face and stomping on it! He abruptly stood up, rushed to the door, and yelled at Qin Huairu, who was standing there dumbfounded in front of He Yuzhu:

"You shameless woman, get back here right now! You disgraceful wretch, you've completely disgraced the Jia family!"