Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

As winter deepened in 1960, the food crisis intensified.

In the steel rolling mill's canteen, there was less and less oil and fat.

The workers were starving, their faces were pale and they had no energy to work.

Even so, He Yuzhu is the head chef of the cafeteria.

He remains the most comfortable person in the entire factory, apart from the factory leaders.

Afternoon, in the kitchen.

Silly Zhu took advantage of the fact that Ma Hua and the fat man were not paying attention.

He secretly poured the last bit of oily cabbage stalks from the big pot into his own mesh lunchbox.

Although there was no meat, in this era when even pickled vegetables were considered a treasure.

This box of stewed cabbage, glistening with oil, is an unparalleled delicacy!

That would be enough to make the Jia family members extremely grateful.

"Hehe, Sister Qin has lost so much weight these past few days, it breaks my heart."

Sha Zhu closed the lunchbox lid, tightened it with the net, and felt quite pleased with himself.

His mind was now filled with Qin Huairu's pair of watery, peach-blossom eyes.

He'd do anything to get a smile from Sister Qin.

The bell rang to signal the end of the workday.

Sha Zhu hid his lunchbox, pretending to be relaxed, and hummed a little tune as he walked with a pigeon-toed gait toward the factory gate.

In the past, if he had openly taken the lunchbox, the security department would have turned a blind eye.

But the situation is different now.

His reputation is so bad that even if he were to be taken along, it would have to be done secretly.

Sha Zhu thought today would go smoothly as usual.

However, as soon as he reached the factory gate, he sensed that something was wrong.

The security department is checking extra strictly today!

A long queue formed at the entrance, with each person's bag being searched.

Next to the head of the security department stood a man wearing a Zhongshan suit, with a side-parted hairstyle and a wicked grin on his face.

It was Xu Damao!

Xu Damao is now the deputy head of the factory's publicity department.

Although he wasn't a high-ranking official, he had a good relationship with the security department.

He'd been eyeing Sha Zhu for a while now!

Upon seeing Sha Zhu approaching with a net bag, he immediately pointed at him and said to the head of security:

"Section Chief, look, Sha Zhu's here!"

"That kid must have been up to no good again!"

"They keep bringing things home; that's undermining socialism!"

The head of security, his face dark, waved his hand and shouted, "He Yuzhu! Stop right there!"

Two security officers immediately rushed forward and grabbed Sha Zhu from the left and right.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?"

Sha Zhu was startled, then stiffened his neck and shouted, "I'm the chef!"

"What's wrong with bringing some leftovers? It's standard practice at the factory!"

"A convention? Who set that convention?"

Xu Damao walked over with his hands behind his back, a smug look on his face. "Factory rules state that we can't take even a single needle or thread from the company!"

"Open your lunchbox right now!"

"Xu Damao! You scoundrel! You dare to scheme against me?" Sha Zhu's eyes turned red.

"Enough talk! Open it!" the head of security shouted sternly.

In full view of everyone, Sha Zhu's lunchbox was forcibly opened.

A smell of cabbage wafted out.

Although there was no meat, the layer of oil floating on top was particularly dazzling in the sunlight.

"Great! He Yuzhu!"

Xu Damao exclaimed dramatically, "The workers are eating coarse food and wild vegetables, and you, on the other hand, are skimming all the profits for yourself?"

"This is embezzlement! This is theft of public property!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the workers leaving get off work nearby immediately changed.

Everyone was starving, and when they saw Sha Zhu's lunchbox, their initial goodwill towards him instantly turned into resentment.

"Exactly! Why should the cook get to eat more and take more than their share?"

"Down with He Yuzhu!"

"No... this is just a little bit of leftovers!" Sha Zhu was speechless.

"Leftovers belong to the public!"

The head of security announced the verdict with a cold face: "He Yuzhu, caught red-handed stealing public property!"

"Considering the small amount, the lunchbox is confiscated! A five-yuan fine! A factory-wide reprimand!"

"What? Five yuan?"

Sha Zhu trembled with heartache.

Moreover, his lunchbox was taken away, so what could he use to please Sister Qin?

"You won't hand it over? Then we'll send you to the police station!" Xu Damao chimed in, stirring things up.

Sha Zhu looked at Xu Damao's smug face and wished he could bite him.

But a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, so he gritted his teeth, took out five yuan, and slammed it on the table.

"Xu Damao, I'll remember this debt!"

......

At the entrance of the courtyard house.

The wind was biting cold.

Qin Huairu, wearing a thin, tattered cotton-padded coat, stood at the door for half an hour with her arms crossed.

Her lips were purple from the cold, but her eyes remained fixed on the alley entrance.

There wasn't a single grain of rice left in the house, and Banggeng was crying from hunger.

Jia Dongxu cursed in bed, and Jia Zhangshi even threatened to eat people.

Sha Zhu's lunchbox was their family's only hope for tonight.

Finally, that familiar figure appeared.

"Pillar!"

Qin Huairu greeted him with delight, her eyes unconsciously glancing at Sha Zhu's hand.

However, Sha Zhu's hands were empty!

Even the net bag is gone!

Qin Huairu's smile froze instantly, and her heart sank.

"Zhu Zi, where's the lunchbox?"

Sha Zhu, looking utterly dejected and embarrassed, rubbed his hands together and said, "Sister Qin, don't even mention it!"

"That bastard Xu Damao blocked my way at the factory gate and brought the security guards to confiscate my lunchbox!"

"They even fined me five yuan!"

"Confiscated??"

Qin Huairu's vision went black, and she almost fainted.

Without lunchboxes, what will the whole family eat tonight?

Do you drink northwest wind?

"So...do you still have money?"

"Could you lend me two yuan to buy some cornmeal?" Qin Huairu persisted.

"I..." Sha Zhu touched his pocket, which was even emptier than his face. "Sister Qin, it's really gone."

"I was just fined five yuan, and now I only have two mao (0.2 yuan) left for meals."

Looking at Sha Zhu's pathetic state, Qin Huairu's disappointment turned into despair, and even a trace of resentment.

Useless thing!

What use are you if you can't even bring back a lunchbox?

"Okay, I understand."

Qin Huairu said coldly, turned around and left, without even a word of comfort.

Sha Zhu stood there, stunned, watching Qin Huairu's indifferent back, feeling incredibly wronged.

"Sister Qin...I..."

......

The Jia family.

When Qin Huairu walked into the house empty-handed, the air inside seemed to freeze.

"Where's the rice? Where's the meat?"

Jia Zhangshi jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and rummaged through Qin Huairu's pockets. "Didn't that idiot Shazhu bring you anything?"

"It's gone. The security department confiscated it." Qin Huairu leaned weakly against the wall.

"Useless! All of you are useless!"

Jia Dongxu on the bed erupted.

He grabbed the medicine bowl beside him and smashed it hard against Qin Huairu.

"Snapped!"

The bowl shattered, and the medicine splattered all over Qin Huairu.

"You jinx! You can't even get something to eat!"

"Are you trying to starve me to death?"

"That good-for-nothing Sha Zhu! He can't even handle this little thing! Bah!"

Upon hearing there was no food, Banggeng lay down on the ground and started rolling around, yelling, "I'm hungry! I'm starving!"

"I'm going to Li Xuan's house to steal...no, I'm going to take food!"

"You dare!"

Qin Huairu was so frightened that she hugged the stick tightly. "Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?"

"If you dare go again, you'll definitely be arrested!"

Jia Zhangshi plopped down on the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing, "Old Jia!"

"Take us with you too! We can't live like this anymore!"

Meanwhile, in the backyard of the Li family.

The room was warm and cozy, with a steaming pot of braised pork and a plate of stir-fried bok choy on the table.

While serving meat to Xiaoyu, Li Xuan observed the farce unfolding in the central courtyard using his mental power.

"Tsk tsk, Xu Damao is quite adept at using this knife."

"Without his lunchbox, I'd like to see how long Sha Zhu can keep up his act in front of Qin Huairu."

"As for the Jia family..."

Li Xuan smiled slightly, "It's good to go hungry for a few meals, so you won't have the energy to cause trouble for others."

[Ding! Detected that the host's subtle scheme has instigated infighting among the beasts, resulting in Sha Zhu being punished and the Jia family being cut off from food.]

[Merit Points Gained: 300!]

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