Courtyard House: A System Connecting Two Worlds, Resources for the Nation

When Qin Huairu returned home from Xu Damao's place, Banggeng had already tidied himself up and was sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), swinging his legs and staring longingly at the door.

Xiao Dang and Huaihua knew what kind of people their older brother and grandmother were. To avoid any unforeseen complications, they carefully peeled off the outer shells of the Ferrero Rocher chocolates and ate them all.

It must be said that these two children are quite shrewd; no matter how Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng asked, the answer they got was always that it didn't taste good.

Even though Huaihua wanted to answer honestly, Xiaodang had already taught her how to respond. In fact, while Huaihua was speaking, Xiaodang was still tugging at her clothes with one hand.

It's true that children from poor families mature early, but children like Xiao Dang, who were scolded by their grandmother from a young age, are also more sensible and have their own little thoughts at an earlier age.

Even so, two sheets of the gold foil wrapper on the Ferrero Rocher chocolate shells that they had carefully laid out were snatched away by the stick.

After all, they were her own grandmother and brother. Even though Qin Jingru had warned them in advance, they could only treat it as a favor, not as a warrant for her arrest.

Qin Jingru could only see them occasionally, while her grandmother and brother lived together all the time.

If it weren't impossible, they would really like to live with their aunt.

However, the two little girls were squatting in the corner, playing with a red ribbon that had been broken in half, and they didn't even care to look at Qin Huairu who came in from outside.

They've already had barbecue today, and each of them got several pieces, plus chocolate.

Even if their mother managed to get meat from outside, her older brother and grandmother would eat it first, and only the two of them would get any of the leftovers.

The key question is, when were there ever any leftovers from those few slices of meat?

If we can't have it, what's there to look forward to?

Banggeng was completely different. As soon as he saw Qin Huairu push the door open and come in, he jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and rushed to her in three steps, his eyes scanning her hand.

Where's the meat?

Forget about meat, they didn't even bring back a single leafy green!

Seeing Qin Huairu return empty-handed, Bang Geng's expression visibly fell, his lips pursed, and his voice rose again: "Where's the meat? Where's the meat? Didn't you say you were going to get me some meat?"

Qin Huairu knew from Xu Damao's expression earlier that tomorrow's hurdle would be difficult, and she felt a tightness in her chest.

Now, being questioned so harshly by his own son, he felt a surge of anger rising within him.

But with her mother-in-law watching, she could only grit her teeth, close the door, take her apron off the nail hanging on the wall, put it on, and reply somewhat stiffly, "Xu Damao's family doesn't have any meat today. We agreed that I'll go to the factory to get some from him tomorrow."

"Huh? It has to be tomorrow!"

Banggeng's lips twitched sharply: "So, what are we eating today?"

"We eat whatever we have at home. Didn't we have half a cabbage left over from yesterday?"

"It's cabbage again! I'm so tired of eating cabbage every day!"

"If you don't eat cabbage, what will you eat? Go out and open your mouth, are you going to starve?"

The mother and daughter started arguing back and forth. Jia Zhangshi poked half her body out from the inner room: "What's all the commotion about? If you haven't brought back the meat, hurry up and cook!"

After scolding Qin Huairu, Jia Zhangshi moved closer to her grandson and softened her tone: "Your mother has it tough too. She said she'd bring you meat tomorrow. What's wrong with just waiting one night? Don't worry, when your mother brings the meat tomorrow, Grandma will only eat two slices, and the rest are yours!"

Banggeng glanced at his grandmother, snorted softly, and went to play with his younger sister.

Jia Zhangshi then approached Qin Huairu, who was preparing to cook: "That Xu Damao is the kind of guy who won't get up early for nothing. Now he's a factory leader. Do you think you can get meat from him?"

Meeting Jia Zhangshi's slightly questioning gaze, Qin Huairu's lips turned pale, but she still forced a smile and replied, "Mom, Xu Damao is a leader now, but he's still our neighbor in the courtyard. I've said all the right things to him, he can't just not give me any face at all, can he?"

"Besides, Xu Damao is getting married to Yu Haitang soon, so don't get the wrong idea!"

Madam Jia scoffed and rolled her eyes: "You know perfectly well whether I'm being delusional or not, but I have to tell you, you are, after all, a mother of three. You need to be mindful of the impact of your actions. Old Jia and Dongxu are watching you from heaven!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Jia Zhangshi turned and went back into the inner room, but the meaning behind her words was already very clear.

Qin Huairu could understand, but she could only purse her lips and bend down to cook. However, the hand gripping the spatula was clearly gripping it with extreme force.

How could she not understand what Xu Damao meant?

They said they'd wait until tomorrow to go to the factory to talk about it, but that guy definitely wanted to eat meat. It's just that the meat Xu Damao wanted to eat was completely different from the meat his children at home wanted to eat.

In the past, she had to pay a considerable price to get Xu Damao to help her get a meal from the cafeteria, let alone this time when she wanted pork!

Xu Damao was no longer the projectionist he once was; he was now a leader, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to use this to control Qin Huairu.

After finishing a tasteless meal, Banggeng's eyes lit up, and he dashed outside.

Xiao Dang and Huaihua exchanged a glance and quickly followed.

If Banggeng wasn't home, the two girls would be a little apprehensive about facing Jia Zhangshi alone.

After all, from the time they could remember, Jia Zhangshi's preference for sons over daughters was already evident, and she never concealed her differential treatment of them.

The three children ran out of the Jia family's house one after another, and when they crossed the middle courtyard, they ran into Qin Jingru, who was washing dishes in the yard.

Hearing footsteps, the latter looked up and saw Xiao Dang and Huaihua standing side by side not far in front of her, politely greeting each other in unison, "Hello, Auntie!"

Having just eaten someone's meat and chocolate, the saying "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding" was so sincere and loudly expressed by the two children when they called their aunt.

Qin Jingru nodded with a smile: "It's getting late, don't go too far when you go out to play, come back early!"

"Why!"

After instructing the two younger children, Banggeng, with his neck stiff, deliberately walked up to Qin Jingru without even glancing at her, but loudly muttered, "It's just pork, isn't it? Everyone has pork! My mom said she'll get some from Uncle Da Mao tomorrow, and we can have some too. It'll taste much better than yours!"