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

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Sha Zhu put the net on the table and looked at her with some curiosity.

"Oh my goodness, what's going on here? Who in our neighborhood dares to mess with Aunt Jia?"

Halfway through his sentence, Sha Zhu suddenly noticed the aggrieved look on Qin Huairu's face, and he immediately felt uncomfortable.

When Jia Zhangshi heard Sha Zhu speak up, she immediately slapped her thigh and shouted, spitting everywhere.

"Who else could it be? It's Zhou Feng from the front yard, isn't it? He's always hanging around with Old Man Yan, collecting old things, and he looks down on our stuff!"

"Huai Ru took two stools over, but he shooed her back, showing us absolutely no respect!"

Hearing the old lady's words, Qin Huairu instantly understood what she meant and her eyes reddened in response.

"Hey! I thought it was something serious!"

Sha Zhu chuckled and, under Jia Zhangshi's slightly disdainful gaze, grabbed a handful of melon seeds and started cracking them open.

"Is it really worth getting so angry with him? It's an old thing, who knows which grave it came from? Wouldn't it be better to keep that bench for yourself?"

Stealing a glance at Qin Huairu and noticing that she didn't react, Sha Zhu raised his voice slightly again.

"Don't take it to heart! Tomorrow I'll go to the flea market and find you two nice stools, definitely better than the ones Old Man Yan is so stingy with!"

Qin Huairu paused in her kneading of the dough, then sighed.

"Zhu Zi, I didn't mean anything by it, and you don't need to waste your money. I just... I just feel a little uncomfortable after being kicked out."

"Zhou Feng doesn't seem like a good guy either; there's no need to recruit him!"

Hearing Qin Huairu's words, Sha Zhu unconsciously straightened his back: "Hey! We're going to teach him a lesson; he's not someone to mess with!"

"Don't take him too seriously. I'm a cook at the steel mill, a proper working-class person!"

"Who does he think he is? He's just messing around with those old relics; he's probably just trying to make a quick buck!"

Jia Zhangshi's small eyes darted around, and she added fuel to the fire from the side: "Zhuzi, I think what you said makes sense. Why should you, a member of the working class, be afraid of him?"

"If you were here today, your sister Qin wouldn't have been bullied by him!"

Sha Zhu's eyes widened, and he snorted coldly through his nose: "Of course! He bullied my Sister Qin right in front of me, it would be strange if I didn't beat him up!"

"Alright, alright, Pillar, that's settled then. Don't cause any more trouble!"

Qin Huairu still tried to stop him, worried that if her mother-in-law stirred things up again, Sha Zhu might not even eat and would go looking for trouble with Zhou Feng.

"Yes, yes, Huai Ru is right. Anyway, we're neighbors. If he kicks you out once, will he kick you out a second time? Go again tomorrow. We don't want anything, just some rice to cook some rice."

After all, experience matters. As soon as Qin Huairu spoke up to stop Sha Zhu, Jia Zhangshi immediately turned her attention to her.

Sure enough, Sha Zhu immediately slammed his hand on the table.

"Sister Qin, don't worry, I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative and the secondhand market tomorrow to pick out some good ones for you!"

"Then you can go directly to Zhou Feng, tell him I got them, and ask to exchange them for some rice and noodles. Let's see if he knows what's good for him!"

"What if he doesn't know what's good for him?" Jia Zhangshi's face showed a hint of sarcasm.

"Then I'll help him be sensible!"

Sha Zhu snorted coldly and clenched his fists.

Let alone Zhou Feng, an outsider, even among his peers in the surrounding alleys, there's no one that Sha Zhu hasn't dealt with.

"Alright, I'll leave this to you! Zhu Zi, we won't keep you any longer. My grandson will be back soon, and we need to eat."

Having achieved her goal, Madam Jia immediately reverted to her old ways and started kicking people out.

Sha Zhu's expression froze. He had thought that bringing these dishes back would allow him to have a meal with the Jia family, but it turned out that they had no intention of taking him along at all!

After turning to Qin Huairu for help to no avail, he could only leave the Jia family in embarrassment, still thinking about what kind of chair he should help Qin Huairu choose the next day.

It can only be said that everyone obtains satisfaction in a different way.

The next morning, everyone got ready to go to work, and wisps of smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household.

After finishing his cornmeal porridge early in the morning, Sha Zhu called out to Qin Huairu, and they prepared to go to the steel mill together.

As soon as the two reached the front yard, they smelled a familiar fragrance, and Qin Huairu's expression changed.

These days, are there still people who are so extravagant as to eat such precious grains first thing in the morning?

Most importantly, the entire front yard was filled with the aroma of braised rice, not only at Yan Bugui's house but also at Zhou Feng's house!

It's not that Zhou Feng likes getting up early; he just doesn't have a job or a career here.

The main problem was that everyone in the courtyard was busy early in the morning, making it too noisy for him to sleep, so he simply got up and cooked a meal.

Unexpectedly, Yan Bugui's family also improved their meals this morning because they had exchanged for nearly 20 jin of rice yesterday.

The two families cooked rice together, using premium rice that Zhou Feng had brought back from modern times. The aroma naturally filled the entire courtyard.

Although everyone knows that Yan Bugui's salary as a teacher is not low, his family is large, so they don't need to be so extravagant!

Seeing that Yan Bugui's door was still open, Sha Zhu slipped on his shoes and strolled over.

"Hey, Auntie, what's the occasion today? Is your family celebrating?"

The older woman gave him a wary look, her words mumbled indistinctly, "Just trying to improve our lives, what's with the talk of 'improving' or 'improving'?"

As they were talking, they reached out and closed the door tightly, blocking Sha Zhu's gaze as he peered inside.

"Hey! What's there to hide?"

Sha Zhu pursed his lips and turned to look at Zhou Feng's house.

At this moment, Zhou Feng was holding a bowl of white rice and eating it with pickled vegetables.

Qin Huairu involuntarily took a step forward, and Sha Zhu could even hear her swallow.

Jia Zhangshi's words from last night resurfaced in Sha Zhu's mind, and when he saw the envious expression on Qin Huairu's face, Sha Zhu's anger flared up instantly.

Yan Bugui can exchange his things for rice and noodles, but Sister Qin was kicked out for taking a stool, right?

"damn it!"

Without saying a word, before Qin Huairu could even react, Sha Zhu stepped forward and kicked Zhou Feng's door.

"Zhou Feng, you fucking get out here!"

Zhou Feng, who was still inside the house, was also startled and almost dropped the bowl he was holding on the ground.

After putting down his bowl, Zhou Feng opened his front door and saw Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu outside. He couldn't help but sigh.

Okay, I knew I shouldn't mess with the women of the Jia family during my early development.

Wherever Qin Huairu is, the tiger-shaped writing brush will come as soon as you smell it!