Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

Zhou Jianguo slept more soundly than anyone else.

I no longer experience the chest tightness and shortness of breath from working 996 in my past life, nor do I feel anxious and flustered when I wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

I opened my eyes and saw the silver-gray hamster lying sprawled in the corner, its two little paws clutching the half-bottle handle from last night, wood shavings hanging from its mouth, snoring loudly.

"She's someone who can eat and sleep a lot."

Zhou Jianguo rolled off the kang (a heated brick bed), and his stomach obligingly rumbled.

In the winter of 1960, I had no oil or fat in my stomach.

With a thought, a heavy bucket of "specially supplied pure peanut oil" appeared out of thin air in his hand.

Unscrew the lid, and the rich aroma of peanuts fills the entire room.

For someone else, they would have to dip the oil in with the tip of a chopstick.

But Zhou Jianguo's wrist twitched.

"Splash—"

The amber-colored oil was spread thickly all over the bottom of the large iron pot, as if it were free.

I sliced ​​the two leftover dark brown steamed buns from yesterday into thin slices.

"Sizzle!!"

The cold slices of steamed bun were put into the pan, causing a loud popping sound.

The aroma of caramelized starch mixed with the scent of peanut oil seeps into the beds of every family in the courtyard house, following the chimney.

……

Intermediate People's Court.

An old man named Yi Zhonghai, with a dark face, was helping Jia Zhangshi, who had just returned from the hospital.

Last night was pure torture. Bang Geng's leg is practically useless now, but this Jia Zhangshi is even more bizarre. She howled like a ghost in the hospital corridor all night, insisting that she saw will-o'-the-wisps coming to claim her life, and the doctors and nurses were too scared to get close.

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi had disheveled hair, squinted eyes, and bloodshot eyes.

"Sister-in-law, we're home. Please calm down..."

Before Yi Zhonghai could finish speaking, his nose twitched involuntarily twice.

This taste?!

Deep-fried bread slices?!

Jia Zhangshi's eyes, which had been dazed, were now watering the moment she smelled the aroma of oil.

She shook off Yi Zhonghai, sniffed hard, and fixed her gaze on Zhou Jianguo's tightly closed door.

"Zhou Jianguo! You heartless, childless bastard!!"

As she spoke, she sat down on the cement platform in front of the Zhou family's house, slapping her thigh:

"This is outrageous! God, are you blind?! My dog, Bang Geng, is still lying in the hospital crying in pain, his leg is about to be amputated! And this murderer is at home eating fish, meat, and fried buns!"

"Everyone, come and see! This is a den of cannibals! They're drinking the blood of our hamster!"

That shout woke up the entire courtyard.

Second Uncle Liu Haizhong carried a toothbrush mug, Third Uncle Yan Bugui carried a pair of glasses with a broken leg, and Sha Zhu rushed out wearing a cotton-padded coat.

These days, if anyone's house smells of deep-fried food, they're considered the enemy of the entire neighborhood and the focus of everyone's attention.

"Wow! This smell... how much oil did it take?" Yan Bugui's Adam's apple bobbed wildly, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Is Zhou Jianguo out of his mind?"

The second aunt curled her lip, her face full of jealousy: "She's so heartless! She ruined someone else's child like that, and she still has the nerve to eat and drink well. She's not even human!"

Seeing that a large crowd had gathered, Yi Zhonghai straightened his back.

He's a respected elder in this area, so he has to uphold justice and, more importantly, make up for the loss of face he suffered last night.

"Build a nation!"

Yi Zhonghai, hands behind his back, spoke in a deep, authoritative voice: "Don't hide. Bang Geng's surgery and nutritional expenses are still quite a bit short. As the instigator, you not only have to take full responsibility, but you also have to give Aunt Jia an explanation! Making such a commotion so early in the morning, are you deliberately trying to upset the neighbors?"

Inside the house, all noise ceased.

"Squeak—"

Zhou Jianguo came out carrying an enamel plate. On the plate were several slices of steamed buns, fried to a golden brown and crispy, still sizzling with oil.

Without even glancing at Jia Zhangshi on the ground, he picked up a piece and took a bite.

The crisp sound was particularly loud in the courtyard.

"That's a novel idea, old man," Zhou Jianguo said, swallowing a steamed bun, his lips glistening with oil. "I use my own money, buy my own oil, and fry my own buns. What, what law have I broken? Or has this courtyard house changed hands to the Jia family, and I have to report to you to eat breakfast?"

"You...you're just being unreasonable!" Yi Zhonghai exclaimed angrily. "Neighbors should be mindful of each other's feelings! The Jia family has suffered a great calamity..."

"Sentimental ties?" Zhou Jianguo's eyes turned cold. "If I had slept any better last night, wouldn't I be in mourning for his mangy dog ​​right now?"

After saying that, ignoring Yi Zhonghai's face, which had turned a deep purplish-red, he turned around and pulled out a strangely shaped black lump from behind the door.

System reward – Fully automatic infrared sensor anti-theft crossbow.

Amidst the astonished and uncertain gazes of the crowd, Zhou Jianguo, standing on a stool, leisurely hung the crossbow on the iron hook directly above the door frame.

"Smack."

Switch on.

A thin beam of red light shot out.

The red dot flickered twice in the air before fixing precisely in the center of Jia Zhangshi's forehead.

"What...what the hell is this?!" Liu Haizhong was so frightened that his hand trembled, and the toothbrush cup almost fell on his foot. He instinctively felt a chill.

Zhou Jianguo jumped off the stool, dusted off his hands, and said in a calm tone:

"It's nothing. A big rat came into the house last night, and I was worried, so I got a foreign gadget for self-defense."

"See that red dot? If anyone steps across this threshold without my permission, even a fly, this thing will automatically fire."

"Effective range of fifty meters, accurate targeting."

Before he finished speaking, he casually picked up half a blue brick from the side of the door and tossed it into the air.

Just as the brick flew across the red line in front of the door—

"call out!"

A very faint sound of something cutting through the air.

"Duh!"

Before the blue bricks even hit the ground, a steel needle gleaming with a faint blue light was driven directly into the screen wall opposite!

It penetrates three-tenths of an inch into the stone!

"hiss--!!!"

The entire hospital erupted in a unified, synchronized inhalation.

Everyone watching took three big steps back in unison, afraid of being hit by the red dot.

Sha Zhu shrank his neck, feeling a chill run down his spine. If that pricked someone, wouldn't it be bone-chilling?

"You'd better stay away from my house." Zhou Jianguo took another bite of his steamed bun. "This needle is coated with anesthetic; it could even knock out a big black bear from the mountains. I won't be responsible if you get hurt."

Jia Zhangshi slumped to the ground, the red dot hovering between her eyes.

Just then, the residual effects of the "Nightmare Talisman" hidden within her body were activated by this extreme terror.

In Jia Zhangshi's bloodshot vision, the scene before her eyes changed.

Zhou Jianguo, who was eating steamed buns at the door, began to twist and elongate, her face turning pale and swollen, gradually resembling her dead husband, Lao Jia!

He floated over, holding the poisoned steel needle, a sinister smile on his face.

"Ahhhhhh!!! It's a ghost!!!"

At that moment, all thoughts of weakness in the legs and throwing a tantrum were forgotten.

She frantically crawled backward, banging her head against the air repeatedly until her forehead was covered in blood.

"Old Jia! Old Jia, don't come any closer! I was wrong! I was really wrong!"

Jia Zhangshi wept uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. It was a fear that came from the depths of her soul that made her reveal all the secrets she had kept hidden in her heart:

"I shouldn't have embezzled your pension! I shouldn't have hidden it in the sole of the shoe I'd stitched! I'm so sorry, Dongxu! I shouldn't have been so reluctant to give him money for medical treatment, causing him to develop chronic illness and pass away so young!"

"I even stole some of the corn kernel powder! It was for him to nourish his body! I ate it all! Old Jia, please spare me! Don't take me away! Don't burn me!"

The entire hospital was in an uproar!

Everyone is stupid.

Yi Zhonghai's face, which had been tense all along, turned a deep purplish-red.

Compensation? Hidden funds?

Hidden in the sole of the shoe?

Refusing to take their own son to see a doctor?

Stealing his grandson's nutritional supplements?

This...this is the "model impoverished household" that Yi Zhonghai talks about every day, the one who is the most impoverished in the entire hospital?

This is Jia Zhangshi, who always complains about being poor and tries to squeeze food out of her neighbors.

The empty lunchbox that Sha Zhu was carrying fell to the ground with a "clatter" and rolled a long way.

It turns out that all those so-called difficulties were just an act!

They're walking on a fortune!

Jia Zhangshi was still frantically kowtowing and begging for mercy at the air, her crotch soaked with sweat.

Zhou Jianguo leaned against the door frame, slowly stuffing the last piece of steamed bun into his mouth and patting the crumbs off his hands.

He looked at Yi Zhonghai, who was trembling all over, and casually delivered the final blow:

"Sir, listen to this."

"This is the impoverished family you were talking about, struggling to make ends meet? They're practically stepping on their own pension money. Tsk tsk, looks like Bang Geng's medical expenses are sorted out. Shouldn't you give everyone an explanation for this hospital-wide donation drive?"

Yi Zhonghai pointed at Jia Zhangshi, who was still going crazy, and hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter a single word.

That old face of his was slapped so hard by that shoe today.

He flung his sleeves, too ashamed to even utter the classic phrase "respect the elderly and care for the young," and slunk back into the crowd, not daring to lift his head.

At that moment, a pleasant notification sound rang in Zhou Jianguo's mind.

[Ding! Mission "Completely Intimidate the Birds in the Courtyard" has been successfully completed.]

[Rewards have been issued: 5 jin of fresh, premium pork belly, and 1 packet of secret braising sauce.]

Zhou Jianguo looked at the piece of fatty and lean pork belly in the system space and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Ignoring the chaos outside, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

That was just an appetizer.

"Now, it's time for the main course."

Inside the room, Zhou Jianguo took out the piece of pork belly.

Outside the door, the neighbors, still reeling from their shock, hadn't yet dispersed when suddenly, the aroma of braised pork, a hundred times more fragrant than the fried steamed buns they'd just tasted, wafted out through the crack in the door...