Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Don't touch my parents!

The gate of the Yi family creaked open a crack, and Yi Li wanted to come out but then withdrew—she knew in her heart that she would not get the better of a direct confrontation with Jia Zhangshi, so she could only hesitate in secret about whether to come out and speak up for her.

Just then, Chen Shuxiang's voice rang out from the He family's house: "Zhang Ruhua, have you no shame?"

"I'm just thinking about the children, afraid they'll go astray!" Jia Zhangshi shamelessly defended herself.

"Pah! My Zhuzi and Damao are both decent kids. If you keep spouting nonsense here, believe me, I can tear your mouth apart even if I have to use my crutches!" Chen Shuxiang was so angry that she started cursing.

"If you don't want me to see it, then don't. Why get so angry? I'm only doing this for the good of our courtyard!" Madam Jia Zhang was still putting on a brave face.

"Zhu Zi, take Da Mao home, it's so cold outside!" Chen Shuxiang was too lazy to waste any more words with her and shouted directly outside.

"Yes, Mom, we're coming back right away!" He Yuzhu replied, pulling Xu Damao towards the He family home.

Jia Zhangshi's triangular eyes were fixed on the bundle. Xu Damao turned around and made a face at her: "Hehehe!"

Enraged, Jia Zhangshi raised her hand as if to strike, but Xu Damao shrank back and quickly followed He Yuzhu into the He family home.

Out of the corner of her eye, Madam Jia noticed the Yi family's gate was ajar. She glared at it fiercely and roared, "What are you looking at!"

Then, with a loud bang, the Yi family's gate slammed shut.

Seeing that she couldn't gain any advantage, Jia Zhangshi spat and cursed viciously, "I hope your whole family eats you to death!"

After saying that, he bent down to pick up the cabbage on the ground—but it was just for show, since there weren't many vegetables to choose from in the dead of winter.

Carrying the cabbage into the house, she planned to cook it that evening and also have a good chat with Old Jia about it.

He Yuzhu entered the house, told Xu Damao to take the sparrows to the kitchen first, then slipped into the inner room, leaned close to Chen Shuxiang, gave her a thumbs-up, and wore a smug grin:

"Mother, you're amazing! You're just like that—"

"Get lost! You little brat, how dare you talk about your mother like that? Go and deal with your sparrows!" Chen Shuxiang laughed and scolded, raising a pillow as if to throw it at him.

"Alright! Just wait and enjoy the delicious roasted sparrow!" He Yuzhu bowed and turned to leave, while Chen Shuxiang's thrown pillow missed its mark.

"That brat, I wonder where he learned all this talkativeness from!" Chen Shuxiang shook her head and sighed.

It took half an hour just to pluck the sparrow's feathers, since they are so small that the fine downy feathers had to be slowly singed off with fire.

Then came the gutting and gutting. Xu Damao's mouth never stopped, constantly asking if the roasted sparrows smelled good and how many he could eat.

He Yuzhu was also thinking about how to cook them. It would be a waste to roast all the tiny sparrows. In the end, he decided to roast eight, stew ten, and save the remaining ten for tomorrow—it's freezing cold, they won't spoil even if left for a day.

After cleaning, He Yuzhu skewered the charcoal into four strings of two pieces each, then pulled out a pile of charcoal that was only warm and had no open flame from the wood-fired stove, and started grilling.

Before long, a rich, caramelized aroma filled the entire room.

Xu Damao kept swallowing his saliva, and He Yuzhu couldn't help but secretly swallow his own saliva as well—in these days, oil and meat are scarce, and this kind of wild game is much more delicious than ordinary pork.

As the two were grilling away, over at the Jia family's house next door, Jia Zhangshi's nose, which was more sensitive than a dog's, twitched twice.

"Roasted sparrows? No wonder those two little bastards wouldn't let me see them. Damn it, could they at least leave a few for me to die?"

She immediately turned to Jia Dongxu and sternly ordered, "Dongxu, go to the He family and ask that kid for a few sparrows!"

Jia Dongxu, already itching with desire from the alluring fragrance, immediately agreed, "Yes, Mother!"

After saying that, he put on his shoes and went out the door, but he didn't dare to barge into the He family's house directly—after all, his mother had just been severely scolded by Chen Shuxiang, and he was afraid that he would be scolded as well if he went in.

So he followed the scent and tiptoed to the window of the He family's kitchen, peeking inside.

Just as I reached the window, before I even entered the room, I heard Xu Damao shouting at the top of his lungs from inside:

"Brother Zhu, how much longer do we have to wait? This smells so good! Look at my mouth, it's practically drooling on the floor."

After saying that, he raised his sleeve and wiped his mouth haphazardly.

This scene made He Yuzhu feel disgusted, and she retorted irritably, "You're really disgusting."

"Hehe, I just couldn't hold back any longer," Xu Damao said with a grin. "Brother Zhu, will it be ready soon?"

"Soon!"

Upon hearing the words "almost done" while hiding outside the window, Jia Dongxu swallowed hard, his throat bobbing involuntarily. He quickly leaned forward to strike up a conversation:

"Zhu Zi, are you roasting sparrows? Could you share a few with your brother to try?"

Upon hearing Jia Dongxu's voice, Xu Damao jumped up like a spring:

"Hey, Jia Dongxu, what are you doing here? There's no room for you in this roasted sparrow!"

"Xu Damao, are you looking for a beating?" Jia Dongxu immediately retorted. "This was grilled by Zhu Zi, what's it to you? Aren't you just a freeloader too?"

"I contributed the slingshot, and I was also responsible for plucking the feathers, right, Brother Zhu? I definitely deserve to eat, right?" Xu Damao quickly tried to glorify himself.

"Okay, you can have the first one." He Yuzhu replied casually without even looking up, while flipping the meat skewer.

"Zhu Zi, I just wanted to try a few, could you give me a few?" Jia Dongxu was too lazy to argue with Xu Damao anymore, so he turned to look at He Yuzhu.

"If you want to eat them, go catch them yourself. There are plenty of sparrows in this courtyard."

"Give me a few to tide me over, I'll catch some myself tomorrow and return them to you right away!"

He Yuzhu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and thought to himself: Why does this routine sound so familiar? So the Jia family has been playing the "borrow things based on your ability" game since this point?

"Then you can eat it tomorrow when you catch it," He Yuzhu refused decisively. "I don't even have enough to go around."

"That's right, we might not even have enough to eat for ourselves!" Xu Damao immediately chimed in.

"You have so many, aren't they enough to fill a tooth gap? What difference would it make if I had a few more?" Jia Dongxu was still unwilling to give up.

"You're really shameless. Why should I give you food? Just because your skin is thicker than a wall?" Xu Damao's mouth was as venomous as a knife.

Although Jia Dongxu wasn't thin-skinned, these words were so hurtful that his face flushed red and then turned pale, and he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Xu Damao, you just wait, I'll beat you every time I see you from now on!" Jia Dongxu said angrily.

Xu Damao was actually a little scared, after all, when it came to fighting, he was no match for Jia Dongxu at all.