Courtyard House: Is Xu Damao a childless man? Let me help.

Hearing this voice, Jia Zhangshi's heart skipped a beat, but she still said softly, "Oh, I just remembered that I forgot something at the neighborhood office. I'll go back and get it now."

But this question and answer, along with the sound of the neighbor across the hall entering the building, actually managed to wake up Bang Geng.

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's retreating figure as she walked downstairs, Banggeng immediately called out, "Grandma! You're finally back! It's me, Banggeng! I've been waiting for you here for so long! Please open the door and let me in to rest for a while."

Hearing Bang Geng call her name, Jia Zhangshi turned ashen-faced. Unfortunately, because the hallway was dimly lit, the elderly neighbor didn't notice anything amiss and whispered to Jia Zhangshi, "I'm sorry."

"Sister Zhang, is this young man calling you? Your grandson?"

It was impossible for Jia Zhangshi to say she didn't know Bang Geng at this point, so she could only pretend not to notice, turn her head to look, and then 'surprisingly' 'discover' Bang Geng.

And then... that was it. Since the thief had already found him, all he could do was quickly invite his 'good grandson' inside.

Chapter 316 A Hearty Filial Piety (belonging to)

The grandfather and grandson walked into Jia Zhangshi's rented house together. The house was actually not small. Since it was Ye Jianchuan who chose it, there was no reason for him to be reluctant to spend money and only be able to buy a small house.

So this house is quite big; it's a two-bedroom, one-living room house, and the area is about 60 square meters.

Such a large area, rented to Jia Zhangshi for only three yuan a month, can be considered a good deed by Ye Jianchuan. Every month when Jia Zhangshi pays the rent to Ye Jianchuan's son, Ye Jianchuan can receive a corresponding 'good deed' reward from the system.

Of course, those rewards were nothing to brag about, but seeing how big his grandma's house was now, Bang Geng really got excited.

After looking around, I went straight to the master bedroom. "Grandma, I'll stay here for a while. Is that alright?"

Jia Zhangshi looked at the room Bang Geng pointed to, a little unhappy. "Grandma is staying in that room now. Why don't you go to the room next door? Grandma will make your bed for you later."

But Banggeng was not happy. "No, that room is too small and it's dark. I've had enough of living in this kind of place. I don't want to live in this kind of room anymore!"

After saying that, Bang Geng still felt very wronged. He rushed into Jia Zhangshi's master bedroom, picked up all the quilts and bedding from Jia Zhangshi's bed, and threw them onto the bed in the second bedroom.

When Jia Zhangshi saw her grandson being so 'filial,' she almost had a stroke from anger. But what could she do when she couldn't escape today? Helpless, Jia Zhangshi could only go back to her room, make her bed, and then take out a mattress and a quilt from the cabinet.

As for helping Bang Geng make the bed? Jia Zhangshi didn't have that idea for the time being, and simply threw the mattress and quilt onto the previous bed. "Okay, then make the bed yourself."

After saying that, she turned around and prepared to pack up the clothes in her closet, intending to move them to the second bedroom as well.

But the persistent, nagging grandpa spoke up again, "Grandma, is there nothing to eat at home? I haven't had anything good to eat in ages. Please make me something to eat!"

Jia Zhangshi herself was already living frugally, and at night she could only afford to drink some porridge or something similar; there was nothing good to eat.

However, since Banggeng was hungry, Jia Zhangshi could only reheat the porridge she had prepared for dinner and serve it to Banggeng.

Unfortunately, Banggeng looked down on the plain porridge. When he saw that Jia Zhangshi had brought him a bowl of plain porridge, he immediately became unhappy. "Grandma! I was just released today!"

Just how bad is the food inside? You've eaten it before, so you're saying that I ate plain porridge and cornbread every day inside, and now that I'm out, I'm still going to eat plain porridge and cornbread?

"You should keep this for yourself!" After saying that, Banggeng threw the bowl on the table and went off to sulk.

This sudden movement caused some of the porridge in the bowl to spill out, which distressed Jia Zhangshi greatly. Although it was just a bowl of plain porridge, which is not considered a rare treat nowadays, it was still much better than the cornmeal porridge of more than ten years ago!

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi had picked up the half-bowl of porridge with great distress, Banggeng started to rack his brains again.

After Jia Zhangshi finished drinking most of the bowl of white porridge, Banggeng turned around and said, "Grandma, give me a dollar, I'll go downstairs and cook a couple of dishes."

As mentioned before, Jia Zhangshi only earns about twenty yuan a month, which is far too little for her to afford cooking.

It wasn't that Jia Zhangshi couldn't afford the one yuan, but Bang Geng needed one yuan for food every day, and with three meals a day, that would cost two or three yuan a day!

If I spend like this every day, the little money I have won't last a month, let alone half a month!

So Jia Zhangshi could only shake her head and say, "It's a pity, Grandma doesn't have much money left. As you know, Grandma doesn't have any income, and it's already difficult enough for her to barely support herself."

You just came out today, so take this dollar and buy yourself something nice. Tomorrow during the day, Grandma will take you to the market to find some work, otherwise we'll both be starving.

Jia Zhangshi took out a dollar from her pocket and handed it to Banggeng. She knew that if she didn't give him the dollar today, the matter would probably not be over. However, if she could successfully persuade Banggeng to find a job, it might be a good thing.

However, although Jia Zhangshi's idea was good, it was extremely difficult to implement. After Bang Geng took the one yuan, he pouted and said, "I've only just come out and you're already thinking of making me work?"

You know how tiring this is! Let me rest for a few days first. Okay, that's all for now, I'm going downstairs to eat!

After saying that, Bang Geng turned around and left. When Jia Zhangshi heard Bang Geng's words, her face turned ashen.

After all, she was the one who raised the child herself, so she naturally knew what Bang Geng's words meant. Taking a few days off meant, frankly, it was just a delaying tactic.

The fact that Bang Geng made such perfunctory and procrastinating remarks can only prove one thing: that Bang Geng has never even thought about going out to work.

Thinking about it, it's actually quite normal. Bang Geng was a shop owner for a while before. Although shop owners also have to work, their (good) jobs are usually not that tiring.

When he ran a restaurant, he basically just collected money and bought groceries. Later, he even had the groceries delivered directly to him. He only needed to check the contents and pay the bill.

As for Liu Guangtian's restaurant, besides collecting money and buying groceries, Liu Guangtian also needs to wipe the tables and take orders himself. All of these things are done by others in Banggeng's restaurant.

Of course, this also costs money. Hiring a waiter costs 45 yuan a month, which is relatively low, considering you're working for a private individual.

Liu Guangtian was reluctant to part with the forty-odd yuan, so he did everything himself. As for Bang Geng, he thought forty-odd yuan was nothing, so he naturally hired someone to do it.

Chapter 317 Master Ye's Cola, the Cola of Our Own People

As a result, Bang Geng's life became much easier. During that period, he only had a little work to do each day, and he could earn tens or hundreds of yuan a day.

After such a "quick money" experience, it's obviously impossible to get Banggeng back to the factory to do hard manual labor and earn only a few dozen yuan a month.

While it sounds reasonable, it depends on the situation. If his family can support Bang Geng to make a comeback, then there's naturally no problem with him not going to work but continuing to try to open a shop.

The problem is that there are simply no such conditions at home. Let alone providing the money to help him make a comeback and open a new shop, if Bang Geng just stays at home and doesn't go out to work, it's questionable whether the money Jia Zhangshi earns can support the two of them.

Just as Jia Zhangshi was worrying about her 'future', Bang Geng took the money and went straight to the small restaurant downstairs. After sitting down, he ordered two stir-fried dishes and a bowl of rice.

　303 Just these two dishes and a bowl of rice cost Banggeng eight cents, and he didn't even think about saving the remaining two cents. He turned around and ran to the convenience store next door to buy a bottle of Coke.

That's right, it's the 'Chinese Cola' produced by Ye Jianchuan's factory. Because it has successfully obtained approval from higher authorities, Ye Jianchuan quickly launched the product into the market.

Of course, the results weren't exactly ideal, because the promotional methods were somewhat... awkward.

The main point is that there are still many people in China who don't know what Coca-Cola is. So when you promote something like "China's own Coca-Cola," it just makes people a little confused.

In addition, this product is somewhat similar to Arctic Ocean soda in that it's both carbonated and a bit pricey. So, in an era where people have only just solved the problem of basic needs, it's quite difficult to boost the sales of Coca-Cola.

However, although this product did not perform very well in the mainland market, Ye Jianchuan, through the Lou family's connections, managed to get the cola to be sold in Hong Kong, where it sold very well.

It wasn't because the people of Hong Kong were particularly patriotic at the time, but because, given that the taste was exactly the same, 'Master Ip's Cola' was only about 80% more affordable.

The products are almost identical, with no difference in taste. So, once people are familiar with them, they naturally prefer to choose the relatively cheaper 'Master Ye's Cola'.

This was undoubtedly good news for Ye Jianchuan. He had previously considered starting to earn foreign exchange, but whatever it was, such as instant noodles, biscuits, or bottled water, although they were new items in China at this time, they were different abroad.

Moreover, the instant noodles that Ye Jianchuan makes are relatively suited to the tastes of Chinese people, so it would be very difficult for them to win against local brands in other countries.

Therefore, it would be very difficult to enter the international market by relying on the same products as before. However, things are different now. Although Coca-Cola is available outside, it no longer has any distinction in flavor.

Since the tastes are almost the same—no, not just almost the same, but exactly the same—then apart from having a larger market share and a more well-known brand, Coca-Cola doesn't actually have any advantages.

Even... domestic labor was very cheap until after the millennium, so if you produced Coca-Cola domestically and sold it overseas, the cost might actually be lower than Coca-Cola's own production cost.

Of course, Ye Jianchuan doesn't yet have the strength to compete with the other party on a full scale, so at this stage, Master Ye's Coca-Cola is only being sent to neighboring regions such as Hong Kong Island and Japan and South Korea to test the waters.

After spending all his money, Bang Geng returned to the house where Jia Zhangshi lived. The grandmother and grandson didn't have much to say to each other, and just sat there in a daze for a while before going to sleep.

. . . . . .

The next morning, as usual, Jia Zhangshi got up very early, washed up briefly, and went out.

And what about the stick-shaped dog? Although it stayed inside for such a long time, it didn't have any concept of a 'biological clock' at all, and slept straight until almost 11 o'clock before getting up.

After sleeping for so long, Bang Geng naturally felt his stomach growling when he woke up, so he rolled over and started yelling.

"Grandma, Grandma? Get me something to eat!"

But Jia Zhangshi wasn't home at all at that time! Bang Geng called out a few times, and after realizing that no one was paying attention to him, he finally left his bedroom and wandered around the house.

Upon discovering that Jia Zhangshi was not at home, Bang Geng was immediately furious. Didn't that old hag leave him any money for food? Was she trying to starve him to death?

No way! I'm not one to sit idly by and wait to die! With that thought, Banggeng immediately sprang into action, starting to search the house thoroughly.

It's a pity that you, Bang Geng, are such a scoundrel. Does Jia Zhangshi, who raised you, not know what kind of person you are? Now that she knows what kind of person you are, would Jia Zhangshi still keep money in the house? Of course not.

So Banggeng searched the house from top to bottom, but still couldn't find any money.

Left with no other choice, Banggeng could only run to the kitchen and make do with the leftover porridge that Jia Zhangshi had left in the pot that morning.

However, this amount of food was clearly not enough, so after finishing it, Banggeng was still a little unsatisfied and immediately started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets again, hoping to find something else to eat.

Unfortunately, Jia Zhangshi's own living conditions were already very difficult, so apart from ordinary grains, oils, rice, and flour, there was nothing else in the kitchen.

Bang Geng was furious, but Jia Zhangshi wasn't around, so even if he wanted to vent his anger, he couldn't find anyone to vent it on. Helpless, Bang Geng could only go back to bed and lie down. In the blink of an eye, it was evening.

Chapter 318 Madam Jia Zhang was no pushover either.

Jia Zhangshi dragged her tired body back home and then called out to Bang Geng to come out and prepare dinner.

But to Jia Zhangshi's surprise, she was greeted with a glare from her "good grandson".

"Why are you only coming back now? There wasn't any food left at home, and you didn't even think to leave me any money. Are you trying to starve me to death?"

Madam Jia was dumbfounded. After a long pause, she finally spoke, "Didn't we leave you some porridge in the pot in the kitchen?"

"Who can eat such a small amount of porridge? Do you think it's for feeding a cat?"

Jia Zhangshi was speechless for a while before speaking again, "Didn't I just give you a dollar last night? You don't have a single cent left?"

But Banggeng didn't seem to care. "Who can spend a dollar? I didn't even have a proper meal yesterday. There's nothing left? It would be a miracle if there was anything left!"

After saying that, without waiting for Jia Zhangshi to react, Bang Geng waved his hand and continued, "Alright, alright; I'm too lazy to talk to you about this anymore. What do you want to eat tonight?"

Jia Zhangshi originally wanted to teach Banggeng a lesson, telling him to be more frugal, but Banggeng had already changed the subject, so Jia Zhangshi could only go along with it.

"Tonight, we're having pork stew with cabbage. See? Grandma bought you half a pound of pork. We're having stewed cabbage with pork tonight!"

Actually, pork had already risen to 1.2 yuan per jin at this time, so half a jin of pork cost 6 mao, which was already considered a very 'sumptuous' meal for Jia Zhangshi.

Unfortunately, Banggeng pouted, looking unwilling. "Pork stew with cabbage? Just one dish? What about the staple food? Rice?"

Seeing Jia Zhangshi nod, Banggeng waved his hand and said, "Forget it, keep this for yourself. Give me a few more dollars and I'll go out to eat. This little bit of food isn't enough for anyone."

As he spoke, he reached out to ask Jia Zhangshi for money again, but Jia Zhangshi dared not give him any money. Yesterday he only asked for one yuan, but today he asked for several yuan. What would he ask for tomorrow?