Siheyuan: Why does your brother beat you up every day, Shazhu?

She picked up one carefully, peeled off the candy wrapper with the White Rabbit printed on it, and put the milky white candy into her mouth.

"Mmm... so sweet! So fragrant!"

The rich aroma of milk and sweetness instantly filled her mouth, and Yu Shui narrowed her eyes in happiness:

"Brother! It's so delicious! I wish I could eat it every day!" she said with a little greed.

He Weiguo was happy when he saw his sister's satisfied look, but he still said:

"Silly girl, I have some candy, so it's okay to eat it every day. But don't eat too much, it'll ruin your teeth, okay? Just eat it occasionally to satisfy your craving."

Yu Shui held the candy in her mouth and nodded obediently: "Yes! Brother, I remember! I'll just eat one!"

Looking at Yu Shui's satisfied little face, He Weiguo munched on a steamed bun while his thoughts turned to tomorrow's big event - collecting food!

He put down his chopsticks and asked the rain:

"Yushui, have you received our food ration for this month?"

"I heard that tomorrow, the 25th, is the last day. After that, it will be invalid."

Rainwater was licking the sweetness from the candy wrapper with great care, but shook her head when she heard this:

"Brother, I don't know about this. In the past, my second brother always went to the street to collect it, and I've never been there. I don't know if they collected it this month."

He Weiguo's heart skipped a beat.

He originally planned to just give his own grain book to Sha Zhu to collect it.

But now... seeing that Sha Zhu's legs went weak when he saw Qin Huairu, he was really worried!

What if this bastard gets carried away and takes the grain and then "lends" it to the Jia family, or is coaxed away by Qin Huairu with most of it in a few words? That would really make him so angry that he would vomit blood!

No!

The grain capital, our lifeblood, must never be left in Sha Zhu's hands!

He turned his gaze to Rainwater, who was sipping the candy, and an idea came to his mind.

Although this child is young, she is thoughtful and sensible. More importantly, she is afraid of herself and knows what is important.

"Rainwater," He Weiguo's tone became serious:

"Brother wants to discuss something with you."

Yu Shui immediately sat up straight and looked at his brother seriously.

"From now on, our family's food base," He Weiguo pointed at himself:

"This copy of mine," he pointed in the direction of Shazhu's house, "and your second brother's copy, I give them all to you for safekeeping!"

Yu Shui opened her eyes wide in surprise.

He Weiguo continued:

"Every month when it's time to collect grain, you take your grain book, call your second brother, and go to the street to collect the grain."

"Remember, when you get back, tell Big Brother how many kilograms of rice, noodles, and whole grains you've collected, and keep a mental tally!"

He stared at the rain with sharp eyes:

"And the most important thing! If your second brother dares to have any evil intentions and wants to give the food away, especially to the wrong people... tell your eldest brother immediately! Don't be afraid of him! Your eldest brother will take care of him! Do you understand?"

Yu Shui was stunned by her elder brother's serious tone and nodded vigorously:

"Yes! Brother, I remember it!"

He Weiguo emphasized his tone again, with an undeniable warning:

"Yushui, this is about whether our family can have food to eat! It's a matter of principle!"

"You can't just be soft-hearted and protect your second brother just because he begs you for a few words, or he does you a small favor!"

"If you dare to protect him and hide it from me... then from now on, don't recognize me as your big brother!"

These are very serious words!

Yu Shui's face turned pale, and he immediately stood up and said hurriedly:

"Brother! Don't worry! I will definitely take good care of our family's grain! I will take good care of our family's food!"

"I won't let my second brother give away even a grain of rice! I promise! I will never protect him!"

Her little hands tightly grasped the corner of her clothes, her eyes full of determination and a hint of excitement of being trusted.

He Weiguo looked at his sister's serious expression, his expression softened, and he nodded:

"Well, I believe you. Sit down and have some candy."

Chapter 35: Big Brother! You won’t fight me this time, right?

Sha Zhu lingered outside the courtyard for over an hour until it was getting dark. He then cautiously opened the door, poked half his head in, and spoke in a flattering and tentative voice:

"Brother... Big Brother? I... I did as you said. I took a shower and had my hair cut... This time... I won't fight, right?"

He Weiguo looked up.

Hey! It's really different!

The messy hair was cut into a flat top, and the face and neck were washed clean.

Although the face still looks older than his actual age, he looks much more energetic and pleasing to the eye.

"Ok.

"He Weiguo snorted in his nose, which was considered as approval, but his tone was still condescending:

"Look at yourself in the mirror. Do you like yourself now, or do you like yourself before, when you looked so shabby?"

"Remember this: from now on, change your clothes every two days! What you washed yesterday should be dry tomorrow, so change into it!"

"If I see you looking sloppy and greasy again, watch out for your skin! I'm telling you this once, and it's etched in my head!"

When Sha Zhu heard that he would not fight, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and nodded rapidly:

"Brother! Don't worry! I'll remember this! I'll change to a clean one every day from now on! I guarantee it'll be spotless!"

As long as he doesn't get beaten with a belt, he can do anything!

"You'd better really remember it!" He Weiguo was seriously skeptical of his promise.

All the things I told you so many times when you left in the morning, you completely forgot about them when you came back in the evening?

This memory is not much better than that of a fish!

But he was not in a hurry. If he didn't remember being beaten once, he would beat him again. There would always be a way to defeat him.

The rain also chimed in:

"Second brother, eldest brother is right! Now that you've cleaned up, you look much more energetic!"

"Really?" Sha Zhu was praised by his sister. He touched the stubble of his newly shaved head a little embarrassedly and grinned foolishly.

"Of course it's true!" Yu Shui nodded seriously:

"Second brother, you're only in your twenties and haven't even gotten married yet! If you keep being so rude as before, which girl would be willing to be with you?"

Sha Zhu scratched his head and laughed, "Okay! Listen to my sister! And listen to big brother! I will definitely be clean from now on!"

He Weiguo ignored his silly smile and knocked on the table:

"Okay, enough of this small talk. Come over here and sit down! Let's have a meeting! We need to set some rules so we can live better in the future!"

He glanced at Sha Zhu, "What are you doing standing there? Come and sit down!"

Sha Zhu's heart tightened, and he moved to the table reluctantly and sat down next to the stool. He didn't even dare to sit firmly, for fear that his elder brother would pull out his belt again if they disagreed.

The family of three finally sat down around the small square table.

He Weiguo cleared his throat and got straight to the point:

"The first thing: our family's food banknotes."

He looked at Sha Zhu sharply, "From now on, my food reserves and yours will be kept by Yu Shui! Any objections?"

"Ah?" Sha Zhu was stunned and retorted subconsciously:

"Brother... this... the rain is still light! Is it okay for her to manage the grain banknotes?"

"If I don't let her take care of it, then you will?" He Weiguo sneered and pointed out bluntly:

"Give you the responsibility? So you can take the ration book and happily deliver the rations to the neighbors? Give away all our rations in exchange for a good guy card?"

Sha Zhu was choked so much that his face turned red, and he stiffened his neck to defend himself:

"Brother! You...why do you keep looking at me like that? I...how could I do that? Can't we just live together?"

"Haha!" He Weiguo sneered:

"What you did before has ruined your credibility in my eyes! There's no room for negotiation! The grain is under the control of the rainwater management!"

Sha Zhu was dispirited and muttered softly: "You have already decided, why are you still asking me..."

"You're the only one who talks too much!" He Weiguo glared at him. "Have we received our monthly ration?"

"Not yet. Tomorrow is the 25th, the last day. I plan to pick it up tomorrow."

"Yeah." He Weiguo nodded, took out his food allowance from his pocket and placed it in front of Yu Shui:

"Tomorrow you and Zhuzi go get some food, and take my ration along. I have something to do tomorrow, so I have to go out."

He thought about Zhou Zhenbang's fishing trip, but he didn't have much hope. What big fish could there be in the river these days? They'd already fished out all the shrimps, and he still wanted to go fishing!

But since the leader invites me, I have to go.

Seeing this, Sha Zhu had no choice but to get up and fumble under his mattress for a long time before pulling out his well-worn grain book. He reluctantly handed it to Yu Shui as well:

"Sister... then... from now on... our family's food allowance will be kept by you..."

Yu Shui solemnly took the two grain books and carefully opened them to take a look.

When she saw the words "Monthly ration: 40 kilograms" on He Weiguo's notebook, her eyes widened in surprise:

"Brother! Your ration is 40 kilograms, right?"

"Well, what happened?"