Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Chapter 278 Qin Huairu brings meat and vegetables to the Zhang family, Wang Mazi pays.

When Qin Jingru saw Qin Huairu arguing with a man with a pockmarked face, she rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky.

This man with a pockmarked face was old and ugly, looking at least thirty or forty years old. I don't know where Qin Huairu found this treacherous child.

Qin Jingru could tell at a glance that Qin Huairu was mistaking this pockmarked man for a great traitor like Sha Zhu.

She wanted to scold Qin Huairu, but then she remembered that Qin Huairu was the kind of ungrateful person who didn't even care about her parents, so she gave up the idea.

After taking the money from Wang Mazi, Qin Jingru didn't say anything. She just gave Qin Huairu a spoonful of minced meat and eggplant, a spoonful of cabbage, and two steamed buns.

She didn't stir-fry Qin Huairu or add extra food; she just cooked it normally, like everyone else.

Qin Huairu knew that Jingru didn't like her, so this time she didn't try to win him over. She smiled at Qin Jingru, stood aside with her lunchbox, and waited for Wang Mazi.

Wang Mazi ordered two steamed buns and a serving of shredded potatoes. After getting his food, he and Qin Huairu found a corner to sit down and eat.

Seeing this, Qin Jingru was speechless. She really couldn't understand why Qin Huairu had so many unfortunate children around her. It was Sha Zhu before, and now it was this pockmarked face.

It's clear that this pockmarked man is quite frugal. He himself is reluctant to eat, but he's willing to buy white flour buns and a meat dish for Qin Huairu. Calling him a great traitor is really not an exaggeration.

......

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

Qin Jingru returned to the courtyard but did not see Wang Feng, so she went to courtyard number 28.

Lou Xiao'e greeted Qin Jingru with a smile as soon as she saw her.

"Sister Jingru, you're off work? Brother Feng is inside."

"Um."

I made three dishes for dinner: braised pork belly, stir-fried lamb with scallions, and hot and sour shredded potatoes.

Lou Xiao'e made the braised pork and hot and sour shredded potatoes, while Qin Jingru made the stir-fried mutton with scallions. Now, Lou Xiao'e has received Qin Jingru's true teachings and her dishes are also very delicious. She has already mastered about 70-80% of Qin Jingru's culinary skills.

At the dinner table, Qin Jingru placed a piece of braised pork on Wang Feng's plate and said somewhat displeasedly:

"Brother Wang Feng, guess who I saw today?"

"Who is it?" Wang Feng asked curiously.

"Qin Huairu".

Wang Feng was speechless: "Jingru, Qin Huairu lives in the same courtyard as us and works at the same steel mill. What's so strange about you seeing her?"

"Hey Wang Feng, I saw Qin Huairu with a guy today, and he even paid for her lunch. Do you know what dishes Qin Huairu ordered for lunch today?"

Qin Jingru made a three-pointed hand gesture: "Three steamed buns, a serving of minced meat with eggplant and cabbage. That man eats cornbread and cabbage by himself, but he's generous in paying for Qin Huairu. I didn't expect Qin Huairu to have found another scumbag after only a few days in the factory."

Wang Feng laughed and then asked, "Jingru, was that man's face covered in pockmarks?"

Qin Jingru's eyes widened: "Brother Wang Feng, you're amazing! How did you know that?"

Wang Feng waved his hand with a smile: "Hey, I already knew. Do you remember the day of the Spring Festival holiday? Qin Huairu brought back a pound of pork and four pounds of flour by herself, twice as much as others. I saw with my own eyes that pockmarked man gave his share of pork and flour to Qin Huairu."

Hearing their conversation, Lou Xiao'e said with a smile, "Brother Feng, Sister Jingru, you always talk about Qin Huairu from your courtyard. I'd like to meet her. She must be quite pretty, otherwise she wouldn't attract so many people."

Qin Jingru nodded: "She's alright, but not as pretty as you. It's just that Qin Huairu is particularly good at pretending."

"Hey, Wang Feng, did you guys know? At noon today, Qin Huairu went to get some food. She clearly didn't want to pay, and she acted like she didn't want to take advantage of others. But after searching for a long time, she still couldn't come up with any money. She even said that she would ask that pockmarked guy to pay first and she would pay him back tomorrow. If I didn't know what kind of person Qin Huairu is, I would have been fooled by her."

Lou Xiao'e placed a piece of mutton on Wang Feng's plate and said with a smile, "Hehe, Qin Huairu definitely won't pay back that pockmarked face tomorrow. That pockmarked face is really stupid."

"That's right."

Wang Feng waved his hand with a smile: "Alright, Jingru, stop talking about Qin Huairu. You know what kind of person Qin Huairu is. Shazhu was tricked by her like this, and I bet this pockmarked face will also suffer a big fall at Qin Huairu's hands."

"By the way, Jingru, you said yesterday that next month is your mom's birthday. What day of next month is it?"

"The fifteenth, the fifteenth of February."

"Brother Wang Feng, could you come back to Qin Family Village with me next month? The bandits outside the city are so rampant these days. I heard yesterday that Xu Damao was stabbed in the back, so I'm too scared to leave the city," Qin Jingru said quickly.

"Okay." Wang Feng nodded in agreement.

"Wait, Jingru, you just said that Xu Damao was stabbed in the kidney?" Lou Xiao'e asked in surprise.

"Yeah, didn't Brother Wang Feng tell you?"

Wang Feng smiled slightly and explained, "Xu Damao went to the countryside to show a movie yesterday and was stabbed in the kidney by robbers. I heard he needs surgery to remove one kidney, but he should be out of danger. Otherwise, our hospital would have been in an uproar."

Upon hearing this, Lou Xiao'e patted her large chest in lingering fear.

Fortunately, when she went on a blind date with Xu Damao, Wang Feng reminded her that her father had investigated Xu Damao. If she married Xu Damao, her future life would be a nightmare.

Xu Damao has been having illicit affairs with many widows in the countryside and is unable to have children. Now he's missing a kidney, so whoever marries him will be left a widow.

The Lou family used to have a servant who once went out to help her father with some errands. He was stabbed in the back but was later saved. Her mother said that the man was unable to have sex with his wife afterward, and his wife even ran off with someone else. However, her father compensated the servant with a considerable amount of money, enough for him to live on for the rest of his life if he saved a little.

......

Courtyard No. 95, the middle courtyard, the Jia family.

Qin Huairu returned to the house, took a lunchbox out of her bag, and Banggeng ran over and asked, "Mom, what good food did you bring back today? Was there any meat?"

Qin Huairu nodded with a smile: "Yes, I'll make it for Banggeng later, okay?"

"Yay, we get to eat meat again!"

At the dinner table, Qin Huairu brought out the heated minced meat and eggplant dish, and Banggeng and Jia Zhangshi began to wolf it down.

This minced meat and eggplant dish had only a tiny bit of meat in it, but at least it had some meaty flavor. Qin Huairu couldn't bear to eat it, so she brought it back.

Qin Huairu gave the leftover white flour bun from lunch to Banggeng, while they ate cornbread instead. This made Jia Zhangshi very unhappy, but since there was only one white flour bun, she couldn't very well take it from Banggeng.

These past few days, Qin Huairu has brought back a meat dish every day, but Wang Mazi paid for all of them.

She hadn't gone to Qin Jingru's serving window the past few days because she didn't want Jingru to see her. Unexpectedly, Jingru changed to a different serving window today, and she still ran into Jingru. She hoped Jingru wouldn't gossip in the yard, otherwise there would be more rumors circulating.

After dinner, Qin Huairu wanted to talk to Jingru and ask her not to talk about her factory affairs in the yard, but unexpectedly, Wang Feng's house was locked. Helpless, she could only find an opportunity to talk to Jingru at the factory the next day.