Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

Chapter 257 Qin Huairu found another silly pillar

When Qin Huairu saw that Jia Zhangshi suspected her, she pursed her lips and said in a wronged tone:

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about? This meat and flour are from a colleague of mine who saw that our family was having a hard time. He and Dongxu had a good relationship before, so he gave us his own supplies and benefits."

Madam Jia sneered, "Qin Huairu, do you think I'm stupid? Half a pound of meat and two pounds of flour, who would be so generous? Instead of taking it home to eat themselves, they give it to you, a widow? Tell me, have you done anything to betray Dongxu?"

Qin Huairu wiped away her tears, her face full of grievance.

"Mom, I really didn't do anything to betray Dongxu. Yes, he does have some feelings for me, but I didn't promise him anything, nor did I let him take advantage of me. He insisted on giving me the supplies and benefits, how could I not want them? If you don't want these things, I'll return them to him after the New Year."

Upon hearing this, Madam Jia looked coldly at Qin Huairu and asked in a chilling voice, "You really didn't let anyone take advantage of you? You really didn't do anything to betray Dongxu?"

Qin Huairu nodded firmly: "Really, I haven't let anyone take advantage of me at the factory recently, nor have I done anything to betray Dongxu. I swear."

Having sworn an oath upon seeing Qin Huairu, Jia Zhangshi believed Qin Huairu's words.

"Alright, I'll take it then. But I'm warning you, if you dare do anything to betray Dongxu, I won't let you off the hook."

"Tonight, I'll cut two ounces of meat to treat my grandson's craving. We'll make dumplings tomorrow night."

"Okay, I'll go cook now."

Qin Huairu was in a good mood today. With just a few words, she got Wang Mazi to give her the supplies and benefits and even lend her five yuan. She didn't even let Wang Mazi touch her hand.

Isn't this just another kind of silly Zhu? Now that silly Zhu has lost his job and ignores her, he's unreliable. But she can find another silly Zhu, right?

With that thought in mind, she happily went to cook.

......

The front yard, the Yan family's house.

When Liu Yuhua and Yan Jiecheng returned to the house, each carrying half a jin of pork and two jin of flour, the third auntie couldn't stop smiling when she saw them.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that what Yan Jiecheng was holding wasn't pork, but half a pound of fish. She quickly asked:

"Jiecheng, what's wrong with you? Everyone else in our compound got half a pound of pork, but you only got half a pound of fish?"

Liu Yuhua glared at Yan Jiecheng with a displeased expression, then went back into her room without saying a word.

Yan Jiecheng said with a wry smile, "Mom, our workshop did an annual evaluation. The group with the worst performance only got half a pound of wild rabbit meat, and the group with the worst performance only got half a pound of fish."

The three women stared blankly at Yan Jiecheng and asked, "Jiecheng, so you belong to the worst group?"

Yan Jiecheng nodded with a wry smile.

The third aunt looked at Yan Jiecheng with a look of utter disappointment and said, "Jiecheng, can't you be a little more ambitious? So many people in our compound work at the steel mill, and you're the only one who brought back half a jin of fish. Everyone else brought back half a jin of pork. Qin Huairu even brought back a jin of pork and four jin of flour today. How can you be so disappointing? If the others find out, they'll laugh at you."

"Mom, I've been working really hard, and I'm so tired every day that my back is so sore I can barely straighten up, but I was still ranked as one of the worst performers. I went to the workshop director to argue with him, and he gave me a good scolding." Yan Jiecheng said with a wry smile.

The old woman waved her hand: "Alright, alright, you should go back inside. Luckily no one saw you, otherwise these people in the yard would laugh at you again."

"Ugh."

......

the other side.

Yi Zhonghai returned to the courtyard carrying half a pound of pork and two pounds of flour. He didn't say a word to anyone in the courtyard, and when they saw him, they stopped calling him "Grandpa."

So many things have happened recently, especially the matter of withholding Sha Zhu's living expenses, which has completely destroyed the prestige he had built up in the compound. When people in the compound see him, they all point and whisper about him behind his back.

Some time ago, on the very day Qin Huairu joined the factory, he applied to be transferred to the third fitter workshop. He didn't want to see Qin Huairu; he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist killing her too.

Qin Huairu has deceived him for so many years, he will never let her die so easily. He will make her suffer a fate worse than death for the rest of her life.

Now that he's in the third workshop, he eats at the first canteen every day, so he rarely runs into anyone from the institute.

Back inside, an older woman saw Yi Zhonghai carrying half a pound of pork and two pounds of flour, and couldn't help but ask:

"Old Yi, is this all the material benefits you're getting this year? How come it's the same as everyone else's? In previous years, didn't you Grade 8 workers get significantly more material benefits than others?"

Yi Zhonghai sighed: "In previous years, Director Yang had the final say. Director Yang paid more attention to technical aspects. Now that Director Yang has stepped down and Director Li has taken office, this year's Grade 8 workers will only receive the same treatment as ordinary workers."

Upon hearing this, the older woman sighed, "Sigh, I don't know what's wrong with this year. All sorts of bad things have happened this year. I hope things will go smoothly next year."

"Old Yi, now that Jia Dongxu is gone and Sha Zhu has fallen out with us, I think we should adopt a child from an orphanage when we have time. Otherwise, what will we do when we get old?"

Yi Zhonghai took a sip of water, and upon hearing the old woman's words, his face instantly darkened.

After a long silence, he sighed deeply and said, "We'll see. We've lost all our savings. The price of food is getting higher and higher, and with another person, we'll have to spend a lot more money every month."

Yi Zhonghai is now penniless, which has dampened his spirits. He had previously planned to spend a few hundred yuan to hire someone to kill Wang Feng, but he couldn't make up his mind because he couldn't bear to spend the money. Before he could even carry out the plan, his savings were emptied, which made him extremely frustrated.

Hearing Yi Zhonghai's vague answer again, the middle-aged woman sighed inwardly and went to cook.

......

The backyard, the Liu family's house.

Liu Haizhong returned carrying half a pound of pork and two pounds of flour. His second aunt asked in bewilderment, "Old Liu, why is it so little? It's like you're working as a first-class worker!"

Liu Haizhong's face was terribly gloomy. He was about to speak when Liu Guangtian interrupted him:

"Dad, you're a level seven blacksmith, how come your supplies and benefits are even worse than Qin Huairu's? Qin Huairu brought back a pound of pork and four pounds of flour today."

Liu Haizhong stared at Liu Guangtian with bloodshot eyes. He didn't speak, and his hands subconsciously reached for the belt.

Upon seeing this, Liu Guangtian knew something was wrong and was about to run outside when his mother stopped him.

"Guangtian, where are you going?" Auntie Er asked with a sneer.

"Mom, get out of the way!"

Liu Guangtian yelled and tried to push his mother away, but at that moment, Liu Haizhong unbuckled his belt and lashed it out at him.

"what!"