Chapter 243: Jia Zhangshi Scolds the Street

I too have been a mother; I too have come from your age, just like you I am also a widow. I know you are reluctant to part with the child, after all it is flesh that fell from your body.

But what can you do when you're reluctant?

We ought to let go, we must let go; letting go is for her to live better. This is what Comrade Liu taught me at the office, and now I apply it to Huaihua.

If Yi Zhonghai were here, I definitely wouldn't say anything, not a word. Isn't it because Yi Zhonghai is gone? And you've offended the workers in the workshop.

Does Jia Zhangshi know that Qin Huairu, relying on Yi Zhonghai's backing, has been slacking off continuously for two years at the Yagangchang, provoking public anger?

Her backer has fallen.

They will surely give Qin Huairu small shoes.

That saying has come true.

She cries more than he pisses.

"Listen to Mother's advice, find a good family for Huaihua."

Without waiting for Qin Huairu's response, Jia Zhangshi turned her face and began cursing at the neighbors in the courtyard with foul language.

The main reason is to not give Qin Huairu a chance to retort.

She wants to stage the act of turning raw rice into cooked rice.

"The neighbors in the courtyard are all bastards; our Jia family has come to this state, they not only don't help but also kick us when we're down. Liu Haizhong, what kind of Head Steward is he? Is there a Head Steward who sits askew like that? It's just that we haven't paid rent for half a month, and yet! They've driven our Jia family to the rear courtyard—can this house even be lived in, damn it? You're all damn bastards."

Jia Zhangshi's voice.

Growing louder.

It was grand, with the momentum of Zhuge Liang debating the scholars of Eastern Wu.

Her calculations were sound.

I scolded all the neighbors in the courtyard, exchanged insults with them, so that they would bear a grudge against the Jia family, then use that grudge as leverage to force Qin Huairu to send Huaihua away.

But I didn't expect that the neighbors all knew Jia Zhangshi was in a bad mood, and they were also preoccupied with the housing matter.

Jia Zhangshi's scheme to provoke the crowd came to nothing, useless water, having no concrete effect.

Instead, it caused Qin Huairu to develop an extra thought about Jia Zhangshi.

Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Since ancient times, it has been a field of study.

Again, the Jia family is the sort of household where such things keep happening.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi could be called a battle of wits and courage; how could he not know what Jia Zhangshi is plotting? But Huaihua is Qin Huairu's heart's flesh.

The only concern Yi Zhonghai left for her.

If we really follow Jia Zhangshi's calculation and send Huaihua away—if the receiving family is decent, then fine; it would be like having enjoyed blessings before. But fear the other side shares Jia Zhangshi's preference for sons over daughters, and their household conditions are worse than the Jia family's; then sending Huaihua there would be like throwing firewood into a pit, leaving her no way to survive.

In her heart there was just one thought.

Cannot give Huaihua away.

Yet Jia Zhangshi strongly advocated sending Huaihua away.

If Qin Huairu were to oppose Jia Zhangshi and keep Huaihua in the Jia household, once she goes to work at the Yagangchang, Huaihua will not have a good outcome.

Jia Zhangshi will certainly bully Huaihua by various means.

Qin Huairu also cannot bring Huaihua to work.

This is an unsolvable problem.

Unless we deal with Jia Zhangshi.

Qin Huairu's heart.

Suddenly it began to race wildly.

This is a thought she had never considered before.

She didn't even dare to think it.

"Mom!"

"Huairu, don't be afraid, everything is with Mother; Mother today has thrown caution to the wind, saying she will fight it out properly with these cold-blooded beastly neighbors."

Jia Zhangshi strode into the courtyard.

Pointing at each household in the courtyard, she continued her scolding.

"Normally distant relatives are worse than close neighbors, but in our courtyard it's the opposite—every household is scheming, driving our Jia family out of our original home; what good does it do you?"

There really is.

About twenty-odd households.

At this moment they are all calculating how to lease the houses to themselves.

Like the Liu family.

Liu Haizhong and his wife, facing Jia Zhangshi's shrewishness, smiled indifferently, completely disregarding her angry scolding, and began to picture the house belonging to their Liu family, with the eldest's family moving back into the siheyuan to live.

"Dad, when the time comes I'll have the meal ready, I'll shout from the door, Guangqi, bring your wife and children back to the rear courtyard to eat, looking harmonious and lovely, so the neighbors in the courtyard will envy us."

Liu Haizhong smiled with satisfaction.

Three children.

They only look favorably on the eldest, also placing their hopes for old age on him; as for the second and third, they seem not to be Liu Haizhong's biological sons at all, akin to a freebie thrown in with a purchase.

These two kids.

Born, their mission perhaps is to be the recipients of Liu Haizhong's rod-and-stick education.

The eldest made a mistake.

The second and third got beaten.

For big and small matters, Liu Haizhong's sure-handed strikes fall on the second and third; as for the eldest, it's a match between him and Jia Zhangshi's indulgent love for Bangeng.

Inside the house were Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu.

They clenched their back teeth.

Again, they were being overly sentimental.

They originally thought that their parents' scheming over the Jia and Yi families' houses was meant to prepare wives for the two of them, but in fact, the others had no place for the two brothers in their hearts at all.

Everything is good for the eldest.

Even the farts they let out and the feces they excrete are fragrant in the eyes of Liu Haizhong and his wife.

Back when they first got married.

They emptied out the Liu family's savings.

They originally thought that what remained belonged to the two brothers.

Even when the two of them are bound together, they are not as important as Liu Guangqi alone.

If it weren't that they can't beat Liu Haizhong, the brothers would have to talk with Liu Haizhong no matter what.

Ah!

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, who gave a cold snort, each rubbed their buttocks that had been whipped by Liu Haizhong's belt, hoping in their hearts that Jia Zhangshi would greet Liu Haizhong with even harsher words.

When their anticipation reached its peak.

They repeated Jia Zhangshi's words verbatim.

They silently cursed Liu Haizhong in their hearts.

"Liu Haizhong, what kind of damn big elder are you? Other families treat everyone equally, but you can't even keep things fair. What's so good about the eldest? You keep praising the eldest all day—aren't the second and third your own biological sons? Go ask around the whole street, is there anyone like you as a father?"

……

Xu Family

Shazhu drinking with Xu Daming

Suddenly, he noticed that the drinking gathering was a bit off.

This was mainly shown by Xu Daming, who kept urging Shazhu to drink cup after cup, even sending out his own wife, Lou Xiaoe, to get Shazhu to drink the baijiu in his glass.

"Shazhu, you must drink this cup. Why do I say that? Look, who is toasting you?" He pointed to Lou Xiaoe ahead. "She's my wife; our two families have gotten along for so many years, our relationship is good, but sitting together to drink, a family sitting together to drink—today really is the first time. This wine, tell me, do you want to drink it?"

Lou Xiaoe also chimed in.

"Master He, you must drink this wine; I'm offering you a toast."

Shazhu glanced at Lou Xiaoe; this innocent sweetheart gripped the erguotou bottle in her left hand, held the wine cup in her right, her face flushed red, looking almost like a ripe apple.

He has drunk quite a bit.

He estimated it to be about two liang of baijiu.