Chapter 552

Shazhu did not conceal anything; he related in detail to Yu Li the words Yan Fugui had told him, which concerned the Jia Family.

Yan Fugui

Jia Zhangshi seemed as if she had been stimulated, giving people a feeling of acting mysteriously and mumbling.

Until a few days ago it was still okay; looking at her, she seemed like a person.

Jia Zhangshi

Jia Dongxu

From morning till night, she held Jia Dongxu's memorial photo and just sat at the doorway.

From time to time she would say things like "I didn't take good care of Bangeng, Bangeng went to prison, his life was ruined, the Jia Family has no future," and so on.

She also cursed Qin Huairu's eight generations of ancestors, saying Qin Huairu shouldn't have gone to Northeast to call Bangeng back to the Siheyuan, saying if Bangeng had stayed in Northeast farming, he would surely be fine, with a wife and children, living the life of a hot kang with wife and children, saying all this was Qin Huairu's fault, saying Bangeng's imprisonment was because Qin Huairu called him back.

She said the Jia Family's misfortune lay in marrying Qin Huairu as a wife; Qin Huairu's fate is hard, and her hardness killed Jia Dongxu, and now it has caused Bangeng to go to prison.

Afterwards she began cursing Yi Zhonghai, saying Yi Zhonghai is a bastard; if it weren't for Yi Zhonghai initially bringing Jia Dongxu to the countryside to do support construction, Jia Dongxu wouldn't have met Qin Huairu, wouldn't have been poisoned by Qin Huairu, and wouldn't have insisted on marrying Qin Huairu as his wife; she said Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu destroyed the Jia Family.

Dayuan

Yu Li also didn't know what to say.

Yagangchang

Yet she had never seen a mother-in-law as vicious as Jia Zhangshi.

It is truly wicked to the extreme.

Sometimes she also wonders, both are women, why can I live so happily while Qin Huairu must suffer all her life, and even in old age still has to endure this blame.

If it weren't for Jia Zhangshi scolding Qin Huairu and forcing her to go to Northeast to bring Bangeng back, Bangeng wouldn't be in this imprisoned state now.

The couple then exchanged a few more idle words.

As bedtime approached, Yu Li suddenly mentioned something to Shazhu.

"Head of the household, we've been busy with Bai Xu's affairs, we only come back around ten o'clock at night. I'm not worried about Weiguo; he's a teenager, I'm worried about Niu Niu."

Niu Niu is Shazhu's eldest daughter, only eight years old, a precious little lump treasured in the palms of Shazhu and his wife, as well as her brother and sister.

If Bangeng weren't in prison, Jia Zhangshi would still have hope, wanting to see him marry and have children, without those troublemaking thoughts, she wouldn't dare.

Once the thief saint went in, Jia Zhangshi's hopes were dashed, and she became nervy, as if the shackles that bound her had been removed.

In case she resents Shazhu for not helping the Jia family with Bangeng's imprisonment, a thought of revenge against Shazhu arises, and she extends her evil hand toward Niu Niu.

How heartbroken Shazhu and his wife must be!

I'm not afraid of ten thousand, just afraid of that one chance.

If Jia Zhangshi were to attack Shazhu's eldest daughter and eldest son, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Wife, I understand what you mean."

"I'm just giving a heads-up: not afraid of thieves stealing, but afraid of thieves having designs on us."

"It just so happens I have something to discuss with Jianguo tomorrow, but never mind, I'll go see Director Wang instead."

……

Jia Family

The nervously muttering Jia Zhangshi even frightened Qin Huairu.

Let me say something unpleasant.

At night she sleeps with one eye open, fearing to fall into a deep sleep and accidentally fall under Jia Zhangshi's poisonous hand; to be safe, Qin Huairu even placed a rolling pin by her pillow.

Sometimes she also is like.

Should we send Jia Zhangshi back to her rural hometown?

Actually, there's even more.

Or perhaps regret.

Qin Huairu regrets her past actions; now it seems, purely a brainless act, she married into the An family and thereafter severed ties with the Jia family, but after the An family and a mysterious disappearance, when faced with the Jia and Zhang families' joint request to live together, she inexplicably agreed.

She really wants to slap herself.

These few days.

She is also looking for a house, preparing to move out and live elsewhere.

If she continues to crowd into one house with Jia Zhangshi, she will eventually go crazy.

On the other side.

Jia Family's outer room.

Because Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu had separated households but there were no extra rooms, according to the relevant regulations of the Siheyuan, Dayuan, and Jiēdào, the Jia Family was split into two: the inner room belongs to Qin Huairu, the outer room belongs to Jia Zhangshi, and Qin Huairu gives Jia Zhangshi five yuan each month as pension.

Even so.

Jia Zhangshi still isn't very happy inside; in her mind, all of this belongs to the Jia Family—this is the Jia Family's house, the Jia Family's job, Qin Huairu took over the Jia Family's position after Jia Dongxu's death, so the money she earns naturally belongs to the Jia Family; now that she's capable, she does the Jia Family's work and earns the Jia Family's money, yet she doesn't provide for the Jia Family's sole elderly matriarch, which is the behavior of a beast.

She fantasizes that Bangeng will grow up, take over the Jia Family's work from Qin Huairu's hands, become a worker holding the iron rice bowl of Yagangchang, marry a working woman from the city, fulfilling Jia Zhangshi's long-held dream of a dual-income Jia Family household, and if they have a child, Jia Zhangshi could also help look after the child.

All of this changed with Bangeng's imprisonment.

It all became illusory.

Even if Jia Zhangshi were foolish and muddle-headed, she knows that someone who has been in prison finds it hard to get a job, unless they backfill a position at Yagangchang.

Because of the Huaihua incident, Qin Huairu resents Bangeng; whether this job can be given to Bangeng remains unknown.

I heard that Yagangchang is now undergoing reform; previously, people with a criminal record could still work there, but now those with a criminal record cannot work there.

No job, plus a criminal record, and still old.

Where can one find such a daughter-in-law?

Even the most muddle-headed parents couldn't agree to let their daughter marry someone wearing the Chen Shimei hat and who has been imprisoned.

Jia Zhangshi began to resent everything—she resented Qin Huairu, then came to hate Shazhu, hated everyone in the Siheyuan, except herself.

She looked at Qin Huairu, fully clothed and lying on the bed, a hint of ferocity appearing at the corner of her mouth; she gently held Jia Dongxu's posthumous photo and placed it before Qin Huairu's pillow.

She just wanted to scare Qin Huairu.

But because her movement was a little too big, Qin Huairu heard it, opened her eyes, saw her dead husband staring straight at her, she shouted, and the rolling pin by the pillow was instantly seized; she struck Jia Zhangshi's head and face several times. Jia Zhangshi, after being hit several times with the rolling pin, saw stars and collapsed heavily to the ground.

Worried she might have caused a death, Qin Huairu rushed out of the Jia household, ran to Shazhu's home and knocked on the door. Shazhu and his wife, who were sleeping soundly, were awakened, appearing before Qin Huairu in long underwear and outer garments, and immediately began to scold.

"Qin Huairu, are you fucking sick? What the fuck time is it, why are you making a fuss? You loaf around at the steel plant all day, thinking we're like you—no work, just loafing?"

"Shazhu, I didn't mean to, it's my mother-in-law."

"What does your mother-in-law have to do with me? What relation do our two families have, you don't know? If your mother-in-law died, you should just notify the police station—what good is telling me? Our courtyard has a head elder; go see San Daye."

Qin Huairu also panicked for a moment.

She really thought she had seen a ghost just now.

She didn't control her strength.

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's forehead bleeding, she thought she had killed her, rushed over to Shazhu in a panic; after being scolded by Shazhu, her flustered mind calmed a little, and she recounted everything that had just happened in detail.

"Shazhu, here's what happened: I was sleeping, in a daze I saw Dong Xu's photo, thought I saw something unclean, I hit her with the rolling pin a few times, only then realizing it was my mother-in-law Jia Zhangshi, who now lies motionless on the ground…"

It involves a life.

Shazhu couldn't ignore it either.

He went back inside, changed his clothes, swapped his slippers for sneakers—if Jia Zhangshi were really beaten to death by Qin Huairu, He Yuzhu would be the hero who bravely captured the murderer Qin Huairu.

He then ran to the front courtyard to wake Yan Fugui, told him what happened; Yan Fugui also realized the situation had blown up, greeted seven or eight neighbors, and together with Qin Huairu entered the Jia household.

This was Shazhu's first entry into the Jia household in over twenty years.

The last time he entered was when Jia Dongxu lost Shazhu's new bicycle; Shazhu and a group led by Xu Daming went to the Jia household to move the sewing machine that Yi Zhonghai had given as an engagement gift to Jia Dongxu—this time it was because a life had been lost.

Under the light.

Shazhu seemed a bit dazed.

The house was bare, with only four walls.

The only household appliance was that three-battery flashlight.

In the outer room, the bed on which Jia Zhangshi slept was so black you could scrape oil off it; the inner room was Qin Huairu's domain, relatively clean, with Jia Zhangshi lying pig‑like on the floor, her whole body spread out like the Chinese character for "big" (a person with arms outstretched), faint bloodstains still visible on her forehead—if her chest weren't still rising and falling, she would look utterly dead.

At the head of the bed lay Jia Dongxu's posthumous photo, next to it a blood‑stained rolling pin.

He crouched down.

He reached out a finger to probe her nostrils.

She wasn't dead.

He pinched her philtrum hard, but Jia Zhangshi remained unconscious; Yan Fugui thought of a plan, had someone fetch her cloth shoes, grabbed them, and slapped her cheeks hard several times.

The cloth shoes, bolstered by the force, became a weapon that finally roused Jia Zhangshi to a faint awareness.

"You damned Qin Huairu, you're trying to take my old woman's life!"

Jia Zhangshi shouted, instinctively licked the blood that had seeped into her lips with her tongue, wiped her forehead with her hand, and saw her palm covered in blood.

"You dare hit me? I'm going straight to the street office to have you arrested and thrown in with Bangeng."

Qin Huairu saw Jia Zhangshi wake up.

Only then did her heart, which had been suspended in midair, finally settle.

She had really been frightened out of her wits just then.

"What right do you have to arrest me? It's not your fault—I was sleeping fine, why did you move Dong Xu's photo to my pillow? Isn't it just to scare me into trouble? If something happens to me, do you really think you'll get to work at the steel plant?"

"That's the Jia family's work."

"The Jia family's work is fitting; I'm now sweeping the factory grounds—guess who those people believe, you or me?"

"Qin Huairu, return my grandson."

"You were the one who had me bring back Bangeng in the first place, and now you're doing this again—who do you think you are?"

"I am your mother."

Shazhu and the others ignored the argument between Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, each going home to their own mothers.

Seeing the neighbors unwilling to mediate, the Jia family widow saw no need to keep arguing; one in the outer room, one in the inner room, they stared at each other with clear distinction, slowly closing their eyes.

Shazhu returned home.

He checked the time.

It was past three in the morning.

She took off her clothes and slipped into Yu Li's quilt, then drifted off to sleep; when he woke up, it was already past eight in the morning.

She got dressed.

She washed her face, ate breakfast, greeted Yu Li, and left the house.

Seeing the Jia household diagonally opposite, with two panes of glass smashed, she shook her head speechlessly, walked toward the front courtyard, greeted the flower‑watering Yan Fugui with a morning, and exited the gate.

She got her bearings.

She headed toward the street office.

Upon seeing Director Wang, he was overjoyed, quickly inviting Shazhu into his office; the opening of Bai Xu's business had already solved several major employment problems for her, making her the top performer among several competitors, and she might even advance further.

Tea was gently placed before Shazhu.

"Director He, with your visit my humble place truly shines; could it be that you have something you need help with? Tell me—whatever I can do, I will certainly help; whatever I cannot, I will try my best."

"As they say, no one comes to the Three Treasures Hall without cause—and indeed, Director Wang, here's the matter: I want to buy a house in our street."

"An apartment building? I can't help! To be frank, I really can't—those are all workers' dormitories inside the factory."

"It's a plain house."

I recall you had several rooms in your Siheyuan, didn't you? Why are you buying another house?

"It's like this, our Siheyuan..."

Shazhu briefly explained the conflict between Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu; last night Jia Zhangshi had threatened Qin Huairu with Jia Dongxu's portrait, and she had also suffered several blows from Qin Huairu's rolling pin, which he also emphasized, saying that after Jia Zhangshi was imprisoned with Bangeng she had become somewhat reckless, worrying that she might attack his little daughter, and he wanted to move out of the Siheyuan as much as possible.

Shazhu came to see Director Wang today.

That was the right person to see.

Director Wang happened to have a standalone Siheyuan for sale; he said a few words to Shazhu and led him to the Siheyuan.

A two‑courtyard Siheyuan, which is equivalent to removing the rear courtyard of the Red Star Courtyard.

The key parts remain intact.

After a simple cleaning, it's ready to move in with just your bedding.

According to Director Wang's account, this was originally the ancestral property of a wealthy household; a few years ago, due to some changes, it came into the hands of an official, who, for residence—or rather for enjoyment—spent a lot of money renovating it; after he fell from power, it was returned to its original owner, who, fearing a repeat of past events, happened to have relatives abroad and thus wanted to sell it.

Worried that getting involved himself would bring trouble, he entrusted Director Wang to handle the sale exclusively; this happened yesterday, which is why Director Wang said Shazhu had come to the right person.