Chapter 554

Shazhu appears. Also, he spent over six thousand to buy an independent courtyard house.

Liu Jianguo appears. Yushui appears. Shazhu appears. Also possibly He Daqing, though not mentioned in line 2. So we have Liu Jianguo, Yushui, and Shazhu.

Nothing else to say.

He Daqing appears. Yushui appears. Shazhu appears. Yi Zhonghai appears. Long Laotaitai appears. Jia Zhangshi appears. Also possibly Siheyuan appears. So we have He Daqing, Yushui, Shazhu, Yi Zhonghai, Long Laotaitai, Jia Zhangshi, and Siheyuan.

In a situation where they are surrounded by beasts.

Shazhu appears. Yushui appears. Also possibly referring to family business, not a name.

Around five-odd years ago, when Shazhu was in his early twenties, his family already had a bicycle, a watch, a sewing machine, a camera, and a radio.

The Siheyuan is an exceptionally wealthy household.

Over the years, they have saved six or seven thousand.

Normal.

Liu Jianguo happens to have something to discuss with Shazhu.

Regarding Shazhu's invitation to dinner tonight, he readily agreed.

Since everyone has evening commitments, the dinner was scheduled for after nine o'clock, which is after Shazhu finishes his business with Bai Xu and after Liu Jianguo finishes his work at the office. Bai Xu appears.

There are also many houses inside the Siheyuan.

He drank too much and fell asleep.

He also doesn't need to go home.

Both parties agreed and then went their separate ways.

…… (ellipsis) No.

It was past six in the evening.

Qin Huairu returned to the Siheyuan carrying a lunch box.

The lunch box in her hand contains the leftover food that Qin Huairu ate at the steel mill at noon. Huaihua is not present, Bangeng is in jail, the household consists only of the two widows of the Jia family, and Jia Zhangshi remains Qin Huairu's enemy. The two widows endure their difficult lives, and out of concern for their own safety, Qin Huairu basically does not cook at home, simply reheating the leftover food she brought back.

Jia Zhangshi continues to cause trouble over this matter, saying that Qin Huairu is unfilial.

Qin Huairu ignored Jia Zhangshi, and the matter was thus left unresolved.

Just as Qin Huairu stepped into the Siheyuan, she suddenly sensed something was off, as many strangers she had never seen before had inexplicably appeared in the courtyard.

The atmosphere was even livelier than before.

Many children were playing games; those who could run played hide-and-seek, the little ones who couldn't move played in the mud, and the older children stood at the doorway doing their homework obediently.

"Third Grandmaster, have more new people moved into the courtyard?" said San Daye.

Qin Huairu asked the eternal gatekeeper of the Siheyuan, Yan Fugui, with a look of faint anticipation in her eyes, and at that moment her heart stirred.

Seeing so many neighbors in the courtyard, Qin Huairu's first thought was that the factory had again distributed housing to the workers, so she used the word 'distribute' to describe everything.

Distributing housing.

This is exactly what Qin Huairu most hopes for and most wants to see.

She does not want to share a room with Jia Zhangshi anymore.

Who knows what Jia Zhangshi might do in the middle of the night; if they really encounter the good fortune of the factory distributing housing, Qin Huairu would even kneel and kowtow just to get herself a place to live.

Yan Fugui, seeing from the word 'distribute' what Qin Huairu was thinking, deliberately told her the harsh truth she did not want to hear.

"Today, another six households have moved into our Siheyuan, Huairu - don't even say it, the Siheyuan has become much livelier with six new households."

"Third Grandmaster," Qin Huairu, not having gotten an answer from Yan Fugui's words, tried another approach: "Where do they live?"

"They're living at Shazhu's place!"

"Shazhu's relatives?"

Qin Huairu looked doubtful.

Shazhu's family seems to have no relatives.

"What relatives? Shazhu sold the houses he had bought earlier; the old lady in the back courtyard lives in Thus: Thus: Mahua's room; the former Old Yi's room was supposedly given to Dang Xianghong; Shazhu's ancestral house wasn't sold, and they say he might come back to look at it someday."

"Has Shazhu moved out?"

"He has moved out." Yan Fugui, seemingly unaware of Qin Huairu's surprise on her face, tried to provoke her as much as possible: "Do you know where they moved to? At number one, Ma Ye Lane, an independent courtyard house that Shazhu bought today and moved into the same day."

Qin Huairu quietly digested the meaning of Yan Fugui's words.

Shazhu has moved out.

The ancestral house was not sold.

It seems she could rent Shazhu's ancestral house.

She doesn't want Shazhu's big house; renting Yushui's small room would be enough.

"Third Grandmaster, there's nothing else; I'll head back first."

"Qin Huairu, there's one more thing: a butcher has moved in next door. Your mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, stepped on the ground in front of their house, trying to extort them, but they slapped her hard, and she immediately became obedient. I think she'll cause trouble with you."

Qin Huairu gave Yan Fugui a grateful smile.

Holding the lunch box.

Walking toward the central courtyard.

Various thoughts floated through her mind.

Shazhu bought an independent courtyard house and moved out with his wife and children.

The more she thought about it, the more despondent she felt, and her heart filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

We're all women, so why is my life so hard?

Her steps suddenly felt heavy, then quickly sped up; she faintly heard Jia Zhangshi scolding and causing a scene in the street, and she couldn't help but let out a cold snort: "Damn mother-in-law, even though you're alone, you still cause trouble."

As Qin Huairu leapt over the doorway connecting the front and central courtyards, the sight that met her eyes made her heart swell to the utmost.

Excited.

Jia Zhangshi sat on the ground, kicking her legs like a child; her right shoe had fallen off at some point, revealing Jia Zhangshi's foul sock with several big holes, and although the shoe on her left foot was still on, it was about to be kicked off.

The left cheek, presumably from being slapped, bore a clear five-finger mark.

A trace of blood could be seen faintly at the corner of the mouth.

Not knowing what grievance she had suffered, perhaps she wanted to give the new neighbors a show of force, but instead the neighbors gave her a show of force and she got slapped.

Qin Huairu thought this to herself.

She said nothing.

Expressionless, she walked toward the Jia family residence, her steps on the ground producing a slight creaking sound that attracted some people's attention.

Seeing Qin Huairu.

The newly moved-in neighbors' eyes lit up as they guessed who Qin Huairu was.

Some longtime residents within the courtyard wondered how Qin Huairu would deal with this matter; Jia Zhangshi was her mother-in-law, though they had split households, she was still her mother-in-law.

Jia Zhangshi then acted like a wronged elementary school student going to the teacher to complain, her mouth gaping and leaking air as she wept toward Qin Huairu, insistently demanding that Qin Huairu decide the matter for her.

"Huairu, you've finally come back; you must stand up for Mother, ah. Our old Jia family has been bullied to the point of exhaustion; the newly moved-in neighbors observe no neighborly affection—look at them, they've beaten Mother, her face swollen and a tooth lost. Huairu, Dongxu has been gone these years; you are my only kin; you cannot ignore Mother."

Qin Huairu coldly snorted in her heart: useful, I am your Jia Zhangshi's daughter-in-law; useless, I am the jinx who killed Jia Dongxu and caused the Jia family's decline.

"Are you her daughter-in-law?"

A fierce-looking man directed a question at Qin Huairu.

He didn't wait for Qin Huairu to give a concrete answer before recounting the whole story to her.

After the man's explanation, Qin Huairu realized the matter was entirely Jia Zhangshi's own doing.

The newly moved-in man works at the slaughterhouse; his wife is unemployed, supporting several family members on a butcher's salary alone. Today is the joyous occasion of their formal move into the Siheyuan and acquisition of their own home; if it were other neighbors experiencing a housewarming, even without a red gift they would offer a few words of blessing.

Just seeking a lucky omen!

As for Jia Zhangshi, who knows if her head is filled with feces and urine, she actually got the idea to lecture them for bad luck, insisting in the afternoon that they had stepped on the ground before her door, ruining the old Jia family's feng shui, and got slapped; having come to her senses, in the evening she saw the butcher's family celebrating their joyous occasion, eating fried dough cakes and drinking vermicelli tofu soup.

She was craving.

Taking advantage of the moment when the family's child wasn't paying attention, she spat several mouthfuls of saliva into the butcher's little daughter's bowl and, not minding the heat, touched the family's fried dough cake with her hand.

The meaning being, after I've done this, you surely can't still eat it, right?

Evil meets its match.

The family's child, right in front of Jia Zhangshi, fed the bowl's broth and fried dough cake to their own dog.

Jia Zhangshi, unable to contain her anger, pointed at the child's nose and said they were wasting food.

The child retorted a few sentences, whereupon Jia Zhangshi shoved them to the ground with a slap; seeing his child shoved by Jia Zhangshi, the butcher came out from inside without a word and slapped her again.

When slapping Jia Zhangshi in the afternoon, he had thought, being newly arrived, he wanted to leave a good impression on the neighbors, so his force wasn't too strong; but seeing Jia Zhangshi shove his dearest child, he abandoned any restraint, using all his strength, and a slap sent two of her molars flying—this is also why Qin Huairu saw blood seeping from the corner of Jia Zhangshi's mouth.

Regarding that.

Qin Huairu could only say, "Serves you right."

Even if establishing authority.

You also ought to pick someone you can handle to establish authority; among so many children, you zeroed in on a seven- or eight-year-old round-faced little girl.

That little girl is healthy and hearty, already has a round chin, her clothes are clean and spotless without a patch; obviously she is the family's treasure. Having been shoved to the ground by you, Jia Zhangshi, who else would you strike if not her? Evidently Jia Zhangshi mistakenly imagined every household as the Jia family, assuming they all favored sons over daughters, thinking she was a negligible loss, but instead she kicked an iron plate.

As for this matter, Qin Huairu couldn't be bothered to deal with it; the trouble was caused by Jia Zhangshi, so she should settle it herself—what year is this, still wanting to cause a scene in the Siheyuan?

Do you think Yi Zhonghai is still alive, favoring the Jia family in everything?

Qin Huairu said nothing, leapt over Jia Zhangshi, and went straight into the Jia household.

The butcher's family was dumbfounded.

Jia Zhangshi also went into a daze.

Qin Huairu actually acted as if she hadn't heard.

"Qin Huairu, you heartless wretch, you're unfilial—your mother-in-law Jia Zhangshi got beaten, losing two teeth; you saw your mother-in-law being bullied and yet you ignore her—if not for the Jia family, could you Qin Huairu have married into the city to eat city rations? You've burned your bridges; how could the Jia family have taken in such a shameless daughter-in-law as you? If Dongxu were alive, I would not agree; you've indeed given our Dongxu a green hat."

The necromancer who had long been dormant in the Siheyuan.

Reappeared before the neighbors.

Slapping his thighs, he cried out to heaven and earth, calling for Old Jia and Little Jia.

"Dongxu, look, look at the wife you brought back at great expense—she's purely a white-eyed wolf; come take her away, Old Jia you bastard, you died and went to enjoy your blessings, leaving me an old woman to suffer alone in this world, Old Jia, Little Jia."

……

"Put-put-put"

A rumbling sound came from behind.

Shazhu, who was getting off work together with Yu Li, instinctively grabbed Yu Li's hand and pushed her slightly toward the curb of the road beside them.

While hesitating whether to let them go first, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Brother."

Shazhu turned his head to look.

Upon seeing that the person was Liu Jianguo, he immediately broke into a smiling greeting.

After speaking.

Shazhu then turned his gaze to Liu Jianguo's mount.

It had been a while since they last met.

Quite the switch from a bird gun to a cannon.

Previously commuting by bicycle, Liu Jianguo now rode a nondescript-color honest niezi; no wonder the motorcycle, which could easily have overtaken Shazhu and his wife, kept jokingly lagging behind them.

"Jianguo, not bad—you're even riding a motorcycle now."

Shazhu said jokingly.

Beside them, Yu Li gave Shazhu a sideways glance and complained, "Kid's dad, how can you talk about Jianguo like that? He's basically a section chief, has a leg, it's normal—Yushui told me Jianguo often gets up in the middle of the night to work."

I was just joking with Jianguo, why are you still worked up?

Brother, sister‑in‑law, stop arguing; if you start fighting over the niezi, I won't know how to explain it to Yushui when I go back.

Upon hearing Liu Jianguo's words, Shazhu chuckled, handing everything over to Yushui—except he never taught her how to handle her own man; consequently, after Yushui married Liu Jianguo, she spontaneously awakened her wife‑domineering nature.

Actually, Liu Jianguo activated the latent gene deep in his bones that makes him afraid of his wife.

Liu Family

It's Yushui who calls the shots.

This is also the Liu family tradition: Liu Jianguo's father fears his wife, Liu Jianguo's grandfather fears his wife, and even Liu Jianguo's great‑grandfather fears his wife.

An inherited fear of one's wife.

Jianguo, Yushui is giving you a dirty look, but with Brother here, there's nothing to fear—we men need to man up.

Why don't you give rising up a try?

Wife, this is boring—I'm just cheering Jianguo on.

Brother, I won't say another word.

Liu Jianguo chuckled a few times, then jumped off the sidecar motorcycle.

This time he came alone.

Yushui gets off work early; by then Shazhu had already told her the address, so she came to help as soon as she finished work. Shazhu stood at the doorway and caught the scent of food.

After greeting Liu Jianguo, he opened the door and invited Liu Jianguo inside.

Liu Jianguo stood at the doorway, carefully surveyed the surroundings, then followed Shazhu's steps into the siheyuan. He had thought he had figured everything out, but after entering, Liu Jianguo realized he still underestimated Shazhu, his older brother-in-law.