Chapter 27

The wind on Sunday was gentle, thin mist filled the Courtyard House, looking from afar like a blessed land. Qin Huairu got up early in the morning and began tidying her dilapidated home.

In these few days her cousin will be arriving, and we also need to prepare some food.

"This guy really, sleeping in on a big weekend, the house will surely be a mess soon." Qin Huairu stared at He Yuzhu's room, but she didn't notice any movement.

Jia Zhangshi muttered inside the house, urging her to hurry up and make breakfast, her stomach was hollow from hunger.

With coarse cornmeal porridge and old pickled vegetable chunks, Jia Zhangshi drank three bowls in the morning before feeling full.

"This cornmeal porridge doesn't stave off hunger at all; when will we get to eat some meat? My belly has no fat." Jia Zhangshi stared hard at He Yuzhu's place, "You'd better think of a way quickly."

"If you're dead, you won't feel anything."

After she finished putting away the bowls and chopsticks, she saw San Daye leading in a timid girl, who said, "Qin Huairu, this person says she's your rural relative, coming to rely on you."

"Jingru has come, hurry in."

Qin Huairu hurriedly led the person inside, and San Daye didn't leave either; he was curious what Qin Huairu was up to, her household being utterly destitute, how could she still accept a poor rural relative?

Neither Jia Zhangshi nor Qin Huairu is that kind of person.

"This is my cousin; I intend to introduce her to Yuzhu, take a look and see if the two aren't especially well-matched."

Qin Huairu isn't afraid of others knowing; Yi Daye even instructed her to spread the word, preferably so the whole Courtyard House hears, so that when her cousin's reputation is damaged, she can pressure He Yuzhu into admitting this.

San Daye took a careful look; Qin Jingru really does look fine—big eyes, fair skin—but she's nowhere near as good as Ran Lao Shi.

He couldn't let Qin Huairu take this advantage, so after saying a few words he hurriedly slipped out of the Courtyard House.

"Sis, this is where you live—it's really pretty." Qin Jingru looked around, "I haven't eaten yet; could you fix something to eat for me first?"

"Okay, sis will make you some noodles."

Jia Zhangshi hurriedly asked where the noodles were, why she hadn't made them for her in the morning—this daughter-in-law is utterly incompetent.

"Shut your stinking mouth, that's for guests to eat." Qin Huairu muttered under her breath, but thinking that Qin Jingru was also here, she didn't want to go too far, "I'll cook it all later; if Jingru can't eat it, you can have some, but make sure she eats well first."

After Jia Zhangshi thought it over, she also realized that if Qin Jingru's matter succeeded, her family would never lack food; however, these noodles are too fragrant, so she'll eat a little less later.

A bowl of noodles with only scallions was brought up; Qin Jingru wasn't polite, she grabbed the bowl and slurped it down, and in less than five minutes that whole bowl of noodles was in her stomach.

She wasn't polite either, she went to the cooking area and dumped both noodles and soup into her own bowl, then started eating happily.

Jia Zhangshi's heart was bleeding.

Wasn't this meant for herself?

Is this even a guest?

"You hurry and send your sister to He Yuzhu; she eats way too much." Jia Zhangshi said through gritted teeth, "Let Silly Zhu compensate us for the noodles, and preferably bring back some meat."

The distance between the two houses is just a few steps; Qin Huairu went over happily, only to find the Iron General's door closed. Could he be at the grocery shop outside? But when did he go out?

When she arrived at the grocery shop, He Yuzhu wasn't there either; asking around, she learned the shop had just closed, and nobody knew where He Yuzhu had gone.

"Yuzhu isn't home; maybe he went out on business, wait here a moment."

Qin Jingru clung to her sister, asking her to describe what kind of person He Yuzhu really is.

"He's well-off." Qin Huairu also knew his sister's nature, "Now he's the Canteen Director; even if his fingers leak a bit, it's enough for us like us to get through the year."

Qin Jingru was stunned by the boast.

After chatting for a while, the sun was already high in the sky. Qin Huairu ran back and forth several times, but still there was no sign of He Yuzhu.

"Sis, is he looking down on me and deliberately avoiding me?"

"How could that be? Let's eat first."

Although the family was poor, Qin Huairu tried to put on a front in front of her sister; the staple was steamed corn buns mixed with white flour, she also stewed cabbage, and although there was no meat, she at least added a big chunk of tofu.

Qin Jingru was also impolite, eating three bites and finishing a steamed bun; by the end Jia Zhangshi's face had changed—she hadn't eaten in days.

"Hurry up and get your sister out of here; she's come to eat us out of house and home, and she doesn't know any manners." Jia Zhangshi shoved Qin Huairu toward finding He Yuzhu, "Let's see when He Yuzhu will come back."

"Is it such a big deal that she ate just two bites of your rice? Once she marries Yuzhu, we'll get all this back, and we'll even be able to eat big slices of white meat and white flour steamed buns."

Qin Jingru also went out for a stroll to digest her food.

It's strange indeed; Qin Huairu walked around outside, but she didn't see a trace of He Yuzhu—where on earth did he go on this big weekend?

Her mother-in-law's face was already drawn long; if they kept eating like this in the evening, following Jia Zhangshi's temperament, there would surely be an argument.

It wasn't until five or six in the afternoon that He Yuzhu returned to the grocery shop; Qin Huairu wanted to call her sister out, only to discover that Qin Jingru wasn't in the Courtyard House.

"How unreliable can she be? She ate plenty at mealtime, but when it's time to work she disappears; she doesn't even let He Yuzhu see her, so when will we recover the food we've wasted?"

"Just be quiet; Jingru has never been here before—if she gets lost, how will I explain it to the family?"

She searched inside and outside the courtyard; sweat beaded on Qin Huairu's forehead, her heart pounding even more. Seeing San Daye tidying the flowers by the gate, she hurriedly asked if he had seen her sister.

"That's the little girl I brought over this morning." San Daye's eyes blinked twice, "I and Xu Damao persuaded her to go back home; she's probably lying down at home by now."

Qin Huairu was dumbfounded—had San Daye gone mad? What right did he have to meddle in her affairs?

"Your sister's matter definitely won't work out, so don't waste your family's food here. That He Yuzhu is a proper leader—would he even look at a country bumpkin?"

"San Daye, what do you mean? I told you this is something I and Yi Daye discussed—you dare to stir up trouble in here…" Qin Huairu was so angry she could hardly speak.

"Nowadays it's a new society; arranged marriages aren't emphasized. Besides, what are you people? You can't dictate who He Yuzhu marries—no one has that authority, especially since Yi Daye's morals have gone corrupt."

Qin Huairu took two rough breaths and headed toward Yi Daye's house.