Chapter 82: Returning to the Old Trade

"Pah! How stingy, you're all the same. Isn't it just a chicken? As if anyone cares for it!"

"Besides, you have two chickens at home; what's the harm in helping out our Jia Family!?"

Jia Zhangshi started off with her classic lines.

But the times had changed; in the half-year Jia Zhangshi was away, almost everyone in the entire Siheyuan had cast off the shackles of morality. To say nothing else, the Jia Family hadn't been helped by anyone for several months.

Their daily meals were corn buns and pickled vegetables, occasionally with some soup made from white flour, but they rarely saw any grease or meat.

"Anyway, it's a no. If you want to eat chicken, bring money, otherwise don't force me to hit someone!"

Shazhu raised his sandbag-sized fist. Jia Zhangshi was currently nursing injuries; she had just had several ribs broken by someone in prison a while back and hadn't recovered yet. Seeing Shazhu become so fierce, she immediately didn't dare to speak.

However, she wouldn't just let it go; her nature was just like that. As long as she set her eyes on something, no matter what it was, she had to steal it.

"If you won't give it, then don't... as if anyone cares..."

Jia Zhangshi muttered under her breath, shot a fierce glare at Shazhu, and then led Bang Geng home.

Jia Dongxu didn't dare to stay in the Middle Courtyard for long either, fearing a beating, so he hurriedly followed Jia Zhangshi back.

"Sigh, I'm going back too..."

Qin Huairu looked worried. Once Jia Zhangshi returned to the Siheyuan, her own days would be even harder.

She was already pregnant and had to serve Jia Dongxu and Bang Geng, and Xiaodang was still so young; now she had to serve this old hag too. When would these days ever end?

"Wait a moment, Sister Qin," Shazhu chuckled, calling out to Qin Huairu who was about to leave. He said in a low voice, "The two chickens at my place are laying hens. Once they lay eggs in a couple of days, I'll sneak two over to you. After all, you're pregnant and need to nourish your body!"

"Ah? Then thank you so much, Pillar. I was truly blind back then; if I had married you, who knows how happy I might have been..."

Qin Huairu looked moved, and it seemed as if tears were about to fall. This made Shazhu's little heart flutter with joy; his long-term efforts had finally paid off.

Sister Qin actually said she wanted to marry me!

Then I, Shazhu, must not let down Sister Qin's deep affection; I must keep up the good work!

Shazhu was already considering whether to stew a chicken separately for Qin Huairu, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Thinking of Jia Zhangshi's greedy look, if he really stewed it, it would be good if Qin Huairu could even drink a few mouthfuls of soup.

Opposite them, Zhao Gangzi was chewing on a duck leg bone, watching the scene before him with great interest. This Shazhu was truly a fool; with his loser look, he still wanted to marry Qin Huairu.

It might have been possible back when he worked in the kitchen, but now that he was a toilet cleaner, even Widow Wang in the Front Courtyard looked down on him.

And Jia Dongxu was still so full of life right now.

Who knows, Shazhu might even end up going before Jia Dongxu.

Shazhu was still holding onto great fantasies, one hand picking his butt and the other picking his nose, looking completely lecherous. If he hadn't promised Qin Huairu eggs, he probably wouldn't even have bothered to look at him.

He had even cast his own younger sister, He Yushui, to the back of his mind.

However, He Yushui had also somewhat given up on this foolish brother of hers.

Not only was he lecherous, but he was also a complete failure, thinking about finding trouble for others every day while his own family couldn't even put food on the table.

She even had the thought of finding Zhao Gangzi to be her brother.

Seeing the sky darken again, Zhao Gangzi felt a sense of boredom, then flicked the duck leg bone away. Bang Geng suddenly ran out from the Back Courtyard, and before the bone even hit the ground, he jumped up, caught it in his mouth, and ran back happily.

Bang Geng was truly too cute.

If you tied a little rope to him and tethered him to a pillar, he would be a perfect guard dog!

The Jia Family.

Jia Zhangshi looked at the thin, watery soup before her and instantly lost her appetite; it wasn't even as good as the prison food, where at least you could see some grease.

Looking at her own home, even the cabbage was boiled in plain water, and who knows whose rotten vegetable leaves they had picked up.

"Mom, just make do for now. You know our family's situation; we really can't afford money for a welcome-home meal," Qin Huairu said, taking a bite of a corn bun. She was used to this kind of life.

But Jia Zhangshi couldn't stand it and immediately started cursing, "Isn't that because of you, you jinx! Not only did you lose our family's two-yuan subsidy, but you also slack off at the factory every day. Don't think I don't know about the wage deductions!"

"My precious grandson Bang Geng wants to eat some meat, and you two as parents can't do anything. Look at how thin Bang Geng has become?"

Jia Zhangshi pulled a long face and didn't give Qin Huairu any pleasant looks.

Qin Huairu knew she was in the wrong, so she kept her head down and ate her meal without daring to speak.

By comparison, Bang Geng was much more comfortable, with a bone of unknown origin in his mouth that still had quite a few shreds of meat on it, making the whole room smell fragrant.

"Good son, let Dad suck on the bone for a bit too. That Zhao Gangzi is really something, he didn't even finish the duck leg, leaving so much left."

"Hurry, let me lick it a couple of times, bring it over!"

Jia Dongxu's saliva was almost dripping into his bowl, and Bang Geng was very obedient, taking the bone covered in his own saliva out of his mouth and handing it to Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu didn't care about anything else and shoved it straight into his mouth, chewing even the bone to pieces.

"Sob sob sob! Bad Daddy! You ate it all!"

"I want to eat meat! Sob sob sob..."

Seeing the bone had also been eaten, Bang Geng started making a scene at the dinner table, even knocking over the bowl of hot water with white flour in front of him.

"Don't cry, my precious grandson. Later, Grandma will take you to eat chicken. Your useless parents are no good; Grandma will have to teach you the techniques," Jia Zhangshi, incorrigible as ever, had the idea of returning to her old trade.

Hearing Jia Zhangshi express such outrageous remarks again.

Qin Huairu, for once, did not stop her. She wished her mother-in-law would go back in again; Qin Huairu just needed to keep an eye on Bang Geng.

Jia Dongxu, having had his appetite whetted, didn't care about whether it was illegal or not. All he could think about was eating chicken, so he hurriedly expressed that he wanted to join this operation.

More importantly, that brat Shazhu had designs on his wife, so even if they were caught, Shazhu definitely wouldn't dare to report them.

"That's my good son. Dongxu, you just need to keep watch outside; at the critical moment, I'm the one who has to do it."

Jia Zhangshi was full of confidence. After all, her only defeat in life was at the hands of Zhao Gangzi; as for others, Jia Zhangshi could say she had them in the palm of her hand.

"It's still a bit early now. Let's act in the middle of the night and 'borrow' those two chickens from him. Since he won't help us, he deserves it!"

"Today, our family will have a meat dish too!"