Chapter 151: Jia Dongxu: Extra Meal

Fortunately, these people don't know our names and addresses.

As long as the few people around us guarantee not to speak out, we should be fine.

Afterwards, Yang Qing stopped chatting with them, he hid at the back, trying to conceal his presence as much as possible.

After distributing the porridge, they hurriedly ran away even more.

On the road, Yang Qing said solemnly.

「We can't come here tomorrow. 」

「Today we caught them off guard, but tomorrow they'll be prepared, and if we try to bluff our way through again, it'll be difficult. 」

「When we go back, we'll all ask for leave, saying we have diarrhea. 」

Several people know the seriousness of the matter; they know how badly they beat the people, and if it were them, they couldn't swallow that anger.

He Yuzhu was also facing so many people for the first time.

「What Yang Qing said is absolutely right; if it weren't for his quick thinking today, we would have suffered a loss. 」

「A beating is minor; if those thugs learn our names and addresses, we'll have endless trouble. 」

Yang Qing interjected at the right moment.

「After returning, try to forget that we came here today; back home, each of you figure out your own excuse, just say you went somewhere random—after all, more people suffer disasters. 」

The other few people thought Yang Qing's words were too serious.

「Isn't it unnecessary? We just beat a few people; we're in the right, what are we afraid of them doing? 」

He Yuzhu directly sold out Yang Qing.

「The key is that these people might have connections with the black market, and Yang Qing laid this out clearly for them. 」

「We haven't offended just the people of Xiliang Village; we might also have offended black‑market folks. 」

「What kind of people are in the black market? You should understand that. 」

He Yuzhu's words silenced those people.

「In that case, Yang Qing's opinion is very necessary. 」

Several people nodded; this is bringing fire upon oneself.

Their gazes toward Yang Qing shifted involuntarily; they all blamed you for not being able to control your mouth.

Yang Qing understood their meaning, but at that time he was too inflated, speaking without thinking, only scheming against others, not realizing he had dug a hole for himself.

「Don't look at me, and don't think that selling me out will avoid trouble. 」

「As far as the people of Xiliang Village are concerned, we're together; they don't care who you are, they'll only remember those seven people. 」

「Besides, they don't know our names; I can call myself Zhang San or Li Si… 」

As soon as Yang Qing spoke, their faces changed; you're truly shameless—on what grounds do you mention our names?

But they also understood from Yang Qing's words that we are a unit; if misfortune comes, we all share it.

He Yuzhu can indeed say he has witnessed Yang Qing's shamelessness again.

A rumor let Yi Zhonghai gain resources; after beating someone today, in his mouth the victim instantly became a heinous criminal.

At first He Yuzhu thought Yang Qing was talking nonsense, but Yang Qing's explanation to the villagers made him realize he might have seen something.

Just now, his words carried a threat, turning them into a community of shared interests—if disaster strikes, we all suffer.

Look at the other few people; after hearing Yang Qing's words, their mouths turned sweet.

「That won't happen; if it weren't for you today, we'd all be in trouble. 」

「Exactly, we're all brothers; whoever dares to bully you, the few of us will gang up together. 」

「We'll follow your lead; when we go back we'll pretend to be sick, and it just so happens the street office also needs a new person. 」

………

After returning to Jingcheng, the few of them went their separate ways.

Behind him, He Yuzhu watched Yang Qing more and more, unable to understand where he learned such shameless, sly tactics.

But he really is formidable.

After Yang Qing returned home, he prepared to close himself off for diligent study; the outside was too dangerous, and he almost didn't make it back.

Chen Hong saw his worried face and first suppressed her inner joy.

She asked him concernedly.

「What's wrong? Your brows are knotted tight enough to hold a knife. 」

In front of outsiders, Yang Qing puts on a dark, ruthless, shameless act, but in front of Chen Hong he is a competent young man; he put on a relaxed tone.

「Oh dear, today I couldn't keep my mouth shut……… 」

After hearing that, Chen Hong didn't understand the black market and felt confused herself.

「Is it serious? 」

Yang Qing shook his head, pretending not to care.

「It's not serious; this isn't any secret—I'm worried that I've come into some people's sight, making future purchases difficult. 」

Those who can run a black market have absolutely solid connections; otherwise they'd have been shot long ago.

Being remembered by such people is certainly no good thing.

Chen Hong still thought it was just about buying things, and said indifferently.

「Hey, I thought it was something else; it gave me a fright—going to the black market was wrong to begin with, so from now on we won't go. 」

Yang Qing brushed it off, and Chen Hong began to share her joy.

「A letter came from home saying today the weather is favorable, the harvest is abundant, life will be better from now on, so we don't need to worry. 」

Yang Qing wondered.

「Didn't mention whether they'd come or not? 」

Chen Hong's face darkened.

They said they can't come over.

Yang Qing sighed; people with integrity are like that, unwilling to trouble others.

Would rather suffer themselves than speak up.

Ah, then we'll mail them more money from now on.

Then he whispered: "We'll slowly mail back those black money we earned; with this money, their lives will be much easier."

That's several hundred; in their hands, they don't dare spend it recklessly.

Moreover, their wages now are not small either; the elderly grandmother's subsidy is also generous, fully covered by the government, so they basically don't need to spend money.

Money in their hands is useless.

We can't really go collect antiques, it's unnecessary; before the 1990s, antiques really weren't worth much money, foreigners hadn't started hyping up our cultural relics yet.

Upon hearing these heartwarming words, Chen Hong felt moved again and again.

Hugging Yang Qing was a burst of reward.

After the rain, the sky will clear; the flood disaster in the outskirts of Jingcheng didn't bring much impact to Jingcheng.

However, what should be streamlined still needs to be streamlined; what should be worked still needs to be worked.

The impact of the streamlining has already begun to affect the compound.

Jia Dongxu began to feel the increase in workload.

Yi Zhonghai's time for practicing Tai Chi has become less.

Workers have decreased, but many tasks haven't; these tasks are slowly shifting onto them.

It's only August; when the steel industry undergoes major streamlining in September, their workload will become even greater.

August 6th, with the new grain income, Jia Dongxu for the first time asked Qin Huairu for an extra meal.

"Huairu, from now on steam me an extra mantou; work's gotten heavier, I'm feeling a bit unable to keep up."

Qin Huairu felt a pang of distress; Jia Dongxu's fixed ration is only about thirty jin per month, anything else must be bought at high price.

The key is, in a few days her mother-in-law will return, and the household will become a bottomless pit again.

"Dong Xu, my mother will be back in a couple days."

Jia Dongxu still hadn't grasped Qin Huairu's meaning.

"If she's coming back, she's coming back."

"I remember, I'll cooperate with you; don't worry, I'll definitely not let Mom teach Bad Geng to go wrong."

Qin Huairu continued.

"In September I'm going to give birth."

Jia Dongxu looked at her doubtfully.

"You know, what's up?"

Qin Huairu said angrily.

"By then our family will be six people; relying only on your meager ration, how will we get by?"