"Hmph, our family is a bit poor, but we're not so poor that we have to pick up vegetable scraps!"

While stubbornly insisting on her words, Jia Zhangshi couldn't help but touch her trouser pocket.

With this money, why bother picking vegetable scraps? We could eat meat every meal.

Thinking of this, Jia Zhangshi couldn't help but start calculating. With the current price of meat, buying some every few days would be enough for the family to eat meat for several months.

Even if she goes to the market to pick up vegetable scraps, she can still say that she bought them with her own money.

"Mom, you'd better say less."

Qin Huairu couldn't help but offer a word of advice when she heard Jia Zhangshi gloating.

The Jia family was able to get donations from the people in the courtyard by pretending to be poor.

But if someone constantly boasts about how well-off their family is, the people in the neighborhood will subconsciously assume that their family isn't struggling, and they won't help them if anything happens in the future.

"Make your braised pork!"

Madam Jia snorted dismissively.

Just then, a middle-aged man came panting from the alley.

This man was Old Zhong, who had lost his money bag at the market. After asking around in Nanluoguxiang, he learned the home address of Jia Zhangshi, the manure cart driver.

There was no way around it; Jia Zhangshi was too famous in this area. Everyone knew her, and even the dogs hiding from the sun by the roadside were willing to follow her for a few steps.

"This should be the courtyard house number 95."

The middle-aged man, Lao Zhong, let out a long sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his face, and then stepped inside.

"Hey, who are you looking for?"

The doorman Yan Bugui stopped Old Zhong. Any unfamiliar face entering the courtyard had to be questioned by him first.

"Is there a woman in your compound who pulls a manure cart? I think her surname is Jia."

Yan Bugui raised an eyebrow: "Jia Zhangshi?"

“That’s right, it’s Jia Zhangshi!” Old Zhong’s tense expression finally relaxed a little.

If I'm not mistaken, Jia Zhangshi must have picked up my money bag.

If I behave better and offer a dollar or two as a token of my gratitude, the woman named Jia Zhangshi should return my money bag.

"Come, I'll take you to her."

Yan Bugui waved to Lao Zhong with a curious look on his face.

A man, especially a middle-aged man, coming to find Jia Zhangshi in such a hurry must have something important to say about him.

Therefore, Yan Bugui was very curious about what Jia Zhangshi had done.

Could it be that she's been a widow for too long...?

Upon arriving at the backyard, Yan Bugui shouted at the top of his lungs, "Jia Zhangshi, a young man is looking for you. Come out quickly."

Um?

Jia Zhangshi, who had just finished washing the vegetables and returned to the house, was suddenly stunned.

Little brother?

She didn't know any young men.

Why would they come looking for me at this time? Are they after my money?

Thinking of this, Jia Zhangshi touched the money pouch in her pocket, hesitating whether to hide it.

But the room they're living in now is so small, it's not very safe to hide anywhere.

After thinking it over, the safest place is still the crotch; if I put it here, no one can find it when they search.

Moreover, since it was a man who came to see her, he dared not search her body, otherwise she would have reported him for indecent assault and made him pay compensation!

If he doesn't pay compensation, send him to the jail.

"Jia Zhangshi, are you home?" Yan Bugui called out to Qin Huairu several times when there was no response from inside the house.

Qin Huairu's heart skipped a beat when she saw that Jia Zhangshi was motionless.

Based on past experience, Jia Zhangshi must have done something wrong to die like this.

Judging from the unusual pork in the pot, Qin Huairu seemed to have guessed what was going on.

Could it be that Jia Zhangshi stole the money she used to buy meat?

Hiss, if that's really the case, Jia Zhangshi will be arrested.

But if she gets arrested, who will come to haul manure and earn money?

Thinking of this, Qin Huairu asked softly, "Mom, you didn't steal anything, did you?"

"nonsense!"

Jia Zhangshi was getting agitated. Pointing her finger at Qin Huairu, she yelled, "You damned wretch, how dare you suspect me of stealing? I've always been upright and honest, when have I ever stolen anything from anyone!"

Forehead......

You've probably forgotten why you were sent to a labor camp in the first place.

Qin Huairu's lips twitched, and she was about to say something when she saw Jia Zhangshi wave her hand and stride out of the house.

"Yan Bugui, what are you yelling about? What did I mean by saying that some young brother is looking for me? If Lao Jia hears this, he'll definitely come over to have a chat with you in the middle of the night!"

Jia Zhangshi, forcing herself to remain calm, entered the courtyard, glanced at the middle-aged man, Old Zhong, and said irritably, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"You must be Sister Jia Zhangshi, right?" Old Zhong pursed his chapped lips and forced a smile. "Yes, you were just at the market picking up vegetable scraps, weren't you? I..."

"Shut up, who told you I went to pick up vegetable scraps?"

Before Lao Zhong could finish speaking, Jia Zhangshi interrupted him, then couldn't help but glance in the direction of Liu Haizhong's house.

As luck would have it, Liu Haizhong and his second aunt came out to see what was going on when they heard the commotion.

have to!

Now he can no longer admit that he went to pick up vegetable leaves.

Didn't you go to the market just now?

Old Zhong's expression froze, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in his mind.

This woman in front of me, named Jia Zhangshi, seems rather unruly.

“I went!” Jia Zhangshi said, “But I went to buy vegetables, not to pick up vegetable scraps. What kind of person am I? How could I possibly go to the vegetable market to pick up rotten leaves!”

"Alright, since you just went to the market, I'd like to ask if you found a money bag, about this long, with 25 yuan and 35 cents inside." Old Zhong said sincerely, "This money is my salary from last month. My family of four depends on this money to survive. If you found my money bag, I'd like to give you 3 yuan as a thank you."

So it wasn't a bad thing after all. Yan Bugui scratched his chin in disappointment.

He had initially thought that this middle-aged man and Jia Zhangshi had some secret relationship, but it turned out that the man had only come to look for his money bag.

"Mrs. Jia, have you found anything he lost? If you have, return it to this young man quickly." Liu Haizhong cleared his throat, striking a leader's pose.

They're really after my money.

Jia Zhangshi felt a little flustered, but she pretended to be nonchalant and replied, "I just went to the market to buy some vegetables and meat, and then I came back. Are you sure you haven't got the wrong person?"

At this point, Jia Zhangshi was unsure whether anyone had seen her, so she planned to cover it up.

I found this money through my own skill, so it should be mine. What right do you have to take it back?

"I'm absolutely certain. The vegetable vendor told me himself that you were the only one who went there to pick up vegetable scraps just now." Clearly, Old Zhong was getting anxious, so he pleaded, "That money is our family's lifeline!"

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