Li Shulan's expression remained unchanged. It had been several days, and she had already prepared her excuses:

"It just happened that day. I went to eat vegetarian noodles, and Zhao Youjie ordered two dishes and couldn't finish them. He said he invited me to eat with him for your sake."

"I'm not trying to get along well with your brother. Besides, he's the landlord after all. I have to bow my head under his eaves. I don't have much money and can't afford to eat. I'm hungry, so I agreed.

"Who would have thought that Zhao Youjie's wife, Wang Erni, would pass by and see me, then accuse me without any reason and even scratch my face."

All the anger in Zhao Youcai's heart turned into heartache.

"I'm going to go find Wang Erni and settle the score. How could she misunderstand you like that?"

"No, I didn't tell you because I was afraid you'd feel bad for me. Now that you've settled the score, you're relieved. But I have to stay here and continue to be looked down upon by Wang Erni. How about you find me a new house?"

"Anything like Ma Xiulan's will do. She has a five-room house in her own yard, and I only need three rooms. I can live in one room for myself, one for my son and daughter-in-law, and one for my grandson. I can also build a kitchen."

Li Shulan clung to Zhao Youcai's arm and said coquettishly:

"Anyway, didn't you say Director He promised you that you would be paid this month? That's 62 yuan, enough for rent."

She didn't want to stay in this shabby place anymore. Zhao Youjie was a little too much of a troublemaker, as if he hadn't seen a woman in eight hundred years. He always liked to pester her at night. When she asked him for money, he gave her less and less.

She wanted to leave here and start a new life. Moreover, she was afraid that Zhao Youcai would notice something after a long time and cause her to make trouble again.

Zhao Youcai remembered that there was already a great man like Zhao Youfu at home, and the family expenses must be huge. Shulan also wanted to move house. He immediately felt a headache:

"The Jindong couple aren't homeless now. If they only come to stay occasionally, there's no need to rent a house. You can just stay here for now. I'll find you some work pasting matchboxes next time. You're bored at home all day, so you can do some work and earn some money for food."

Li Shulan looked at Zhao Youcai with disappointment. Not only did he not want to buy her a new house, he also wanted her to make money:

"I used to be a teacher. How could I do a job like pasting matchboxes?"

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have broken up with He Chengyang. I might still be a respectable teacher with a stable salary, instead of being hidden here by you like this, looking like a disgrace to others."

Seeing Li Shulan crying in grievance, Zhao Youcai also felt that he had just gone crazy:

"I was wrong, please stop crying."

Li Shulan took the opportunity to ask for money. Zhao Youcai felt a headache. Why did it feel like she asked for money every time they met?

"Didn't I just give you money a week ago?"

Li Shulan pouted and took out a white shirt with a stand-up collar and a ribbon from the cabinet.

"I bought this. It's the latest model from the department store. Looks good, right? It's 15 yuan."

Zhao Youcai was secretly annoyed. He had been giving household allowances to his two daughters-in-law every day recently. He knew that 15 yuan was enough to feed a family of seven for about 10 days.

As a result, Li Shulan bought such an impractical shirt. This is really unrealistic.

He wanted to hold it in, but when he thought of the thin blanket he was still covered with, he couldn't help but remind him:

"It looks nice, but it's too expensive. It's winter now, why are you buying this spring dress? At our age, we should just wear what's good enough. I remember you have quite a few shirts. Don't buy me any more clothes in the future. Use the money I give you for food."

Li Shulan's face turned pale. She was not allowed to wear new clothes.

Bah, what the hell.

"Then I won't eat. I'll just starve to death."

"How can this be? I'll give you another 5 yuan, you should spend it sparingly. By the way, do you have any cotton? Youfu took my thick quilt to give to my mother. Now I don't have a thick quilt to cover myself with. I'm freezing to death."

Li Shulan shook her head. Just five dollars, and you still want your own cotton?

Zhao Youcai looked at the thick double quilt on Li Shulan's bed and envied her:

"From now on, after dinner, I'll come sleep over here with you, and go back at dawn to get through the winter."

Li Shulan quickly shook her head. If Zhao Youcai was here every night, she would not be able to make any money from Zhao Youjie. Now that Zhao Youcai was so stingy, wouldn't her life be very difficult?

Zhao Youcai was very sad to see her reject him without even thinking about it. Li Shulan noticed his abnormality:

"Youcai, you misunderstood. I'm worried that you'll be cold from running back and forth on the road, and I'm afraid some vagrants will snatch you away in the middle of the night. I just remembered that my mother has some cotton. I'll go get it tomorrow and make you a quilt."

Zhao Youcai held Li Shulan's face and kissed her hard: "I knew you were the only one who cared about me. By the way, do you have anything to eat? I think I smell meat in your mouth. You don't know those ungrateful people, because Zhao Youfu didn't give me any food."

Li Shulan was feeling disgusted by the smell on Zhao Youcai, and before she could react, Zhao Youcai had already dug out an opened can of meat from the cupboard and started to devour it with a spoon. Li Shulan felt a pang of pain in her flesh, because that was the can of meat that Zhao Youjie had bought for her.

"This was given to me by Jindong. I can't bear to eat it." The implication was that Zhao Youcai should eat less.

Zhao Youcai laughed when he heard this: "Since my son is filial, I should eat more."

He spent so much money on buying three cans and a ring for He Jindong, but he only ate his canned food and felt that he had to eat more to make up for his investment.

Before I knew it, the whole jar was finished.

He burped. It had been a long time since he had eaten meat so happily.

Looking at Li Shulan's resentful eyes, Zhao Youcai realized belatedly: "Are you dissatisfied with me eating you?"

"How could that be?" Li Shulan laughed sweetly. "I just feel bad that you're eating too fast. I'm afraid your stomach might be upset. I'll get you a glass of water."

"You still feel sorry for me."

"I'll sleep here tonight and go back early tomorrow morning."

"You're going to be too much trouble."

"I'm not afraid of trouble, I just want to spend time with you."

Li Shulan was secretly annoyed. Zhao Youjie would be coming over soon, and she couldn't run into him.

Just when she was about to say that she was going out to the bathroom, Zhao Youcai had already turned off the lights and rushed over. He had been thinking about Li Shulan for too long. In the next room, Zhao Youjie saw that his wife Wang Erni was fast asleep, and he also planned to go look for Li Shulan. He had given her canned meat today, and it couldn't be given away for nothing.

When he approached Li Shulan's door, he heard a sound from inside, but he didn't think much about it. He had gone to the bathroom when Zhao Youcai came over and didn't see it.