Ma Hua, who had just transmigrated, was still quite confused, especially since he had just discovered during dinner that although his family's living conditions in this courtyard were not bad, their staple food was still cornbread, only the cornbread was mixed with some wheat flour and bean flour, so it wasn't as hard to swallow.

It's important to understand that although the three years of famine have passed, there are still many people in society who are struggling to get enough to eat. The Ma Hua family's situation is actually only possible because they live in Beijing. Otherwise, they'd be lucky to even get cornbread made from flour without tree bark, let alone cornbread made from wheat flour.

After all, the city is better than the countryside, especially in the capital. Ma Hua also recalled the cornbread his predecessor ate a few years ago—it was incredibly hard to swallow. It was so hard you could use it to smash rocks.

Oh right, it seems that corn these days is ground up whole, cob and all, making threshing and milling impossible. Thinking of this, Ma Hua broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily, he had a cheat code now.

However, we still lack seeds, we still lack... something... Ma Hua was calculating in a daze, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. When Ma Hua woke up, it was already the next morning.

"Knock, knock, knock! Xiaohua, get up now, you'll be late!" The sound of Chen Hongyan's frantic knocking came from outside the door. Chen Hongyan, standing outside, was also worried. What was wrong with her child? Wasn't he usually the first one up? Why was he still lying in bed today?

Ma Hua was startled awake by the knocking on the door and sat up instinctively. "Ah, I'm late." Thinking of this, Ma Hua couldn't help but shiver. Was she going to be late? With that thought, Ma Hua quickly dressed, got out of bed, and opened the door, only to find that her mother had already boiled hot water for washing up.

Seeing her son get up, Chen Hongyan, his mother, asked with some concern, "Xiaohua, it's alright, don't worry, I believe in you. Go wash up and eat."

"Oh." Ma Hua nodded subconsciously, but when she looked up, she saw a hint of worry in her mother's eyes. Ma Hua understood that her mother was worried that she couldn't stand the gossip.

While brushing his teeth, Ma Hua said indistinctly, "Mom, don't worry, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well yesterday because my nephew wasn't here."

"You silly child, really! It's alright, your nephew will be back in a few days. Are you done washing up? Hurry up and eat," Chen Hongyan, Ma Hua's mother, hurriedly invited him into the house to eat after he finished washing up.

Ma Hua casually picked up the bowl of congee on the table, slurped it down, wiped her mouth, and walked towards the door, calling out as she went, "Mom, I'm done eating."

Seeing her son's agitated state, Chen Hongyan felt a little gratified. Her child had grown up; he finally understood he couldn't just passively accept things. That was good; he wouldn't be bullied in the future.

Seeing his wife watching Ma Hua's departing figure, Ma Jianguo subconsciously comforted her, saying, "It's alright. Last night, I talked to an old man in their compound, and he said he would help Xiao Hua."

"Well, I hope so. Okay, you should eat too," Chen Hongyan said with some worry, but she still urged her husband. Since she stopped working, her most important job has been taking care of the men in the family.

When Ma Hua jogged to the canteen, she realized she was the first one there. She then remembered that she had been arriving early every day so that her cook, Sha Zhu, could have hot water as soon as he arrived. She not only prepared hot water for everyone but also cleaned the kitchen. Now, seeing Sha Zhu's large porcelain mug... oh my god!

However, she still took the warm water and went to the water room to get two kettles of hot water. Sha Zhu wouldn't drink it, but she wanted some herself. By the time Ma Hua returned to the canteen with the water, the canteen workers had already started arriving.

But the director hasn't arrived yet, so they're just chattering away, gossiping. There's no gossip in the whole factory that these middle-aged women don't know.

Liu Lan, with her sharp eyes, noticed the thermos in Ma Hua's hand and said with a hint of exasperation, "Hey, Ma Hua, what can I say to you? What's wrong? They expelled you from their sect yesterday and treated you so badly, and you're still rushing to serve them tea?"

“Yeah, Ma Hua, I’m telling you, don’t do that anymore. You should learn from Fatty. It’s no use doing it this way. You need to learn from Fatty how to coax Sha Zhu.” Another aunt couldn’t help but chime in. She had long disliked Sha Zhu’s behavior, always swaggering around in the kitchen.

"Hey, Sister Lan, you're not right. I didn't pour this for Sha Zhu, you know. You've all taken such good care of me before, so I should at least show some appreciation," Ma Hua said, shaking the hand warmer in her hand.

"Sister Lan, Aunt Sun, come and have some tea!" Ma Hua greeted Liu Lan and the others while taking out the tea leaves. Speaking of this tea, Ma Hua had personally paid for it as a gift to Sha Zhu; he had practically begged and pleaded to get his hands on it.

Liu Lan and Aunt Sun exchanged a relieved glance. This silly boy had finally figured it out and immediately swarmed over to Ma Hua's side.

"Come, come, ladies. I, Ma Hua, was a little wrong before, and I apologize to you all now. Let's have tea instead of wine as an apology. Please forgive my rudeness," Ma Hua said as he put tea leaves and poured water into the porcelain mugs of the aunties.

"Hey kid, take it easy, you don't need to put in so much." "Yeah, Ma Hua, just use less. This is enough for several baths," Liu Lan and the others said to Ma Hua with some heartache. This silly boy, why did he put in so much? It's such a waste.

"No way, Sister Lan, you're joking again. We can offer you as much as you want," Ma Hua quickly said with a smile. Don't underestimate these middle-aged women. There are no easy people in this cafeteria; it's not that they're bad people, it's just that without connections, you can't stay here.