Seeing that all the rooms were furnished, Sun Zhengguo found a rag and broom and began cleaning the rooms.
After more than an hour of hard work, Sun Zhengguo, covered in sweat, finally finished cleaning the rooms. Seeing the newly renovated rooms, he went into the space to take a shower, feeling satisfied.
After taking a shower, Sun Zhengguo checked his watch. It was already past 3 p.m., time to go home and cook. He locked the front door and headed home.
On his way home, Sun Zhengguo remembered the money and meat coupons his mother had given him, so he took out a pound of pork from his spatial storage and prepared to cook braised pork for dinner.
...
At the entrance of the courtyard house, Madam Jia Zhangshi and the Third Aunt were discussing the issue of grain rationing.
Since the falling out between the Jia and Yi families, Jia Zhangshi has hardly had a full meal. The family's fixed grain allowance is limited, and they rely entirely on buying grain at negotiated prices to make ends meet.
If we want to eat well every day, with my son's meager salary, it's probably not going to be enough!
Besides, no one can live on money forever; everyone needs to save some in case of emergencies.
As the saying goes, misfortunes never come singly. This morning, her daughter-in-law was feeling unwell, and it turned out she was pregnant again. Soon, another member of the family will be added, which has greatly worried Jia Zhangshi. That's why she sought advice from her third aunt.
"I said to him, 'Auntie, there are six people in your family, is the ration enough?'"
Hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, the third aunt rolled her eyes at her. Isn't that obvious? With such a small ration, it's not enough for any family. How did you even come up with such an idiotic question?
Jia Zhangshi didn't even need the third aunt to answer; she knew the answer just by looking at her eyes. Still unwilling to give up, she continued to ask.
"Since the quota was insufficient, how did your family manage to survive?"
Another idiotic question. The aunt was speechless. She was usually quite quick-witted when arguing, but why did she keep asking such irrelevant questions? So she said bluntly.
"How did you survive? You went three days without eating nine meals, didn't you know? What's wrong with your brain? Do you even need to ask?"
Jia Zhangshi's mind went blank for a moment. "If I could withstand hunger, I would be asking you. I think you're the one with a problem. You deserve to go hungry for three days and nine meals a day."
Just as Jia Zhangshi was complaining in her heart, Sun Zhengguo walked over from a distance, humming a little tune and swinging the meat he was carrying back and forth.
Just as Jia Zhangshi was worrying about the food, she happened to see this scene, or more precisely, she happened to see the meat swaying back and forth. Her eyes lit up and her two thieving eyes darted around instantly.
"The two ladies are chatting."
Sun Zhengguo arrived at the door, gave a casual greeting, and prepared to go home.
When Jia Zhangshi saw that the person was about to leave, she immediately stopped them.
"Aunt Jia, is something the matter?"
Seeing that he was being stopped, Sun Zhengguo asked.
"Jung-guk, can your auntie talk to you about something?"
Seeing Jia Zhangshi's expression, Sun Zhengguo knew that she had her eye on the meat in his hands, but he still pretended not to know and asked.
"What is it? I'm listening."
"Here's the thing, your sister-in-law wasn't feeling well today, and after a checkup, it turns out she's pregnant. The doctor said she needs to supplement her nutrition, and we've run out of meat coupons. Could you lend me some meat? I'll pay you back next month when I have more coupons."
The three women standing nearby were quite upset. This Jia Zhangshi was a scoundrel; she had taken over all their work.
“Aunt Jia, logically speaking, it’s not wrong for you to lend some meat, after all, your daughter-in-law is pregnant and needs to nourish herself.”
Hearing this, Madam Jia was overjoyed and reached out to take it.
"However, I cannot lend this meat today."
As soon as Sun Zhengguo finished speaking, Jia Zhangshi's outstretched hand stopped abruptly, and she gave two awkward "hehe" sounds before saying something.
"Why? We're all neighbors, shouldn't we help each other? Besides, you call me 'Auntie,' so I'm your elder, and you should help me even more."
Jia Zhangshi used the same tactics as Yi Zhonghai, moral blackmail and fallacies, but Sun Zhengguo didn't buy it and spoke directly.
"The reason I won't lend you this meat is because the meat coupons were borrowed by my mother from someone else. She bought it to help my younger brother get better."
"As you know, my younger brother is preparing for his exams and is still growing, so he can't afford to lack nutrition. What if he fails his exams because we lent him meat? What if he collapses from lack of nutrition?"
"No, I won't lend it all. How about this, you lend half, so your brother will have food and my daughter-in-law can also get some nutrition."
As clever as I am, I secretly rejoiced, thinking, "You little punk, you think you can mess with me? Just wait until you're drinking my foot bath water! I'm going to eat this meat today, not even the Jade Emperor can stop me."
Sun Zhengguo was speechless. Had he not made himself clear enough? This Jia Zhangshi was still pestering him. So, he spoke bluntly.
"As the saying goes, a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home. This little bit of meat isn't even enough for my brother to eat alone. Why don't you go and try to borrow half a pig from the butcher?"
Sun Zhengguo was about to leave after he finished speaking, but how could Jia Zhangshi let him go?
Then Jia Zhangshi strode forward, collapsed to the ground, grabbed Sun Zhengguo's leg with one hand, and pounded the ground with the other, singing a lament with snot and tears streaming down her face.
"Old Jia! Come out and see! How long have you been dead? These youngsters in the courtyard dare to bully us orphans and widows! Come and take them away! Old Jia! Come quickly!..."
Jia Zhangshi's cries for help immediately attracted the attention of other neighbors. Seeing the pointing and whispering, Sun Zhengguo became furious. He used his leg to break free from Jia Zhangshi's hand, took out 50 cents, and said...
“Auntie, could you please go to the police station and report that someone is robbing people on the street and spreading feudal superstition? Consider this 50 cents as your reward.”
Upon hearing this, the three women were overjoyed and quickly came over to collect the money.
But would Jia Zhangshi agree?
She was being unreasonable, but she wasn't stupid, so she quickly stood up, blocked the third woman, and said loudly.
"No, don't call the police! I was just joking, why did you take it seriously? Zhengguo, tell me quickly, Auntie was just joking."
Sun Zhengguo knew that even if the police came, they would most likely just give him a scolding, nothing serious. He just wanted to annoy Jia Zhangshi, and now that he had achieved his goal, he didn't want to get entangled with her anymore, so he said.
"Are you sure you're joking?"
Yes, yes, yes.
"Did I bully you orphans and widows?"
"No, no."
"So, who are you planning to talk to when you summoned Uncle Jia back?"
"Find me, find me."
"Hahaha……."
Jia Zhangshi's answer caused the neighbors to burst into laughter.
Realizing what was happening, Jia Zhangshi hurriedly said...
"No, I'm not looking for anyone, I'm not looking for anyone."
Seeing that Jia Zhangshi had already given in, Sun Zhengguo stopped arguing and went home with the meat.
Seeing that there was no more drama to watch, the neighbors all dispersed and headed home.
Only Jia Zhangshi and the Third Aunt remained at the gate. The Third Aunt looked at Jia Zhangshi and was a little angry, as she had lost 50 cents.
"snort!"
The three women let out a dissatisfied murmur before heading home.
After everyone had left, Madam Jia looked at her hands and muttered to herself.
"That brat from the Sun family, how can he be so strong? My hands are still shaking."
After saying that, Madam Jia slowly walked towards the central courtyard.
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