While Fatty and the others were watching Sha Zhu carefully serve his "wife" and son in the restaurant, some people in the courtyard couldn't sit still any longer.
Yi Zhonghai wandered around the house in a daze for half a day, and finally went to Qin Huairu's house.
These days, Qin Huairu's family is the only one in the entire courtyard who doesn't lock their door.
When Yi Zhonghai pushed the door open and came in, Jia Zhangshi was sitting in the living room. As soon as she saw him, she said irritably, "Who let you in? Get out!"
Yi Zhonghai was furious. "Can you even listen to what he's saying?" he thought. "He's the eldest son of this family, and he's helped them out a lot back in the day. And now this is how they've ended up..."
Yi Zhonghai said coldly, "I'm here to see Huai Ru."
Qin Huairu was reclining on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room. She heard the noise, but she didn't want to pay any attention to Yi Zhonghai.
Why do these people, who are not related to her, keep coming to see her all the time?
In the TV series, before the reform and opening up, Qin Huairu had already hooked up with Sha Zhu and forced him to help her get a job as a driver, and a driver in a national ministry. How glamorous!
With her worries gone, Qin Huairu became more "generous"; she had her two maids take turns delivering meals to Yi Zhonghai every day to set an example and start seducing the two old men, Second Uncle and Third Uncle.
But now, Sha Zhu earns his own money and spends it as he pleases, and he's still having an "unclear" relationship with his daughter Xiao Dang. The Jia family still lives on her meager salary every month, eating nothing but noodles and pickled vegetables every day, and they don't eat meat even once every ten days or half a month. Do you think she'll pay any attention to that old man Yi Zhonghai?
Qin Huairu hid in the inner room without making a sound, while Jia Zhangshi continued to berate Yi Zhonghai... Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai understood immediately, and said angrily to the person in the inner room, "Qin Huairu, if this is your attitude, then we should stop seeing each other from now on, and don't come to me for anything again!" After saying that, he turned and left.
"Is he an old man? Why is he angry? Please sit down."
Qin Huairu remained true to her usual "hear her voice before you see her" manner, smiling as she came out of the inner room. She didn't even pour Yi Zhonghai a cup of water, and instead sat down on a stool with an air of nonchalance: "Uncle, what can I do for you?"
Yi Zhonghai glared at her and found a place to sit down: "Nothing else, Ran Qiuye is back, and she has a child with her. I just wanted to ask you what your thoughts are."
Qin Huairu's fake smile could no longer be maintained. She said to the old man in an icy tone, "I have no idea. It has nothing to do with me. If you have nothing else to do, you can go back now!"
He Daqing, the father of the simple-minded Zhu, and Qin Huairu, Zhu's entanglement—these two have truly mastered the art of "Beijing-style hypocrisy." When they need something, they're all polite and respectful; otherwise, they're just "you"; but if you ask them for a favor, they're nothing but "you"—a derogatory term.
Yi Zhonghai seemed to have seen through her, and snorted coldly: "Is that so? Then Ran Qiuye can bring the child to live in our courtyard, and Xiao Dang can move back to live with her mother-in-law. Great."
Qin Huairu snapped, "You're talking nonsense!"
Yi Zhonghai said angrily, "Watch your tone when you talk to me!"
When Jia Zhangshi heard about Xiao Dang's matter, she became anxious, but she couldn't get a word in edgewise and could only watch helplessly from the sidelines.
Seeing that he had intimidated Qin Huairu, Yi Zhonghai said to her with a warning tone, "Don't forget, when Xiaodang separated from you, she didn't mention the house!"
Qin Huairu retorted, her neck stiff, "What does the house have to do with her?"
"She also has the surname Jia, and these two rooms were left behind by Dongxu."
"..."
Qin Huairu was speechless for a moment; what that old man Yi Zhonghai said made sense.
If Sha Zhu really marries Ran Qiuye, their child will be 16 or 17 years old. They can't possibly live with the two of them, can they?
The two rooms in the backyard belonging to the deaf old lady have been returned to Fatty, and it's quite possible that they'll take back He Yushui's room so his precious son can move in.
Does that mean Xiao Dang will have to go back to this house again?
The three small houses were built during the 1977 earthquake, and now Jia Zhangshi, Banggeng, and Huaihua each have one.
Qin Huairu is currently living alone in the two large houses; she'll let Bang Geng live there after his wedding. There's no room left, especially if Xiao Dang comes back…
Just as Qin Huairu was going through a lot of internal struggle, Jia Zhangshi spoke up: "Alright, let Xiaodang move back and live with me. If you ask me, he should have come back a long time ago. We're all family, why are we arguing? What's the point of him staying at Shazhu's place all the time?"
Qin Huairu was furious: "What's so good about it? Why should she move back in? She was the one who was making a fuss about separating the family property in the first place, and now she wants to move back? No way!"
After saying that, she stood up and said to Yi Zhonghai, "Let's go to your room and talk." Then she turned and left, completely ignoring Jia Zhangshi's unpleasant expression.
She had already planned it all out: once Banggeng got married, she would send Jia Zhangshi back to her hometown, and then have Huaihua take care of Yi Zhonghai.
Once that old man is gone, won't those two rooms belong to her? Then she can take Huaihua and move there. Anyway, she'll get married sooner or later, so she won't need to prepare a house anymore.
From now on, Qin Huairu will be the one to call the shots in this family!
After they left, Jia Zhangshi stood up shakily, leaned against the wall, and slowly made her way to the bedside. She took out painkillers from under her pillow, quickly swallowed four, and then slumped onto the bed, cursing Qin Huairu incessantly.
When Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu went out, Bang Geng in the small room heard it, but he simply lay on the bed and showed no intention of getting up.
After spending three years in jail, he finally understood everything: a man can't live without money!
Back when I first started following Yang Weimin, what kind of life did I lead? Now, we eat meager meals every day and are crammed into this tiny room. Just thinking about it makes me feel miserable!
Especially since he had to watch helplessly as the two people he hated most, Sha Zhu and Fatty, lived better and better lives.
What's most infuriating is that brat from Fatty's family. She always has money on her, and every day she's either buying soda or snacks at the convenience store. And what about him?
I've lived this long and never tasted Coca-Cola!
Bang Geng secretly vowed to himself, "Just you wait, when I have money in the future..."
"..."
Leaving aside what Yi Zhonghai was plotting with Qin Huairu, in the private room upstairs at Qili Pavilion, Sha Zhu was doing everything he could to make his son happy: "Come on, son, try this shredded pork with sweet bean sauce."
He Sui looked at the plate with its richly flavored shredded pork in the center and tofu rolls arranged on both sides, which looked very appealing. She first put a piece on her mother's plate before eating it herself.
Sha Zhu looked on with great delight and explained at length, "This dish is one of the most authentic Beijing dishes; it uses the 'six-fry' method of stir-frying with sauce, which emphasizes a savory-sweet flavor. Son, you should eat the shredded meat and tofu rolls together; it has a unique taste."
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