"Aizhen, you're back from shopping for groceries." Grandma Wu greeted Yang Aizhen who was walking by with a basket of vegetables.

Yang Aizheng didn't want to pay attention to Grandma Wu at first, but when she thought of Qin Hanshu, she responded with a smile.

The footsteps also stopped.

Grandma Wu was surprised, as this seemed like he wanted to talk to her.

But hasn't Yang Aizheng always looked down on her and ignored her?

Yang Aizhen exchanged a few pleasantries and then got down to business. "Has my dear Han Shu received any letters recently? Has she said she wants to go home to visit her family?"

The telegram had been sent out for a long time, but no word from Qin Hanshu came.

Yang Aizheng had no idea whether she received it or not, and whether she came back or not.

She was in urgent need of money, so she could only ask Grandma Wu for help.

Coincidentally, Grandma Wu received a letter from Qin Hanshu yesterday.

However, the letter, as usual, talked about some trivial matters and did not contain the answer that Yang Aizheng wanted.

Yang Aizheng was extremely disappointed, and just then she smelled the aroma of meat coming from Grandma Wu's house.

Her stomach immediately made loud rumblings uncontrollably.

When Grandma Wu heard it, she looked at Yang Aizheng in surprise, as if she couldn't believe that the sound came from Yang Aizheng.

This was a very shameful and uncultured thing for Yang Aizheng, who had grown up in luxury. She was so ashamed that she covered her face and ran away.

When she returned home and looked at the loofahs and vegetable gourds in the vegetable basket, Yang Aizheng couldn't help but shed tears of sadness.

Thinking about the life I've been living during this period, it's almost the same as my mother's family in the countryside.

The only consolation she had was that with the Hu family around, she didn't have to suffer the same contempt as her own family, nor did she have to endure the pain brought by the political stain.

Thinking of this, Yang Aizheng wiped away her tears and dragged her tired body to cook for the Hu family.

Halfway through the meal, Hu Bingbing ran in and asked Yang Aizheng for money.

"I want to eat roast duck, give me money!"

Yang Aizhen said helplessly: "I only have two cents left from buying vegetables, how can I afford roast duck."

Hu Bingbing didn't understand all this. He only remembered that Yang Aizheng would take the whole family to a restaurant to eat roast duck every month.

It’s been a long time since I last ate this!

Today, he passed by a roast duck restaurant and his craving for food was aroused again, so he ran back to ask Yang Aizheng for roast duck.

Seeing Hu Bingbing showing his fierce look, Yang Aizhen hurriedly said, "I'll take you out to eat after I get my salary. Let's eat some candied haws first."

As he said that, he took out two dimes from buying vegetables and stuffed them into Hu Bingbing's pocket, coaxing him, "Be good, go buy some candied haws. Two dimes can buy ten bunches."

Candied haws are definitely not as good as roast duck, but ten strings of candied haws are still very tempting.

Hu Bingbing thought for a while and decided to get the candied haws first, so he took the money and went out.

Yang Aizhen breathed a sigh of relief.

However, after a while, Mrs. Hu came to ask her for the money left over from buying vegetables.

The vegetables she bought were right there, and the prices were clearly visible. Old Mrs. Hu knew exactly how much money Yang Aizheng had left.

"Take out the money!" Old Mrs. Hu had her eyes drooping and her calm face was full of majesty.

Yang Aizhen trembled with fear, then hesitantly said, "The money... was given to Bingbing..."

"Nonsense!" Old Mrs. Hu saw Yang Aizheng giving money to Hu Bingbing in the house just now, but she pretended not to see it and insisted on asking Yang Aizheng for the two cents.

"You rebellious little whore, you actually dared to hide your private property and even used my grandson as an excuse! You are deliberately bullying my grandson because he has a poor brain and can't speak, right?"

Old Mrs. Hu became angrier and angrier as she spoke. She picked up a broom and hit Yang Aizheng.

Yang Aizheng didn't even try to hide. She just stood there and let Old Lady Hu beat and scold her.

The commotion here soon attracted the neighbors in the yard to come out and watch.

Everyone pointed at Yang Aizheng and whispered, with sneering expressions on their faces.

The women present were all new-age women who had been baptized by the ideas of the new society. They could not understand the behavior of Yang Aizheng, a "model daughter-in-law of the old era" who did not fight back or retaliate when beaten or scolded.

They just thought she was shameless, stupid, and that she must have been kicked in the head by a donkey, so she put her face forward to be beaten.

Even Grandma Wu, who was a child bride, shook her head as she looked at Yang Aizheng.

Only a few men praised Yang Aizheng for being "filial and honest" and criticized Mrs. Hu's shrewish behavior with sympathy.

However, the man who praised others was soon twisted by his wife's ear and sent back to the house for a lecture.

Halfway through the farce, Hu Dayong came back and stopped Old Lady Hu with a sullen face.

Yang Aizheng, who was crying in her heart about her miserable life, immediately looked up at Hu Dayong as if she were a savior.

Old Mrs. Hu had long been dissatisfied with Hu Dayong's favoritism towards his daughter-in-law. She vowed to teach Yang Aizheng a lesson this time and had no intention of listening to her son.

Hu Dayong's face was distorted, and he whispered, "Go back to the house, I have something to say."

Mrs. Hu realized something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong?"

After entering the room, Hu Dayong closed the door and said solemnly, "Director Ma has been arrested."

Old Mrs. Hu said, "Is it the neighborhood committee director? Didn't you know about it a long time ago? What about this neighbor?"

Yang Aizhen thought for a moment and asked, "What does this have to do with you?"

"I also heard it from someone, I don't know if it's true or not, they said Director Ma has an account book with a lot of bribery records in it." Hu Dayong scratched his head hard and said irritably: "I gave Director Ma 300 yuan before in order to get a permanent residence."

Yang Aizhen was also shocked, "Yes, you said you would send me another one a while ago, luckily you didn't..."

Mrs. Hu was surprised and asked, "What would be the consequences if you were really in that book?"

Yang Aizheng also looked at Hu Dayong anxiously.

Hu Dayong was silent for a while, then shook his head, "I don't know."

Old Lady Hu thought about it and said angrily, "Who cares! Whether it's in the book or not, I won't admit it! If someone comes to arrest you, I will stand in front of them and see who dares to touch me!"

Old Mrs. Hu was once a bully in the countryside, relying on her aggressive and reckless spirit.

But now they are in the city, with laws and police, and if something goes wrong, it is not something that an old lady like her can solve by being tough.

Hu Dayong lived in fear at home for a few days, and as expected, the police came to his door.

He originally comforted himself by thinking that it was just a matter of settling down. At worst he would just lose his city hukou and go back to his hometown.

But in the end, it's not that simple.

After hearing the charges against him, he was completely stunned.

When did he resell supplies?