As Bu Ling rode her bicycle back to the courtyard house, she felt a surge of joy thinking about the meat dumplings and sweet and sour pork in her lunchbox. She smiled, revealing her white teeth, completely unaware of the familiar figure standing next to the secondhand shop.
Sangshen watched as the little black girl from the state-run restaurant walked past him, grinning with her big white teeth. He almost laughed. Why did this little black girl love to laugh so much? He chuckled softly, turned around, and went into the secondhand store.
Sitting behind the counter in the secondhand shop, Shen Ci looked at the man in an unusually good mood and asked, "What's wrong? Did something good happen?" It was rare to see him so emotionally expressive.
Sangshen walked straight to a rocking chair inside and sat down: "Nothing, just found an interesting person."
"An interesting person?" Shen Ci asked curiously.
The mulberry tree swayed back and forth, then closed its eyes and fell silent.
Shen Ci knew he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she wisely didn't ask any further questions.
On the other side, as soon as Bu Ling entered the courtyard, she was stopped by Wu Dama's daughter-in-law: "Little Bu, did you buy meat?"
Wu Dama's daughter-in-law spoke in a loud voice, attracting the attention of everyone in the front yard. Every household peeked out to look at Bu Ling.
Buling hadn't expected her to have such a keen sense of smell, able to detect the aroma of meat from a great distance.
Now that she'd been found out, she didn't try to hide it anymore and nodded, "Yes, I bought some meat."
Aunt Wu's daughter-in-law, Sister-in-law Lu, said with envy, "That's great! Working in a state-run restaurant means you can eat meat every day."
“Sister-in-law Lu, what are you saying? I bought this meat with my own money, it wasn’t from a state-run restaurant,” Bu Ling immediately retorted.
Although it's an unspoken understanding that leftovers should be shared with employees, it can't be discussed openly.
Sister-in-law Lu's eyes darted around: "Look at me, I misspoke, please don't take offense, sister."
Buling smiled and continued pushing the cart forward, neither saying that he found it strange nor that he didn't.
"Hey, little sister, look, my sister-in-law's daughter, Xiao Qiu, hasn't had meat in a long time. Could you..." Sister-in-law Lu said again, her eyes pleading.
Bling smiled at her.
Just when Sister-in-law Lu thought there was hope...
Bling: "No," what are you thinking? She's such a loving person.
Then he pushed the cart into the house.
Sister-in-law Lu's expression fell, and she looked at Bu Ling's back with jealousy and hatred. What right did a little girl like her have to eat meat?
Looking at her resentful daughter-in-law, Aunt Wu's face darkened: "Still making a fool of yourself outside? Get inside and cook!" She had no respect for this daughter-in-law.
Sister-in-law Lu shrank back and went inside.
Buling didn't care what others thought. These days, who asks someone for meat? Why should she? Because she's got a long face.
In less than fifteen minutes, the whole courtyard knew that the young girl who had just moved in had bought meat.
Granny Chen's eyes were red with jealousy. She cursed inwardly, "That damned brat! She'll choke on meat! She has no respect for elders!" Seeing her grandson pestering her for meat, a malicious smile appeared on her old face: "You want meat, huh? Go to the front yard and find that dark-skinned girl. She'll definitely give you meat. If she doesn't, then throw a tantrum."
Her grandson Jiang Shitou's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up and ran to the front yard.
Coincidentally, Granny Lan thought the same thing and also sent her grandson to ask Buling for meat to eat.
When Buling went out to get water, she saw two little boys standing at her door. When they saw her come out, they stretched out their hands and asked her for meat.
Buling looked around but didn't see the child's parents. What was there to be confused about? They were taking advantage of her soft heart towards the child.
She squatted down, looked at the two dirty little boys, and asked with a smile, "Whose children are you?"
Jiang Shitou said arrogantly, "I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat, give me meat to eat now."
Lan Pozi's eldest grandson, Wang Aijun, also retorted, "I want some too! I want some too! What are you, a lowly girl, going to eat meat? Hand over all the meat now!"
Bling's smile remained unchanged, but a glint of malice flashed in her eyes: "But what should I do if I only have one piece of meat?" She feigned distress and said, "Who should I give it to?"
"Give me!"
"Of course it's me!"
The two spoke in unison, and then glared at each other with hostility.
Bling sighed sadly, "Then there's nothing I can do but eat it myself."
Upon seeing this, the two immediately panicked.
Wang Aijun raised his fist at Jiang Shitou: "Get lost, or I'll beat you to death."
Jiang Shitou is three years younger than Wang Aijun, only nine years old this year. When he saw Wang Aijun raise his fist, he was instinctively afraid. But soon, he mustered up his courage and said, "I want to eat meat too. I'm not leaving."
Wang Aijun glared at him angrily.
Jiang Shitou stopped looking at him and turned to Bu Ling: "Give me the meat quickly!"
Bu Ling smiled and glanced at Wang Aijun: "Okay!"
Then, he made a gesture as if he was going inside to get some meat.
When Wang Aijun saw that the meat was going to be given to someone else, he immediately roared and punched Jiang Shitou. Caught off guard, Jiang Shitou burst into tears.
Wang Aijun persisted and was about to punch someone again.
Jiang Shitou was a domineering person at home, so of course he couldn't stand it. He bent down and rushed forward, bumping into Wang Aijun.
Wang Aijun was knocked to the ground.
The two boys quickly rolled around together, one punching the other and the other biting him.
Bling shouted anxiously, "Help! Help! Whose kids are fighting in my doorstep!"
Granny Lan, who had been watching the situation closely, immediately opened the door and ran out when she saw her grandson being taken advantage of, followed closely by her eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Aijun's biological mother.
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