The stove was burning inside the house, and the temperature was rising. Wang Dabao opened the window, and the aroma of meat immediately wafted out of the kitchen.
These days, let alone eating meat, even smelling the aroma of meat is a luxury.
The deaf old lady next door was half-lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with her quilt against her back, sleeping, when suddenly she sniffed twice.
"Where's that meaty aroma coming from? It's braised pork."
The deaf old woman mumbled something as she got up to find her cane. At this hour, Zhu and Zhonghai were still at the factory; perhaps his aunt was cooking?
He quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed), leaned on his cane, and came to the door. Just as he was about to walk towards the middle courtyard, he inadvertently smelled a fragrance that seemed to be coming from Wang Dabao's house next door.
The deaf old lady followed the smell toward Wang Dabao's house, and the smell became even stronger when she got to the kitchen in the east room.
However, she was hunched over and couldn't see what was happening inside the room, but she could hear people talking.
"Bang! Bang!"
"Wang Dabao, come out here."
The deaf old lady came to the door, knocked twice, and then shouted loudly.
Upon hearing the deaf old woman's voice, Wang Dabao immediately frowned. If it weren't for her age, he would have kicked her long ago.
Upon opening the door, I saw the deaf old woman standing there with a accusing look on her face, drooling incessantly.
Wang Dabao immediately understood: the beggars had come!
"Get out of here."
After saying that, Wang Dabao slammed the door shut.
The deaf old lady trembled at Wang Dabao's imposing manner and the sound of the door closing. Standing there, she became angrier the more she thought about it. She was the matriarch of the compound, and everyone had to address her respectfully.
If anyone has something delicious, they'll have to bring it over for her to have a bite.
Even if you don't send her anything, if she finds out and comes knocking on your door, you still have to politely invite her to sit at the head of the table and eat together.
When have I ever met someone like Wang Dabao? He came to my door and still dared to tell me to get lost. He's really gone too far!
However, she was still a little intimidated by Wang Dabao. But when she thought about how this little bastard had not only extorted twenty yuan from her a few days ago, but also made her kneel down to Wang Zhen, she got angry.
Although Yi Zhonghai contributed ten yuan of the twenty yuan, he still spent ten yuan of his own money, enough to buy so much meat.
Thinking of this, the deaf old lady picked up her cane and struck the door several times.
"Bang bang bang!"
Wang Dabao hadn't gone far when he heard another knock on the door, so he had no choice but to open it again.
"Old man, are you looking for a beating?"
Wang Dabao's face was cold and gloomy.
The deaf old woman was so frightened by Wang Dabao's appearance that she took a step back, her lips trembling, "You...do you know who you're talking to?"
“In this compound, everyone who sees me has to call me ‘Ancestor.’ You, Wang Dabao, not only extorted money from me, but you also tried to beat me up?”
"I'm telling you, you have to serve me a bowl of meat today. Don't you know that in this compound, everyone who has something good to eat will save some for me? You just moved in, so I don't blame you for not knowing the rules."
"As long as you serve me a big bowl of meat, I can temporarily let bygones be bygones for the money you swindled from me last time."
As she spoke, the deaf old lady sniffed hard and glanced towards the kitchen.
"Why don't you just argue with me then!"
Wang Dabao sneered, "Last time, Jia Zhangshi broke my old door and I had to pay ten yuan in compensation. This time it's a new door. If you break it, it won't just be a matter of ten yuan. You'd better save your money for your coffin."
"Bang!"
The door was slammed shut.
The deaf old woman was so frightened that her heart skipped a beat, and her face trembled uncontrollably.
He raised the hand holding the cane, but hesitated to knock on the door.
Recalling the scene of Wang Dabao beating Jia Zhangshi, Yi Zhonghai and others a few days ago, the deaf old lady felt that she should go home first and wait for Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu and others to come back from get off work before making any plans.
That day, she saw it clearly from the window. Wang Dabao was like a killing god. He beat Jia Zhangshi, Jia Dongxu, Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and even his good grandson Shazhu was beaten.
She originally wanted to go out and yell at him, but when she thought about what happened at Wang Zhen's funeral, she immediately gave up. She was afraid that Wang Dabao, who was in a bad mood at the time, would lose control and hit her.
Wang Dabao closed the door and returned to the kitchen.
Yu Li had already prepared the meal and was sitting in a chair resting.
"Uncle Da Bao, dinner is ready. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now."
Whether it was from cooking or from not achieving her goal, Yu Li's face looked a little tired.
Wang Dabao nodded, understanding the unspoken meaning behind Yu Li's words.
Yan Bugui asked Yu Li to come and help cook just so he could get some braised pork. Wang Dabao didn't mind, after all, Yu Li had put in the effort.
Yu Li's cooking skills are quite good; her braised pork is so fragrant that it attracted the deaf old lady to beg for food.
At that moment, Wang Dabao laughed and said, "It's so hot, you must be tired cooking by the stove. Besides, I can't finish all this food by myself. Yu Li, you should take some back with you."
As he spoke, Wang Dabao found a bowl and put some of the braised pork into it.
Yu Li was both moved and saddened by Wang Dabao's generous gesture.
She and Yan Jiecheng didn't have proper jobs, and sometimes they even had to rely on Yan Bugui for support. Being at home and having to watch her father-in-law's mood all day made her very uncomfortable.
Who is Yan Bugui? He's the kind of person who has to be careful with every single pickled vegetable and every single grain of rice. Since Yu Li married into the Yan family, she has only eaten pork three times in total, including the time she got married.
Looking at the tempting braised pork in the bowl, Yu Li had already forgotten her little antics from just now.
Wang Dabao didn't feel bad about these things; Yu Li had cooked for him, and he didn't want to owe her a favor.
Since Yan Bugui has such a clever plan, I'm determined to let him get some benefits out of him, otherwise it will be difficult to get Yu Li to help me next time.
The Intermediate People's Court, the Jia family.
Qin Huairu was serving the two children their meal, while Jia Zhangshi was sewing shoe soles nearby.
On the dining table, Banggeng, who only had one front tooth left, was frowning as he ate a cornbread.
Suddenly, he smelled a meaty aroma, immediately dropped the hard cornbread, and ran outside to sniff it intensely.
She immediately ran to Jia Zhangshi's side, grabbed Jia Zhangshi's arm and shook it vigorously, "Grandma, smell it, it smells like meat and vegetables."
Jia Zhangshi frowned, her triangular eyes gleaming; indeed, the smell of meat wafted over.
"Grandma, I want to eat meat. Go and see who has made meat dishes. I want to eat meat."
Bang Geng kept shouting and clung tightly to Jia Zhangshi's arm, looking as if he couldn't live without eating meat.
Little Dang looked at the cornbread in his hand and looked pitifully at Qin Huairu, "Mom, I want to eat meat too. If there's no meat, some meat broth will do!"
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