"Hey, what you're saying, Brother Da Bao, makes it sound like I'm bullying Qin Huairu."
Behind Wang Dabao came Xu Damao's teasing voice, "Alright, it's freezing cold. Qin Huairu, can't you boil some water? If not, I'll lend you some coal."
Qin Huairu reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, smiling gently. "Then I really have to thank you, Da Mao. I appreciate your kindness, but it's alright, I'm afraid I won't be able to pay you back."
Qin Huairu's hair-flipping gesture made Sha Zhu's heart flutter; those crystal-clear earlobes were so beautiful in Sha Zhu's eyes.
"Xu Damao, are you sure you can handle this? It's just a few broken coal briquettes, and you're talking about borrowing it? I'll just shut you down."
Sha Zhu stood to the side, curling his lip in disdain.
Xu Damao snorted and glanced at Sha Zhu with his eyelids: "Oh ho, what wind blew such a pathetic thing like you so tough? If you're not going to deduct, just send a cartload of it to Qin Huairu and let me see how generous you, He Yuzhu, are."
Sha Zhu was already used to Xu Damao's sharp tongue. Even though the other party called him a "thing," he could still pretend not to hear it. His priority was to please Qin Huairu.
Sha Zhu took out a cigarette and smugly lit a match: "Xu Damao, that's all you're good for. I really don't think much of you."
Then Sha Zhu looked at Qin Huairu and said, "Sister Qin, I'm not bragging, but last time I was worried about the movie showing affecting the appearance of the courtyard, so I put all my coal away in the house. If you need it, just go and get it. I won't say a word."
After saying that, Sha Zhu glanced at Xu Damao.
To his surprise, Qin Huairu actually used it.
"Zhu Zi, you know how hard Sister Qin works, so I'll come to your place to get some later?"
Sha Zhu paused in his smoking motion, almost catching his breath. He assumed that Qin Huairu hadn't borrowed the cigarette from Xu Damao and wouldn't come to his house to get it.
Now that things have come to this point, there's no going back.
Even if Sha Zhu's spine is broken, he still has to stand tall in front of Xu Damao and Qin Huairu.
"Alright, Sister Qin, just come to my room to get it whenever you have time. I'm not like some people who pretend to be generous but are actually even stingier than Old Man Yan."
As he spoke, Sha Zhu spat on the ground, which made Qin Huairu frown.
But Sha Zhu was looking at Xu Damao smugly at the moment and didn't notice Qin Huairu's little trick at all.
Just as Sha Zhu was feeling smug, a high-pitched voice came from the front yard: "Hey Sha Zhu, did Second Uncle offend you? What are you yelling about? Who's stingy? You don't have to name names like that!"
Yan Bugui's shout amused Xu Damao, who was holding onto his bicycle.
"Silly Zhu, how can Old Yan be so stingy? That's really mean. If you're so capable, then explain yourself. Let me and Qin Huairu judge this and see if you're just spouting nonsense."
Yan Bugui was about to go to the backyard to find Wang Dabao, but before he could reach the moon gate between the front and middle yards, he heard Sha Zhu muttering bad things about him, so he hurriedly took a few steps.
Upon hearing Yan Bugui's voice, Sha Zhu thought to himself that something was wrong. Without Yi Zhonghai's restraint, the old man had been showing off lately.
But he wasn't about to back down verbally: "Oh ho, it's Second Uncle! I didn't name names, why are you so eager to assume it's me!"
"You haven't even named names yet, I think you're just short of standing in front of Old Yan's house and cursing him."
Xu Damao parked his bicycle and started banging on the gong beside it.
Yan Bugui strode over, and when he reached Shazhu, he glared at him and said, "Shazhu, stop trying to argue. I'm the only one in the whole courtyard with the surname Yan. Everyone knows who you're talking about."
Sha Zhu wanted to argue a few more points, but Qin Huairu quickly smoothed things over: "Second Uncle, please calm down. Zhu was just speaking off the cuff. He definitely didn't mean it that way."
Xu Damao fanned the flames from the side: "Qin Huairu, don't try to persuade him. Sha Zhu is clearly doing this on purpose. I bet he's said this to people countless times already. He just spouts it off without thinking!"
Sha Zhu glared at Xu Damao fiercely; normally, he would have given him a good scolding.
But right now, we still have to deal with Yan Bugui, since that old man is waiting for an explanation.
Just then, Liu Haizhong returned. Seeing the commotion, he walked over with his hands behind his back and said, "I could hear you all arguing from afar. What's all this commotion about?"
Sha Zhu silently took a couple of puffs of his cigarette, pondering how to resolve the matter.
Qin Huairu quickly struck up a conversation with Liu Haizhong and explained the situation.
Liu Haizhong nodded thoughtfully, adopting the demeanor of someone in charge of the compound, and then said in a deliberately profound tone, "In my opinion, we are all neighbors living in the compound, and we see each other all the time. There is no need to ruin our harmony over such a small matter."
"Old Yan isn't the same Old Yan as before. Sha Zhu, you need to watch your words in the future."
Although Yan Bugui was still angry after hearing Liu Haizhong's words, he didn't say anything more.
Sha Zhu threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. He glanced at Qin Huairu and gave her a look of thanks. It was as if to say, "Sister Qin, leave the coal problem to me."
With Liu Haizhong's intervention, the minor incident was temporarily resolved.
"Alright, everyone get back to work. Huai Ru, you should also get ready; you'll have to set up your stall tomorrow."
Qin Huairu smiled and agreed, then turned and went back into the house.
No one saw that a pair of eyes were staring maliciously at Sha Zhu and Xu Damao from the window of the Jia family's house, their teeth grinding together.
"Shazhu, Xu Damao, you just wait, don't think I can't deal with you just because I'm paralyzed!"
Sha Zhu chuckled dryly, started walking home, and mentally calculated how much coal was left at home. He had already boasted, and he couldn't afford to lose face in front of Qin Huairu.
Besides, Sister Qin had just helped him out of that predicament.
I heard that Yan Bugui wanted to visit Wang Dabao, and Liu Haizhong also planned to go and stay for a while.
The two exchanged a glance and then headed towards Wang Dabao's house.
Xu Damao hurriedly pushed his bicycle into his house, then rushed to Wang Dabao's house like a gust of wind.
Wang Dabao chuckled and ushered the three of them inside.
As soon as he entered the door, Yan Bugui couldn't wait to start complaining: "What a bad day! Brother Dabao, you don't know, that kid Shazhu is so arrogant! Just now, in front of Da Mao and Qin Huairu, he actually dared to make fun of me without any restraint!"
Wang Dabao smiled and offered them seats, then handed them hot water. "Old Yan, you're already this old, it's not worth getting angry with him. Sha Zhu is just a sharp-tongued person, you know that after living in the same courtyard for so many years."
Yan Bugui nodded, saying, "That's true."
However, his attention was entirely focused on the hot water in the small enamel mug.
Although I don't come to Wang Dabao's place often, I always manage to get some tea every time I come. Why did it turn into hot water this time?!
Looks like we don't have much Dabao stock left!
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