Qin Huairu had approached Xu Damao about this, but all she got was a resounding slap in the face. Now, nobody's willing to help Qin Huairu. Even if she gets beaten up, there's nothing she can do.
"Da Mao, we not only have no hatred between us, but we also have a pretty good relationship. Why are you targeting me like this? They say that even a night of marriage brings a hundred days of kindness, and a hundred days of marriage is as deep as the sea."
"Doesn't it hurt you to treat me like this? Do you know how deeply you've hurt me? Now everyone points and whispers about me. How am I supposed to live like this?"
Upon hearing Qin Huairu's words, Xu Damao threw the agreement that Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi had signed at Qin Huairu's face.
"Before you say those things, take a look at this. If I hadn't found this first, I'm afraid I would have already fallen into your trap."
"We're only together because we each get what we need. I think I've treated you pretty well these past few days. If I went to find another woman, I probably wouldn't have to spend so much. But you, you shameless woman, are trying to harm me."
"It's all written clearly in black and white. What's there to argue about now?"
"Although I, Xu Damao, am not a good person, I won't scheme against others for no reason. But those who offend me won't get away with it. This is just the beginning; there's a long road ahead."
Seeing the agreement Xu Damao tossed to her, Qin Huairu was speechless. At that moment, she wanted to slap herself. She shouldn't have carried that agreement with her. She must have accidentally dropped it while she and Xu Damao were having an affair, and then Xu Damao picked it up.
Knowing he had been tricked, Xu Damao decided to turn the tables on him. There was no point in talking to Xu Damao about this now. Besides, there was Yi Zhonghai watching closely nearby.
Because she had many enemies, Qin Huairu could only obediently go to work at the steel mill and dared not cause any more trouble in the yard.
The Jia family's affairs alone were enough to give Qin Huairu a headache. Ever since Bang Geng was cheated on, he never wanted to go to school again.
Qin Huairu, who came from a rural background, knew that her son had to study. Because only through education could one change their destiny.
Qin Huairu went to great lengths to appease Bang Geng. She not only promised him many benefits but also specifically sought out those students. Only after offering substantial compensation did Bang Geng obediently return to school, and no one at the school mocked him anymore.
The others were unaffected by the Jia family's troubles. However, some people still looked at Qin Huairu with strange eyes.
If the situation weren't getting worse, many people would probably be thinking about Qin Huairu. Right now, everyone is worried about food.
I had hoped things would improve after the autumn harvest. But who knew this year's harvest would be even worse than last year's? Not only did everyone's rations not increase, they actually decreased.
Even the Xu family now has to pick wild vegetables. As for the others, it goes without saying. Wei Hua sometimes goes out with everyone to pretend to be there.
The wild vegetables they picked mostly went to the chickens. Yang Tao knew these days were tough, so she never flaunted her privileged life to others. Instead, she and Wei Hua pretended to be poor in front of everyone.
In this era, being poor is considered glorious. Yet, no one wants to be unable to make ends meet.
Eating coarse grains and wild vegetables has become the norm for everyone. Even the He family is struggling these days. They basically eat cornmeal or sorghum flour for every meal. Sometimes they also have to supplement their diet with sweet potatoes or cassava.
The Jia and Yan families had the hardest life in the entire courtyard, because they had few able-bodied men and many family members.
If they hadn't prepared some food in advance, the Yan family probably wouldn't even be able to afford sweet potatoes and cassava now. No one knows how long this situation will last, so Yan Bugui can only mobilize everyone to try to find some wild vegetables, and at the same time, they also followed the example of Yi Zhonghai and his group before, to collect some aquatic plants from the nearby river.
Everything was considered good as long as it wouldn't kill someone. Perhaps because the Jia family had harvested a lot of aquatic plants in the past, and since fish were edible, many others also set their sights on this stuff. Before long, even the aquatic plants in the river were gone.
As the food supply dwindled, the Jia family's lives returned to what they had always done. Every day consisted of only clear, watery porridge. Even that was limited; they were lucky to have two bowls per meal. Now, the Jia family was barely managing to stay afloat.
Even if Qin Huairu used most of her money to buy food, she could only keep her two children from starving. She had no time to scheme against others, because Qin Huairu's focus was entirely on food.
Of all the people in the courtyard, Wei Hua lived the most fulfilling life. Even though he sometimes had to put on an act, both Wei Hua and Yang Tao's complexions became increasingly rosy.
The couple is very loving in their daily lives. When they have free time, they go for walks in the evenings and go fishing on weekends.
Whenever something happens in the courtyard house, Wei Hua and his wife become the most loyal onlookers. Elsewhere, there might not be much excitement to see, but in the courtyard house, strange things happen every now and then.
Yi Zhonghai had enjoyed a rare period of peace for more than half a year, but as soon as his situation improved, he always liked to show his face. No matter what it was, he always wanted to make his presence known.
Although he's no longer the patriarch of the courtyard house, he still considers himself one. The only difference is that Yi Zhonghai is finally doing something decent now.
Over the past six months, Yi Zhonghai has helped many people with small favors. Whenever someone has any inconvenience, Yi Zhonghai always steps in to help. One reason is to salvage his reputation, and the other is to change people's perception of him.
If it were anything else, Liu Haizhong wouldn't care. But as someone obsessed with officialdom, Liu Haizhong's biggest concern is holding a position of power. Seeing Yi Zhonghai gaining the support of others again, Liu Haizhong couldn't help but feel disgusted.
Seeing Yi Zhonghai gaining support from others, Liu Haizhong decided to do the same. Now, aside from the Jia family, there's always someone to help out in the courtyard whenever something happens.
Everyone welcomed this change, and no one criticized Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong. As long as they genuinely serve the people, everyone hopes they can do as much as possible.
At this time, significant changes finally occurred in the courtyard. People no longer needed to scheme against each other like before. If anything happened between neighbors, others would lend a helping hand. The Jia family, however, was an exception.
Yi Zhonghai would help anyone but the Jia family. If it weren't for the Jia family's scheming, he wouldn't be in this situation now.
Liu Haizhong also wouldn't help the Jia family. As for Qin Huairu, she's currently worried about food supplies and has no time to concern herself with these matters.
At this point, the Jia family seemed to have been exiled from the courtyard house and ostracized by everyone.
Seeing the Jia family being ostracized, Yi Zhonghai was overjoyed. Seeing that people were slowly beginning to accept him, Yi Zhonghai decided to work even harder. Once his reputation was restored, he would try to visit the local street office more often to see if he could regain his status as a respected elder in the courtyard house.
Although the old man didn't have much personal benefit, he was able to manage the courtyard house. With power, he could better target the Jia family.
The only person who made Yi Zhonghai somewhat unhappy was Liu Haizhong. If it weren't for Liu Haizhong also doing these things, the people in the courtyard might have long forgotten their mistakes. After all, human nature is inherently forgetful.
As long as they are given a taste of the benefits, they will not care about what they did in the past, since they have not touched the interests of ordinary people.
The only people who harbored some prejudice against him were Wei Hua and Sha Zhu. In order to get rid of his stumbling blocks, Yi Zhonghai kept secretly observing Liu Haizhong, preparing to make Liu Haizhong lose the ability to compete with him.
Although Liu Haizhong still hits his child, he does it much less frequently than before. Not only does he hit him less often, but he also doesn't hit him as hard anymore.
This left Yi Zhonghai momentarily at a loss as to how to deal with Liu Haizhong.
Yi Zhonghai was unaware that Liu Haizhong had already been plotting against him. Liu Haizhong, being the second eldest son of the family in the courtyard, was certainly not stupid.
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