Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu could manage for a day or two, but as time went on, they both found it unbearable.
They could only eat half a meal at noon each day, and were hungry the rest of the time, which made it impossible for the two of them to do a lot of physical labor.
Unfortunately, the Jia family had no food reserves. Even if they wanted to eat, they didn't have food coupons. If the two adults were in such a situation, the rest of the Jia family was even worse off.
Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi even started picking wild vegetables early in the morning. When they couldn't stand it anymore, they could only cook some wild vegetable soup to fill their stomachs.
Human nature was fully unleashed at this moment. Even her own children were not getting enough to eat, so how could Qin Huairu share good things with the deaf old lady?
But the deaf old lady was no pushover. She immediately produced the document Yi Zhonghai had written back then. Seeing that the deaf old lady had unleashed her trump card, Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi had no choice but to compromise.
Even though the Jia family was starving, the deaf old lady was still able to have three meals a day. Although the food was poor, the deaf old lady was not hungry.
Poor Yi Zhonghai could only afford to eat one meal a day at the steel mill; even his dinner was waived by the Jia family. This was because Yi Zhonghai's money not only had to be used to repay his cousin, but also to pay Huang Xiaojuan.
In less than two months, Yi Zhonghai lost seven or eight pounds. He used to look very imposing, but now he looks rather thin.
Starving, Yi Zhonghai sometimes had to pick leaves to fill his stomach. It was at this point that Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old woman finally saw the true nature of the Jia family. They had initially thought Qin Huairu was a good daughter-in-law, but when faced with difficulties, Qin Huairu's first thought was never anyone else.
Qin Huairu was thinking of herself and her two children. Seeing the Jia family's situation worsening, Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi slowly began to awaken to the truth.
If anyone in the yard leaves their door unlocked, things will definitely be stolen. Sometimes, even if the door is locked, someone will still pry it open.
In order to fill their stomachs, Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi no longer cared about anything else.
In order to set a trap for law enforcement, Wei Hua would not let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass him by. Every day, he would leave a few cornbread buns and some leftover food at home.
Compared to others, it's easier to take action against Wei Hua's family, because once Wei Hua goes to work, he's bound to be gone when he comes home.
Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu knew a little about how much stuff Wei Hua had prepared beforehand. When things really couldn't hold on any longer, Jia Zhangshi called Qin Huairu to her side.
"Huai Ru! You know the current situation of our Jia family. Our Jia family is now relying on Dong Xu alone. If this continues, our whole family will starve to death sooner or later."
"If we don't find a way to get some food back soon, I'm afraid Banggeng and Xiaodang won't be able to hold on. We can't afford to be sentimental now."
"You must be aware of Wei Hua's situation. It seems he stockpiled a couple hundred catties of grain and a lot of other things about a month ago. You also know about the Wei family's situation."
"Right now, we can only target the Wei family because they have no one else there. In the middle courtyard, only we and Sha Zhu's family have people. As long as Yu Li goes out, we can go to the front yard to steal things. As long as we don't get caught in the act, no one can do anything to us."
"At that time, we just need to keep an eye on Yu Li. Once Yu Li leaves, I'll pry open the door. You keep a close eye on her. As soon as I pry open the door, you come over and help us move the things back to the Jia family."
Hearing her mother-in-law's words, Qin Huairu nodded vigorously. Because the Wei Hua family was the easiest to deal with. The Yan family in the front yard would go out to gather wild vegetables early every morning.
Yu Li from the Intermediate People's Court also does odd jobs. As long as someone keeps watch in front, there shouldn't be any accidents.
As for the people in the backyard, everyone is busy making money, so who would bother coming to the front yard? At worst, we can have half of them guard the backyard and give a signal before anyone comes out.
"Mom, I think it's safer to have Banggeng guard the backyard. After we move the grain back, we can put some things underneath and then cover it with another layer of grain. That way, Weihua won't find out in time, and even if he does, we'll have eaten most of the grain by then."
"Once the food is in our stomachs, even if Weihua wants to investigate, he won't be able to."
Upon hearing Qin Huairu's words, Jia Zhangshi gave Qin Huairu a thumbs up. Then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law began to stroll leisurely around the courtyard.
Seeing Yu Li leave, Jia Zhangshi immediately followed her furtively. Once she was sure Yu Li was far away, Jia Zhangshi also observed the situation behind her, seeing Liu Haizhong's wife at home taking care of their son while working. She immediately pulled Qin Huairu aside and began preparing to act.
Before the operation, I specifically told Banggeng many times that whenever someone came out of the backyard, Banggeng should make a scene in the yard to delay the person from coming out.
After explaining the plot, Qin Huairu immediately went to the entrance of the courtyard house and kept checking the situation outside. Jia Zhangshi went to Wei Hua's house and used a wire to open the door.
For the unopened grain, Jia Zhangshi simply divided it in half. Then she gave Qin Huairu a signal, and the two of them quickly carried a bag of grain back to the Jia family home.
Upon returning home, they hid the grain and stuffed both bags full with other things. Since this trip might take longer, Qin Huairu went to the door as usual, while Jia Zhangshi went into the Wei family's house and closed the door. One person emptied the other bag of grain.
Then she stuffed both bags full with other things. Jia Zhangshi only poured some grain into the inner bag. She left about half of the outer bag, which was already open, in. This way, Wei Hua wouldn't discover the grain had been stolen for a short time.
By the time Wei Hua discovered it, the food had already been eaten by his own family. Even if Wei Hua called the police, there was nothing they could do about it.
After arranging everything, Jia Zhangshi looked at the cured meat hanging in the kitchen and felt a little tempted, but these things were too conspicuous, so even if Jia Zhangshi was very tempted, she did not dare to touch them.
Wei Hua discovered that these things had been stolen. He also couldn't explain the origin of the grain in his own home.
Madam Jia tried her best not to look at these things. Then she secretly opened the door a crack to check the situation outside. Seeing Qin Huairu still looking around at the gate of the courtyard, she immediately came out of the Wei family's house and sent a signal to Qin Huairu. Upon hearing her mother-in-law's voice, Qin Huairu immediately went over, carried the grain, and returned home. Madam Jia locked the door again and returned to the Jia family's house.
Wei Hua, who was working at the steel rolling mill, suddenly heard the system's voice.
"Congratulations, host, on forming a karmic bond with the three members of the Jia family."
"Congratulations, host, on receiving a thousandfold reward. This reward includes 3,000 catties of grain, 20 points of physique, 20 years of lifespan, 10 points of appearance, and the special skill of facial expression control."
Upon hearing the system's voice, Wei Hua immediately absorbed the rest of the 3,000 jin of grain into his body. He discovered his strength had increased significantly. As for his appearance, he'd have to find a mirror to know.
As for lifespan, Wei Hua didn't care at all, because he had been granted at least 50 years of lifespan upon coming into this world.
What Wei Hua was truly concerned about was what kind of punishment the three generations of the Jia family would receive. He wasn't particularly interested in the lost items. Judging from the rewards, the Jia family must have stolen a considerable amount of his grain; otherwise, the system wouldn't have rewarded him with so much grain all at once.
To find out exactly what was lost, you'll have to wait until you get home from get off work this afternoon.
By the time I finished get off work, I had completed my day's tasks. To test the skill I had just acquired, Wei Hua practiced micro-expression techniques all the way home. Wei Hua felt that the micro-expression skill was indeed quite good, and he could now switch expressions at will.
As long as Wei Hua wanted, he could change his expression at any time. He could cry when he wanted to cry, or laugh when he wanted to laugh. And whenever he wanted to cry, tears would involuntarily flow from the corners of his eyes.
Knowing the effect of this skill, Wei Hua knew without a doubt that it must have come from Qin Huairu. Because in the entire courtyard, only Qin Huairu could shed tears anytime, anywhere, without any prelude.
After completing the micro-expression control experiment, Wei Hua returned to the courtyard house, chatting and laughing with the people in the yard. Since there were no conflicts among them, Wei Hua got along fairly well with the others, except for the Jia family.
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