Comfortable life in Siheyuan

Siheyuan, Jia's house in the middle courtyard.

Qin Huairu was busy in the kitchen, while Jia Zhang in the room was looking at her three children with absent-minded eyes.

More than a year after Jia Zhang returned, Banggeng had become visibly thinner, and Xiaodang and Huaihua looked like big-headed dolls. Ultimately, it was due to lack of nutrition.

Jia Zhang saw it and was anxious, but now there was no one in the whole courtyard to help her family. Yi Zhonghai was now focused on training Yi Xiaojun, and basically didn't care about anything going on in the courtyard, as if he had really become a moral god.

Sha Zhu had his own family, so he couldn't be relied on. After thinking about it, Jia Zhang decided to go to the backyard to beg for money. With this in mind, Jia Zhang set her target on Liu Qingshan's family, who had the best living conditions.

The Trust Store was crowded with people. Three men stood in front of the counter for a long time, looking at the watches on display. After careful selection, they each bought a women's watch.

Nan Yi and Sha Zhu both chose Beijing brand watches, which cost about 80 yuan, but the original straps were a bit old, so they spent some extra money to replace them with new ones. The two watches looked about % new, and they were very satisfied with it.

Liu Qingshan originally expected to find an imported watch of a well-known brand, but the appearance of these watches was not satisfactory. In the end, he chose the almost new Shanghai watch.

Afterwards, the three of them happily rode on their bikes, chatting and laughing all the way as they sped towards the courtyard.

When they arrived at the courtyard, Sha Zhu said to the other two, "Come to my house for lunch later! Let's get together on the last day of the holiday." The two happily agreed and did not refuse.

Liu Qingshan was still thinking about going back home to get a bottle of wine so that everyone could have some fun while they ate.

Liu Qingshan followed Sha Zhu, pushing his bicycle slowly towards the yard. As soon as they entered the backyard, a man blocked their way.

Jia Zhang was holding Liu Qingshan's bicycle with her hands, smiling, and said, "Qingshan, I want to ask you for a favor!"

Liu Qingshan looked at the smiling old woman in front of him, but he had no joy in his heart. He was really smiling on the surface but feeling annoyed inside. Helplessly, he gritted his teeth and replied: "Aunt Jia, it's almost time for dinner, just tell me what you want to say."

When Jia Zhang heard this, she didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Qingshan, you are now a cadre in the factory, and your family's living conditions are second to none in the courtyard. We are an orphan and a widow, and life is difficult. The children are all pale and thin. Can you lend me some meat from your family to supplement the nutrition of the children?"

Liu Qingshan listened to this patiently, and he couldn't help but feel the urge to curse. In this era, life was difficult, and borrowing some corn flour was understandable, but borrowing meat was really unheard of.

"Aunt Jia, you need a ticket to buy meat now. My daughter Xiaoyu is still breastfeeding and needs nutritional supplements. The meat ration at home is not enough. Although I am a cadre, my ration is the same as everyone else. I really can't help you with this matter. You should think of other solutions yourself. I'll go back first." After saying that, Liu Qingshan prepared to push his bicycle home.

However, he pushed the car several times but it didn't move at all. Turning around, he saw Jia Zhang holding on to the back seat of the car, pulling desperately.

Liu Qingshan had no choice but to turn around and continue, "Aunt Jia, my family really doesn't have any extra meat. I can't do anything if you keep pulling my cart like this!"

"Qingshan, please be kind. I am here to pay my respects to you. My family is in great difficulty." Jia Zhang said, and she actually bowed. But she never let go of the hand holding the cart.

"Auntie Jia, you are pulling my cart, I can't do anything about it. You should go around the city and listen to others. No one would come to borrow meat these days. If you can't afford to eat, then we can call a few uncles in the courtyard to hold a meeting and think of a solution. But you are not starving, right?" Liu Qingshan said with a straight face. Seeing that there was no hope of borrowing meat, Jia Zhang's eyes quickly dimmed, but she was still unwilling to give up, and said thick-skinnedly: "Then see if you can lend me some money, I will buy some good food for the children to satisfy their cravings."

After hearing this, Liu Qingshan felt extremely helpless. This Jia Zhang was really pushing his luck. He refused in a stiff tone, "It's not like I haven't borrowed money from your family before, but have you ever paid it back? Everyone in the courtyard knows that your Jia family never pays back the money they borrow, and our money didn't come from the wind."

At this point, Liu Qingshan suddenly exerted force and broke free from Jia Zhang's hand. Then, he quickly pushed the bicycle back home, as if he was afraid of being caught up.

Jia Zhang, who stayed where she was, watched Liu Qingshan walk away, and began to curse him. As time went by, her curses became louder and louder, as if she wanted the whole world to hear her dissatisfaction and resentment.

At this moment, Jia Zhang thought to herself, "Hmph! Why should I pay back the money I borrowed with my own ability? You all can eat and drink well, but why should my family suffer?" Thinking of this, her eyes became more ferocious, as if she had made up her mind to fight the other party to the end.

When Liu Qingshan returned to the house, his mother looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What did you just say to that old witch?"

"I wasn't talking to her at all. She was the one who was begging me to pull my car and insisted on borrowing my body. Tell me, who in this city is willing to borrow body from others these days? I'm almost annoyed to death by her." Liu Qingshan replied with a depressed look on his face.

"This man is too shameless. If you can't survive, I can understand borrowing some food to stay alive, but borrowing meat..." When she said this, Liu's mother kept shaking her head and sighing, as if she could no longer find the words to describe this shameless scoundrel.

"When she saw that I refused to lend her money, she stopped my car and wouldn't let me leave. Later, she asked me to borrow money. My family hasn't repaid the money we lent her family a few years ago. No, it should be that she has never repaid the money she borrowed from anyone in the yard." Liu Qingshan became more and more annoyed as he spoke.

"Okay, don't bother with this kind of person. If this happens again in the future, just say that the family's money is in our hands!" Liu's mother patted Qingshan's shoulder and comforted him.

"I know, mom. I'm just disgusted by her. This person is really like a toad lying on your feet. She doesn't bite people, but she is disgusting." Liu Qingshan said after taking a deep breath.

After saying that, Liu Qingshan told his mother about going to Sha Zhu's house for lunch, then turned around and went back to the house to get some wine.