Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

The drinking was very enjoyable. Xu Damao, who was about 60% drunk, was sent back home by Lou Xiao'e. He got on the kang, pulled the quilt over him, and fell asleep in a daze. Seeing that he was sleeping soundly, Lou Xiao'e poked the stove and added two more coal briquettes, then pushed the cart to Yan's house. She and Yu Li made an appointment to go shopping in the department store together in the afternoon.

Lou Xiao'e rarely met women of her own age in the compound. She didn't like the feeling Qin Huairu gave her. In addition, Xu Damao's instructions made her feel a little bored in the compound. After spending time together at noon, the two of them had become good friends, so they made an appointment to go shopping together. Lou Xiao'e was also looking forward to Yu Li marrying her soon so that she could have another best friend to chat with.

Yan Jiecheng asked, "Dad, give me the keys. I'm going shopping with Yu Li and Xiao'e."

Yan Bugui was chatting with Pian Ye. They had just been drinking in small sips, so they didn't drink too much. Upon hearing this, he handed over the keys and said, "You have to be careful. This is a new car."

"I got it. Don't worry, Dad." After saying that, Yan Jiecheng pushed the cart out of the compound and headed straight for Wangfujing with Yu Li and Lou Xiao'e.

Middle courtyard, Jia's house.

Jia Zhang was sitting cross-legged on the kang, twisting her almost patinated soles. She was hungry early today, so she had lunch early. Jia Zhang drank a bowl of cornmeal porridge with stir-fried cabbage and ate a steamed bun. Although she was a little hungry, she had no choice. Recently, Dongxu's rations were reduced again. If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai's help, her family would have run out of food long ago.

Qin Huairu was using a sewing machine to mend her son's clothes with her bulging belly. Banggeng was too naughty and his clothes were always torn. Banggeng took Xiaodang to play on the kang.

Jia Zhang's nose twitched fiercely, and she deliberately opened the door and walked around the whole courtyard before coming back. "The Yan family has a happy event today. Old Yan prepared a large table of meat and vegetables, and also invited Xu Damao and his wife, but he didn't even say to send some to our house."

Qin Huairu knew her mother-in-law's character very well. The more she paid attention to her, the more excited she became. She simply kept silent and continued to work. Banggeng, who was playing on the kang, was really greedy when he heard that there was meat.

"Grandma, I want to eat meat. I haven't eaten meat for several months. I'm starving and thin. Didn't you say that I'm smart and will have a great future? How can I have a bright future if I don't eat meat?" Banggeng, who was almost eight years old, pounced on Jia Zhang and shook her arm.

Jia Zhang smacked her lips. She wanted to eat meat too. "Huai Ru, why don't you go to Third Uncle's house and ask for some?"

"Come on, Third Uncle is such a stingy guy that he would taste the saltiness of the manure when the manure cart passes by. No one has ever taken advantage of him." Qin Huairu turned her head and said with some disdain after hearing what her mother-in-law said.

"My dear grandson, be obedient. Wait for your father to come home from get off work and then go to the black market to see if there is any meat in the evening." Jia Zhang touched Bang Geng'er's pot-covered hair.

"No, no, I want to eat meat now." Banggeng'er lay down on the kang and rolled around.

The three-year-old Xiaodang also kept repeating “Rou Rou, Rou Rou”.

"Why don't you go to your silly uncle's house and take a look?" said Jia Zhang.

"No, there's nothing delicious at Shazhu's house recently, and his sister is still at home." Banggeng shook his head like a rattle, still muttering that he wanted to eat meat.

Jia Zhang couldn't stand the two children's nagging and planned to go out to have a look. But when she arrived at Yan's house, they had already finished their meal. She wandered in the front yard for a long time without knocking on the door. The stinginess of Yan's family was well known in the whole alley. If you want to take advantage of them, there is no door or even windows.

Seeing that she couldn't get the meat, Jia Zhang went back to the middle courtyard and wandered around to see who was still eating meat. However, she didn't smell any meat after walking around, so she had no choice but to go to the backyard again.

As soon as she entered the backyard, Jia Zhang saw two chickens in the chicken coop in front of Xu Damao's house, and her saliva immediately flowed uncontrollably. She had no choice, she hadn't eaten meat for a long time, and she couldn't stand the sight of chickens.

Jia Zhang looked around first, and found that the people in the backyard had their doors shut tightly, and most of them had already eaten. So she tiptoed to the window of Xu Damao's house and looked inside. She saw no one in the living room, only Xu Damao lying on the kang and snoring.

Jia Zhang looked at the chicken in front of her and thought about her grandson who had not eaten meat for several months, and she hesitated. Jia Zhang was actually a very smart person, otherwise she would not have been able to raise Jia Dongxu alone after the death of the old Jia family, and later the Jia family became the biggest winner.

Her daily tantrums and howling to summon ghosts were all fake, to let everyone know that she was not easy to mess with. Besides, Dongxu was the apprentice of a big boss, and she had the leverage over him. With Yi Zhonghai's favoritism, her family rarely suffered any loss in the courtyard, and they also gained a lot of benefits through donations.

However, the shrewd Jia Zhang rarely used her brain after Qin Huairu got married. Because of her old problems of headaches, back and leg pains, and her addiction to painkillers, her brain was not very sharp. She would always order Qin Huairu to do things, while she herself lived a happy life of early retirement.

Jia Zhang looked at the old hen in front of her and swallowed her saliva. She thought of her good grandson Banggeng who had not eaten meat for several months and was so thin that she decided to steal the chicken. She looked around again to make sure no one was around, then quietly opened the door of the chicken coop, crouched down and walked in, and stretched out her evil hands towards the chickens in the chicken coop.

She grabbed the neck of one chicken with one hand and twisted it with the other hand, breaking the chicken's neck. But the other chicken was frightened and started to scream. Jia Zhang decided to go all out and broke the neck of the other chicken as well, then quickly returned home with both chickens.

But she didn't know that everything she did was seen by the deaf old lady lying by the window. The deaf old lady shook her head with some disdain, "What a dishonorable thing! I don't know why Xiao Yi fell in love with Jia Dongxu and wanted to take care of him in his old age. For Xiao Yi's sake, I will not meddle in his business."

But Jia Zhang came back home with the chicken in her hand and said, "Huai Ru, don't be busy yet, boil some water and clean up the chicken."

"Mom, where did you get the chicken?" Qin Huairu asked. Her mother-in-law had not been out for long, so it was impossible for her to go buy a chicken and come back.

Bang Geng stared at the two chickens with his eyes shining. "Mom, hurry up, I want to eat chicken."

"Why do you care so much? Just cook the chicken first and burn the chicken feathers so as not to leave any traces." Jia Zhang said.

Qin Huairu couldn't persuade her mother-in-law, so under Banggeng's constant urging, she had to get up to boil water and start preparing the two chickens. She bled and plucked the feathers skillfully, and then chopped the chickens into pieces. After a series of operations, the two chickens were soon stewed.