Siheyuan: First-class Merit at the Start

What he saw today was beyond Xu Damao's imagination.

I was away for two days. What on earth happened?

Why would two people who once drew swords against each other sit on the same bicycle?

If I go out for two more days, will you two have to sleep in the same bed?

If Li Bolu knew what Xu Damao was thinking at this moment, he would definitely answer righteously that it was impossible.

At the same time, I added in my heart: If you go out for a few more days, I might end up sleeping in the same bed with your wife.

After separating from He Yuzhu in the middle courtyard, Li Polu pushed his bicycle back to his home in the backyard.

Then he started adding coal to the stove. There was nothing he could do because he was a southerner in his previous life and could not adapt to the temperature in the north.

Chatting with a group of middle-aged ladies today really exhausted him.

These aunties really dare to say anything. The speed of the car was so fast that even he, an experienced driver in the 21st century who was used to seeing all kinds of speeding, felt that the wheels were rolling over his face from time to time.

It can be said that Sha Zhu's cooking skills are indeed good. When he made some dishes for the reception, the whole yard was immediately filled with the aroma of meat.

This was a tough situation for the Jia family who lived in the same courtyard. Jia Zhang had failed to steal the chicken and ended up being cheated out of 1500 yuan by Li Polu. Although more than half of this money was paid by Yi Zhonghai, 700 yuan was almost half of her savings. Without the guarantee of safety, she became even more stingy.

The living expenses, which were already limited, were cut in half. I only had 10 yuan a month to feed and drink for my family of five.

You should know that in the early 60s, the average monthly food expenditure for workers in urban areas was 10.97 yuan.

A household with an average income of less than 5 yuan per capita is considered to be in poverty.

The Jia family has three older and two younger people, a total of five people, and 5 yuan a month, which is only two yuan per person. With such a small amount of money, they can hardly eat dirt.

However, the situation of the Jia family is slightly different, because the person who eats the most in their family is not the employee Jia Dongxu, but the old master Jia Zhang.

Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu had no choice. Even though Jia Dongxu repeatedly promised that he would not ignore Jia Zhangshi in the future and asked her to take out the so-called pension money, Jia Zhangshi remained indifferent.

I am determined to save money for my retirement.

There was no other choice, so the Jia family’s meals changed from one meal of two jin of noodles and two meals of steamed corn bread a day to three meals of steamed corn bread a day.

Moreover, the amount of steamed corn bread has to be rationed.

Jia Dongxu gets two for each meal, plus free soup in the cafeteria at noon. Two adults get one for each meal. The growing thief gets one and a half in the morning and at noon, and one at night. Xiao Dang, who loses money, gets half a meal.

They ate this way for several days in a row, and the Jia family felt that their brains were filled with steamed bread, and their throats were sore from eating it, and they couldn't defecate. In one word: uncomfortable.

Originally it was fine, although the steamed bread tasted bad, but at least it was enough to fill me up. So when I was hungry, it actually tasted quite delicious.

However, now, smelling the fragrant aroma of meat filling the garden, Jia Jia, who was chewing a steamed corn bread, suddenly felt that the corn bread in his hand was no longer fragrant.

"I want meat, Mom, I want meat."

The first one to quit was naturally the rising star of the Jia family, Bang Geng. He threw away his steamed bread and sat on the ground to perform.

He gestured with his hands and kicked his feet on the ground, causing clouds of dust to fly up.

After doing this, he at least resembled his most admired grandmother to a point that he was 80% similar.

But the resemblance is far from being achieved, not even two points. It can only be said that the road to imitating Banggen is still long and arduous.

Even with Jia Zhang's teaching and example, it still takes a lot of practice to reach Jia Zhang's invincible realm of "Soul Emperor".

Seeing that her good grandson wanted to eat meat, Jia Zhang immediately turned her spearhead towards Qin Huairu: "Day after day, I don't know what's the point of raising a country girl like you. You can't even satisfy your own son's desire to eat some meat."

"You useless bastard, why don't you hurry up and find a solution for me? Didn't you hear that my good grandson wants to eat meat?"

"I don't know how you are as a mother. You only eat steamed bread every day. Look how greedy I am..."

Qin Huairu was helpless: "Mom, you only give me 10 yuan a month for living expenses. How can I afford to buy meat?"

"I don't have money to buy it, so I don't know where to ask for it. How can a fool like Shazhu be qualified to eat meat?

Go, go to his house and bring me some meat. Give it to my grandson. I really don't understand. Isn't it enough for a fool to just eat some Guanyin soil?

Can you starve him to death or something? Still want to eat meat? Does he deserve it?"

Jia Zhang became more and more excited as she scolded He Yushui and He Daqing who had fled. When she scolded the fifth generation of Sha Zhu's ancestors, she turned around and saw Qin Huairu still sitting there motionless.

Jia Zhang became even angrier and slapped Qin Huairu in the face: "Get out of here now! If you can't get the meat, don't come back today and don't eat dinner either."

Qin Huairu was slapped hard in the face. She covered her face and looked at Jia Dongxu pitifully.

"Dongxu."

Jia Dongxu didn't even raise his head. He ate a steamed bun and said, "Huairu, listen to your mother and go to Shazhu's house to get some meat. Banggeng has indeed lost a lot of weight during this period."

Qin Huairu could only shed tears silently. She stood up, took a small bowl, and prepared to go out.

As a result, before he reached the door, Jia Zhang called him again.

"Who can eat with such a bowl?

A country girl is a country girl, waiting."

As she spoke, Jia Zhang stood up, got a basin for washing her face and came out.

"If you're not satisfied, don't come back."

Then he replaced the bowl in Qin Huairu's hand with the basin in his hand.

Qin Huairu looked at the basin in his hand and fell silent for a moment.

"Mom, this, who can make such a big pot of fried meat? Even if Sha Zhu is willing to give it, it won't be full."

Jia Zhang said angrily: "If the food is not full, why don't you add a few more dishes? Get out of here right now, my dear grandson is waiting to eat meat."

Qin Huairu had no choice but to turn around and go out. She knew that there was a good chance that she would not get the meat back today.

But she couldn't not go, otherwise Jia Zhang would beat her. Jia Dongxu would just say, "Huai Ru, listen to your mother." What else could she do?

As she was thinking, Qin Huairu suddenly remembered what Li Polu said to her two nights ago, "Sister Qin, why are you still washing clothes in such a cold weather? Go back quickly, don't freeze your hands."

As she thought about it, Qin Huairu couldn't help but squeeze her legs together.

When Li Polu walked to the central courtyard with a bottle of wine, he happened to meet Qin Huairu coming out of Jia's house holding a basin.

"Hey, Sister Qin. It's so late, why are you still fetching water?"

Qin Huairu responded quickly, "Ah, yes. There's no water at home, so I came out to get some. Chief Li, why are you still going out so late?"

But what he was thinking in his heart was that he must not let Li Polu know that he was carrying such a big basin to ask for vegetables.

Then he turned and walked towards the sink. After all, it was a basin for washing face, so it was always right to wash it first.

"Oh, no. Master He asked me to come to his house for dinner, so I figured it was about time. So I came over right away."

Hearing this, Qin Huairu was stunned where he was: Damn it, if you go, how can I go begging for food, no, for meat.

"What's wrong? Sister Qin. Are you feeling unwell?"

Li Polu couldn't help but ask when he saw Qin Huairu standing there in a daze.

"Um, it's okay. Well, Chief Li, you go first."

"Okay, I'll go in first."

Li Polu walked a few steps, then stopped, turned around and said, "Well, Sister Qin, don't call me Section Chief Li anymore. It sounds weird. Just call me by my name. Go back now. It's cold outside. Let's go."

Qin Huairu was stunned and didn't say anything for a long time. She kept thinking about what Li Polu had just said. "What's wrong? Sister Qin. Are you feeling unwell?" "Just call me by my name from now on." "Go home now. It's cold outside."

I don’t know how long it took, but Qin Huairu, who had come to her senses, was already in tears.