1959Siheyuan, a Turnaround

Banggeng's mind immediately emerged with his grandmother's once kind (although sometimes overly doting) face.

In his heart, grandma is his safe haven. No matter how big a mistake he makes, grandma will always protect him.

Now that his grandmother is back, he seems to see the carefree life of the past coming back, and subconsciously feels that those days of isolation and hunger will soon be gone forever.

Banggeng stood up without saying a word and hurried home with Qin Huairu.

When he rushed into the house and saw Jia Zhang, who was thin and wearing tattered clothes, sitting on the edge of the kang, his eyes instantly turned red.

The little boy who always acted like a spoiled child in his grandmother's arms seemed to have come back again. He suddenly threw himself into Jia Zhang's arms and burst into tears.

"Grandma...you're finally back!"

Jia Zhang hugged Bang Geng tightly, gently stroked his back with her dry hands, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Great! Great! Great!"

At this moment, Banggeng was like a wounded little animal, snuggling tightly in Jia Zhang's arms.

He poured out all the grievances that had been pent up in his heart without caring about anything else: "Grandma, when you are not at home, no one will protect me. Dad is dead, and life at home is getting harder and harder. They all bully me in this yard and don't want to play with me, grandma..."

While sobbing, he kept talking about what had happened to him during that period.

Jia Zhang's tears were like a flood that broke through the dam and continued to overflow.

"Bang Geng, don't cry, grandma is back, everything will be fine..."

She knew very well that Banggeng must have suffered a lot during her absence.

Her calloused hands gently patted Banggeng's back, again and again, trying to give her grandson some comfort with this simple action, and each pat was filled with endless heartache and love.

Qin Huairu, who was standing behind, couldn't help but feel moved when she saw the grandparents and grandchildren hugging each other tightly.

However, when she heard Banggeng blurt out the news of Jia Dongxu's death, she felt like she was struck by lightning and cold sweat soaked her back.

The horrifying scene of Jia Zhang making a scene in the courtyard suddenly appeared in her mind. If Jia Zhang lost control of her emotions because of this, she would be completely unable to deal with this chaotic situation.

At this moment, she was terrified, her body trembling slightly, and she was completely at a loss.

But soon, she noticed something strange. After hearing Banggeng's words, Jia Zhang did not show any surprise. Instead, she was unusually calm, which made Qin Huairu full of doubts.

When the mother-in-law heard about Jia Dongxu’s death, she didn’t even make a fuss!

How is this possible? Qin Huairu couldn't believe what she saw.

After Jia Zhang calmed Bang Geng down, she slowly raised her head and her eyes like a knife shot towards Qin Huairu who was standing beside her.

She said coldly: "Why are you still standing there? Go do what you need to do. Dongxu is gone, but as long as Banggeng is here, the Jia family will not break up."

She paused, a hint of cruelty flashing in her eyes, "Qin Huairu, remember, your job is in our Jia family. If you dare to have any evil thoughts, don't blame me for being rude."

Qin Huairu was startled by Jia Zhang's sharp eyes. She quickly suppressed her inner fear and responded with a sob: "Well, I'll go right away, don't worry, Mom! I will just take care of this home and the children, and I won't go anywhere."

Jia Zhang rolled her eyes at Qin Huairu and snorted coldly.

This cold snort made Qin Huairu feel a little relieved.

She knew that Jia Zhang still had the fierceness in her bones. Although she had lost a lot of weight and seemed much calmer, she had not changed in essence.

Qin Huairu hurriedly took Xiaodang's hand and hurried out of the house to wash clothes.

Banggeng stayed in the room and continued to talk to Jia Zhang.

In the front yard, Yan Bugui told the third aunt the news that Jia Zhang had returned from labor reform.

The third aunt's gossipy nature was immediately ignited, and she couldn't wait to spread the news among the aunts in the yard.

These aunts are usually quite keen on gossip. Although they have never had a good impression of Jia Zhang, when they heard the news that she had returned early, they could not suppress their curiosity. They gathered together and came to the door of Jia's house to find out what was going on.

Qin Huairu was busy washing clothes. She caught a glimpse of the crowd gathered in front of the door out of the corner of her eye and knew why they came.

She just glanced at everyone indifferently, then lowered her head again, focusing on the clothes in her hands. Her movements were mechanical and numb.

The third aunt was the first to ask, "Qin Huairu, is your mother-in-law really back?"

Qin Huairu kept moving her hands and said "hmm" softly as a response.

"Oh, how come you came back early before three years?" an old lady asked curiously.

"Who knows? We haven't even seen the person, so we don't know for sure." another auntie continued.

For a moment, the aunts started talking to each other, and the noisy voices echoed in front of the Jia family's door.

At this moment, Jia Zhang slowly walked out of the house, went straight to the door, leaned forward, and her attitude seemed to have returned to her previous arrogant state.

She glanced at the crowd gathered in front of the door, her lips curled up with an impatient arc, and she said sarcastically without any hesitation: "Hey, you guys are all very idle, don't you have to work at home? It seems that your life is better, each of you is living a comfortable life, unlike me on the farm, I have no food to eat, and I have to work in the fields every day, I am exhausted like a dog. What's the matter, are you eager to see me make a fool of myself now that I'm back?"

When everyone saw Jia Zhang, who had lost a lot of weight and was wearing torn and patched clothes, a hint of sympathy flashed in their eyes.

But when I heard her sarcastic words, that little bit of sympathy disappeared in an instant.

After all, it was Jia Zhang's own fault to go to labor camp. Now that she has ended up like this, there is no need for her to complain about her fate. She really does not deserve sympathy.

The third aunt was the leader of this "visit operation". She felt a little embarrassed after being scolded by Jia Zhang. She quickly said, "Jia Zhang, look at what you said. Didn't we hear that you were back and came to see you? Why are you so angry!"

"Look at me? I think you just come here to laugh at me!" Jia Zhang retorted mercilessly.

"But you may be disappointed. I behaved well on the farm and completed my labor reform ahead of schedule. I will not leave this time. I, Jia Zhang, am not so easily defeated. Don't think that I have suffered on the farm and have to be humble when I come back. You are wrong!"

"I corrected my mistakes and paid the price for my impulsive behavior, but that doesn't mean you can look at me differently."

"Also, you better stick to your duties, or you'll end up worse off than me!"

Qin Huairu looked up at Jia Zhang and felt that this was the normal type of Jia Zhang.

If she was as calm as when she first came in, she would have scared everyone in the yard.

As time went by, more and more people gathered in front of the Jia family's door.

Even Su Jiao across the street was standing at the door, looking over here from afar.

She remembered Yang Dongsheng's advice not to deal with the Jia family, so even though it was very lively over there, she just stood quietly at the door and watched, and did not go forward to join in the fun.

He Daqing was in the main room, holding his grandson and teasing him.

Hearing the noise coming from outside, she was curious and went out with the child in her arms.

At first glance, I saw a lot of people gathered in front of the Jia family's door. After listening carefully, I heard the familiar voice of Jia Zhang coming from inside.

He couldn't help but frown, muttering to himself: Why did the old woman Jia Zhang come back? It seems that the days of the Siheyuan will not be peaceful again.