Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

"Grandma! I want to eat meat!" Banggeng could not help but roll on the ground when he smelled the fragrance coming from He Yuzhu's house. Jia Zhang drooled as she comforted him, "Don't cry, Banggeng. We have meat today, too. It's just a little less than Shazhu's. Grandma, pick out all the meat and give it all to Banggeng!" Then Jia Zhang shouted towards the stove, "Qin Huairu! Are you dead?! Hurry up and bring out the meat and vegetables!"

"I'm here! I'm here!" Qin Huairu ran to the table with a plate of stir-fried pork and cabbage and a plate of hot and sour potato shreds, put the dishes on the table, then ran to the stove, brought the basket of steamed buns and cornmeal and the cooked cornmeal porridge to the table, and said, "It's time to eat!"

When Jia Zhang saw the dishes on the table, she frowned and asked, "Why is there only this much meat? Where is the rest of the meat?!"

Qin Huairu replied, "The remaining meat, Mom, didn't you mix the dumpling stuffing yourself this afternoon?! You can use it to make dumplings when you keep watch later."

Jia Zhang picked up a piece of stir-fried pork and cabbage with lots of shredded pork, passed it to Bang Geng, and said, "My dear grandson! Let's eat meat!"

Bang Geng glanced at Jia Zhang, ate the shredded meat on the chopsticks, and said, "Grandma, there is only so little meat, who can eat it?! Anyway, Sha Zhu has meat at home. Grandma, didn't you say it?! What's in Sha Zhu's house is ours, take whatever you want! I want to eat meat now, go to his house and get it!"

Before Jia Zhang could speak, Jia Dongxu's face darkened instantly and he asked, "Mom! Is this how you teach Banggeng?!"

Jia Zhang smiled awkwardly at first, then her face changed and she said confidently: "Did I teach you wrongly? Why does that idiot Sha Zhu eat and wear better than ours? Besides, it was Yi Zhonghai who asked Sha Zhu to help our family. What? Now that Yi Zhonghai is not the manager, it doesn't count?!" Then she looked at Qin Huairu and shouted: "Go get a bowl, go to Sha Zhu's house and ask him for meat!"

Qin Huairu looked at Jia Dongxu with some embarrassment. Jia Dongxu also wanted to eat meat happily, so he pretended not to see Qin Huairu's look of help, picked up a chopstick and put a piece of cabbage and pork into his mouth. Seeing that Qin Huairu did not respond, Jia Zhang urged: "What?! Are you deaf when I talk to you?! Go and ask him for meat!"

Qin Huairu had no choice but to stand up and walk to the cupboard, took out a large bowl that she usually used to drink cornmeal porridge, and prepared to go out.

"Wait!" Jia Zhang stopped Qin Huairu and said, "Who can eat with such a small bowl? Take this." After that, Jia Zhang opened the cupboard, took out the bowl she usually used for kneading noodles, and stuffed it into Qin Huairu's hand. At the same time, she took the bowl from Qin Huairu's hand and muttered, "This bowl was left by Grandpa Dongxu. It's an antique and worth a lot of money. If you smash it, I can't even afford it even if I sell you."

Qin Huairu looked at the basin in her hand and asked, "Mom, I'll go ask Sha Zhu for it. Can he give it to me?!"

Jia Zhang pulled Qin Huairu to the door, opened it, pushed Qin Huairu out, and said, "If you don't want meat, don't come back!" After that, Jia Zhang closed the door directly.

Qin Huairu stared at the Jia family for a few seconds, sighed helplessly, and walked towards He Yuzhu's house with the basin. When she arrived at the door of He Yuzhu's house, Qin Huairu brushed her hair behind her ears, then reached out and knocked on the door. Liu Lan heard the knock and asked, "Who is it?!"

"I! Qin Huairu!" Qin Huairu responded while cheering herself up in her heart.

He Yuzhu and the other two looked at each other. He Yushui said, "He must be here to ask for food." Then he complained, "Brother, why do you make the food smell so good?! Now you've attracted this shameless guy, right?!"

Liu Lan smiled and patted He Yushui on the shoulder, saying, "Look at your sister-in-law!" After that, Liu Lan stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and asked, "Qin Huairu, why are you coming to my house instead of having New Year's Eve dinner at home?!"

Qin Huairu said somewhat embarrassedly: "Liu Lan, my family went to the market to buy vegetables today, but we didn't buy any meat. Can you lend me some meat?!" As she spoke, Qin Huairu handed the basin in her hand to Liu Lan.

Liu Lan replied: "Qin Huairu, it's not that I don't want to lend it to you. It's just that we don't have much meat at home. Your mother-in-law is fat and big-eared like an old sow. If your family is really short of meat, just cut a piece from her. Anyway, no one will die if you lose a piece of meat. I won't keep you here. My family still needs to eat!" After saying that, Liu Lan didn't give Qin Huairu a chance to react and closed the door directly.

He Yushui gave Liu Lan a thumbs up and said, "Sister-in-law, you are awesome! If it were my brother, we would have such a good meal tonight and it would have been cheaper for someone else."

Liu Lan walked to the table, sat down and said, "Yushui, I'm not saying anything bad about you. Your brother is a grown man. How can he refuse a woman who comes to his house? You should step forward at this time. Refuse when necessary. Do what needs to be done. You don't help your brother, but help others instead. Isn't this just encouraging their arrogance?!"

He Yushui smiled sheepishly and stuck out her tongue, saying, "Don't you have a sister-in-law now?!"

"You girl! I really don't know what to say to you! Eat!" After saying that, Liu Lan picked up a piece of braised pork and put it into He Yushui's bowl.

He Yuzhu picked up the wine bottle, poured a glass of wine, and said, "Yushui, your sister-in-law is the head of the family now. She is responsible for everything. You should also start to learn about this aspect. You will get married sooner or later, so as not to suffer in your husband's family in the future."

He Yushui joked: "Brother, are you so anxious to marry me off?!"

"Hey?! You girl! You are really an ungrateful person. I love you in vain!" After saying that, He Yuzhu gave He Yushui a cold look, picked up the wine glass and started drinking.

Qin Huairu, who was standing at the door, was stunned when she heard what Liu Lan said to He Yushui. After a few seconds, Qin Huairu came back to her senses and walked home listlessly.

When Jia Zhang saw Qin Huairu return empty-handed, she immediately showed an unhappy expression on her face and muttered, "What a useless person! She can't even get the meat!"

Jia Dongxu said: "Mom! What's going on now?! Who would be so generous to give us meat?!"

Jia Zhang turned her head and glanced at Jia Dongxu, and said unhappily: "Since she can't get it from Sha Zhu, why doesn't she go back to find Yi Zhonghai?!"

"Looking for Yi Zhonghai?!" Jia Dongxu sneered, and then said: "Yi Zhonghai has not cared about our family for a long time."

Jia Zhang immediately ran to Jia Dongxu's side and asked, "Dongxu, you really can't come back to the workshop?!"

Jia Dongxu replied: "Except for the forging workshop, all other workshops are full. Besides, Liu Haizhong from our hospital is the master chef of the forging workshop. Do you think I can gain a foothold in the forging workshop?!"

"I really didn't realize it! Fatty Liu is really capable!" Jia Zhang muttered. Seeing Qin Huairu coming in from outside, she walked up to Qin Huairu angrily, glanced at the empty basin, and asked, "Where's the meat?!"

Qin Huairu replied: "The meat is at Shazhu's house!"