The three children ate until their bellies were full and returned home belching with satisfaction, leaving Widow Qin Huairu with complicated feelings.
If one were to say that Silly Zhu had no human feeling, he had still fed all three of her children until they were full. One look at their rosy little faces, and it was obvious they had eaten plenty of good food.
But in the past, relying on her fairly attractive looks, she had toyed with Silly Zhu in the palm of her hand, and life had been so comfortable.
Now Silly Zhu was clearly distancing himself from her. He still showed human decency, but his feelings were gone.
Just then, her mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, began nagging and complaining.
Normally, she could also get a share of the lunchboxes He Yuzhu gave them, but now she could only crave them without getting any. Her stomach had no oil and calories, and she was both hungry and resentful.
All that pent-up anger was directed at Qin Huairu!
“How exactly did you offend Silly Zhu? He says he won’t give you the lunchboxes, and he won’t even explain why. How can he be so unreasonable?”
“You flirt with men all day long. Do you think your mother-in-law is blind and cannot see it? You spend all day acting like a shameless fox, yet you cannot even get us something to eat. Useless!”
Although Jia Zhangshi always welcomed people with a smile, whether in public or behind their backs, that was merely self-protection as a widow raising an orphaned family. In reality, she was hard-hearted and vicious!
She knew perfectly well that her daughter-in-law used ambiguous dealings with men to exchange for benefits. After going two consecutive days without eating any meat, the old woman had become thoroughly enraged.
Afraid that the children would hear, Jia Zhangshi sat beside Qin Huairu and humiliated and mocked her with the most venomous words.
He Yuzhu sat at home while money fell from the sky, and he watched the System Currency numbers in the system begin rolling wildly!
Qin Huairu negative emotions +124, +87, +71, +41…
Moreover, this time it lasted unusually long. Even after a full two hours, the numbers were still jumping. It was truly impossible to understand what was happening.
After all, He Yuzhu had not confronted Qin Huairu at the courtyard entrance today. He had merely refused to give her a lunchbox and let the children eat at his home.
Could such a small matter really cause such intense negative emotions?
In truth, how could He Yuzhu have known that Jia Zhangshi had cursed Qin Huairu for a full two hours indoors, stopping only when her mouth had gone dry?
Only when the night had grown deep and quiet, after Qin Huairu had fallen asleep, did the system’s System Currency numbers finally stop.
He Yuzhu took a careful look and saw that the System Currency had accumulated to 2,144!
It had to be said that in an era when supplies were extremely scarce, this system was practically a heaven-sent creation made specifically for him!
When people lacked supplies, negative emotions accumulated very easily. Even a minor matter could cause a tremendous emotional upheaval.
With these funds as support, he had to win Lou Xiaoe over in the shortest possible time!
He had seen clearly in the Canteen today that this girl had real substance and was especially interested in music and literature.
In his previous life, He Yuzhu had read quite a few novels. Although he had mostly skimmed them without understanding them fully, he knew their general plots and who their authors were.
In particular, he still remembered the reviews of these novels vividly. He could completely rely on this knowledge to leave a deep impression on Lou Xiaoe.
Now he also had the address, and Third Uncle had given him a reason to visit and reclaim the books. As the saying went, everything was ready except for the east wind!
He Yuzhu made up his mind. He would visit her first thing tomorrow morning, and tonight he would begin preparing the gifts for the visit!
In the 1960s, gifts brought when visiting someone emphasized practicality. There was none of that empty, pretentious romantic sentiment.
He Yuzhu opened the system exchange and went all out on the pork belly priced at eleven yuan in the system, exchanging for fifteen jin in one go!
A huge slab of pork belly was placed squarely on the table. It truly had three layers of fat and lean meat, half with skin and half without.
He Yuzhu had specifically kept it this way because pork belly with skin made better red-braised pork. He also exchanged for ten jin of eggs, two jin of brown sugar, and two jin of white sugar.
These were all the most presentable gifts one could give in the 1960s. They did, however, look a little more like gifts for someone in confinement than gifts for courtship.
Altogether, these things cost only a little over two hundred yuan, which he could earn back in minutes.
He really could not imagine how shocking the scene would be if he exchanged two thousand yuan worth of supplies and delivered them to Lou Xiaoe’s home!
But in those days, everything required ration coupons. Even though He Yuzhu was a chef, he could find reasons for obtaining supplies, but he still did not dare take too much.
After waiting until dawn, He Yuzhu stepped out of the Siheyuan, surprisingly without seeing Qin Huairu.
It was clear that after what had happened over the past two days, the widow was too ashamed to come out and deliver lunchboxes again.
He Yuzhu first took leave, then returned home and put the pork and eggs into a cloth bundle to avoid attracting attention. He then hurried toward Lou Xiaoe’s home.
Although Lou Xiaoe’s family was no longer as prosperous as it had been in its heyday, even a ruined ship still had three thousand nails. Their household conditions were far better than those of ordinary people.
At the very least, Lou Xiaoe had never had to go out to work and was still living well. Her parents were both educated people, and He Yuzhu knew all this clearly.
When he reached the address on the note, he heard a familiar voice speaking inside before he had even entered the courtyard.
“Xiaoe, that chef we saw that day is called He Yuzhu. You can ask around the entire factory, and no one will have heard of him. But if you ask who Silly Zhu is, everyone will know!”
“You need to think about this. Why does everyone in the factory call him Silly Zhu instead of using his real name? It’s because he’s an idiot. He’s bad, sneaky, and malicious!”
He Yuzhu had heard only a few words while standing at the courtyard entrance, yet he could not help burning with rage!
It seemed Xu Damao really was full of wicked schemes. He had taken leave again today without asking, run to Lou Xiaoe, and started spreading slander to ruin his reputation.
Hearing that the incessant chatter inside was still going on, He Yuzhu strode through the courtyard entrance. At a glance, he saw Xu Damao gripping Lou Xiaoe’s sleeve and refusing to let go.
“Xiaoe, you have to believe me. If you don’t, I’ll find a few acquaintances from the factory for you. Ask them, and you’ll know exactly what kind of person this Silly Zhu is!”
“Talking badly about people behind their backs again?” He Yuzhu called out loudly. “What did you say my name was? Come on, say it to my face in front of this young lady.”
Xu Damao turned around. He was so frightened that his soul nearly flew away. He had never dreamed that after speaking ill of someone behind his back, he would be caught red-handed.
Seeing the sharpness in He Yuzhu’s gaze, Xu Damao would not dare call him Silly Zhu even if he had eight times the courage. For a moment, he was tongue-tied and unable to say a word.
Xu Damao negative emotions +110, +21, +7, +5, +1…
With all that shock and fright, most of the money spent on the pork, eggs, brown sugar, and white sugar had already been recovered. This deal was truly profitable.
“Go on, say it! I could hear you calling me Silly Zhu and Foolish Zhu from the entrance. I dare to answer—do you dare say it? When the Canteen Director called me Silly Zhu once, he got transferred to the labor union. Xu Damao, you’ve got quite a lot of nerve!”
Xu Damao actually knew about this matter, and his heart was even more startled!
Could this Silly Zhu really have latched onto Factory Director Yang? If he had offended him, would he still get away with it?