Was she being treated like a beggar?
Since when had Ruan Jiao Jiao ever suffered such humiliation?
Her eyes turned red, and she ran off while crying.
Yin Ze scratched his head in confusion. “Grandma, why did that auntie start crying?”
Grandma Qin said with clear dislike, “Don’t mind her.”
A young girl causing a scene in the middle of the night, shouting and disturbing others was one thing, but she was also rude and full of questions, speaking like she was interrogating a criminal.
No manners at all.
She really couldn’t understand how the Shen family’s boy ended up liking someone like that.
She used to envy that the Shen family’s boy got married early, but now she would rather her own boys stay single than end up with someone like that troublemaker.
That attitude was just like a concubine from some wealthy household in the old days.
“Grandma Qin, I’m back with the meat.”
Just after Ruan Jiao Jiao left, Ruan Ting He came back carrying two strips of pork.
“I saw some chives for sale, so I bought a bit. Grandma Qin, do you want chive dumplings for you and Ah Ze?”
Seeing the fresh green chives in her hands, Grandma Qin happily took them over to look at. They were tender, bright green, and carried the unique fresh fragrance of chives.
“Oh my, these are really chives! It’s not easy to find them this season. Ah Ze and Ah Quan both loves eating dumplings with chives! But Ah Quan dislikes the smell after eating them, says it affects his image. That kid has developed all sorts of quirks since becoming a doctor.”
Grandma Qin laughed as she spoke and weighed the chives in her hand. “Is this about two jin?”
“Exactly two jin! Not a bit more was sold.”
“That’s enough. We can also make some with cabbage and celery filling…”
Grandma Qin casually tucked a family heirloom gemstone into her pocket and rolled up her sleeves to continue kneading dough.
Ruan Ting He didn’t stay idle either. She sent the children to play in the yard, then went to block the sink, filled it with water, and started washing the vegetables.
Cabbage and celery were easy to wash. She rinsed them clean, set them aside to drain, and then started washing the chives.
When it came to chopping vegetables, she realized just how difficult manual chopping was.
Especially mincing meat.
It was practically inhuman work. The kitchen knife of this era was heavy and dull, and chopping meat made her arms feel like they were about to dislocate.
If only she had a meat grinder.
The one in her space kitchen cost over three hundred yuan, and she hadn’t even used it much.
What a waste not to use it when she had it!
“Grandma Qin, I just remembered I forgot to buy something.”
Grandma Qin didn’t even look up. “What is it?”
“Dried shrimp. Xiao Bao loves dumplings with minced pork and dried shrimp filling.”
“The supply and marketing cooperative sells it. Go buy some. Do you still have ration tickets? I’ll get you some more!”
Grandma Qin thought she was short on tickets and hurriedly went to get them.
Ruan Ting, He stopped her. “I still have tickets, but my hands are full of pork grease and it’s hard to wash off. Could you go instead?”
Grandma Qin looked at her greasy hands from handling pork and agreed. It would indeed be unpleasant to go out like that.
So she quickly washed off the flour on her hands, didn’t even remove her apron, and headed out.
“Alright, I’ll go. I’ll also call the hospital and tell Ah Quan to come back for dumplings.”
There was a phone available for public use at the supply and marketing cooperative. Families without telephones had to go there to make calls.
Phones were rare and difficult to install. The process required multiple approvals and was especially strict in residential compounds.
So there were only two phones in the entire compound—one at the cooperative for public use, and another internal military phone in the administrative office that was not available to the public.
After successfully sending Grandma Qin away, Ruan Ting He glanced at the three children and Yin Ze playing happily in the yard.
She closed the kitchen door, took out the meat grinder from her space, and looked for a socket…
Just as she was about to plug it in, she suddenly pulled her hand back.
She smacked her forehead.
“I’m so stupid! The meat grinder uses so much power—can the current wiring handle it? I might as well just take the meat into the space and grind it!”
She was almost annoyed at her own stupidity.
She quickly brought the meat and grinder into her space, minced the meat, and came back out.
The whole process took only a few minutes. It couldn’t have been more convenient.
When Grandma Qin returned with the dried shrimp, she saw that Ruan Ting He was already mixing the filling.
She looked in shock at the finely minced meat.
“This…”
She scooped a spoonful and looked at it. “You chopped this so fast?”
Ruan Ting He touched her nose, slightly guilty. “I guess I’ve done it a lot before, so I’m just faster.”
Grandma Qin looked at her skeptically. Her arms were so slender, soft, and without any muscle—how could she possibly do such hard labor so quickly?
She must have suffered a lot in the past.
The more Grandma Qin thought about it, the more she felt sorry for her, and even began considering adopting her as a god-granddaughter.
The Shen family had only boys for generations and had always wanted a daughter, but fate never allowed it. Now the household was practically a “monastery” full of men.
The more she looked at Ruan Ting He, the more she liked her, as if she had always been meant to be part of their family.
She decided that once her old man came back, she would discuss adopting her.
“Mom, Grandma Qin, Brother Ah Ze said he wants to take us to the basketball court to play! Can we go?”
Dabao ran in excitedly, asking for permission.
Ruan Ting He was surprised. “There’s a basketball court in the compound?”
Grandma Qin nodded. “Yes, there’s also a ping-pong table. But the kids are still small. They can play when they grow a bit taller.”
“Alright then.”
The children had always been confined to the yard before. She had been too busy making a living, and they rarely had the chance to play.
Now it was good. In the compound, they could finally play with other kids.
Ruan Ting He felt deeply relieved that she had chosen to save people at the train station instead of ignoring them.
Maybe this was karma rewarding kindness—letting her meet someone as good as Grandma Qin.
The children went out to play, and she and Grandma Qin continued making dumplings.
Time passed little by little as the table slowly filled with plump dumplings.
Suddenly, a woman rushed in in a panic.
“Grandma Qin! Something’s wrong! Your kids are fighting with others at the basketball court! Hurry and go take a look!”
Ruan Ting He rushed over to the basketball court and, from a distance, saw several children throwing basketballs at Dabao.
Dabao clenched his fists, spreading his arms to shield his younger siblings behind him. Erbao was injured and sitting on the ground, while Xiaobao was crying uncontrollably.
A basketball slammed into Dabao’s face, snapping his head to the side, but he still stubbornly lifted his chin and refused to back down.
Blood flowed from his nose, dripping down drop by drop.
The sight of that bright red instantly ignited something in Ruan Ting He.
“Stop!”
She sprinted forward and stood in front of Dabao, catching the incoming basketball.
Seeing his ball intercepted, Shen Yaozu angrily pointed at her. “Who are you? How dare you block my ball! My dad will have you killed!”
“Then I’ll kill you first!”
Ruan Ting He threw the basketball straight back at him. It hit his stomach and knocked him backward, taking down a group of children behind him.
He was fat, and the kids behind cushioned his fall, so he still managed to get up, red-faced and cursing.
“You bad woman! I’ll make you and those bastards die!”
The word “bastards” completely enraged her.
She grabbed Shen Yaozu and hung him from a tree branch, then slapped his butt repeatedly.
He dangled upside down, terrified out of his mind, remembering clearly how he once threw a kitten from a second floor, watching it splatters on the ground.
Now he was truly scared, his arrogance gone, replaced with terror and burning pain.
“Let me go! Let me go! I don’t want to die! I won’t fight anymore…”
He cried and begged, but she didn’t stop until he wet himself in fear.
Only then did she pause—but she didn’t let him down.
She turned to the other children, who were already frozen in fear.
These children were all accomplices.
None of them would be spared.
She handed the basketball to Dabao. “Dabao, hit them back.”
Dabao immediately took the ball and threw it at the children who had hurt him and his siblings.
His aim was precise—every throw hit its target.
Those who hit them once, he hit once. Those who hit them twice, he hit twice.
By the time Grandma Qin arrived with the messenger woman, Dabao had already finished one full round.
Both women were stunned. The messenger woman hurried off to report to the parents of the children, realizing the situation had escalated badly.
Grandma Qin checked the three children’s injuries first, her eyes turning red with distress.
She had only been away from the compound for a few years—how had the children here already become like this?
She looked around and realized Yin Ze was missing, immediately panicking.
“Ah Ze? Dabao, where did Brother Ah Ze go?”