At that very moment, the Ma family was craning their necks, waiting for Wang Ying to bring them something as a visit!
Wasn’t that the normal way of things? Especially for country folk moving into the city, they were surely supposed to be nervous and eager to please. If the young wife didn’t build good relations with the courtyard residents, wasn’t she afraid of having no one to talk to in the city and getting sick from loneliness?
The Xu family was also waiting. That morning, Zhang Yun had returned home with red eyes, startling Old Madam Xu. When she learned that the newly arrived young couple had embarrassed her daughter-in-law, she couldn’t save face either.
It wasn’t that she particularly cared about her daughter-in-law losing face—she just felt that the newcomers wouldn’t be easy to manipulate.
Sure enough, both households waited all day and didn’t see Wang Ying come by.
That wretched girl had visited the Liu family once and then gone out, completely disregarding their two households as neighbours!
Ma Dalian cursed indirectly at home, and her daughters-in-law shared her indignation.
Wang Ying and Xu Shuang wandered around the city for most of the day, only returning home in the evening carrying vegetables and meat.
The two entered the main gate laughing and chatting—just in time for when the workers were getting off work.
This courtyard housed employees of the state-owned restaurant. Aside from the Xu family at the gate—who had sold off their job, leaving only the daughter-in-law who worked as a teacher—the Liu and Ma families all lived off work at the state-owned restaurant.
Ma family’s eldest son, Ma Yongjun, after being abandoned by his master, went to a small restaurant to wash vegetables. The second son also washed vegetables. The third son was a temporary worker at the restaurant.
The Liu family’s eldest son had originally worked at the restaurant too but later swapped jobs and went to the cotton mill. The second son worked at the vegetable station. The youngest daughter-in-law had brought a job from her maiden family and worked in the office at the slaughterhouse.
If one were to compare jobs, the Liu family clearly had the best—three formal employees. And the vegetable station and slaughterhouse were such lucrative places; bringing home a little extra here and there was enough to feed the whole family.
As for children, the Ma family had many—six noisy kids chattering nonstop. The Liu family had only two, a boy and a girl, both belonging to the eldest son.
When Wang Ying entered carrying meat, the previously noisy courtyard fell silent for a moment. The Xu family, closest to the gate, moved first.
Old Madam Xu swallowed as she eyed the meat in Wang Ying’s hand, smiling warmly as she greeted her.
“This must be the newly arrived Comrades Wang and Xu? What a talented man and beautiful woman.”
That meat must be for us, right? Surely it was! They had embarrassed Zhang Yun in the morning, so now they bought meat in the evening to apologize. That showed they still understood propriety.
Wang Ying responded, “Hello, Aunt Xu. It’s so late—haven’t you started cooking yet?”
Old Madam Xu’s eyes darted. “My daughter-in-law is cooking. Ah, she works so hard—after finishing work, she still has to come back and cook.”
She always put on a good front in the courtyard, but to Wang Ying’s ears, it sounded different.
Oh? Your daughter-in-law works all day—can’t you cook?
Wang Ying shifted the meat to her other hand. “Mm, you’re truly blessed.”
Old Madam Xu: …
It sounded like a compliment, but somehow it felt odd.
Wang Ying didn’t bother with her further and continued walking inward with Xu Shuang.
Old Madam Xu grew anxious. “Comrade Wang!”
Wang Ying turned her head. “Hm?”
“…You bought quite a lot of groceries? Can the two of you finish all that?”
Wang Ying replied, “It’s fine. The weather’s cold now—it’ll keep.”
Old Madam Xu’s eyes nearly popped out. That piece of meat wasn’t for her family?!
Could it be for that fool Ma Dalian?
Ma Dalian had already lifted her chin high, her daughters-in-law standing proudly around her. They gathered at the doorway, waiting for Wang Ying to hand the meat over.
Wang Ying kept her gaze straight ahead, walked past them with Xu Shuang, and casually greeted Aunt Liu.
Ma Dalian was both furious and anxious. She barked, “Stop right there!”
She jogged a few steps and blocked Wang Ying’s path. “You young person, how can you have so little manners!”
She was livid. “You moved into our courtyard. If nothing else, you should’ve come early to introduce yourselves! At the very least, you should know some basic etiquette! You’ve been here two days—barely even greet anyone when you see them. You bring meat and keep it all for yourselves without giving anyone any. Who taught you that?”
Such a large piece of meat—more than a pound! Did that couple deserve to eat so much meat?
Why not give it to her? Her household had so many people. It had been ages since they’d tasted meat.
“Give me the meat!”
Ma Dalian was salivating. With so many mouths at home, she hadn’t tasted meat in who knew how long.
Wang Ying narrowed her eyes and shoved her aside. “Aunt Ma, if you’re begging for food, don’t do it in our courtyard. At least go outside.”
“I just moved in and didn’t know—you like asking others for food. But I’ve just moved here and don’t have leftovers. You’ve come to the wrong person.”
Ma Dalian was so enraged by Wang Ying’s words that she pointed at her nose and began to curse.
Aunt Liu stepped forward. “Ma, if you don’t intend to live properly, let’s go settle this. Let’s go to your son’s workplace and ask how his unit mistreats you, that you have to beg neighbors for food. What’s wrong? Is your family truly so poor you’ve got nothing to eat? At your age, don’t you have any shame? Not even accumulating virtue for your children and grandchildren! I’ve never seen anyone as greedy and black-hearted as you—demanding meat the moment you see someone. What are you to them that you ask them for meat? Even your own daughter might not bring you meat, yet you have the nerve to demand it?”
Aunt Liu fired off her words like a machine gun, blasting Ma Dalian nonstop.
Ma Dalian tried to retort a few sentences but was grabbed by the arm by Aunt Liu, who threatened to drag her to question her son—who hadn’t even gotten off work yet. Aunt Liu’s combat strength was so formidable that she directly frightened Ma Dalian’s daughters-in-law.
They absolutely couldn’t let that old hag go to the work unit!
It was one thing to quarrel within the courtyard, but once it reached someone’s workplace, it would become truly humiliating!
The daughters-in-law quickly stepped forward to soften their stance and apologize. Aunt Liu, in her capacity as yard manager, sternly warned Ma Dalian a few more times.
“Don’t think about bullying people. How the new neighbors live has nothing to do with you. Don’t put on airs as some kind of elder! Targeting young people to bully—have you no shame?”
Ma Dalian was dragged back home by her daughters-in-law. Aunt Liu spat on the ground, then turned to Wang Ying and Xu Shuang with a pleasant expression again.
“Just ignore that family.”
The Ma family probably only knew that Xu Shuang had been transferred in as a cook. They didn’t yet know he had come as a head chef, nor that Wang Ying also had a job. Once they found out, they likely wouldn’t dare act so brazenly.
Although Chen Dong hadn’t said it outright, Aunt Liu knew a bit of the story. A few years ago, it was because Ma Dalian had set her sights on Chen Dong that Master Ma ended up abandoning Ma Yongjun.
In the past two years, Master Ma hadn’t even been helping relatives much—just making token gestures during holidays. Though he never explicitly said he was no longer Ma Yongjun’s master, he paid him no attention in daily life. Wasn’t that practically expulsion from the tutelage?
Yet this family still couldn’t see clearly—they didn’t dare provoke Master Chen, but they immediately offended the newly appointed Master Xu.
Wang Ying thanked Aunt Liu. She and Xu Shuang locked their bicycles at the door and went inside.
Wang Ying tugged up the corners of Xu Shuang’s mouth. “What’s wrong? It’s not worth getting angry over this, is it?”
Xu Shuang muttered, “We should’ve lived in an apartment building.”
Wang Ying laughed. “Are you silly? Master is getting old—he can’t be without people around him. Living nearby keeps things lively and sets his mind at ease. We can also look after him. Besides, you think apartment living doesn’t have these kinds of problems? In a corridor building you don’t even have your own kitchen. If you fry meat in the hallway, just wait for everyone to gossip about you!”
Xu Shuang got scolded thoroughly. Then, looking somewhat dejected, he asked, “What are we having for dinner?”
Wang Ying’s eyes sparkled. “Let’s make shredded pork with green peppers, and lard-tossed noodles!”
Buying meat today had been for seasoning the new wok. In a new house with a new pot, if you didn’t season it with lard first, it would be hard to cook properly afterward.
Who would’ve thought that a piece of meat would stir up such a dispute?
Xu Shuang seasoned the wok, rendering half the pork fat into lard. With the remaining lard in the pot, he stir-fried the shredded pork with green peppers.
Wang Ying stood beside him, grinning.
Xu Shuang had wanted to ask what she was smiling about, but he didn’t have to wait long to find out.
From the Ma household came waves of crying.
“Mom, I want to eat meat!”
“Grandma, I want meat, wuuuu…”
“I want meat, I want meat! If you don’t give me meat, I won’t get up!”
…
Even from the Xu household in the distance came faint sounds of commotion—apparently their child was rolling on the ground demanding meat as well.
In a courtyard of four households, two were in an uproar. Only the Liu family’s children remained quiet.
Then there was a knock at the door. Wang Ying opened it to find an unfamiliar face.
“I’m Ge Yue, the Liu family’s younger daughter-in-law. My mother-in-law asked me to bring you some pig liver. Don’t refuse—I work at the slaughterhouse. This stuff doesn’t sell well if we don’t eat it; many people don’t know how to cook it. From the smell, your husband seems skilled. Use it to make sautéed liver slices.”
Without waiting for refusal, she stuffed it into Wang Ying’s hands and turned to leave. Wang Ying quickly called her back and filled a small bowl with crispy pork lard cracklings.
“Don’t refuse either, sister-in-law. We’ll be seeing each other often—keeping strict accounts would spoil the spirit. I’ll be troubling Aunt Liu plenty in the future.”
Ge Yue had spent a long time at the slaughterhouse and preferred straightforward people. After only a few words, they each returned home.
The Liu family’s two children had already been drooling from the aroma. Seeing their second aunt bring back a bowl of cracklings, they ran around the house in delight.
Aunt Liu declared, “Our courtyard has finally gotten someone clever.”
The small bowl of cracklings glistened with oil. Aunt Liu ordered, “Pour the cracklings into the cabbage so it absorbs some flavor. We’ll all eat together!”
In their family, there was no rule about eating separate dishes. Naturally, the children weren’t allowed to eat alone.
While they were lively and enjoying the cracklings, the aroma from Wang Ying’s house still wafted through the air.
Through the window, the Xu family saw Ge Yue carrying a bowl home. Old Madam Xu felt a tightness in her chest.
Their Dabao had already rolled across the floor several times—practically polishing it clean. But Old Madam Xu knew that even if she shamelessly went over, Wang Ying wouldn’t give them any.
That young wife had quite the temper.
“Xiaoyun, soothe Dabao. If not… just make him a separate bowl of egg noodles.”
Zhang Yun wore a troubled expression. Her son was demanding meat, but this month’s meat coupons had already been used up. Could she conjure meat coupons out of thin air?
Ten-year-old Dabao kept rolling. “I want meat!”
Old Madam Xu coaxed, “Tomorrow, tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll have your mother buy some.”
Dabao refused to stop. Zhang Yun finally snapped. She raised her hand and smacked her son a few times.
“Meat, meat, meat! Our family doesn’t have that kind of condition! Why are you making such a fuss? You’re ten years old and still throwing tantrums!”
Beaten by his own mother, Xu Dabao burst into loud sobs, drowning out even the Ma family children’s crying.
Zhang Yun wiped her tears and went to the kitchen to cook.
Xu Dabao was helped up by his grandmother, crying so hard he hiccupped.
Old Madam Xu shot a venomous look at her daughter-in-law’s back and whispered into her grandson’s ear, “Your mother is a poisonous scorpion, a bad woman. She won’t give you meat because she’s unwilling. Sweet grandson, Grandma is useless. If Grandma had the ability, I’d buy you meat for every meal.”
Xu Dabao’s face filled with resentment as well. He stared fixedly at Zhang Yun’s figure.
Zhang Yun plated the dishes—watery stir-fried cabbage and cold tofu—and by the time she set them on the table, she had wiped her tears dry.
Old Madam Xu had already changed her expression to one of sorrow and self-reproach. “Xiaoyun, it’s Mother who has wronged you. It’s Leilei who has wronged you too. If you had married someone more capable, you wouldn’t be living like this now.”
Zhang Yun lifted her chin high. “Mother, please stop. Call Dad and Leilei out to eat. We’re one family—what’s the point of arguing over this?”
“All right, all right. Mother won’t say any more. Let’s eat.”
…
After rolling around to no avail, the Ma family’s children could only sniff the aroma and whimper as they ate their meal.
On Wang Ying’s side, she was happily eating her lard-tossed noodles. The fragrance of the lard was rich and domineering, and with another spoonful of scallion oil that Xu Shuang had rendered himself mixed into the noodles, the deliciousness doubled!
The shredded pork with green peppers was also tasty. After finishing the lard noodles, she had a small bowl of plain noodles, topped generously with the shredded pork and peppers—the aroma was so good it made one dizzy.
After the two finished dinner, Wang Ying let out a satisfied burp.
“Not bad at all. If the neighbors stir up trouble again in the future, we’ll just eat meat.”
Heh—after a few more rounds like this, the Ma and Xu families would probably start walking around their house instead of past it.
