“Who are you putting on this act for? Hurry up and go.” Jia Zhangshi glanced at Qin Huairu, saying disdainfully.
For a village girl, being able to enter the Jia Family was her blessing; yet she was acting wronged.
Just as he finished adding the green peppers, Wang Ze saw a young woman enter through the doorway.
Her appearance was more beautiful than most women he had seen in later generations, of course, not counting those on Douyin.
The women on there were made indistinguishable by various beauty filters and even face-swapping software, making it impossible to tell if they were human, ghost, male, or female.
Wang Ze knew without asking that this person was Qin Huairu; compared to the Qin Huairu in the TV show, she looked much prettier.
After all, the Qin Huairu in this real world was only 21 years old, precisely when a woman is in her prime.
Wang Ze sighed inwardly: “Indeed, it’s no wonder Sha Zhu acted that way.”
“Are you Wang Ze? I’m Qin Huairu from the Middle Courtyard, you can just call me Sister Qin,” Qin Huairu said gently.
Seeing the shredded pork with green peppers in Wang Ze’s wok, Qin Huairu couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
“It smells so good, I didn’t expect this kid to be so young and still know how to cook,” Qin Huairu thought.
“I’ll still call you Sister-in-law Jia Family,” Wang Ze dished the food onto a plate and placed it on the table behind him.
Once the green peppers hit the wok, there was no time to delay; if they cooked too soft, they wouldn't taste good. Wang Ze loved shredded pork with green peppers, so this dish was also the one he cooked best. Just for this one dish, Wang Ze felt he could at least achieve a Level 3 or higher.
Seeing that Wang Ze wasn't engaging in conversation with her, Qin Huairu had no choice but to say, “Wang Ze, didn’t you buy meat today? Dinner is almost ready, and my family hasn’t bought any yet. I wanted to borrow some meat from you first.”
Wang Ze’s lips curled up unconsciously when he heard this; he knew this person’s visit definitely wouldn't be for anything good.
“Sister-in-law Jia Family, I still have some left here. How about I transfer it to you at the market price? That way, you won’t have to buy meat and return it to me,” Wang Ze turned around and said with a smile.
After speaking, he walked to the cabinet beside him, opened it, and took out the meat he had cut into pieces.
Wang Ze walked in front of Qin Huairu, weighed the meat in his hand, and said, “This should be about half a catty. Just give me 2700 for it.”
Qin Huairu didn’t expect Wang Ze to do this and was momentarily stunned. After a moment of dazed silence, she said, “My husband went to work. How about you give me the meat first, and he’ll pay you when he gets back?”
“Alright, we’re neighbors. Just remember to give it to me when he gets back,” Wang Ze thought for a moment and still handed the meat to Qin Huairu.
It was the first time a neighbor had asked, so he still had to give them this much face. Since he lived in the Forbidden City Courtyard, he had to adapt.
However, if it wasn't returned this time, there definitely wouldn't be a next time.
Wang Ze also thought of buying some peace for 2700; afterwards, no one could fault him for refusing, no matter who it was.
However, what Wang Ze didn't expect was that while he was clearing weeds and leveling the ground in the garden that afternoon, he saw a good-looking man walk in.
“I am Qin Huairu’s husband, my name is Jia Dongxu. You gave us a piece of meat this afternoon, right? Here’s the money, thank you,” Jia Dongxu said with a smile, walking politely to Wang Ze and handing him 2700.
Wang Ze hadn't expected to get the money back; this plot wasn't right...
This was quite different from his plan. This Jia Dongxu seemed to have a rather good temperament.
Wang Ze took the money and said, “It’s nothing, we’re neighbors.”
“Let me help you,” Jia Dongxu saw Wang Ze clearing weeds in the courtyard, rolled up his sleeves, and said.
After speaking, he bent down and began to pull weeds.
“Thank you,” Wang Ze thanked him helplessly.
He did want to find someone to clear the weeds in this courtyard, as he felt there was too much work for him alone. However, he didn't want that person to be someone from the courtyard.
But since it was already like this, Wang Ze couldn't refuse, so the two of them pulled weeds together.
The courtyard, which had been deserted for a long time, was densely overgrown with weeds, and their root systems were well-developed, making them quite difficult to pull out.
The two of them chatted for a bit at first, but slowly they fell silent, both bending over to pull weeds.
They only stopped when Qin Huairu entered the courtyard to call Jia Dongxu for dinner.
“How about we have a drink together?” Jia Dongxu clapped the dirt off his hands and rubbed his waist, saying.
“No, Brother Jia, I don’t drink. Thank you,” Wang Ze stood up and politely declined with a smile.
“Alright, your courtyard has a lot of weeds. Tomorrow, on my day off, I’ll call everyone in the courtyard to come and help you,” Jia Dongxu said, looking at the large amount of remaining weeds.
“No need, I’ll just find someone from outside to do it. No need to trouble everyone,” Wang Ze quickly refused.
“Hey, look at you, talking like that. We’re neighbors; for something like this, to go find someone outside, that would be too embarrassing for our courtyard. Don’t worry about it, I’ll bring people over tomorrow,” Jia Dongxu said, not allowing for refusal, and then left the back garden with Qin Huairu.
Wang Ze was dumbfounded, standing in the garden for a long time without reacting. Was this truly affection? Not a beast?
Why was it so different from what he had imagined?
Their attitude was so good, could he really just curse them away?
Wang Ze was speechless and didn't know how many people would come tomorrow. He would have to prepare ingredients early in the morning; neighbors helping meant no money, but food definitely had to be provided.
Patting the dirt off himself, Wang Ze put away his tools and then covered the cement.
It would be troublesome if it rained at night and he didn't know, even though the sky looked like it wouldn't rain, it was safer to cover it.
Returning to the house, he lit some firewood and threw it into the stove. Once it started burning, he took out the leftover dishes and rice from lunch and poured them into the pot to reheat.
He had been busy all afternoon today, yet no skills had appeared. Could it be that weeding and preparing the land didn't count as skills? Wang Ze was somewhat dissatisfied with this; the system was a bit too inflexible.
A system without intelligence was just this troublesome; he could only try little by little to figure out its functions.
If it had intelligence, his efforts of trying for a lot of time and energy could have been answered with just one sentence.
However, Wang Ze still felt that no intelligence was better; that way, it felt more like a cheat. If there was an intelligent system, he would feel that there was a mastermind behind it.
He hadn't rested long after eating when he heard someone outside shout, “Wang Ze, come out for a meeting!”
“Alright, got it!” Wang Ze shouted back, and the person outside turned to notify the other residents.
When Wang Ze came out, he found that the Middle Courtyard was already densely packed with many people.
Some were holding stools, some were sitting directly on the steps, but there were no important meeting tools, such as square tables and stools, in the middle.
When most people had arrived, Yi Zhonghai stood up and said, “Today’s general meeting is mainly about two things. First, as some of you already know, we have a new neighbor in our courtyard.”