When Cao Yuan heard Qin Huairu's words, the mockery on his face grew stronger.
Did the Jia family think they were some important figures?
Fifteen yuan a month, and they had the nerve to ask?
He couldn't be bothered with Qin Huairu anymore, so he pulled a long face and told her, "Are you sick? Get lost!"
With a bang, he slammed the door shut.
Qin Huairu stood there, stunned at the door, alone.
It took her a while to come back to her senses.
Although she had expected to be rejected, her heart still felt empty, with an inexpressible sadness.
She even started to envy Yu Li.
She couldn't understand why, as married women, she was no worse looking than Yu Li and had a good figure, yet Yu Li could gain Cao Yuan's trust and even take advantage of his family.
But when she initiative went to his door, willing to help him with chores, he coldly drove her out as soon as he opened the door?
Qin Huairu couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried.
Having been rejected, she could only return to the Jia family, looking dejected.
As soon as she entered, Jia Zhangshi sprang from her bed and eagerly asked, "How was it? How was it? Did that kid Cao Yuan agree?"
"That kid Cao Yuan is so rich; letting him do some work and only asking for fifteen yuan a month is really letting him off easy!"
"Later, we'll have to find a way to get more benefits from that kid!"
Jia Zhangshi was already thinking about how to let Qin Huairu take advantage of Cao Yuan in other ways in the future.
As she thought, she even chuckled aloud.
But when Qin Huairu heard this, she smiled bitterly and shook her head, her face full of helplessness, and told her mother-in-law, "It didn't work. Cao Yuan didn't agree."
"What?"
When Jia Zhangshi heard this, her beautiful dream was shattered, and she immediately jumped up.
She cursed at Qin Huairu, "You're such a good-for-nothing! You can't even handle such a small matter!"
"How did my son ever fall for a jinx like you?"
As if she hadn't cursed enough, Jia Zhangshi tugged at her own hair, looked at Qin Huairu with a smug expression, and said, "Useless! If I were ten years younger, I could definitely charm Cao Yuan! Which of the former Third Master Yi Zhonghai or Sha Zhu's good-for-nothing father He Daqing didn't lose their minds when they saw me?"
Jia Dongxu, far from thinking there was anything wrong with his mother's vulgar words, even added fuel to the fire, saying, "It must be that Qin Huairu didn't try hard enough! I think we need to use some tougher tactics, hmph! I don't believe Cao Yuan can resist!"
When Qin Huairu heard Jia Dongxu's words, she felt even more unlucky.
This man, just to take advantage of Cao Yuan's family, actually dared to say such shameless things in front of her!
Qin Huairu felt so uncomfortable that her face changed. She gritted her teeth and, as if in a fit of pique, told Jia Dongxu, "Jia Dongxu, I'd like to! But Cao Yuan said he's not interested in women!"
Jia Dongxu didn't notice Qin Huairu's expression or mood, nor did he catch the hidden meaning in her words. He just slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Oh, right! If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten. That Cao Yuan is a Eunuch Cao, serves him right!"
But Qin Huairu couldn't take advantage of Cao Yuan's family, and Jia Dongxu was incredibly unwilling.
He then told Qin Huairu,
"Alright, alright, don't make that bitter face, like you're at a funeral."
"If not today, try again in a few days! Our family is so close to Cao Yuan's. It should be our turn to take advantage of his family, not Three Great Uncles' family!"
After hearing this, Qin Huairu completely gave up on her husband, Jia Dongxu.
In the Jia family, she wasn't like a normal person; she was practically a tool!
But she said nothing, just silently went to bed.
Since marrying into the Jia family, she had suffered so many blows that her heart had long grown cold.
On the other side, Three Great Uncles' family's situation was also not good.
Coincidentally, Third Master ran into Qin Huairu at Cao Yuan's doorstep when he went to the toilet.
He returned with a gloomy face and gathered his family for a meeting.
He hadn't expected that the Jia family had also started to set their sights on Cao Yuan's family!
They even sent Qin Huairu to talk to Cao Yuan, claiming to help clean his house and asking for fifteen yuan a month.
"Dad, it's so late. What's the matter? Does it have to be a meeting now? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
Yan Jiefang walked out of the room with a displeased look, complaining.
"Yes, Dad, why do we have to have a meeting at night!"
Yu Li, who came out with Yan Jiefang, also yawned.
She had been helping cook at Cao Yuan's all day and was so tired she was almost falling asleep.
Suddenly woken by her father-in-law's shout, saying there was a meeting, her mood naturally wasn't good.
"Big news!"
"Guess what I just heard when I got up to go to the toilet?"
"The Jia family also wants to take advantage of Cao Yuan!"
"They even sent Qin Huairu to clean Cao Yuan's house, asking for fifteen yuan a month!"
"Bah, these Jia family people are so shameless! Our family hasn't even asked Cao Yuan for money!"
Hearing Yan Fugui's words, Yan Jiefang immediately perked up.
He quickly asked his father,
"There's such a thing?"
"Dad, what happened next? Tell me quickly! Cao Yuan didn't really agree, did he?"
San Dama didn't say anything, but her brows were already furrowed.
At breakfast, they were talking about fawning over Cao Yuan so their lives would be better in the future, but she didn't expect to hear this news that night! She also felt quite uneasy.
When Yan Jiefang asked, Yan Fugui's expression only slightly improved:
"Hmph! No, he didn't! Cleaning, and only fifteen yuan a month, if Cao Yuan really agreed, that would be strange! The Jia family is trying to fool Cao Yuan into thinking he's stupid! When it comes to scheming, they're still a bit green, far from me!"
"However, this incident also served as a reminder to us that we're not the only family eyeing Cao Yuan.
Now that Cao Yuan is doing so well, he's a hot commodity, very sought after!"
"We need to act quickly!"
After hearing Yan Fugui's words, Yan Jiefang felt a sense of relief.
His mind worked fast, and he immediately understood his father's meaning.
He quickly told Yu Li,
"Yu Li, Dad is right. Now Cao Yuan is a hot commodity. We can scheme against him, but we can't let others scheme against us first!"
"So, you need to go to Cao Yuan's house more often and make him happy.
Even if the Jia family still wants to scheme against him, when Cao Yuan thinks about how good we are to him, he won't fall for their tricks!"
Yu Li listened to Yan Jiefang's words, said nothing, and quickly agreed.
However, when she thought about Cao Yuan teaching her to cook, she felt a little sweet inside and was quite looking forward to it!
Cao Yuan's face suddenly darkened.
Before, the Jia family tried to snatch his uncle Cao Min's inheritance, and he hadn't had time to deal with them. He didn't expect the Jia family to actually dare to set their sights on him!
"Interesting, truly a good tactic!"
Cao Yuan couldn't help but sneer, and at the same time, he secretly vowed that once he recovered, he would definitely have a good showdown with the Jia family.
Thinking of this, Cao Yuan began to cultivate the Great Might Heavenly Dragon Divine Skill again.
After practicing, he felt refreshed. Although it was already dark, he didn't feel tired at all.
Time passed quickly; an hour went by, and the Tianlong True Energy within him grew stronger.
However, cultivation was very physically demanding, and he was hungry again, so he ate a little something.
"To practice martial arts, I need to eat more good food to replenish my qi and blood. There's too little meat at home!"
Cao Yuan shook his head and decided to go to the Pigeon Market to see about buying some meat tickets or something.
At that time, reselling goods was illegal, but as long as there was demand, there was a market.
So, at that time, there was a special trading place called the Pigeon Market, which later gradually became lively, similar to the later large markets. You could buy anything there, like grain tickets and coal tickets, which were all very popular.
At that time, everything was rationed. Without a ticket, even if you had money, the Supply and Marketing Cooperative wouldn't sell it to you.
...
Soon, Cao Yuan arrived at the foot of the old Imperial City in Xicheng, a well-known fixed location for a Pigeon Market.
Because reselling goods was considered speculation and profiteering, the Pigeon Market could only open quietly in the dead of night, and its scale dared not be too large.
The entire market was pitch black, without a trace of light, but this was nothing to Cao Yuan, because he had mastered the Great Might Heavenly Dragon Divine Skill, and his eyesight was superb; he could see clearly even in complete darkness.
He looked around and saw quite a few people already standing and squatting at the foot of the old Imperial City.
It had just opened, so there weren't many buyers yet, only a few sellers boredly waiting for customers.
Although there were no lights, it wasn't completely dark. Each seller would light a small oil lamp in front of them, but they didn't dare to be too conspicuous. They covered them with cloth, allowing only a tiny, faint glow to escape, which looked like clusters of ghostly fires in the darkness. That's why, at that time, the Pigeon Market was also called the Ghost Market by everyone.
Because speculation and profiteering were serious crimes, and most of the items sold were unsavory, these small vendors wouldn't actively shout to attract customers.
They just waited quietly to see if anyone would seek them out.
The buyers, on the other hand, didn't talk much either; they just casually strolled around.
If they saw something they liked, they would stop and examine it closely.
The entire market was silent, like a graveyard, with shadowy figures, as if a hundred ghosts were wandering in the night!
However, Cao Yuan was hungry at the moment, so he first got something to eat at the Pigeon Market. After filling his stomach, he slowly started to browse.
He stopped in front of a ticket exchange stall.
Cao Yuan didn't lack money now, but the grain tickets and meat tickets issued by the factory were all rationed.
Having money alone wasn't enough; without tickets, you still couldn't buy things.
It was always a good idea to keep more grain tickets and meat tickets for emergencies.
And after a long round, he found that this stall actually had industrial tickets, which were even rarer than grain and meat tickets!
Industrial tickets could be used to buy large items like bicycles, radios, and televisions.
Most of Cao Yuan's possessions were food and clothing; he hadn't been able to buy a bicycle or a radio because he didn't have tickets.
Now that he had such a good opportunity, he quickly started picking. After some bargaining, he exchanged for fifty catties of grain tickets, fifty catties of meat tickets, and twenty industrial tickets.
It cost him almost a hundred yuan in total.
If the ticket vendor had more industrial tickets, Cao Yuan would have wanted to exchange for more.
These were good things!
After exchanging the tickets, he continued to stroll around the Pigeon Market, buying a rooster, two hens, and two rabbits.
His idea was simple: the rooster could crow to wake him up and be eaten when it got fat; the hens could lay eggs every day and make a nourishing soup when they got old; rabbits bred quickly, and rabbit meat was good for the body, perfect for replenishing the energy consumed while cultivating the Great Might Heavenly Dragon Divine Skill.
Because he bought them directly at the Pigeon Market, without tickets, these items were a bit more expensive than buying them from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, but not by much, totaling nineteen yuan and five cents.
After buying his things, Cao Yuan was satisfied and prepared to go home.