Chapter 47

In reality, what Yi Zhonghai said to Mrs. Jia was merely a deliberate attempt to scare her. The Neighborhood Office was bogged down by a constant stream of mundane affairs, and the staff were so overwhelmed that they had no energy to spare on monitoring people serving minor sentences. As long as the streets remained clean and tidy, they would simply turn a blind eye. Yi Zhonghai knew this clearly. Mrs. Jia was habitually arrogant and unreasonable, causing him no end of trouble. He used this opportunity of her street-sweeping punishment to make her suffer a little, hoping she would temper her attitude and stop causing problems for him in the future. Mrs. Jia, however, was incapable of grasping such complexities. Every day, as she swung her broom across the street, aching and exhausted, all she could think about was the lunchbox she would bring home from Shazhu in the evening. As she labored over the pavement, she calculated to herself: since she had worked so hard today, she ought to eat more of the evening meal—at least half of it to make up for her day's toil. The more she thought about it, the more justified she felt, and a look of greed crept across her wrinkled face.