Chapter 23: Family Doesn’t Recognize Family

Zhao Sihai just frowned and pondered for a moment, then nodded in response to Liu Zhigao’s anxious gaze.

“It’s too late for me to object now. Next time, remember to tell me first. We’ll do this deal, but be careful.”

“Okay, Si Ge, don’t worry. We’re always careful and cautious.”

Hearing Zhao Sihai’s words, Liu Zhigao immediately beamed with joy. His heart finally settled.

Feeling relieved, his tone became much lighter.

“Si Ge, do you think that woman is one of those…” He made a gesture of embezzlement.

At this time, embezzlement was more serious than smuggling.

It was impressive to smuggle things in from abroad.

But embezzlement was stealing state property, a crime punishable by death.

Zhao Sihai shook his head, “Based on your description, she shouldn’t be. But I haven’t met her, so I can’t judge accurately. Call me next time you see her. And try to avoid contact with people like that in the future. Don’t take any deals lightly.”

“Okay.” Liu Zhigao nodded seriously. They had been blinded by the profit.

Now that they thought about it, it was indeed quite dangerous.

But people die for money. He thought being poor was even scarier.

He could just stop after this deal.

He thought of something and asked, “By the way, Si Ge, Hua Ge said you have a job. Why don’t you join the transportation team? With your driving skills and repair abilities, you’d be perfect.”

Zhao Sihai shook his head, “I have my own plans.”

Liu Zhigao could only sigh regretfully, “Okay.”

Zhao Sihai got up and urged him to leave, afraid that Bai Ruojiao might come back suddenly, “If you have nothing else, leave quickly.”

“Oh, okay. Ah, right, this is a gift from Hua Ge for your sister-in-law and nephew.” He quickly untied the urea bag.

Zhao Sihai frowned but still took it.

Liu Zhigao then pushed his bicycle out, said goodbye, and left.

Watching Liu Zhigao leave, Zhao Sihai stood there for a while, then sighed heavily.

He thought that maybe he should end the smuggling business.

Now that he was back in the countryside, if he continued to do this, he might be discovered by Qiaoqiao.

He was afraid that Qiaoqiao would look down on him or leave him.

This was also the reason why he agreed to this deal.

After all, this deal would be enough for them to live on for several years, even if they stopped.

He sighed heavily, turned around, put the things behind the door, and locked the door again.

—

In town, Bai Ruojiao left the courtyard, made sure no one was following her, and then went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

She bought a black handbag and came out. She circled the alley again before reaching the courtyard gate.

As soon as she knocked, the door opened.

It was Tang Hua who opened the door. He had obviously been waiting at the door.

“Come in quickly.” Tang Hua quickly greeted her in, his eyes glued to the handbag, shining brightly.

Bai Ruojiao walked in, followed him into the house, and handed him the bag.

“The things are all here. Check them.”

“Okay.” Tang Hua didn’t stand on ceremony. He immediately poured the watches out of the bag.

When he saw the brand new Citizen watches, the muscles in his face couldn’t help but twitch.

He took a deep breath and started counting them one by one.

After confirming that the number was correct, he exhaled, got up, and nodded with a smile.

Bai Ruojiao raised her eyelids and said calmly, “When can I get them?”

“We’re going to make a trip to the south soon. If everything goes well, we should be back in about ten days.”

Bai Ruojiao seemed dissatisfied.

Tang Hua was afraid she would change her mind, so he quickly said, “It takes some time to sell the goods. Besides, we’re transporting goods for the higher-ups. The time is set by them.”

Bai Ruojiao glanced at him, “Okay, I’ll come back in ten days. I’ll leave the goods with you. Don’t have any bad ideas. Otherwise… even if you run to a foreign country, we’ll find you.”

After dropping this threat, she turned and left.

She wasn’t worried about the goods being stolen.

This is a gamble.

If we lose, we’ll only lose some things. If we win, we’ll have a stable sales channel.

After leaving, she circled around before going back to the public toilet. After restoring her clothes and appearance, she waited for a while before coming out.

After coming out, she went to the consignment point to get her bicycle and left.

When she got back to the village, the baskets were heavy.

But they were covered with cloth, so others couldn’t see what was inside.

Lin Qianqian had just come back from sending a letter. Seeing this, she covered her swollen cheek with her hand, her eyes filled with venom.

She gritted her teeth, “Bai Ruojiao, just wait and see how long you can be happy.”

When she came back, Zhao Sihai was also carrying two shelves over a meter tall.

“I’m back.” Seeing her, Zhao Sihai’s tense face immediately broke into a smile.

Bai Ruojiao looked at the shelves in surprise, “So fast?”

“These shelves are relatively simple. The cabinets will take longer.”

Bai Ruojiao nodded, quickly parked her bicycle, and went to unlock the door.

Zhao Sihai carried the shelves in first.

After putting them down, he ran out to help push the bicycle in, untied the baskets, and started to move things.

He didn’t even ask what was in the baskets.

Bai Ruojiao didn’t say anything.

While tidying up, she saw a urea bag next to the shelves and asked, “What’s this?”

Zhao Sihai poked his head out of the kitchen and casually said, “An old friend of mine heard I was back. He just came to see me. This is for you and An’an.”

Bai Ruojiao was surprised, “Where is he?”

“He left.”

Bai Ruojiao immediately frowned, “Why didn’t you ask him to stay for dinner? He came all this way.”

“His wife just had a baby. He was out buying things and has to rush back now.” Zhao Sihai said as he rolled out the dough.

“Oh.” Bai Ruojiao nodded, “Then I’ll prepare a gift for him sometime. You can send it over.”

“Okay, how about noodles for lunch?”

Bai Ruojiao nodded as she took things out of the bag, “Okay, cook a lot. Send some to Aunt Fang’s place.”

There were a lot of things in the urea bag.

Two cans of malted milk, two cans of powdered milk, and a large bag of seafood.

There were prawns, scallops, dried kelp, dried fish, and so on.

There was even a bottle of Moutai and a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes.

She raised her eyebrows. It seemed that Zhao Sihai’s friend was no ordinary person.

After lunch, they went about their own business.

Zhao Sihai continued to go to the carpenter’s to make cabinets, while Bai Ruojiao started to tidy up.

They worked until about three in the afternoon.

Yueya, Fang Meizi, Liu Meili, and Zhang Caihua, Fang Hongjun’s wife, had all come to help early.

This time, they only invited young people, mostly friends or people with prestige in the village. Each family would invite one or two younger relatives who were close to them.

When they entered the kitchen, they were surprised to see so much meat and vegetables on the table.

There was about thirty kilograms of pork alone, as well as two chickens and a fish.

“This, Bai Zhiqing, didn’t you buy too much?”

Zhang Caihua wasn’t very familiar with Bai Ruojiao. She wanted to say something but felt it was inappropriate. But she really couldn’t stand it.

Bai Zhiqing was so bad at managing money. How much food coupons would this waste?

They all assumed that she had exchanged food coupons for grain and then exchanged grain for meat coupons.

300 kilograms of food coupons. They had thought they could last a long time, but now it seemed they would be gone soon.

Liu Meili didn’t have so many reservations. She directly frowned.

“Qiaoqiao, you bought too much. Everyone can just eat a little. You’ll have a long life ahead of you. You have to be frugal.”

Bai Ruojiao didn’t mind. She smiled, “I know. It’s just this once. Since we’re having a housewarming party, we want everyone to eat well. Sihai thinks so too.”

“Okay, as long as you have a plan. Let’s get started then.”

Liu Meili nodded. She was a quick worker. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work.