Chapter 12

“But my dad didn’t buy any meat, and my biological grandma also said girls don’t deserve to eat meat,” Qiao Xinyi sighed. “Auntie, I think I was being greedy. I’m just a girl, and on the way home I was still dreaming of eating meat once I got back. That was really wrong of me.”

Aunt Zhang Hua was dumbfounded.

Qiao Xinyi hadn’t been speaking quietly. Quite a few neighbors were also cooking in the hallway, and all the doors were open. Almost everyone nearby heard her. People holding bowls of rice started gathering at the doorways to watch the commotion.

Someone asked, “Big girl from the Qiao family, you really haven’t had a single bite of meat growing up? Not even broth?”

“No, never,” Qiao Xinyi shook her head. “Girls can’t touch such precious things.”

Then she acted as if she’d just noticed the crowd forming around her and quickly said, “Why is everyone gathering here? Go back inside, quick. With so many people crowding around, you’ll spoil the smell of the meat!”

“Huh?”

People sort of understood what she meant, and sort of didn’t.

“In the village, those people who stole me—one time they were cooking meat at home, and I was just so curious, I leaned against the window and secretly sniffed.”

“They beat me up for that, said I ruined the meat by sniffing it too much.”

“That meat must’ve gone bad because of me. They were really angry that time, beat me hard. Took a bamboo pole and slammed it against my head. I passed out from the beating, and when I woke up, I couldn’t talk anymore—I became dumb.”

“I stayed like that for a long time, until just a few days ago when they hit me on the head again. After that, I could recognize people and speak again.”

Qiao Xinyi made a show of getting ready to leave. “Auntie Zhang Hua, there’s too many people here. If I keep sniffing, the meat really will go bad. I’ll head home now—after you finish eating, I’ll come back and chat with you.”

People with tender hearts were already holding their bowls with reddened eyes.

Aunt Zhang Hua quickly grabbed her, saying, “Child, listen to Auntie. Meat doesn’t go bad from people smelling it. You just sniff away—it’s fine.”

“Wow! No wonder everyone in the village dreams of coming to the city. The city really is amazing—even the meat here doesn’t go bad from being sniffed!” Qiao Xinyi said excitedly. “Auntie, can I come smell your meat every time you cook? Don’t worry, I won’t ask for a bite—I just want to smell it.”

It was the first time Aunt Zhang Hua realized she could feel sorry for someone else, that she could be willing to share what she had.

As soon as the braised pork was done, Aunt Zhang Hua picked up a piece with her chopsticks and held it to Qiao Xinyi’s mouth. “Let me tell you something, child. In this new society, men and women are equal. There’s no such thing as girls not deserving meat.”

She raised her voice toward the direction of the Qiao family’s unit and said loudly, “Your grandma favors boys over girls—that’s the poison left over from the old society! Your real grandma and your real dad don’t love you, but us neighbors do. Here, big girl, come on, try Auntie’s braised pork. See if it tastes as good as it smells.”

Qiao Xinyi quickly backed away a few steps and ran off, refusing again and again, saying she couldn’t take advantage, and that if Auntie Zhang Hua kept doing that, she’d be too scared to come talk to her anymore.

The more she refused, the more the neighbors believed this child was sincere—so honest and so well-behaved it tugged at the heart. And it made them believe she wasn’t making up a story just to get a bite of meat.

Inside the Qiao house, Chen Ju’s face had gone completely dark. Qiao Laiwang didn’t look much better.

“That worthless brat, what kind of nonsense is she spouting out there?” Chen Ju growled in a low voice at Qiao Baihe. “Well? Aren’t you going to go out there and drag that shameful, troublemaking pest back inside?!”

Qiao Baihe didn’t move. Deep down, she felt that Qiao Xinyi was doing it on purpose—and honestly, she found it very satisfying.

Mom was just outside in the hallway, and she hadn’t called Xinyi back, which meant even Mom didn’t think Xinyi was embarrassing the family.

And outside, Qiao Xinyi was just getting started.

Because she saw that after Auntie Zhang Hua finished making the braised pork, she started washing the pot and began frying eggs.

Qiao Xinyi then shifted gears, saying she had never eaten eggs in her life and asked Auntie Zhang Hua what eggs tasted like. This, once again, earned her another wave of sympathy from the neighbors—and brought a fresh round of blame down on Chen Ju and Qiao Laiwang.

Then she transformed into a picture of filial piety and began defending her father and grandmother.

“Auntie, don’t speak badly of my dad and grandma. They’re just a bit… thrifty.”

“My mom said that ever since she married my dad, every time he got his salary, he’d hand over every cent to my grandma without keeping a single coin for himself.”

“All the social obligations, the food and clothing, the house expenses, even the kids’ tuition fees—it all came from my mom’s salary.”

“My grandma is amazing at managing money. My mom and dad have been married for twenty years, and in all that time, my mom has never spent a single penny of my dad’s salary.”

“I think my mom is incredible! She supports the whole family on her own! Even my dad and grandma rely on her!”

“My mom is amazing, but I still feel a little bad for her. She works way too hard.”

“And my grandma being good with money is definitely a strength… but sometimes, maybe she’s a little too good at it.”

“For example, when Baihe was about to start elementary school, my mom said there were a lot of social obligations that year, and money was tight. Even after getting her paycheck, she didn’t have enough to pay Baihe’s school fees.”

“She asked my dad for money, but at that time, neither my dad nor my grandma would give her any. So Baihe had to take a year off from school. Otherwise, she would’ve been able to take the college entrance exam last year.”

Her tone was sincere, without a trace of resentment toward her father or biological grandmother. Just the occasional “but,” spoken with a smiling face.

Her words came out gentle and lighthearted—each one like a knife that killed without drawing blood.

All the neighbors stood there stunned.

Aunt Zhang Hua shouted straight into the Qiao family’s house with a booming voice, “Chen Yubing! You’ve been married to Qiao Laiwang for twenty years, and you really haven’t spent a cent of his salary? Your whole family’s been living off your income?!”

Chen Yubing hadn’t expected Qiao Xinyi to air even that kind of private matter.

But since Zhang Hua had asked, Chen Yubing answered honestly.

“Yes. My mother-in-law’s held on to every cent of Laiwang’s salary. It’s been twenty years, and I haven’t seen a single penny of it.”

“If it weren’t like that, I wouldn’t have to kill myself working overtime every day, picking up odd jobs just to make ends meet. If I didn’t work like crazy, my kids wouldn’t even have food to eat.”

If Chen Yubing had said this herself, others might have thought she was exaggerating or making it up.

But coming from the eldest daughter of the Qiao family, who had just returned home and seemed to have let it slip casually? That made it believable.

And now that Zhang Hua had asked directly and gotten a confirmation, everyone believed it.

All these years, Chen Yubing had worked herself to the bone. She never dared take a single day off from the factory. She took every dirty and exhausting job she could get her hands on, as long as it paid.

If anyone needed someone to cover a shift, as long as they offered money, Chen Yubing would do it.

For years, many neighbors secretly laughed at her, thinking she was obsessed with money—always working like an ox, knowing nothing but how to earn.

Everyone had assumed that since both Chen Yubing and Qiao Laiwang worked at the factory and brought in two incomes, life for the Qiao family must be easy.

Who would have thought that for twenty years, it had been Chen Yubing alone supporting the entire household?