Chapter 37

After a pause, Qiao Xinyi seemed to be seriously thinking. 

“His head’s already full of nonsense, and if he drinks more, tomorrow he might be so dumb he won’t even know which shift to work.” 

Qiao Laiwang: “…” 

He already knew better than to expect any kind words from Qiao Xinyi’s mouth. 

Chen Ju was nearly furious and turned to go back into her room. Qiao Laiwang glanced at the four people slurping drinks and then also got up to enter the room. 

“This is really delicious,” Qiao Xinyi stood up and walked to the door of the room. Raising her voice through the door panel, she sang out, 

“How can there be such tasty soda in the world~ So icy cold, so refreshing~” 

The next second, sounds of banging and crashing came from inside Chen Ju’s room. 

After taking turns boiling water and showering, it was already quite late. Qiao Xinyi chased the three who still didn’t want to go to bed back to their rooms. 

“You’re not sleepy, but I am. We all have to get up early tomorrow.” 

Qiao Xinyi hung her bag on the wall and brought over a chair to place next to her bed. Once the light was off, she grinned widely, lying on the bed happily. She really hadn’t even fallen asleep yet but was already looking forward to tomorrow. 

These days there was no nightlife, and the residential compound gradually quieted down after ten o’clock. Later, no lights were visible anywhere in the compound. The summer night only had the ceaseless buzzing of cicadas, but everyone was already used to that sound. 

Until at 2:30 a.m., the Qiao family suddenly emitted a miserable scream that woke neighbors in several nearby buildings. 

The neighbors were startled awake. 

“Whose house is yelling like that in the middle of the night? Scared me to death!” 

“What happened? Sounds like Qiao Laiwang’s mom’s voice?” 

“What’s going on at the Qiao house again?” 

“Is Chen Ju causing trouble again?” 

Neighbors from upstairs and downstairs quickly opened their doors and ran toward the Qiao house. 

Aunt Zhang was the fastest. By the time the other neighbors came out, she was already pounding on the Qiao family’s front door. 

“Qiao Xinyi~ What’s going on at your house?” Aunt Zhang banged loudly on the door. 

A few seconds later, the Qiao family door opened, and everyone crowded at the doorway peering inside. 

“Qiao Xinyi, why is your grandma sitting on the floor wailing so loudly in the middle of the night? That scream just now was your grandma, right? We heard right, didn’t we?” Aunt Zhang asked. 

Chen Ju collapsed on the floor, her hands resting on her knees, howling. Upon hearing Aunt Zhang’s words, she shouted immediately, 

“Oh heavens! Such misfortune at the doorstep! How did the Qiao family end up with such a beast as Qiao Xinyi! She’s trying to kill her own grandma!” 

Chen Ju pointed at a chair broken into several pieces by her feet. 

“This little beast tried to smash me to death with a chair late at night! Look, everyone, she broke the chair to pieces!” 

The neighbors were stunned upon hearing this. 

“Oh my, your new granddaughter-in-law is really fierce!” 

“What do you mean ‘fierce’? Qiao Xinyi is actually really good-tempered!” Aunt Zhang put her hands on her hips and retorted, “You can’t just listen to what she says. Everyone has seen all the commotion at the Qiao house these days—who doesn’t know what kind of person Chen Ju is?”

Aunt Zhang turned to Qiao Xinyi and said, “Xinyi, don’t be afraid. Tell everyone what happened. We’re all neighbors here, and we’ll stand up for you!”

Qiao Xinyi looked like she was only just coming to her senses. When she started speaking, her voice was trembling with tears.
“Aunt Zhang, I don’t even know how to explain this. I’m the one who hit my grandma, but I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Qiao Xinyi went to the door and grabbed Aunt Zhang’s hand, her whole body trembling as if still scared and her hands cold.
“Child, don’t be afraid, take your time and tell us,” Aunt Zhang soothed. The other neighbors, seeing how frightened the girl was, didn’t dare to scold her.

“I was sleeping alone in the living room tonight. I was sound asleep, and then suddenly I heard some noises coming from the living room.”
“I opened my eyes and saw someone in the corner, reaching into the bag I had hanging on the wall, trying to steal from me. I thought there was a thief in the house—I was so scared I nearly died.”
“I didn’t think twice—I grabbed a chair and hit out. I never expected the thief would be my grandma.”
“I just can’t understand why my grandma would sneak around at night to steal my money? I don’t even have a job or earn a salary. The few coins I have come from my mom pinching pennies just for me.”
“Uncles and aunts, I really didn’t mean to do it. If it were you, and you saw a thief stealing your money in the middle of the night, wouldn’t you do the same and use whatever was nearby to drive them off?”
“To be honest, those few coins might not mean much to you, but they’re all I have. My mom still owes debts, and this is all I’ve got. I was thinking, if that money was stolen, I’d be heartbroken and my mom would have to borrow more money again. I thought—even if I died, I’d have to protect those few coins.”

Hearing this, everyone crowded a little closer to look. Qiao Xinyi’s bag from the previous night had a strap that had loosened from the nail on the wall. On the ground were scattered tiny, broken coins—just a few cents—and some black hair ties for girls.

No one needed to ask—Qiao Xinyi was telling the truth. It was indeed Chen Ju, the old woman, who sneaked to steal from her own granddaughter late at night, and the granddaughter mistakenly attacked her thinking she was a thief.

“Chen Ju, you can’t scold your granddaughter for this. You’re the one who’s shameful—stealing from your own granddaughter at night? You had it coming!” someone said.

Aunt Zhang nodded, “She’s obsessed with money—holding onto twenty years of Qiao Laiwang’s salary isn’t enough, now she even eyes Qiao Xinyi’s few coins. When caught, she still blames Qiao Xinyi. Shameful!”

“We’re family, I’m her grandma—what’s wrong with taking a little money? How is that stealing within a family?” Chen Ju said, stunned that Qiao Xinyi saw her steal and surrounded by neighbors scolding her. Her face was utterly lost.

“A family thief is still a thief!” Aunt Zhang said, “Never heard of someone stealing money and being so brazen about it. If that’s your logic, everyone should be shameless like you, stealing all over their own homes.”

“Even if I’m wrong to steal money, does that mean it’s right for Qiao Xinyi to hit her own grandma?” Chen Ju said, neck stiff and face flushed, shouting while wailing, “She must have broken my leg! I need to go to the hospital!”

“It was dark in the living room late at night. I only saw a shadow. I’m not psychic—I couldn’t have known it was my grandma stealing from me,” Qiao Xinyi said. “I was hitting a thief—I just didn’t expect the thief to be you.”

Anyone with sense thought Chen Ju deserved it and that Qiao Xinyi was justified. But seeing the chair smashed like that, and Chen Ju sitting on the ground holding her leg and crying out in pain, finally an elderly man who had been watching stepped forward to settle things.

“Enough. Stealing from your granddaughter isn’t honorable, Chen Ju, but you don’t have to shout so loud.” The old man looked at Qiao Laiwang, who had been standing silently nearby, and said, “Take your mom to the hospital quickly. She’s old—don’t let her get seriously hurt from that hit.”

“If I die, I won’t let you go even as a ghost!” Chen Ju glared fiercely at Qiao Xinyi.