Chapter 67

Zhang Zao looked smug. “The second and the eldest son have a really good relationship. The eldest son and his wife passed away early, leaving behind these two kids. The second son loves them a lot. Since he has the household registrations for these two kids in his hands, even if the second son doesn’t want to listen, he has to!”

Fu Qingshan is only twenty-six this year. In the past few years, when he first joined the army, he didn’t have the conditions to bring the kids along. Later, he went to military school for a few years, making it even harder to bring the children. Now that Fu Qingshan has been transferred to the provincial city’s troops and assigned a house, with this new condition, he immediately plans to bring the kids over.

The more Fu Qingshan values these two nephews, the more effective Zhang Zao thinks this approach will be.

“Leave it to you!” Zheng Youliang saw that Zhang Zao already had a plan and naturally did not oppose it. He preferred the third son, who grew up around him and always spoke sweetly, rather than the less close second son marrying whoever.

After discussing how to get Fu Qingshan to behave, they then began to plan how to deal with Fu Qingshan’s partner from the provincial city.

Zhang Zao patted her chest, “This is something a man shouldn’t interfere with. Don’t worry about it. Watch how I handle that little bitch—let’s see how she cries and runs back to her provincial city!”

Zheng Youliang grunted in agreement, and the two returned to the main room.

Zhang Zao said he didn’t need to get involved, and after Zheng Youliang came in, he told Fu Qingshan and Qiao Xinyi that he was going to work.

Fu Qingshan said bluntly, “Going to work doesn’t take much time, but the matter of the kids stealing money needs to be resolved.”

“The kid almost got abducted by traffickers, forget it.” Zheng Youliang was also upset. “I want to discipline him, but you won’t let me. If I hit him, you say I’m abusing my eldest son’s child. I don’t want to bother.”

“How can you just ‘forget it’?” Qiao Xinyi’s voice was amused, clearly enjoying the drama and hoping it would escalate. “The whole family is here, complete. We should take advantage of everyone being here to solve the stealing issue. Whoever stole the money should be educated or punished. No one can stop that.”

Fu Qingshan nodded. “Just because money appears in someone’s room doesn’t mean they stole it. Even the police wouldn’t make that conclusion without evidence. We can’t rule out framing.”

“What do you mean by that? If it wasn’t those two kids stealing, then do you mean I, their grandmother, am intentionally framing them?” Zhang Zao’s face turned green. “Second son, that’s a really cold-hearted thing to say. I may not be their biological grandma, but I haven’t let those kids go cold or hungry all these years. I haven’t abused them, have I? The neighbors have all seen how I’ve treated them!”

“How many times have I suffered under you, do I have to keep reminding you?” Fu Qingshan was not one to sweep family problems under the rug or smooth things over.

“You say one thing but mean another. You’re not a good person to me.” Fu Qingshan got up and stood by the door, calling Fu Linzhou and Fu Zeyu in, then also called in Zheng Dahe, who had been standing in the courtyard.

The more direct the words, the more like a slap they landed on Zhang Zao’s face.

Zhang Zao was at a loss for words, avoiding eye contact. “I’ve already explained what happened back then. The family was poor, money was tight, but expenses kept coming. I didn’t understand. I really thought studying was useless and a waste of money, so I didn’t want you wasting your time on school.”

Zhang Zao became self-righteous again. “Second son, you’re a grown man but so petty—how can you keep bringing up things from so long ago?”

Fu Qingshan’s eyes were like blades of ice as he looked at Zhang Zao and gave a cold sneer.

Qiao Xinyi saw Fu Qingshan was angry, gently tapped his arm, and asked him, “Where is Zheng Dahe’s room?”

“Bald Aunt! Over there!” Fu Linzhou at the door pointed with his hand.

People from the countryside don’t have the habit of closing doors; even the main gate of the yard is usually left open, let alone the room doors. This made it easy for Qiao Xinyi. She walked in the direction Fu Linzhou pointed, and as soon as she entered, she saw homework just started lying on the desk by the window.

Qiao Xinyi reached out and pulled the notebook out. Unexpectedly, a toy slingshot hidden underneath the homework also fell out, hitting the floor with a clatter. Qiao Xinyi glanced at it but didn’t care. She turned around and went back to the main room, where she shredded Zheng Dahe’s homework into pieces right in front of everyone.

“Zheng Dahe, your mom said studying is useless and a waste of time, so I helped tear up your summer homework. From now on, you don’t need to do homework anymore, and you don’t even have to go to school. This way, your family saves some money. Your eldest brother is nineteen and needs to save money to get married.”

Qiao Xinyi threw the torn pages toward Zhang Zao. Zheng Dahe’s face lit up. “It wasn’t me who tore it, so you’ll have to testify to the teacher for me when school starts!”

Zheng Dahe felt he was really lucky today — he only wrote half a page of homework and now didn’t have to finish it. Having it torn up gave him a perfect excuse to tell the teacher why he didn’t submit his work.

Zhang Zao had never seen anyone so brazen in her life. She almost went crazy and rushed at Qiao Xinyi, ready to hit her.

“How dare you encourage my son like this? Watch me beat you to death! If my son can’t get into college, it’s all your fault!”

Fu Qingshan forcefully pushed Zhang Zao away and turned to Zheng Youliang. “If you can’t even control your wife, then I’ll deal with her just like I dealt with Zheng Dajiang earlier!”

Zheng Youliang quickly pulled the furious Zhang Zao back, frowning as he scolded Fu Qingshan, “You should control your woman too. Who takes a girl tearing up the host’s child’s homework? Is that appropriate?”

Standing beside Fu Qingshan, Qiao Xinyi suddenly asked, “You say the kids stole money, was the missing money a single five-yuan note or small change adding up to five yuan?”

Zhang Zao and Zheng Youliang didn’t want to answer Qiao Xinyi. Both glared at Fu Qingshan, silently telling him to rein her in.

But Fu Qingshan urged them, “Didn’t you hear my woman asking you a question?”

Zheng Youliang, nearly furious, turned to Zhang Zao to respond.

“It was a five-yuan note. I had it folded under some small change,” Zhang Zao recalled with pain. “That money was just recently earned by your dad doing odd jobs. There was writing on the note — I remember it clearly.”

Qiao Xinyi asked, “At Fu Linzhou and Fu Zeyu’s age, kids probably can’t tell different bills apart or recognize amounts. If kids steal money, they’d grab from the top. Most likely, the two kids each took one note from the top.”

Fu Linzhou and Fu Zeyu, the two brothers, pouted unhappily. “Bald Aunt, my brother and I didn’t steal any money.”

“Don’t be so quick to say,” Qiao Xinyi said, “Listen to Aunt Qiao finish.”

Fu Qingshan already understood what Qiao Xinyi meant. He patted the kids’ heads to calm them down.

“Even if you say those two kids are clever enough to know to steal the money from the bottom, that doesn’t matter. The missing money was one five-yuan note. The kids said the notes found in their rooms were several small bills, which means the money was spent. This is even simpler — just go to the town’s supply and marketing cooperative and ask. The town is small and has only one such cooperative. There are no private shops nowadays, so asking there will reveal exactly who took the money.”