Chapter 8: Uninvited Guests  

“Come out, Second Brother Qian! Get out here now…” Amid the shouting, the courtyard quickly filled with men and women.  

Qian Jiangang rolled out of bed and hurried to the windowsill to peek outside. The sight made his temples throb even harder.  

How had Qin Hongxiang’s family arrived so quickly!  

“Who are you people?” Liu Heqing was the first to rush out, pointing at the group without fear.  

“Who are we? Who are you? This isn’t your business. Get Second Brother Qian out here now. We need to ask him—was this how he promised to take care of my sister and her kids? Sending her straight to jail!”  

The one jumping and yelling was Qin Hongxiang’s eldest brother, Qin Dazhu, flanked by his younger brother Qin Erzhu and their nephew Qin Jiabao. His wife, Sun Chunmei, stood beside her husband, gripping a wooden stick.  

Qian Xiaozhen hid behind the crowd, peeking cautiously.  

“Dad, come out quick! Auntie’s family is here to see you,” Qian Lai shouted toward the inner room.  

That little devil!  

A real tough guy—hard to deal with!  

Forced to emerge, Qian Jiangang hadn’t even stepped past the threshold of the main room before the Qin brothers blocked his way.  

“Second Brother Qian! Speak up—how are you going to save my sister?”  

“Uncles, you’re finally here,” Qian Dong, finally seeing familiar faces, came out wiping tears. “They said 200 yuan is all it takes to get Mom out.”  

“Then pay it!” The Qin family stared at Qian Jiangang in disbelief.  

“Pay? Who’s paying? I don’t have the money,” Qian Jiangang said helplessly. “If I had it, wouldn’t I save her?”  

“You have no money? Who’d believe that? A workshop manager like you—can’t you get an advance from the factory? Or borrow if you must. You can’t just lie around doing nothing!”  

“He just doesn’t want to save our sister.”  

“Not her real husband after all. All that talk about repaying kindness and taking care of them for life—seems like the moment trouble hits, he’s the first to bail.”  

The Qian family fired off one remark after another, making Qian Jiangang’s face flush red and pale by turns.  

“Little Sister Laidi, at this point, we can only beg you. Please, use your dowry money to save my mom!”  

Qian Lai was enjoying the drama when Qian Xiaozhen suddenly dropped to her knees in a dramatic slide, startling her.  

Utterly despicable!  

“What? You have money but won’t lift a finger to help?” The Qin family instantly turned on Qian Lai, their faces twisted with malice. Teacher Yang and Liu Heqing stepped in to shield her.  

“Oh, you mean the dowry from the Gu family!” Qian Lai said, as if just remembering, looking down at the kneeling Qian Xiaozhen.  

“I already had Xiao Li take it back.”  

“What!” Qian Xiaozhen shot up from the ground like a firecracker. “You’re lying!”  

“Ha, why would I lie?  

My injuries still need time to heal. I couldn’t keep Xiao Li waiting here forever, so I sent him back first.  

But you know what they say—better safe than sorry. Everyone knows I got that dowry. Who’s to say someone wouldn’t try to take it for themselves?  

Having him take it back gives me peace of mind. Why would I lie about that?  

If you don’t believe me, call and ask him yourself.”  

“Enough with her nonsense. She just doesn’t want to pay.”  

Sun Chunmei lost patience and yanked Qian Jiangang by the sleeve. “Second Brother, speak up. Do the vows you made back then still count?  

My sister’s locked up right now. 200 yuan can get her out. Are you going to do something or not?”

“Uncle, please, I beg you. Save my mom. She may have done wrong, but saving her comes first!” Qian Dong pleaded repeatedly.

“My sister was the one who gave your Qin family their only male heir. If you don’t solve this today, we’re not leaving,” Qin Erzhu said arrogantly.

“Brothers-in-law, most of my husband’s monthly salary goes to sister-in-law. If anyone has money, it’s her. Why keep pressuring my husband?” Liu Huiru’s voice trembled.

“Sister-in-law, that’s a terrible thing to say. Who’s pressuring anyone? If Second Brother had solved this immediately, we wouldn’t have had to make this trip.”

“Y-y-yes, if my aunt h-h-had money, w-w-wouldn’t she… save herself?” Qin Jiabao’s stutter worsened.

“Didn’t you see this morning, Uncle? My mom’s money box was empty—stolen by some damned thief. We really have no money left.”

Qian Xiaozhen suddenly seemed to remember something and grabbed Qian Lai’s wrist. “Little sister, the dowry money Uncle saved for me—you haven’t withdrawn it yet, right? Three hundred yuan would be enough. Hurry, save my mom!”

As she spoke, she even tried to drag Qian Lai out, but Liu Heqing pulled her away.

“Where was Auntie’s money box found?” Qian Lai asked. “And why was she arrested?”

“I heard she was caught with Old Fatty Wang from the scrap yard? Charged with ‘corrupting social morals’! Tsk tsk, with that charge, you can guess what illegal things she was up to, right?”

Qian Lai stepped closer to Qian Xiaozhen, staring fixedly at her nose. “Hmm? Cousin? Now that I think about it, you look so much like that Old Fatty Wang. Especially this nose—my god, it’s identical.”

“Y-you! Wh-what do you mean?” Qian Xiaozhen instinctively covered her nose.

She had long suspected her features didn’t fit the Qian family mold. Her father, uncle, brother, and cousin all had oval faces with pointed noses. Why was hers round and thick-nosed?

That suspicion was confirmed after dining with Qin Hongxiang and Old Fatty Wang. She had resented Qin Hongxiang for it—but Old Fatty Wang was a generous father, giving her whatever she wanted. Over time, she even felt grateful for having such a “treasure trove dad.”

“What? Laidi, what nonsense are you spouting?” Qian Jiangang couldn’t believe it and stepped right in front of Qian Xiaozhen, squinting to examine her closely.

Qian Xiaozhen shrank under everyone’s stares, clutching her nose and shouting, “Lies! Laidi, you’re lying!” But it was useless.

Qian Jiangang yanked her hand away, scrutinizing her nose, then her eyes, her face—even her body shape was nothing like the Qians. Rage burned in his eyes as he pointed at Qian Xiaozhen and demanded of the silent Qin family, “Did you all know?!”

They looked anywhere but at him—the answer was obvious.

“So they’ve been together for at least twenty years!” Liu Heqing couldn’t suppress a smirk. “Qian Dong, your mom cuckolded your dad!”

Qian Dong’s clothing hem had long been twisted into a bundle.

He knew! He knew this morning! He felt both ashamed and embarrassed, but his mother still needed saving!

“Second Uncle, there’s no love, but there’s still affection. After all these years, haven’t you developed any feelings for Xiaozhen? Please forgive my mother!

Just get her out first, and after that, you can punish her however you want, okay?”

“Save? It’s not my responsibility to save her!” Qian Jiangang’s face was as dark as iron.

“For so many years, I’ve raised you two on behalf of Big Brother. Was it easy? I thought it was hard for Big Sister-in-law to be a widow for so long.

But now it seems she’s living happily! Since she already has a support, our Qian family will not delay her in seeking happiness.

You all should leave. If you want to find a way, go look for her man.”

“Uncle, why do you say that? I’m still a member of the Qian family, can’t you just help my mother for my sake?

Besides, isn’t that man also locked up inside!”

Qian Jiangang pushed the Qin Family members out, while Qian Dong followed closely, constantly pleading.

“Wait!” Qian Xiaozhen suddenly interrupted the noisy room, “I really didn’t expect you two to be so heartless.”

“Y-yeah, too… too… too heartless.” Qin Jiabao chimed in, banging the gong.

“Since that’s the case, I demand that the three of us be removed from your household registration.”

“Right, right… right, remove… remove us.”

“Second Uncle, let’s go handle it right now.”

She really knew how to calculate!

In that era, grain and oil tickets were distributed based on the registered household population. When a household registration was moved out, the supply of grain and oil tickets for that month would stop.

At the beginning of the month, Qian Jiangang had already given all the grain and oil tickets to Qin Hongxiang.

Now it was only mid-month, and without the grain and oil tickets, it meant they might run out of food and oil in the next half month.

And at the beginning of next month, they would still have to return the grain and oil tickets owed for the half month they had moved out.

“Heqing, did you bring the introduction letter and the admission notice from the vocational school that I asked you to get?” Qian Lai had originally planned to transfer Liu Heqing’s household registration to his own family.

He was initially worried that Qian Jiangang wouldn’t agree.

Now it was all good. Thanks to Qian Xiaozhen, she had helped her.

“I brought them. Not only that, but I also had my dad send you food and oil; it’s already on the way. Our village has always been a grain and oil powerhouse, and what they’re sending you is enough for our family to eat for two or three months.”

Qian Xiaozhen was so angry she wanted to hit herself.

How could she not hold back and use her last card? She should have cried a couple more times to soften Qian Jiangang’s heart.

The introduction letter for her to go to the Agricultural and Industrial University was still in Qian Lai’s hands. She originally wanted him to write a “voluntary transfer” so she could change her name in the Houfu Village brigade.

Now…

What to do now!?