Chapter 24: The Qiao and Li Families Reconcile

After the first pig was slaughtered, Liu Afang brought hot water to scald it.

Qiao Jiangxin quickly said, “Put down two more benches. Dad, your hand is injured, you scald and dehair the pig.

Uncle, you go catch the pig, and ask Uncle Haimou for help.”

Qiao Youfu asked, “Kill both?”

Qiao Jiangxin didn’t look up, “Rare opportunity. We won’t get this chance again. If we can’t sell them all here, we’ll take them to the next village. Money in your pocket is your own.”

Liu Haimou pushed Qiao Youfu, “What are you standing there for?  If we delay, Uncle Qiao will be back…”

Qiao Jiangxin’s prediction was correct. At the hospital, after Li Xiaoping’s examination, the doctor said she might have been frightened, causing some fetal distress, and advised her to rest at home. If they were worried, she could stay for observation.

Qiao Jianhua insisted on observation. This was their first child.

Confirming Li Xiaoping was fine, Qiao Jiuwang and Lei Honghua were relieved. They favored Qiao Jianhua and, by extension, Li Xiaoping’s child.

Gao Cuilan glared at Qiao Jiuwang and his wife, and she was also angry with Qiao Jianhua.

“Alright, all of you leave. Let Xiaoping rest.  Get out of here!”

Qiao Jianhua, his face swollen, said anxiously, “No, Mom, let me stay with Xiaoping.”

Gao Cuilan pushed Qiao Jianhua away, sarcastically, “Who’s your mother? Your mother is over there. I’m not your mother, lest people say I’m stealing your son.”

“Besides, what does Xiaoping have to do with you? You didn’t even get a marriage certificate. Xiaoping is coming back to Lijiagou with me, and you go back to Gaoshi Village. Your Qiao family’s threshold is too high, our Li family is not worthy…”

“Mom!!!” Qiao Jianhua was desperate and knelt before Gao Cuilan.

“Mom, I didn’t know anything. I never agreed to give the child away. It’s my own child, I’m not that heartless.”

“If that scoundrel dares to take my son, I’ll kill him!”

Lei Honghua felt sorry for him and tried to pull Qiao Jianhua up.

Qiao Jianhua pushed Lei Honghua away, resentfully, “Why did you do this to me? Am I your son?  You gave my child away without asking me!

Didn’t you tell me to learn from my father-in-law and not worry about the family? What’s the meaning of this? Do you want to break us up?”

Seeing his son kneeling before his in-laws while resenting his own parents, Qiao Jiuwang felt terrible.

His son was unfilial, and he was incompetent.

But no matter how much he resented it, he was his son, his favorite son.

He forced a smile and said to Li Sanfa, “Father-in-law, it was a misunderstanding. Jianhua really didn’t know. It’s our fault for talking nonsense and trying to trick our eldest son. We didn’t expect him to believe it.”

Li Sanfa coldly snorted, his hands behind his back, not even raising his eyelids. His lower back still hurt.

Lei Honghua looked at Qiao Jiuwang, who gave her a signal. She forced a smile and tried to explain to Gao Cuilan.

“Sister Gao, look at this mess. It’s all our fault, and that troublemaker of mine, but you misunderstood.”

“You know, my husband’s deceased wife left two sons, they’re not from the same mother as Jianhua and Jianguo.

The eldest has a skin condition and hasn’t found a wife. To get him married, he kept pestering us.  He wanted to split up the family, marry a widow there was no peace.

During the harvest, we didn’t have time to deal with him, so we casually said he should work hard, that if he didn’t have a son, he’d have a nephew, it’s the same thing. He misunderstood.”

“Sister Gao, we just said that to get rid of him. Even if we really wanted to adopt, we would have to go through your Li family, and Jianhua and Xiaoping would have to agree. How could we adopt a child without telling the parents?”

Lei Honghua pulled Gao Cuilan aside and whispered, “Sister Gao, we’re both mothers, we care about our children.  That eldest son may not be good at other things, but he works hard. I did this for Jianhua and his wife.”

“You know the government is pushing family planning, promoting one-child families. If the first child is a girl, you can have another. If it’s a boy, you can’t have another.  We older people want many children and grandchildren.

That eldest son lives with us. If Jianhua and Xiaoping want more children later, he can help them get another child. And he’ll serve the child his whole life.

Having someone to help, Jianhua and Xiaoping’s life will be easier. He’ll only get the title, but the benefits will go to Jianhua and Xiaoping.

Jianhua is my son. Would I harm my son for someone else’s child?  Am I stupid?”

Gao Cuilan’s eyes flickered, understanding Lei Honghua’s meaning.

With another family, she would have called them vicious, but this was for her daughter’s good, so she was happy.

At the hospital, the Li and Qiao families reconciled.

In Gaoshi Village, Qiao Jiangxin, her uncle, and father were selling pork enthusiastically.

“Line up, line up, there’s enough for everyone! Two pigs! Sell while they last!”

“No credit!  Buy if you have money, borrow if you don’t.  This is the last chance to buy such cheap pork.”

The hundred-plus-jin pig was cut up and placed on the ground covered with sacks, for people to choose.  It was harvest season, and the price was low.

Most families bought meat, especially the fatty parts, which sold out quickly.

Although people only bought one or two pounds, there were many people. In less than an hour, over a hundred pounds of pork were sold in Gaoshi Village, and Liu Haimou even bought a whole pig’s head.

Seeing most of the pork was sold, Qiao Jiangxin told her father to clean up and take the remaining pork to the neighboring villages.

She had to help her uncle take the grain while Lei Honghua and Qiao Jiuwang were away.