Chapter 196: Someone Feels Uneasy

After tidying up the front yard, they headed towards the backyard. The two craftsmen were busy using cement for grouting, which seemed quite extravagant, but it would be completed soon.

Lu Yichen had already helped clean up the yard, dealing with the remaining bricks. He had laid a small path from the front yard to the dry toilet, so they wouldn’t get muddy when it rained.

After everything was cleaned up and the workers were paid, Lu Yichen asked the craftsmen to help remove the scattered stones from the yard. As for the soil, Luo Qiao didn’t have it taken away.

Firstly, the truck couldn’t handle so much stuff, and secondly, the foundation of the dry toilet was raised, so the soil could be thrown back into the vegetable garden, enriching the soil.

After locking up, they hurried to the station.

Fortunately, they just made it in time; any later and they would have missed the train. They caught it right outside the station and boarded without needing tickets.

By the time they settled on the bus that felt like riding a galloping horse back to the commune, it was already past six. Lu Yichen went to get their bicycles, and they headed towards the village.

Not far from the village, Luo Qiao got off the bike. Her vision was particularly good now. She noticed some villagers walking ahead and whispered, “Brother Lu, you go back to the village first. I’ll walk back; it’s not far anyway.”

Lu Yichen thought about it and agreed. If someone were to blabber about it, it could cause headaches later. He wasn’t afraid as a grown man, but Luo Qiao was still a young girl.

Luo Qiao took a shortcut up the slope and didn’t hear what people were saying by the bridge.

When Lu Yichen returned and parked his bike, he passed by Luo Qiao’s yard and handed her the remaining money from today. “The materials cost 13 yuan today, labor was 2 yuan, totaling 15 yuan. Here’s the remaining money.”

Luo Qiao smiled and took it. “Today, you also did a favor.”

Lu Yichen chuckled. “It’s nothing. My comrade works at Sanjian, so I got him to help.”

Luo Qiao picked up a basket and prepared to go to the backyard to pick vegetables. “I dried a lot of honeysuckle earlier. Take some to give away later.”

“Sure, next time I go to the city, I’ll get some from you,” Lu Yichen replied with a smile.

That was just how Luo Qiao was—she disliked owing others favors.

They went into the kitchen where Luo Qiao made millet porridge first with the dough from this morning, adding chopped scallions and rolling them into buns, then steaming them in another pot. By now, Lu Yichen had already selected the vegetables: green beans, eggplant, and a small piece of marinated meat, which he stewed. He finished by slicing a cucumber.

As the meal was almost ready, Shitou returned like a gust of wind. “Sister Luo Qiao, Brother Lu, I’m back.”

Lu Yichen glanced at Shitou and smiled faintly upon hearing his words just now, feeling like they were indeed like a family.

Luo Qiao said, “Wash your hands. We’ll eat soon.”

Shitou washed his hands and came up behind Luo Qiao, whispering, “Sister Luo Qiao, I heard Auntie Qiaoyan from the village secretary talking bad about you today.”

Luo Qiao paused in the midst of picking up the buns. “What did she say?”

Shitou scratched his head. “She said you’re an unwanted orphan girl who doesn’t work properly in the village to earn points, yet you still think about going to school. Where do you get the money from? She was questioning how you manage it.”

Luo Qiao’s face darkened at this. Qiaoyan was really audacious to say such things.

Outside, Lu Yichen heard Shitou’s words as well, his expression turning cold.

Luo Qiao handed the picked-up buns to Shitou. “Who did she say this to?”

Shitou frowned, thinking for a moment. “It was Ergou’s mother, Shan Zhi’s mother, and Auntie Caifeng from the accountant’s family. There were a few others nearby who might have heard her too.”

Luo Qiao was never one to be taken advantage of. It was best that Qiaoyan didn’t cause any trouble directly; otherwise, she would make sure her whole family felt uneasy.