Chapter 81: Clever Calculation

Luo Qiao actually has a slight case of trypophobia. She put her hand into the water and gathered a batch. When she felt it was about right, she found a safe place and entered the space.

Using a previously prepared worn-out cloth bag, she packed four or five fish at a time to weigh them. Then she placed them in a bucket or basin. Luo Qiao had prepared fish weighing at least one and a half catties each, and it took over a hundred and thirty fish to reach two hundred catties.

Luo Qiao deliberately added a few large fish to ensure that even accounting for some water loss, it still amounted to two hundred catties. Only then did she stop and threw the remaining smaller fish into the pond in the valley.

After completing all this, she exited her space and walked down the mountain.

Because she still needed to go to school for half a day tomorrow, Luo Qiao made another trip to the Captain’s house, bringing along some shepherd’s purse she had conveniently dug up on the mountain.

The shepherd’s purse was very tender, perfect for adding to dinner in the evening as a small gesture of kindness. Aunt Qiao didn’t refuse the fresh shepherd’s purse and simply thanked Luo Qiao.

The adults in their family were all at work and didn’t have time to dig wild vegetables. Their two grandsons and granddaughter were too young to go dig themselves. Therefore, they quite appreciated these shepherd’s purses.

As a token of appreciation, Aunt Qiao also gave her some homemade sauce, and they agreed that next time she made a large batch of sauce, she would teach Luo Qiao.

When Luo Qiao left the Captain’s house, she happened to run into Mr. and Mrs. Zhao.

Gao Suhua, thinking about important matters, refrained from making sarcastic remarks this time. She looked at Luo Qiao and said, “Luo Qiao, the day after tomorrow is the wedding day for Xiaotao at home. Remember to come and join us for the celebration.”

Although Luo Qiao didn’t particularly like the Zhao family, she couldn’t refuse their face-saving invitation, especially with several village gossiping women nearby.

Luo Qiao replied, “Okay, congratulations Auntie. I have something to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

Gao Suhua watched Luo Qiao leave, her gaze cold. The gleam in her eyes made Zhao Pulin feel uneasy. He nudged Gao Suhua and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Gao Suhua snapped out of her thoughts instantly and said, “Nothing, let’s go home.”

She couldn’t tell that stubborn man about this matter, or it would definitely cause trouble. She had already planned it out with her younger sister-in-law: as long as the goods were delivered, they would get the money—100 yuan, no less.

Her younger sister-in-law said she only needed 30 yuan, so she would be happy with the remaining 70 yuan.

—

In Beijing City, Luo Jianing had already been discharged from the hospital. Under Ning Lingyu’s tight control, Luo Jianing had to admit that she had accidentally fallen down the stairs. Otherwise, Ning Lingyu would report it to the police.

This incident made Luo Haotian and Luo Siyuan, the brothers, even more displeased with Luo Jianing. Although Luo Haotian usually treated Luo Jianing fairly well, he always felt there was some barrier preventing them from getting closer.

So the relationship between father and daughter isn’t actually very close. As for the two older brothers, because Luo Jianing often bore the brunt of their mother’s temper, their relationship is also just average. It can be said that it’s not as close as with their cousin Ning Lingyu.

Because of this matter, Luo Jianing has been quite angry and hasn’t held back in speaking ill of them in front of their mother. Despite the brothers’ efforts, they still couldn’t bridge the gap.

After this incident, Luo Jianing’s reputation among everyone worsened further. Fortunately, neither family disclosed this matter publicly; only the two families are aware of it.

Otherwise, their long-maintained image would have collapsed.

Because of this incident, Ning Lingyu’s patience over the years may have also reached its limit. In front of both families, she forced Luo Jianing to apologize to her, and only then was the matter considered settled.