Chapter 267: I Am the Most Innocent

Zhao Pulin stood there, feeling utterly messy. Recently, nothing had gone right for him, and he even thought about ending it all right there.

The captain said to the onlookers, “Everyone, go home. It’s getting late, and we have to work tomorrow.”

Once the crowd dispersed, Zhao Jianing yelled at the Zhao family, “I hate all of you, a bunch of shameless people!”

Zhao Xiaoxing sneered, “Do you even know what shame is? You’re so afraid of starving in the countryside that you robbed the Luo family. You’re nothing but an ungrateful wretch.

On the surface, the Luo family seems to care about you, even sending two brothers to escort you back, but I bet they were actually coming to see Luo Qiao. If they really cared about you, they wouldn’t have left you here, not saying a word and walking away.

Why do you act so proud in front of us? It’s not like the Luo family wanted you anymore and sent you back to the countryside. You’re no longer their precious young lady, you’re just another ugly duckling from the countryside, like us.”

Zhao Jianing shouted, “Isn’t it because of you that I am in this situation? How can you still have the face to say this?”

Zhao Xiaoxing was not someone to be easily provoked: “You’re the last person who should say anything. If it weren’t for Mom trying to give you a better life, we wouldn’t be in this situation. You’re nothing but a jinx.”

Zhao Jianing looked at these unreasonable people, feeling wronged. Clearly, they were the ones who had caused the chaos by fighting over things, but now they were blaming her. It was truly absurd.

With tears in her eyes, she looked at Zhao Pulin and asked, “Do you think the same way?”

Zhao Pulin said nothing, only staring at her, his feelings mixed and complicated.

Zhao Jianing sneered, “My adoptive parents gave up on me because of what you did to their biological daughter. They said they didn’t want to raise the daughter of their enemies. Now you say it’s my fault that things turned out this way.

What did I do wrong? Why do you all treat me like this? Was it me who asked you to swap me for your biological daughter? Was it me who made you harm my adoptive parents’ daughter? All these decisions were made by you on your own.

But why does it all fall on me in the end? Why do you all think it’s my fault? I feel like I’m the one who’s most innocent here.”

After saying that, she hugged her legs and started crying softly.

When Luo Qiao returned home today, she went up the mountain with her basket, leaving the backyard garden to Lu Yichen and Shitou, promising to make them a nice meal in the evening.

She spent over four hours meditating on the mountain to absorb the essence of the plants before starting to explore. She found a grove of persimmon and chestnut trees in the deep forest and planned to return for harvesting later.

Seeing that it was getting late, she started heading back. Along the way, she collected large herbs, picked a lot of mushrooms, dug up wild vegetables, and gathered a few small animals.

Since it was getting late, she didn’t go to the small valley but planned to collect some fish from the pond on the way back. The fish she collected previously were all sold when she was in the south.

Hurrying to the pond, she found a slightly hidden spot and released some water from her space into the pond. After about twenty minutes, she saw the fish coming.

With the buckets and breeding boxes she bought in the south, catching the fish was much easier. She collected the fish and took two of them home.

It was already dusk when she reached the foot of the mountain and saw Lu Yichen waiting there.

Lu Yichen came over to take Luo Qiao’s basket. “Your two brothers have been waiting for you in the courtyard all afternoon.”

Luo Qiao responded without any emotion, “We’ll have braised fish for dinner tonight. Save one for fish ball soup in the morning.”

Unable to guess Luo Qiao’s thoughts, Lu Yichen just said, “Alright, I’ll handle the fish.”

As soon as Luo Qiao entered the courtyard, she saw Luo Siyan and Luo Siyuan sitting there. She wasn’t particularly surprised and only gave them a casual glance.

Luo Siyan stood up in his neat military uniform, looking quite imposing. Now Luo Qiao understood why the original owner, despite not having enough to eat, grew into a big person—it was due to genetics.