Chapter 18

Qiao Laiwang was naturally not very articulate, and after Chen Ju’s river jump incident, he was so scared that he could barely speak properly. The bystanders, not understanding the full situation, heard a few words from Chen Ju and began to scold Qiao Laiwang along with her. Eventually, unable to withstand the pressure, Qiao Laiwang apologized to Chen Ju, his mother, in front of the onlookers, and then took her back home.

On the way back, Chen Ju said a lot of soothing things — that all the money had been borrowed from his brothers, and once his brothers had the money at hand, they would definitely repay it. She said that the nephews had jobs now and all remembered the kindness of their elder, and when he got old, those nephews would surely be filial and take care of him.

“Ha,” Chen Yubing sneered coldly, saying no more.

Chen Yubing was a woman of action. After Qiao Xinyi gave her the idea, that very night, the Qiao family dinner consisted of a pot of watery porridge barely drinkable as soup, and a bowl of boiled cabbage without a drop of oil.

Qiao Laiwang and Chen Ju both looked very unhappy staring at the food on the table.

“I’ve worked all day and you give me this to eat?” Qiao Laiwang angrily threw his chopsticks onto the table and shouted at Chen Yubing, “I do hard labor in the workshop!”

“I borrowed quite a bit of money from my colleagues before picking up the kids today. Now I have to raise an extra child on that small salary of mine. From now on, meals will always be like this. If anyone complains about the food, then go buy your own groceries,” Chen Yubing said. Looking at Qiao Laiwang’s face, she felt a deep satisfaction. She should have done this a long time ago.

Since Chen Yubing had to work, from the next day on, she would only bring the two children to Qiao Xinyi’s place after dinner. Besides having a bit to eat, Chen Yubing would always check if there was any work she could easily help with at Qiao Xinyi’s, and see if anything was missing that needed to be bought promptly.

From Chen Yubing’s attitude, Qiao Xinyi truly felt the care of a mother. Because of the nineteen years of lost nurturing and companionship, Chen Yubing treated her daughter with cautious and eager affection, afraid that if she wasn’t careful, Qiao Xinyi might be wronged and grow distant from her.

This kind of care was unfamiliar to Qiao Xinyi but made her heart quietly happy.

Moreover, Qiao Baihe was a sensitive person and also eagerly took on chores at Qiao Xinyi’s, always wanting to do more to make up for her feeling of “taking over someone else’s place.”

So for several days, Qiao Xinyi didn’t even wash a single piece of her own clothing. She was living quite a comfortable little life.

During the day, Li Jun’s younger sister Li Xiuying kept her company, chatting and passing the time.

Liu Guilan was not stingy; knowing that Qiao Xinyi was in poor health and that Chen Yubing’s money was tight, she would often stew some soup at home and send a large bowl to Qiao Xinyi or invite her over to eat at her place. For Qiao Xinyi, having such a landlord was definitely a stroke of great luck.

Qiao Xinyi’s household registration (hukou) would be ready in seven days. Early in the morning, she hitched a ride with Li Jun on his bicycle and went out together.

The moment Qiao Xinyi got her hukou, she heard the system notification: “Starting bonus 300 credited.”

Qiao Xinyi immediately bloomed into a bright smile. No wonder — this job really had good benefits. The salary hadn’t even been paid yet, but the starting bonus alone was equivalent to a month’s wages.

“Li Jun, are you working overtime tonight? If not, I’ll buy some good food and cook. I’ll invite my family, your mom, and your sister. We’ll celebrate together,” Qiao Xinyi said, shaking the hukou booklet in her hand. “Celebrate that I’m no longer an undocumented resident.”

“There’s no urgent work these days, so I probably won’t have to work overtime,” Li Jun replied.

“Oh, by the way, can you help me call Fu Qingshan later? If he’s free, let him come over tonight. If not, I’ll invite him another day when he’s available,” Qiao Xinyi said, not forgetting Fu Qingshan, her greatest benefactor.

“In Gazi Village, I really owe Fu Qingshan a lot. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have even made it out of the village,” Qiao Xinyi explained.

With the starting bonus, she also wanted to buy something from the system store to send to Chen Dachuan and the others. Chen Dachuan had helped her a lot during her hospital stay.

“He went back to his hometown yesterday, so he definitely won’t be back to the provincial city so soon today,” Li Jun said, then looked at Qiao Xinyi again and added, “Fu Qingshan came to the office to see me before he left yesterday. Luckily, I wasn’t busy, so we talked a bit, and your name came up.”

“Talked about me?” Qiao Xinyi pointed at herself and smiled helplessly. “Haven’t you guys talked enough about me already?” It had been days, and the people at the textile factory’s staff housing didn’t find her appearance new anymore, so why were these two grown men still talking so much?

“It’s not the kind of talk you think,” Li Jun smiled. “It was about your future, your work.”

The Qiao family wasn’t well-off or harmonious. Plus, Qiao Xinyi was already nineteen and rented a place on her own. The Qiao family couldn’t support her forever, so she had to work.

“Fu Qingshan said even though you haven’t been to school, you can read and know quite a bit. What you lack is a formal certificate, not ability.”

Li Jun had originally planned to let Fu Qingshan tell Qiao Xinyi this himself after he came back from his hometown, but since the topic came up naturally, Li Jun just said it.

“Fu Qingshan plans to bring a recent primary school graduation exam paper for you to try once he’s back. If you pass, he’ll help you find a school so you can get your primary school diploma.”

“Having a primary school diploma opens up many more job opportunities,” Li Jun said. “After chatting with you these days, I think you’re smart and knowledgeable. I think Fu Qingshan’s plan is pretty good.”

Qiao Xinyi was stunned. She hadn’t expected that while she was happily living an easy life these days, Fu Qingshan had already thought so much ahead for her. This good man truly deserved all her praise.

Qiao Xinyi had money, but it seemed she really did need a job. She didn’t want people to know she got compensation money from the Zhuang family, lest the shameless Qiao family start scheming again and waste her energy dealing with them.

So she really needed a legitimate source of income. Going to work became an unavoidable matter.

Thinking of this, Qiao Xinyi nodded. “Next time I see Fu Qingshan, I definitely have to thank him properly.”

Li Jun still had to work, so after chatting for a while, they parted at the door.

Before Qiao Xinyi reached the bus stop, Li Jun ran after her and called her back to take a phone call.

“Zhuang Chunsheng contacted us through the Public Security Bureau in City A. He said he has something to talk to you about,” Li Jun explained. “He’ll call back in five minutes.”

“Why on earth would he want to talk to me?” Qiao Xinyi was puzzled but followed Li Jun back.

It was clear Zhuang Chunsheng was urgent because he called back in less than five minutes. Seeing the number, Li Jun told Qiao Xinyi to pick up.

“This is Qiao Xinyi. I heard you were looking for me?” Qiao Xinyi asked directly. “What do you want?”

Zhuang Chunsheng on the other end was momentarily caught off guard. He said, “I’m not looking for you. I’m looking for a village girl called ‘Silly Girl.’”

“…” Qiao Xinyi’s mouth twitched. “That’s me.”