Chapter 31

Qiao Dongmei was fuming inside. If she had known this trip would bring her no benefits—not even a free meal—she wouldn’t have come at all! Who would’ve thought she’d not only come for nothing, but also get hit twice for free?

“We’ve all taken ours. Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, are you going to take yours too?” Qiao Chengda handed the money and ration tickets to Qiao Yougen, then turned to ask Chen Yubing.

“Exactly, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, don’t tell me you’re planning to mooch off us?” Qiao Dongmei immediately chimed in.

“Didn’t my mom cook? We have food at home,” Qiao Xinyi said, stopping Chen Yubing from reaching into her pocket.

Qiao Yougen and his family were so angry they almost tipped over backwards.

“If you dare eat, watch me chop off your hand!” Qiao Dongmei threatened viciously.

Qiao Xinyi shot her a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Taking? Not a chance.
Eating? No way she wouldn’t.
She loved eating free meals.

Qiao Yougen took six yuan and one and a half jin of grain tickets, then ordered Lin Jianye, his brother-in-law, to run an errand. “You came by bike, and you’re young with quick legs. Can you go make the run?”

“Doesn’t Fourth Brother have a bike? Among all us siblings, who’s younger than Fourth Brother? Big Brother, why don’t you ask him? You only ever boss around my Jianye,” Qiao Dongmei grumbled.

Lin Jianye gave her a look, signaling her to shut up, then cheerfully took the money and tickets, putting on a good-natured smile. He also asked Chen Yubing for the food container before heading out to do the errand.

Once Chen Ju stopped yelling, Qiao Yunbai and Qiao Baihe walked over to Qiao Xinyi’s side. Both had scratch marks on their faces, especially Qiao Baihe, whose hair was all messed up, making her look like a crazy person.

“If something like this happens again, you two better stay far away,” Qiao Xinyi said, glancing at Chen Ju who was still glaring at her. “Let that old hag come at me again and I’ll slap her halfway into her coffin!”

Chen Ju heard that and immediately opened her mouth to curse, but Qiao Yougen quickly held her back and whispered, “Ma, hold it in.”

Qiao Xinyi raised an eyebrow.
Oh? She can hold it in now?
Must mean she’s got big plans in the works.

There was a small state-run restaurant near the residential compound. Lin Jianye rode his bike there and back in under twenty minutes, returning with a big cloth bag.

Chen Ju ordered Chen Yubing and Qiao Baihe to set up the second table and place them together. Though Qiao Laiwang’s home was the smallest among the Qiao siblings, everyone always gathered there for holidays or events because Chen Ju lived there. One table wasn’t enough with so many people, and all the siblings—except for Qiao Laiwang—were her darlings. She couldn’t bear to let any of them stand during meals, so she had Qiao Laiwang buy an extra table to keep at home just for such occasions.

Not being enthusiastic about eating shows you have a problem with your thinking.

Once the tables were set, Qiao Xinyi, for once, took the initiative. She went to fetch bowls and chopsticks herself, plopped into a chair first, and then moved the best few dishes in front of herself.

“You rude little thing, who said you could sit down?!” Qiao Dongmei was so angry her eyes were practically shooting fire. She rushed over, trying to drag Qiao Xinyi up.

“Dongmei!” Qiao Yougen barked at her. “Why are you arguing with a kid?”

They were just about to eat—did she really want to start another fight over a few bites of food? Qiao Yougen was sick to death of his sister’s small-minded pettiness.

“Exactly, I’m just a child,” Qiao Xinyi tilted her head and smiled sweetly at Qiao Dongmei, “Why would an adult like you bicker with a child like me?”

Qiao Dongmei was so infuriated by that smile she ground her teeth, then deliberately picked the seat farthest from Qiao Xinyi and sat down to wait for someone to hand out bowls and chopsticks.

Qiao Xinyi didn’t care about anyone else. She pulled Chen Yubing and Qiao Baihe to sit on either side of her, then urged Qiao Yunbai to quickly take the empty seat next to Chen Yubing. The three of them weren’t stupid—they grabbed bowls and chopsticks and sat down right away.

As for the plain porridge and boiled greens already prepared—none of the four showed any intention of touching them. Better to save them for tomorrow. The goal was: save wherever you can.

Seeing how fast the four of them moved, Qiao Yougen and the others quickly rushed to the cabinet to get their own bowls and chopsticks. But by the time they turned around, Qiao Xinyi and her three companions had already each grabbed a big bowl of rice—fully topped with food. Qiao Xinyi was even pressing the food down hard into her bowl as if laying a foundation, determined to pack it solid.

“Are you trying to die?!” Qian Chunhua exploded. “They’re practically scraping the table bare!”

She wasn’t exaggerating. Qiao Xinyi and the others had packed their large bowls so full not a single extra vegetable could fit on top, and now two-thirds of the dishes on the table were gone.

Forget Qian Chunhua—everyone from the Qiao family was up in arms.

Just as it looked like someone might charge forward to snatch food, Qiao Xinyi suddenly spat ptui ptui ptui into their bowls. Qiao Yunbai saw this and quickly urged Chen Yubing and Qiao Baihe to do the same.

“Ugh! That’s disgusting!” Fourth Brother’s wife, Zhao Xiaoyan, looked like her eyes were about to pop out. “Have they no shame at all?!”

“You four reincarnated starving ghosts!” Chen Ju launched into a tirade. “A bunch of uncultured brats! Shameless devils! How did our Qiao family end up with scum like you?! Why hasn’t the heavens struck you all down with lightning already?!”

While everyone was busy yelling, Qiao Laiwang took the chance to scoop the remaining food into his own bowl—he grabbed as much as he could. Honestly, he figured he really was a reincarnated starving ghost.

“That’s right, I’m uncultured, and I’m shameless too. You’re older, everything you say is correct,” Qiao Xinyi nodded while stuffing her mouth with food. After responding, she even stood up and swept her gaze across Qian Chunhua and the others.

“Anyone who dares to try and grab our bowls—I’ll slap them to death. Believe it or not.”

She shouted toward Qiao Dongmei, “Why don’t you tell them how painful my slap was earlier?”

“…”
Qiao Dongmei didn’t want to say a single word to Qiao Xinyi. Not even a punctuation mark.

Qiao Yougen clenched his fists, tempted to yell at Qiao Laiwang to do something about his family. But seeing even Qiao Laiwang eating now, he nearly lost it.

“Ma, that’s all the food left on the table. If you don’t eat now, there’ll be nothing left in a minute,” Qiao Laiwang, ever the filial one, still didn’t forget to remind Chen Ju to eat even at this point.

Chen Ju cursed as she grabbed food into her bowl. Wherever her chopsticks landed, it was like locusts had passed through—she didn’t even leave behind a single slice of garlic for the others.

The rest of the group stared blankly at the table, now mostly scraps and soup. Lin Jianye thought for a moment and asked Qiao Yougen, “Big Brother, should we pool some more money and tickets, and I can go make another trip?”

“Who do you think gets money and ration tickets from the wind?!” Qian Chunhua objected first.

“There’s nothing left on the table—what are we supposed to eat?” Lin Jianye asked.

Qian Chunhua looked around, then went out to the corridor and brought in the pot of watery porridge. “What else can we eat? If you don’t eat this, what are you going to do—go outside and drink the northwest wind?”

Zhao Xiaoyan followed her sister-in-law and brought in the pot of boiled leafy greens. Qiao Dongmei opened the cabinet and rummaged through it top to bottom—only to nearly faint from rage.

“Chen Yubing, you’ve really outdone yourself!”

There was truly not a single edible item left in the house—not even a single uncooked grain of rice!

The rest of them had no choice but to make do with what was originally Second Brother’s family’s dinner, sharing it to at least get something in their stomachs.

They had already handed over the money and tickets—if they didn’t even get a few sips of that porridge, they really wouldn’t even get a penny’s worth back.