Chapter 43

Qiao Xinyi made up her mind just like that, not giving Fu Qingshan a chance to refuse. She patted Fu Qingshan’s arm and ended the conversation with, “Drive safely.”

When they arrived at the Li family’s home, Li Xiuying was also there. Qiao Xinyi called out to bring her along.

Once in the car, Qiao Xinyi immediately asked Qiao Baihe and Qiao Yunbai, “You weren’t discovered this morning, right?”

Qiao Yunbai had been holding it in all morning and was finally able to talk about it. His eyes lit up as he shook his head.

“Uncle and Aunt got beaten by Big Sister yesterday. There are slap marks on their faces, and they still haven’t faded today. They were afraid of being seen, so they both took the day off from the factory.” Qiao Yunbai replied.

He quickly answered for Qiao Baihe, “By the time Big Sister went to the alley where Uncle and Aunt live, our cousins had already gone to work. Uncle and Aunt were hiding at home to avoid being seen. Big Sister handed out flyers and chatted with their neighbors in the alley for quite a while before leaving.”

Qiao Yunbai went on, “At noon, Mom came over specifically to tell us to hide at your place and not go home. She said Uncle and Aunt were going around looking for me and Sister Baihe. They even went to Mom’s factory to find her, trying to force Mom to bring all three of us home, but Mom chased them away.”

After finishing, Qiao Yunbai got so excited his voice changed, “Big Sister, are we going home tonight? Uncle and the others will definitely be waiting for us.”

“After we finish at the zoo, we’ll go back,” Qiao Xinyi said. “If I’m going to do this, I’m not afraid of them.”

The three in the backseat immediately laughed. Qiao Yunbai began telling Qiao Xinyi about the people and things he encountered while handing out flyers at the factory gate.

No one dislikes gossip, especially about coworkers and the factory leaders’ families. Li Xiuying, as an outsider, listened attentively and laughed heartily.

“The longer I handed out flyers, the longer I heard people scolding Uncle and Aunt. It felt so satisfying,” Qiao Yunbai said with a silly grin.

Qiao Yunbai even taught Qiao Xinyi a few phrases. To be honest, Qiao Xinyi found it quite amusing.

They played in the zoo until 5:30 pm before leaving. Fu Qingshan first drove Li Xiuying home, then drove toward the textile factory residential compound.

Because there were many people and gossip in the residential area, Qiao Xinyi didn’t let Fu Qingshan drive in but told him to stop at the entrance.

Before getting out, she smiled and asked, “Are you free tomorrow?”

“If you’re free, I’ll treat you to a meal alone. Today’s lunch doesn’t count.”

Indeed, today’s lunch didn’t count. She had invited him out and promised to treat him to thank him, but she got caught up chatting about the apartment with Qian Ke and others and barely spoke to Fu Qingshan. Meanwhile, Fu Qingshan kept pouring her tea and soup, taking care of her.

“There’s a sudden commendation meeting tomorrow morning,” Fu Qingshan raised his eyebrows, emphasizing the word “sudden.”

Qiao Xinyi immediately burst out laughing. She understood—it was because she had sent the banner and thank-you letter.

“The article you wrote for the provincial newspaper was accepted, and the paper specially sent reporters to the army for an interview. Tomorrow’s sudden commendation meeting is for the newspaper report.”

Since reporters had come, Commander Xu and Staff Officer Dong kept praising Qiao Xinyi whenever she was mentioned.

“Captain He returned to the unit today. I expect he’ll visit your home tomorrow to apologize in person and probably take Qiao Baihe home.”

Qiao Xinyi had caused quite a stir when she came to the unit that day. As soon as she left, Commander Xu arranged for someone to talk with Zhou Yun and He Rou, the mother and daughter.

He Shengli would definitely be called for a talk once he got back, and if he still cared about his reputation, he’d handle his family matters as quickly as possible.

Fu Qingshan usually didn’t like to get involved in such drama, but since it concerned the He family, he paid extra attention, knowing Qiao Xinyi would be interested.

Hearing this, Qiao Baihe in the backseat got a little agitated and immediately shouted, “I’m not going back!”

“As long as you don’t go back yourself, no one can take you away,” Qiao Xinyi said, seeing Qiao Baihe’s face turn pale with fear. She turned sideways and gave her a reassuring look.

“Then I’ll treat you to a meal another day. Tomorrow, I’ll just wait at home for whoever from the He family comes!” Qiao Xinyi immediately changed her mind.

“The commendation meeting only lasts two hours. Captain He should be there before noon,” Fu Qingshan said, implying that whoever comes from the He family won’t affect his chance to meet Qiao Xinyi alone.

Seeing Qiao Xinyi staring at him with a meaningful smile, Fu Qingshan added, “I’ll give you the bankbook tomorrow. I bought a ticket for the five o’clock train home tomorrow afternoon to handle some personal matters. Not sure when I’ll be back.”

“Going to pick up your nephew?” Qiao Xinyi asked. “Anyway, I’m free, so how about I go with you?”

Fu Qingshan slammed on the brakes and turned his head in disbelief to look at Qiao Xinyi. Tentatively, he asked, “As my girlfriend, going back with me?”

He had no other thoughts. Qiao Xinyi knew what he was going home for, and in that situation, asking to go back together could only mean that. Otherwise, who would believe he’d bring a random female friend home to handle family affairs? It would cause endless gossip. Would Qiao Xinyi’s reputation be worth anything then?

“Is there a problem?” Qiao Xinyi raised her eyebrows and countered.

“No problem,” Fu Qingshan said, his heart pounding so hard he felt it might jump out of his chest. This girl really had a knack for saying shocking things and scaring people.

“Have you thought it through?” Fu Qingshan said. “My stepmother is pretty difficult. If you come back with me, she will definitely make things hard for you.”

“I dare to go back to the Qiao family. How could I be afraid of her?” Qiao Xinyi put her hands on her hips and proudly recounted everything she had done since returning to the Qiao family. Then she turned to the two stunned people in the back seat and asked, “Qiao Yunbai, Qiao Baihe, don’t you think I’ve been impressive these past few days?”

The two had been dumbstruck for a long time, stunned by the shocking content of the conversation between the seemingly alone Qiao Xinyi and Fu Qingshan in the front seats. They wished they could shrink down to the size of a grain of sand, eyes wide, necks pulled in, ears perked.

Suddenly being called out by Qiao Xinyi, Qiao Yunbai and Qiao Baihe took a few seconds to react, then nodded dumbly without saying a word.

“Yeah, pretty impressive,” Fu Qingshan thought. If Qiao Xinyi had a tail right now, it would be wagging proudly into the sky.

“Now, before work ends, I’ll take you to get a letter of introduction,” Fu Qingshan paused, then said, “Tonight, I want to visit your home. How about that?”

Fu Qingshan felt their relationship was settled by now. Since Qiao Xinyi was going with him back home tomorrow, it was only proper that he formally meet her family before taking her there.

This time, Qiao Xinyi was stunned. She had only wanted to see some excitement—how did it suddenly turn into a formal process?

“Is that a problem?” Fu Qingshan asked.

Qiao Yunbai was about to explain for Qiao Xinyi, but she cut in with an agreement.

“No problem. But you know I did something big today, so I’ll have to handle that first when I get home.”

Qiao Xinyi quickly made plans, “Forget about visiting my home. The Qiao family counts as family to me. There are two idiots sitting in the back, and then there’s my mom.”

“First, let’s get that letter of introduction, then you wait outside the residential compound. After I deal with things at home, I’ll bring my mom out, and we’ll just go have a meal together at the state-run restaurant.”