Chapter 48

After being comforted by the aunts, Qiao Xinyi left. Inside the house, Qiao Laiwang and Chen Ju were so angry they didn’t even know how to curse properly.

“Look at the good wife you married!” Chen Ju nearly fainted. “Look at the good daughter you raised!”

“If it weren’t for you borrowing all my wages, would I be here getting beaten? If I had saved all those wages, Chen Yubing could divorce me if she wanted. I could just marry someone else!” Qiao Laiwang felt even more heartbroken thinking about the wages he had earned over twenty years.

The Qiao family’s front door was still open. Furious, Qiao Laiwang yelled at Chen Ju at the top of his lungs. His complaints spread out loud and clear. Aunt Zhang Hua and the others nearby heard everything clearly.

“Chen Yubing wasn’t wrong. Qiao Laiwang really won’t divorce because he’s out of money,” Aunt Zhang Hua spat toward the Qiao house. “Want to remarry? Who’s more unlucky than Chen Yubing to marry Qiao Laiwang?”

“I heard before that Qiao Laiwang was matched with someone else before marrying Chen Yubing, but that person didn’t accept him. He was upset for a long time. I bet he never really cared for Chen Yubing and always had that other woman in mind,” said another neighbor.

After hearing this, Aunt Zhang Hua’s family stopped responding and dragged the neighbor away to chat.

Just as Qiao Xinyi was coming downstairs, she ran into Qiao Dongmei and her husband. Qiao Xinyi was busy and didn’t plan to pay attention to them, but Qiao Dongmei called out to her.

“Qiao Xinyi, why are you alone?” Qiao Dongmei asked.

Qiao Xinyi was a bit surprised that Qiao Dongmei was still smiling at her today, but that didn’t stop her from snapping back.

“How am I alone? Isn’t that a dumb question? Would half a person scare you to death?” As soon as she finished, Qiao Dongmei’s expression changed noticeably.

Lin Jianye, knowing his wife’s temper, quietly tugged her sleeve and smiled, picking up Qiao Xinyi’s tone: “You’re joking. Your aunt means your mom and the others. Have they eaten? Where are you going alone?”

“If I haven’t eaten yet, will you guys treat me to a meal?” Qiao Xinyi asked bluntly.

Qiao Dongmei had just had a bad experience yesterday and nearly exploded hearing that. “Why on earth should we treat you?”

“Because you asked if I’ve eaten or not!” Qiao Xinyi answered, acting as if it were perfectly reasonable.

“Why should asking a question mean you have to treat me?” Qiao Dongmei was afraid Qiao Xinyi would really insist on a free meal, so she quickly pulled her husband a couple steps aside.

“Because I have no manners, and no upbringing!” Qiao Xinyi grinned showing her teeth.

Qiao Dongmei was left speechless for a while. Even Lin Jianye, the usually easygoing guy, nearly lost patience.

“I heard your grandma fractured something. Your aunt and I were just about to visit her. How about this—next time you come over, I’ll have your aunt cook some of her signature dishes for you,” Lin Jianye said, then asked again, “Where are you going alone? To meet friends for dinner?”

“Visiting Chen Ju and you guys come empty-handed? You really are the dutiful children-in-law!” Qiao Xinyi glanced at the couple’s empty hands.

Qiao Dongmei was so annoyed it hurt her teeth. “Why do you even talk to her like that? Does she even understand good or bad words?”

Qiao Dongmei then directly asked, “You had Qiao Baihe and Qiao Yunbai hand out flyers for you today, right? Are you familiar with the printing factory people?”

Qiao Dongmei thought, if it weren’t for knowing someone at the printing factory, how could Qiao Xinyi have gotten hundreds of flyers printed overnight? The fact they were printed in one night meant that contact must be a pretty powerful leader.

“I’m pretty impressive, right? Printed so many flyers overnight. Isn’t that super fast?” Qiao Xinyi was giving vague answers, neither confirming nor denying if she had a contact, just praising her own skills. But to Qiao Dongmei, this was basically an admission.

Qiao Dongmei perked up. “What position does this contact hold? How much help can they really give?”

Qiao Xinyi raised an eyebrow, stopping her. So all this was just to find out about that?

“Well, the flyers got printed especially fast,” Qiao Xinyi said, looking at her empty wrist as if holding something invisible, performing a silent act. “It’s still early. You guys want to experience the speed of the printing factory I know?”

“What do you mean?” Qiao Dongmei didn’t understand.

Lin Jianye glanced at Qiao Xinyi’s expression and sensed trouble—she wasn’t about to say anything nice. Sure enough, Qiao Xinyi said seriously:

“I had the printing factory rush-print 200 flyers overnight. On the flyer, it says…” She shook her head and, in a perfect broadcast announcer’s tone, clearly read aloud:

“Is it moral decay or human depravity? Your own aunt visits her niece empty-handed; your own daughter visits her sick mother empty-handed; your own sister colludes with brothers to spend your second older brother’s twenty years of wages! World’s best daughter! World’s best sister!”

“How’s that? You satisfied with this wording?” Qiao Xinyi asked.

Qiao Dongmei was speechless. She really shouldn’t have stopped Qiao Xinyi from talking today!

Lin Jianye knew better—there was no way anyone could get an advantage over Qiao Xinyi.

“If you dare hand out flyers at my factory, I’ll…” Qiao Dongmei was fuming, trying to threaten her but couldn’t find anything to use against Qiao Xinyi. She dragged out the last word for a long time before coming up with one thing: “If you do that, I’ll go persuade my second brother to divorce your mom!”

Qiao Xinyi gasped, impressed. “I never thought such an annoying person like you could say something I want to praise. You better mean it! If you lie, may the heavens strike you with thunder!”

While Qiao Dongmei and Lin Jianye looked utterly baffled, Qiao Xinyi grinned brightly and walked away happily.

Normally, walking away would mean a retreat. But with the look on Qiao Xinyi’s face and the tone of her last sentence, even rereading a hundred times you wouldn’t see a hint of fear.

“What does she mean by that?” Qiao Dongmei shouted at Lin Jianye.

“She’s not close to your second brother. Maybe she really hopes your brother and sister-in-law get divorced,” Lin Jianye guessed.

“Is she crazy? Is having divorced parents something to be proud of? Who hopes their parents divorce?” Qiao Dongmei refused to believe it and found a reason to convince herself: “She’s scared deep down. That girl’s all bluff! Just wait! I’m going upstairs to tell my second brother about this!”

Qiao Xinyi didn’t go back to watch the commotion, so she missed the scene where Qiao Dongmei’s usually ignored biological second brother yelled and pushed her out of the house for the first time in her life.

Before Qiao Xinyi even reached the residential compound gate, she saw Fu Qingshan and Qiao Yunbai entering. When they saw her swaggering out, Qiao Yunbai chuckled.

“I told you, my eldest sister’s so tough we don’t have to worry about her getting taken advantage of,” Qiao Yunbai puffed out his chest proudly. “Qingshan, I’m not bragging, but my big sister is strong—maybe even stronger than you.”

Qiao Xinyi walked over just in time to hear that and rolled her eyes. “Stop bragging, I don’t even want to hear it.”