Chapter 52

After Qiao Xinyi finished speaking, Chen Yubing was still in a daze, but little Qiao Yunbai reacted quickly.

“Elder Sis, this idea is definitely shady, but I think it’ll totally work!” Qiao Yunbai shook Chen Yubing’s hand excitedly. “Mom, let’s listen to Big Sis. I really don’t want to keep living with them. It’s not like we’re actually poisoning them to death—it’s just to scare them.”

“If they’ve got the nerve to tell others about it, just say they’re paranoid and imagining things. You were just trying to poison some rats,” Qiao Xinyi continued coaching. “Every time you finish the performance, bring the food and drinks to the table, but don’t eat right away. Just give them a good scare first.”

Chen Yubing had no ideas of her own, but now that Qiao Xinyi was offering one, she didn’t care whether it was shady or not—so long as it worked.

“Alright!” Chen Yubing agreed. “You really are smart. I must have a pig’s brain or something—why couldn’t I come up with such a good plan?”

Qiao Xinyi patted her head and offered the only explanation she could think of.

“Probably because you’re just not shady enough.”

Her tone was sincere and earnest, which made everyone laugh.

Qiao Yunbai happily pulled Qiao Baihe along to go pick out a room.

Qiao Yunbai used to sleep in the same room as Chen Ju. The room was tiny, the bed was small, and Chen Ju wasn’t exactly slim. Plus, Qiao Yunbai and his grandmother weren’t close. So he had long since resorted to sleeping on a mat on the floor instead of sharing the bed.

Chen Ju was elderly, snored loudly in her sleep, and got up multiple times during the night. Qiao Yunbai hadn’t had a good night’s rest in years.

But here at Qiao Xinyi’s place, he could finally have his own room. It was big, with his own bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and even the lighting was bright and beautiful.

After checking out every room on the first and second floors, Qiao Yunbai beamed with a wide smile. “Big Sis, I’d be happy just sleeping in the living room at your place!”

Qiao Baihe nodded in agreement from the side.

Chen Ju heavily favored boys over girls—but even that favoritism depended on whether the child was her own.

Qiao Dongmei was Chen Ju’s daughter, and Chen Ju doted on her immensely. She had four children—three sons and one daughter—and because daughters were rarer, and because Qiao Dongmei was her own, Chen Ju treasured her more.

As for the granddaughters born to her daughters-in-law, Chen Ju looked at them with constant disapproval.

Qiao Baihe had to sleep in the living room, and Chen Ju, being petty, would intentionally make loud clanging noises when passing through in the middle of the night just to wake her up.

Chen Ju didn’t care whether Qiao Baihe had school the next day—if anything, she was hoping Qiao Baihe would do poorly in school and drop out early to earn money.

So when Qiao Yunbai said what he did, Qiao Baihe strongly agreed.

After viewing the house, everyone was in a great mood. On the way back, all the conversation centered around the new house.

The topics were trivial, but Fu Qingshan listened attentively as he drove, smiling the entire way.

When the car stopped at the gate of the family housing compound, Qiao Xinyi got out first and walked around to Fu Qingshan’s side, smiling at him through the window.

Fu Qingshan rolled down the window, lightly tapping her forehead with his fingertips—his movements gentle, and even his voice soft.

“I’ll come pick you up after the meeting tomorrow,” he said.

“You go straight to Li Jun’s place and wait for me. I need to go home first to pack up some clothes and things,” Qiao Xinyi replied.

She only had the clothes she changed out of yesterday at the family housing compound. Early this morning, Qiao Baihe had already helped her wash and hang them out to dry. She did have a change of clothes for the night, but bringing only one outfit when going out really wasn’t enough.

Seeing that Chen Yubing and the others were already waiting for her, Qiao Xinyi patted Fu Qingshan’s arm and reminded him to drive slowly on the way back that night. After getting a “got it” from Fu Qingshan, Qiao Xinyi linked arms with Qiao Baihe and Chen Yubing and left with them.

By the time they got back to the Qiao household, Qiao Laiwang and Chen Ju were already asleep. Seeing that Qiao Laiwang was sleeping in the room he shared with Chen Yubing, Qiao Xinyi walked in and, with one hand, dragged the sleeping-like-a-dead-pig Qiao Laiwang out of bed.

Ignoring his yelps and protests, she dragged him all the way to the doorway of the neighboring room before letting go.

“From now on, my mom and Baihe will share a room. You’ll sleep with your mom. If I’m home, Yunbai can pick any room and lay out a mat. If I’m not home, he’ll sleep in the living room.”

Qiao Xinyi kicked Qiao Laiwang and said coldly, “Remember this. If you run off again, I’ll break your legs myself.”

Rubbing his sore butt from being dragged, Qiao Laiwang snapped in frustration, “I’m your father! That’s my room with your mother! How can you make me sleep with my own mother? I’m not a kid anymore!”

“My mom wants a divorce. She doesn’t want to share a bed with you anymore,” Qiao Xinyi replied, shooting him a look that clearly said, you talk too much.

“Chen Ju is your birth mother. You’ve handed over every penny of your salary to her for the past twenty years. Since you’re still not weaned, why don’t you go suckle from her some more? Maybe you’ll grow a brain before you die of stupidity.”

As she finished, Qiao Xinyi gave him a hard kick on the butt and sent him stumbling into the room.

Chen Ju was woken up by the commotion. Lying in bed, she opened her mouth to curse, but when she remembered how Qiao Laiwang got beaten up today, she bit her tongue and held back. Her leg was still fractured—once she recovered, she swore she’d claw Qiao Xinyi to death, that little brat!

Qiao Yunbai immediately grabbed his blanket and rushed into Chen Yubing’s room, grinning as he announced he was sleeping with Mom and Sister Baihe tonight. He looked like he couldn’t be happier.

As Qiao Xinyi closed the door behind Qiao Laiwang, she muttered, “I need to keep a cleaver by the bed. Just in case some blind little thief sneaks in during the night, I’ll be ready to chop them down.”

That was clearly a threat to Qiao Laiwang: Don’t even think about trying anything while I’m asleep. She’d be waiting with a knife, and if he lost a hand or foot, he’d have no one to blame but himself—just like Chen Ju.

“You’re insane!” Qiao Laiwang hissed through gritted teeth.

But the only reply he got was the sharp slam of Qiao Xinyi’s door.

That night, Qiao Xinyi really did sleep with a cleaver under her pillow. Neither Chen Ju nor Qiao Laiwang dared leave their rooms, not even once.

Chen Ju, who used to get up multiple times a night to pee, didn’t need to go anymore—she was too afraid of getting mistaken for a thief and having her other leg broken.

Qiao Laiwang had to go to work. The next morning, when he opened his door, Qiao Xinyi was still lying in the living room, refusing to get up.

He tried to quietly inch past her, only to see her hand resting on the cleaver’s handle, staring at him with a half-smile that made his scalp tingle.

“I didn’t do anything! Stop staring at me like that!” he muttered, nervously fishing out his toothbrush and toothpaste from the cabinet. “You’re a girl, and yet you don’t act like one at all—always yelling and hitting people. With that temper, it’s no wonder no one would marry you.”

He was holding back a flood of curses but didn’t dare say them out loud. He could only grumble in a low voice, using his status as a “parent” to make a few complaints.

Just as he finished squeezing the toothpaste and turned around, a hand reached in and grabbed the rolling pin from the cabinet.

Qiao Laiwang’s hair stood on end. With a scream, he tossed the toothbrush back in the cabinet and bolted.