Chapter 60

Only then did Li Jun remember why he was so eager to find Fu Qingshan.

“If you’re a brother, you’ve got to help me,” Li Jun said, shoving the paper and pen into Fu Qingshan’s arms. “Write a self-reflection report for me. It’s due this afternoon, at least a thousand words.”

Li Jun had been stuck at work all day and managed to write only about two hundred words:
“You’re getting married, I’ll be your best man, I’ll take the toasts for you! That day, you won’t touch a drop of alcohol!”

Fu Qingshan was about to throw the pen and paper back, but paused to think for a moment. Then he nodded and pushed Li Jun out of Qiao Xinyi’s room.

Li Jun was ecstatic—he’d successfully passed off the task. He’d rather be on duty or work overtime than write that report himself.

Just after the two left, Li Xiuying suddenly smacked her forehead. “Xinyi, the postman delivered a letter for you this morning. You weren’t home, so I left it on my desk. I’ll go get it for you.”

The letter was from the Provincial City Daily, addressed to Qiao Xinyi. The article she wrote was published, and the newspaper sent her five yuan as a payment.

Qiao Xinyi happily looked at the letter and casually handed the remittance slip to Qiao Baihe. “When you have time, go cash this. Use the money to buy candy for you and Qiao Yunbai.”

“We don’t eat candy, big sister. Baihe and I are saving it for you,” Qiao Yunbai quickly said. “You spend money way too freely.”

Enough—Qiao Yunbai’s stinginess made spending money on candy about as likely as asking him to die.

Li Xiuying glanced at the newspaper and immediately went to tell Liu Guilan, “Mom, Xinyi got her article accepted by the Provincial City Daily! The newspaper even paid her a fee!”

Chen Yubing’s face lit up with joy. “Really? I didn’t expect my daughter to be so outstanding!”

She didn’t even bother washing the vegetables and rushed to find Qiao Xinyi to see the letter from the newspaper.

“You little one~” Liu Guilan knew exactly why Li Xiuying had told her this—to needle her about earlier looking down on Qiao Xinyi for not having gone to school.

“Anyway, my Xinyi is the best in every way. If I were a man, I’d marry her myself,” Li Xiuying said, then happily ran back to her room after teasing her own mom.

Liu Guilan stood there, hearing the lively voices from Qiao Xinyi’s room. She was glad she didn’t have to worry about anything happening between Qiao Xinyi and Li Jun, but she still couldn’t understand how Fu Qingshan and Qiao Xinyi ended up dating.

After all, Fu Qingshan graduated from a formal military academy and was already a young battalion commander. People always described him as talented and promising.

Handsome and strong, he was truly a flawless young talent.

Liu Guilan had always thought Fu Qingshan hadn’t dated because his standards were too high, assuming he’d eventually date a leader’s daughter. But unexpectedly…

Chen Yubing was so happy about Qiao Xinyi earning that five yuan from the article that she was in a great mood all lunch. Even though Fu Qingshan had brought a lot of dishes, Chen Yubing still cooked them all, saying she wanted to prepare extra dishes to celebrate for Qiao Xinyi.

Qiao Xinyi had never gone to school, which had always been Chen Yubing’s biggest worry. Now that Qiao Xinyi could earn money from writing, Chen Yubing recognized her daughter’s excellence in this way.

Chen Yubing was so happy she ate half a bowl more than usual at lunch, and the smile on her face didn’t fade even when she left for work.

Fu Qingshan bought tickets for the 5:30 train. The two arrived at the station an hour early.

There was still plenty of time, but Fu Qingshan didn’t rush Qiao Xinyi into the waiting hall. Instead, he looked around the entrance and then led Qiao Xinyi toward a woman carrying a child and a basket.

“What do you have there?” Fu Qingshan asked quietly.

As soon as Fu Qingshan asked, Qiao Xinyi immediately knew what the woman carrying a child on her back and holding another child’s hand was doing here. These days, bold people are everywhere.

“There are boiled eggs and scallion pancakes, all just fresh and hot from the oven this afternoon~” Qiao Laidi whispered as she spoke, watching the girl looking into her basket, then tentatively asked, “Are you Qiao Xinyi?”

Qiao Xinyi looked up. “You know me?”

Qiao Laidi nodded. “I’m Qiao Laidi. I found out about my second uncle’s family a few days ago. I wanted to come to your house that day, but when I got there, I saw my parents and my uncle and aunt all at your place, so I didn’t go in. But I saw you in the residential compound.”

Judging by Qiao Xinyi’s expression, Qiao Laidi knew she didn’t know who she was.

“I’m the daughter of Qiao Yougen and Qian Chunhua,” Qiao Laidi explained. “I got married last year.”

Hearing she was the daughter of Qiao Yougen and Qian Chunhua, Qiao Xinyi remembered—Qiao Yunbai had reminded her about this before.

She looked at the child on Qiao Laidi’s back, who looked about two years old, and then at the child holding her hand, who looked about four or five. Married only last year, these two kids couldn’t be Qiao Laidi’s biological children. That meant she had married a man with children from a previous marriage and was now their stepmother.

“These two kids?” Qiao Xinyi asked, looking at the child holding the hand, noticing their clothes and hairstyle. “One boy and one girl?”

“Two girls.”

Qiao Xinyi raised her eyebrows slightly at this answer. These two girls seemed poorly cared for.

Qiao Laidi didn’t intend to say much about her situation. Instead, she glanced at the man beside Qiao Xinyi and asked, “Who is this? Where are you two going?”

“He’s my fiancé. We’re going back to his hometown for a visit.”

Seeing Qiao Laidi’s expression, Qiao Xinyi knew what she was worried about. “My mom has met him. We even had lunch together today. My introduction letter was issued by my mom. Although at the time, Chen Yubing didn’t know what it was for, she helped with the errands.”

Hearing this, Qiao Laidi was relieved. She was afraid that her second aunt’s newly returned cousin might be tricked or taken away.

“I don’t know how long your train ride will be. Take these to eat,” Qiao Laidi handed over the whole basket. “Nothing valuable, all homemade by me.”

Qiao Xinyi quickly stepped back, waving her hand. “We’re not pigs, just a few hours—I can’t eat this much. I’ll just buy two eggs and two scallion pancakes.”

Qiao Xinyi had heard from Qiao Yunbai that after Qiao Laidi got married, she cut ties with her birth family. Now it seemed Qiao Laidi was the good shoot growing out of the bad bamboo of the Qiao family.

Qiao Laidi, a normal person, wouldn’t associate with the bunch of jerks from the Qiao family.

No need to ask—Qiao Laidi, a good girl who married a twice-divorced man and became stepmother to two kids, was definitely forced into this by Qiao Yougen and Qian Chunhua. She probably hated her birth family because of that marriage and severed ties.

“I won’t take your money,” Qiao Laidi said, packing the food and pressing it into Qiao Xinyi’s hands. “Second Aunt treated me well. When I got married, the only dowry money I had was the twenty yuan Second Aunt secretly gave me. Thanks to that, I was able to come here and secretly earn some money.”

Out of the whole Qiao family, Qiao Laidi only liked Second Aunt Chen Yubing. Back then, she was forced into marriage with almost nothing, and it was Chen Yubing who secretly slipped her some hidden savings to keep away from both birth and husband’s families.

She was grateful for Second Aunt’s care, so when she saw Qiao Xinyi, she asked a few more questions.

Fu Qingshan watched the two cousins talking, then quietly told Qiao Xinyi he’d go buy something else and left.

“Your fiancé is a nice person,” Qiao Laidi smiled at Qiao Xinyi.