Chapter 90

After Fu Qingshan left with the two reluctant little ones, Qiao Xinyi called Li Xiuying into her room and took out the things she had brought for her.

“These are canned fruits and red date cakes from Tong’an County, their local specialties. This apron is made of oil- and water-resistant material—I found it at the black market in Tong’an County, especially bought it for Aunt Liu. When she comes back later, you give it to her.”

Qiao Xinyi stuffed everything into Li Xiuying’s hands and then clipped a particularly beautiful crystal hairpin into her hair. “This one’s especially for you.”

Li Xiuying hurried to find a mirror, and when she looked, she was nearly moved to tears.

“Sister Xinyi, thank you! It’s so pretty, I really like it.”

Li Xiuying didn’t need to ask; she already knew the hairpin and apron must be quite expensive. The hairpins sold at the department store in the provincial city weren’t as nice as the one Qiao Xinyi gave her—those cost over a yuan each. She loved it, but she absolutely dared not mention it at home.

As soon as Li Xiuying put the things down, she went to hug Qiao Xinyi. “Sister Xinyi, just be good to me and my brother. Hmph, my mom isn’t even worth you being so nice to her!”

Luckily, even though Qiao Xinyi remembered to bring gifts for her mother on her trips to Tong’an County, her mother secretly looked down on Qiao Xinyi as a potential daughter-in-law.

“Did you have a fight with your mom?” Qiao Xinyi gently patted the girl’s head.

“You wouldn’t understand~” Li Xiuying wouldn’t be foolish enough to tell Qiao Xinyi what she and her mother said privately—that would be just like being a fool. Since she couldn’t say it out loud, Li Xiuying felt she wasn’t really worthy of Qiao Xinyi’s kindness.

Li Xiuying didn’t say anything else, and Qiao Xinyi didn’t ask. She still had to return to the textile factory family compound and told Li Xiuying to take her things. After packing up what she needed for the textile factory family compound, she mentioned that she might sleep there that night, then left carrying her things.

When Qiao Xinyi returned to the Qiao family home, Chen Yubing was cooking in the hallway. Qiao Xinyi first stopped by Aunt Zhang’s house, greeted her, and gave her a can of fruit and a pack of red date cakes before calling out to Chen Yubing.

“Mom, I’m back. Put more rice on; I haven’t eaten yet.”

Chen Yubing quickly responded and went back to open the cabinet. Qiao Yunbai and Qiao Baihe both came running out, and seeing how many things Qiao Xinyi was carrying, they hurried to help.

While carrying, Qiao Yunbai suddenly fell flat on the ground.

“Big sister is really strong! Look at her, carrying that so easily with one hand. I didn’t expect it nearly squished me.”

Qiao Yunbai sat on the ground, gasping for air. “How do I become as strong as big sister?”

“Reincarnate,” Qiao Xinyi laughed and then looked around the room, asking, “Where are Qiao Laiwang and Chen Ju? Those two didn’t cause trouble while I was away, right?”

“Grandma hasn’t come back with Dad since she left that day. Dad took her to my eldest uncle’s place to rest.”

“Dad originally wanted to stay there with Grandma, but my eldest uncle refused. He said it was inappropriate for Dad not to come home when he has a family and kids, so he forced Dad to come back.”

Talking about the recent family matters made Qiao Yunbai very excited.

“When Dad came back that day, Mom and I performed just like you taught us right in front of him, scaring Dad so much that he didn’t eat dinner that night and didn’t dare drink a drop of water. The next morning, he left early with an empty thermos and didn’t come home for lunch.”

“Dad didn’t have enough money for food and went around borrowing money from people. Mom kept telling everyone at the factory that anyone who lent Dad money was spoiling his bad habits. Whoever lent money should be ready to have it given away for free, so no one lent him money.”

“Dad’s been buying two steamed buns at the factory every morning—one for breakfast and one for lunch. Then he voluntarily stays late at the factory to work overtime at night.”

If working overtime at night, the factory would issue meal tickets as a benefit, covering dinner.

Qiao Laiwang has been relying on overtime every day to have a full meal, then boiling water at the factory to fill his thermos to bring home for the night. That thermos sits by his bed at night.

He even had to take his thermos with him when going to the bathroom, afraid that Chen Yubing and Qiao Yunbai would slip something into his tea while he was gone.

“Big sister, Dad actually cares about you quite a bit. These past couple of days he’s been asking me when you’ll be back,” Qiao Yunbai said, pouting. “He’s probably just scared you’ll beat him up when you get back—he’d rather you come late.”

After Chen Yubing put the rice in the pot to cook, she came in to chat with Qiao Xinyi, asking about Qiao Xinyi and Fu Qingshan’s recent trip to Tong’an County.

“How did it go these days? Is Fu Qingshan’s family easy to get along with? You didn’t lose your temper and fight with his family, did you?”

Chen Yubing hadn’t been sleeping well at night these past few days, worrying about this.

Qiao Xinyi answered loudly, “I didn’t hit anyone.” It was all Fu Qingshan doing the hitting, she wasn’t involved. Zheng Dajiang got beaten pretty badly anyway.

“Are Fu family members treating you well?” Qiao Baihe also asked.

“Well, how to say…” Qiao Xinyi recounted everything that had happened in Tong’an County over the past few days, which left the three of them stunned and speechless.

Qiao Yunbai immediately started cursing Zheng family members, using the worst and dirtiest words he could think of.

Chen Yubing slapped him on the forehead, warning, “That’s enough for now. Don’t use that kind of language outside the house.”

It did feel good to curse Zheng Dajiang after hearing the story, but kids still need to be taught right from wrong.

“Don’t worry, I got it,” Qiao Yunbai promised repeatedly, then sighed, “Big sister, going back with Qingshan was like you got yourself a new mother-in-law, huh?”

“How can you say it’s Xinyi who ‘changed’ it? Xinyi just gave the idea. In the end, the decisions were made by Fu Qingshan and his Aunt Fu,” Qiao Baihe corrected him and then casually mentioned something.

“Yesterday, Li Jun came by. The verdict for Chen Daniu and his wife is out—they got the death penalty. Some relatives involved from the Chen family got sentences ranging from five years down to six months.”

Qiao Baihe took Qiao Xinyi’s hand. “Justice is on your side. That’s really good!”

“Zheng Dajiang will probably get the death penalty too,” Qiao Xinyi said.

“People like him deserve to die! Otherwise, who knows how many other girls he’ll ruin! That night he ran into you, and you were strong enough to beat up that drunk man. If it had been someone else, the consequences would have been unimaginable,” Chen Yubing said angrily. “Zheng Dajiang’s behavior as a scoundrel is no different from murder. If he succeeded, that girl’s life would be destroyed forever—worse than death.”

After cursing, Chen Yubing nervously asked, “Have Fu Qingshan’s two nephews come to the provincial city yet? What are their personalities like?”

Qiao Xinyi knew what Chen Yubing worried about—she feared the two kids wouldn’t like her and that Fu Qingshan would be caught in the middle between her and the children.

“Mom, you don’t know how fun those two kids are,” Qiao Xinyi said. She told Chen Yubing and the others about Fu Bailu taking out jewelry for them and about discovering the two kids almost got abducted when passing through City A on the way back to the provincial city.

The three of them laughed hard, and Chen Yubing finally felt relieved after several days of worry.

“You have a fate with Fu Qingshan, and also with his two nephews,” Chen Yubing said. “Though those two kids really are bold.”