??49: Chapter 49: Confrontation_1
49: Chapter 49: Confrontation_1
“How can that be okay?
That’s seriously lacking in nutrition,” Old Mrs.
Qin disagreed.
Li Qiao: “Mixing in so corn makes the nutrition more balanced, so it’s settled,” she said, showing off the money she earned.
“I sold the woven vase and pen holder for one dollar and ninety cents.”
Old Mrs.
Qin praised her, “That’s impressive.
I didn’t want to sell them when I was looking at them; others must really like them.”
Li Qiao chuckled.
In private, she set aside her vegetable coupon money for next week and handed the rest to Qin Jin: “Don’t you dare buy cigarettes, rember to find ti to take Grandma to get glasses.”
Qin Jin’s expression beca slightly displeased, “Buy cigarettes?
Hasn’t she noticed I quit?
Doesn’t she care at all?” His tone turned cold, “Keep the money for yourself and buy so at to eat.
You’ve gotten so thin; even your chin is pointed.
What if next ti you go back to your parents’ ho, they say I’ve mistreated you?”
“It’s hard to gain weight while studying.
Just take the money,” Li Qiao said.
Qin Jin: “I have enough; I don’t need yours.”
He had made a tidy profit from a small bronze knife, and after paying off his debts, he still had over a hundred left.
It was said that ‘a business can feed one for three years’, but what to do when business isn’t running?
He couldn’t just rely on his wife’s knitting for money to support the family, could he?
Wouldn’t that make him seem useless?
So he decided not to do it anymore.
This ti when he went to the city, he heard that so places had already started the ‘production responsibility system’.
Their region was remote, so it might take a little longer.
But it would definitely be implented soon, and by then, the demand for the supply and marketing cooperatives’ seed and fertilizer stations would surely exceed supply.
He had to go out, make connections, network, and wait for an opportunity to make a killing.
With money, he would build a big house, like those in the far north, with a heated kang inside.
In the winter, it would keep the whole house warm, and his wife wouldn’t be afraid of the cold anymore.
By then, he’d let her…
bare…
He thought, his eyes squinting.
….
After the lunch break, Li Qiao sorted her books and headed to the youth study group as usual, highlighting key points for them and solving lingering problems.
Wang Nannan exclaid, “Li Qiao, I copied this math notebook of yours last week, how co there’s no physics notebook?”
Li Qiao was puzzled, but after opening it, she realized it was the math notebook she had lost.
All the pages in her notebooks looked the sa.
And they only had her na written on the outside.
The subject was only written on the inside page.
Due to her obsessive-compulsive disorder, all the pages had to be uniform and tidy.
Otherwise, she couldn’t even sleep.
What a move, Li Jinhua!
She had suspected it all along but had no proof, and unexpectedly, she had recovered it by a fluke today.
Li Qiao suppressed her anger and closed the notebook without showing her feelings: “I might have taken the wrong one.
I’ll bring it to you later; I have so things to take care of at ho.
Do you have any other questions?
If not, I’ll be going.”
“Wait!” Du Xinxin said, “Li Qiao, can you teach us how to read English?
I just can’t rember anything just by looking at the notes.”
Li Qiao: “Of course, English is very simple and particularly easy to rember.
I’ll read it to you when I bring the notes over.”
“Alright.”
Li Qiao left in a hurry.
….
Li Jinhua complained to her parents that Li Qiao’s academic materials were given to outsiders but not to her.
In school, she never got her share of white flour buns, rice, or eggs.
When Dong Lai heard this, anger rose within her as she indignantly said, “After all I’ve done to raise her and put her through school.
If it weren’t for
sticking my neck out and causing a fuss with Old Mrs.
Qin, would she have what she has now?
Given her scandal with Cai Hechuan, who would marry her except for so old bachelor?
Ingrate!
Li, if you don’t give
a proper explanation, I’m not putting up with this anymore.”
Pressured by Dong Lai, Li Shengcai promised he would wait for the next ti Li Qiao ca back to her parental ho and then give her a piece of his mind.
“Wait for the next ti?
Why can’t you go right now?”
“She has a temper, haven’t you realized that from our previous encounters?
If I embarrass her in front of the villagers, she’ll just throw a fit and not co ho again.
Who will buy
cigarettes and liquor?
Who will send you pork and eggs?”
Only then did Dong Lai hold her tongue.
Li Jinhua successfully planted resentnt in her parents’ hearts against Li Qiao, and went back to her room to prepare to rip out the pages of Li Qiao’s notebook for her own use.
As she was about to tear off the cover, she turned as pale as death, realizing she had actually returned the notebook she had stolen to Li Qiao.
This was a disaster.
She hurriedly ran outside with the notebook in hand.
“Jinhua, what are you doing?” asked Dong Lai, seeing this.
“Got a bit of an ergency.”
Dong Lai, suspicious, wondered what ergency it could be.
Ever since she returned to school for re-study, every ti she ca back, she ntioned a male classmate nad Hu Hong passing her notes and giving her eggs to eat, asking her to study and improve together.
She wasn’t starting a relationship with him, was she?
She couldn’t let her own daughter be like the shaless Li Qiao, getting talked about by everyone with a man when nothing was even official.
How utterly embarrassing!
With these thoughts, she stealthily followed her.
On her way, Li Jinhua ran into Li Qiao, who was fuming.
“Li Jinhua!
How have I ever wronged you that you should treat
like this?” Li Qiao asked loudly.
Li Jinhua made excuses, “Big sis, listen to , I took the notebook but forgot to return it.
I rembered it today and was about to bring it to you right away.”
Li Qiao laughed sarcastically, “My notebook went missing, and I’ve ntioned it in front of you several tis.
You say you forgot to return it?
You think I’m a fool!
You probably realized you took the wrong notes and were thinking up a story to fool
with all the way here.”
“How would that be?
I really didn’t notice.”
Li Qiao: “Stop playing dumb!
If you like Qin Jin so much, why keep targeting ?
I’ve done nothing to you.”
“I, I’m not targeting you,” Li Jinhua denied.
Li Qiao let out a cold, scornful laugh and snatched the notebook from Li Jinhua’s hand: “Don’t even think about seeing my notes ever again!” She took the notebook and turned to leave.
Dong Lai, arriving from behind, scolded, “You ungrateful brat!
Stop right there!
So this is how you treat your sister when I’m not around, huh?
Did you forget that it was I who fed and raised you from your filth?”
Li Qiao felt the fire within her burn even more fiercely.
Taking her sister’s side without knowing the facts—it’s a wonder she ever sympathized with her struggles.
“The food you feed your own daughter, you throw at
like trash, and now you accuse
of being a stepmother?
You’re the ungrateful one!
Without , could you and your daughter have lived peacefully?
I’ve always respected you and never asked for anything, no matter how hard it was at ho, because you raised , and I wanted to be filial.
But now, to be cursed by you like this, what do I owe you?
Would you be safe and comfortable without my dad?
You’re the real ingrates, with no sense of gratitude.
Don’t count on
when you’re old—I’ll only take care of my dad!”
After saying all this in one breath, Li Qiao felt a great relief!
Reviews
All reviews (0)