The family had an early lunch today and most of the others had left the house after eating. Only the second son of the Qiao family, Qiao Gui, and his wife, Wang Qin, were at home. When they heard what Qiao Mei shouted at the door, they initially thought they had misheard. Their neighbors in the vicinity came out faster than the two of them, not wanting to miss out on such an exciting scene.
Qiao Gui and Wang Qin came to the courtyard and saw Qiao Mei leading Zhao Liang and a group of people in an imposing manner. She looked to be serious about something this time round.
“Qiao Mei, your second grandfather is not at home. What did you say just now?” Wang Qin asked again, as if she did not hear her clearly.
Qiao Mei smiled and said, “Second Auntie, I said I’m here to ask for the house.”
“House? What house? This is my house!” Qiao Gui panicked when he heard that Qiao Mei was here to ask for the house, and yelled at her loudly.
The neighbors standing around were all whispering softly among themselves. So Qiao Mei was here to ask for the house. This house really seemed to belong to Qiao Mei. This news spread like wildfire and everyone in the village, young and old, came to Qiao Gui’s house to see what was happening.
“Second Uncle, it seems that an important man like yourself has short memories. What do you mean it’s your house? This is my mother’s house, I don’t know how it became yours.” Qiao Mei was not worried about the neighbors crowding around. The more people there were, the better. Then she would have witnesses.
Qiao Gui snorted. “Hmph, when your mother left, she said that she would give me this house.”
“My mother didn’t say that she would give it to you. Back then, she asked all of you to take care of me until I got married, then after that the house would belong to you. If my grandfather hadn’t come back in time, I would have died in your pigsty in the house!” Qiao Mei pointed at Qiao Gui and shouted at him.
The villagers around them were all feeling indignant because what she said was true. If Qiao Qiang had not come back and brought Qiao Mei away, Qiao Gui and the others would have starved Qiao Mei to death, and everything left behind by Li Gui would have fallen into their hands.
“Aren’t you already married and pregnant?! I don’t care! Anyway, this house is mine!” Qiao Gui took a few steps forward and glared at them to prevent them from going forward. Seeing this, Qiao Mei took a few steps back. It was not that she was afraid, but she was worried that she would hurt her children. She had to be extra careful at this moment.
Zhao Liang looked at the unreasonable Qiao Gui and frowned. “Qiao Gui, back then, you all signed the agreement at the brigade and I was the witness. It’s true that you all did not take care of Qiao Mei. Please just return this house to her.”
When Qiao Gui saw Zhao Liang about to take out the agreement, he picked up the shovel beside him and wanted to swing it. Seeing this, Wang Qin was so frightened that she hurriedly pulled her man back. Wang Qin was the village accountant, a fact that she showed off for most of her life. If Qiao Gui hit Zhao Liang, it would definitely cost her the job. It would be so embarrassing if she were to lose her job on top of all the mess this could cause, and she would lose her standing in the Qiao family.
“Team Leader Zhao, isn’t it against the rules for Qiao Mei to be married and yet live alone? How can her family be allowed to have two homesteads?” Wang Qin blocked Qiao Gui and made him stand back so that he could not cause trouble here.
Qiao Gui was not as ruthless as his eldest brother, Qiao Fu, nor was he as smart as the third son, Qiao Wang. He was just a silly big man who only knew how to fight.
When Qiao Mei heard this, she said laughingly, “My mother is coming back to live in the village. Who told you that I’m getting married and setting up my own household! This is my mother’s house, so of course my mother will be living here.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Qin could not find any other reason to refute it. Seeing that the house was about to belong to Qiao Mei, Wang Qin’s attitude softened a little.
“Then Mei Mei, if you want us to move away, where can we go? You can’t be asking us to sleep outside, right?”
Qiao Mei was not one to fall for that. She still remembered Wang Qin’s attitude towards her in the past. “When I was young, you people even let me sleep in the pigsty. I didn’t remember you feeling sorry for me then! Hurry up and move out!”
Seeing that Qiao Mei remained unmoved by both force and persuasion, Wang Qin became anxious. “It’s fine if you want us to move! Then you have to pay us! We’ve lived here for so long and helped you keep the place clean, otherwise it would have become dilapidated without anyone living here! We’ve been helping you take care of it! You have to pay us!”
When the neighbors heard this, they all thought that it was a joke. This woman was really too obsessed with money and all she could think of was how to make money. They all knew that a tenant needed to pay money to live in a house, but no one had heard of a tenant asking the owner of the house for money. Auntie Dong could not stand it anymore and pointed at Wang Qin while saying, “You have the cheek to say that!”
Wang Qin rolled her eyes and ignored the comment. Money was the most important thing to her now. She could not have a situation where there was no house and no money.