Qiao Mei did not expect that Zhang Cong was already old enough to get married. However, given that he was not a hardworking person at all, he would eventually just use up all his family’s assets. It took some effort to ensure that he took over Old Man Zhang’s position in the food factory, but all he did was to muddle along every day.
Just as Qiao Mei was thinking about all these, Li Gui came back on the bicycle. After putting it away, she headed in the direction of the children. Earlier, when she passed by the convenience store on the way back, she had bought two pieces of candy and put them in her pocket to give to Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao.
“Mei Mei, I sold out everything today. I made some money!” Li Gui took out the money from her pocket and gave 10 dollars to Qiao Mei. “This is the money for the fruits and vegetables I sold today. Here you go.”
Qiao Mei knew at a glance that this was the bulk of the money. She took three dollars and said to Li Gui, “How can my things be worth so much? I’ll just take three dollars. Don’t give me too much.”
Qiao Mei took three dollars, which was not a lot, so that Li Gui would feel better and not as if she needed help with everything. Li Gui led Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao to clean up the dining table and wiped the kitchen stove clean, and then entered the house with them.
Li Gui secretly put away the remaining money into a red cloth bag. Then she took out the candies from her pocket and held them in her hands.
“Guess what this is!” Li Gui looked at the two children with a smile.
Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao looked at their mother’s hands in front of them, not knowing what was inside. Li Gui opened her hands and showed them two colorful candies. Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao widened their eyes in amazement.
“Wow! Candy!” they said in unison.
“Take it and eat slowly. Don’t choke on it.” Li Gui handed the candies to the two girls. Seeing the two children happy made her happy too. Previously, she had to hand over all her salary to Old Madam Zhang. Now that she had some money, she could buy foodstuff for the two children.
Zhang Qin ate the candy and thought about what elder sister Qiao Mei had said in the morning. She thought to herself that elder sister was right.
The two children used to think that the countryside was not as good as the city, but now they could eat meat and delicious food as much as they wanted, and there was no beating to endure and no one bullying them. Their mother also had money to buy candy for them. It seemed that it was better to be in the countryside than in the city!
This was the first time the two children had eaten candy. In the past, Old Madam Zhang would never buy anything for them even if she had money. She was so busy ordering them around that she would never think about treating them well enough to buy things like candy for them.
Zhao Liang brought his tools to Qiao Mei’s house and shouted at the door, “Li Gui! Qiao Mei! The builders are here!”
Qiao Mei and Li Gui brought the two children to the site of the new homestead. The wood was ready and the mud bricks were placed at one side. The men from every family came to help out. Of course, when it came to such matters, Qiao Zhuang and his family would not come to “join in the fun”.
During that period of time, there was no such thing as hiring people to build a house. It was always the neighbors who helped out with everything. However, the owner of the house had to reciprocate by being responsible for everyone’s meals.
When she saw Zhao Liang, Li Gui still felt a little uneasy. After all, they were from the same village in the past and everyone had their own opinions about widows getting remarried. However, Qiao Mei had already gone around saying that whoever bullied Li Gui would be akin to bullying Qiao Mei, so no one mentioned it anymore. In addition, they also knew that it was not like Li Gui did not care about Qiao Mei all these years, but it was because Old Madam Li had taken everything away. Everyone felt more sorry for her after knowing that.
“Brother Zhao… thank you.” Li Gui looked at Zhao Liang in embarrassment. Zhao Liang had previously often helped her out in the past when they were in the same village.
Zhao Liang waved his hand and said, “It’s fine. I’m the team leader. This is what I should do. These wooden logs are deducted from the work points. Besides, I’m not the one who sourced these mud bricks.”
Zhao Liang whispered to Li Gui, “These are all sourced by Big Brother Qiao Qiang. Otherwise, who would be able to get so much soil? If you want to thank someone, you should thank him.”
“Ah! Yes I understand.” Li Gui did not expect her former father-in-law to help her out. She thought that she had already offended Qiao Qiang because of past events. If Qiao Qiang had returned a few days earlier during that time, perhaps those things would not have happened…