Qiao Mei only felt relieved when she saw them going to talk to Li Gui. She then stayed in the house to do needlework and take a rest.
Li Gui’s eyes were red as she quickly agreed. “Alright, mom will bring you there!”
This was the first time the two children had spoken to her so nicely. In the past, due to Old Madam Zhang’s instigation, the two children hated Li Gui. They felt that she did not treat them well and that unlike the other kids’ mothers who were so nice, their mother did not care about them. They even hit Li Gui like how Zhang Cong did. However, now that they knew Li Gui did not have it easy, there was naturally a marked improvement in their attitudes..
The two children were very happy. Their elder sister was the best person in the world, she gave them food and drinks and many other things that they had never seen before. Their elder sister’s grandfather was also very nice, he was always smiling and not fierce at all.
That was because they did not know how scary Qiao Qiang could be when he got angry. The children in the courtyard were laughing and joking and it made Qiao Qiang happy to see them. Although they were not his grandchildren, the bustling atmosphere made the whole place feel very festive.
It did not take long for all of them to clean up and get ready to eat. Qiao Mei put her homemade sauce and some salt on the meat and the fragrance immediately filled the entire courtyard. The few children wolfed down the food. They had never eaten such delicious food, and also never had so much meat.
It seemed that elder sister really did not lie to them!
After dinner, the four children rushed to clear the table, wash the dishes, and clean up the charcoal fire in the courtyard. Judging by the way they wanted to tidy up the place to its original state, it seemed that they had decided to stay here.
“Thank you, Mei Mei. I don’t even know how to thank you.” Li Gui broke down and cried in the house, not knowing how to face her daughter who had helped her so much.
“It’s fine. They’re all good children,” Qiao Mei said.
The children were still young and did not have bad intentions, so it was not too late to help them. As for the relationship between the children and Li Gui, they would still need to think of a way to deepen their feelings for one another.
On the way back, Old Madam Zhang did some planning on buying the ‘three turns’ for Zhang Cong. It was not easy to buy a watch, so she decided to buy the bicycle and sewing machine first. As for the radio, she did not intend to buy it at all since there was no use for it. The other family had agreed earlier that just getting the ‘three turns’ would be enough. She would give them only what they had agreed on and not a single item more.
Zhang Qian said to Old Madam Zhang, “Give me the rest of the money.”
When Zhang Cong heard this, he could not take it anymore. This money was not even enough for his betrothal gifts. He thought Feng Qin said she did not need any money to get married.
“This amount of money is probably not even enough for me, so you don’t even think about it. You’re already marrying your third wife and I still don’t even have one yet! I haven’t even bought a bed yet, so there’s not enough money!” Zhang Cong hurriedly snatched the money from Old Madam Zhang, afraid that Zhang Qian would take it away again.
“You can ask Li Gui for money after some time, you can get married then! Let me marry first!” Zhang Cong said.
The way that Li Gui looked, Zhang Qian did not even want to see her for even one more day and felt that it would be a relief to get a divorce quickly. She was not as beautiful and capable as Feng Qin.
The Zhang family members saw someone coming from afar while on their way, so they stopped arguing.
Qiao Yu looked at these people who were dressed quite well and did not seem to be from the village. She asked curiously, “Are you here to visit someone?”
At that time, people did not have many ways to contact one another since not everyone had a telephone. Only the brigade had one and they would charge people for using it. Therefore, people would usually greet one another when passing by.
Also during that time, casual visitors were not allowed to roam around in the village and they would be asked about their intentions for visiting. If visitors intended to stay the night, they would have to produce a letter of recommendation as a form of proof. Otherwise, they could not spend the night in the village.
Old Madam Zhang said, “We’re here to look for Li Gui.”
“Li Gui? Isn’t that Qiao Mei’s mother?” Qiao Yu thought to herself. “These people must be leaving the village at dinner time because Qiao Mei did not ask them to stay for dinner.”
“Aren’t you guys staying for a meal given that Qiao Mei’s family is not lacking in rice, noodles or meat. Didn’t she ask you to stay for a meal?” At the mention of meat, Qiao Yu almost drooled.