Zhang Chao was so angry that he got really sullen. He sat at the door and played with stones by himself. Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao did housework with their mother. Seeing that the fruits of his siblings’ labor ended up being taken away by others, coupled with the fact that their mother had nothing to eat and was getting skinnier, Zhang Wei felt very uncomfortable.
“Elder brother, what should we do about this,” Zhang Chao said.
“It’s fine. I’ll think of something tomorrow,” Zhang Wei walked over and said to Zhang Chao.
He could not do anything to Qiao Yu, but he thought that eldest sister Qiao Mei definitely would have a way. I will find an opportunity to talk to elder sister Qiao Mei tomorrow. Otherwise, if this goes on, his family will starve to death.
That night, Li Gui again secretly got up and went to the kitchen to drink water. Zhang Wei witnessed what she did and was even more determined to ask Qiao Mei for help. I will not let Qiao Yu succeed again tomorrow.
Qiao Yu went home with a bunch of things. For the past few days, Qiao Zhuang’s family had been treating her well since she could even bring back big steamed buns and vegetables. They never asked where the food came from as long as they could eat it. The rules were still the same though, the women had to wait for the men in the family to finish eating before they could eat. They still had to provide for the men in the family because after all, the men were the ones heading out to work.
“You’ve been making yourself useful for the past two days. Bring back more food in the future though. This little bit of stuff isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between our teeth,” Wang Qin said to Qiao Yu.
“That’s right. I thought that you would be able to bring more back for all of us. This is not enough to feed a few men,” Liu Ying said mockingly.
“The amount that Qiao Yu brought back is alright, isn’t…” Jiang Ye asked in confusion.
Right now, Qiao Zhuang’s family was spending more than they earned and everyone was not in a good mood. They were people who could not bear to see others living better than them. At home, Qiao Yu was the youngest and also just a girl, so the few sisters-in-law and Qiao Yu’s mother all liked to take jibes at Qiao Yu. Only the third sister-in-law, Jiang Ye, was a person with sense, but then again, she was also stupid and did not have so many tricks up her sleeve.
“Third Sister-in-law, you don’t know anything. If Qiao Yu comes home empty-handed, she will be beaten to death by our father. So she needs to bring more foodstuffs back,” Wang Qin said.
“That’s right. Qiao Yu has been so lucky recently and has brought back quite a lot more things than before. Keep working hard in the future,” Liu Ying said.
“Hahahaha, you’re right,” Wang Qin said laughingly.
Qiao Yu stayed at one side and did not dare to say anything to rebut, much less to reply in the affirmative. She hoped that Li Gui would continue to be so silly enough to bully, but she had basically taken all the food that Li Gui had at her house and there was not much left.
The few men did not say anything as they ate at the table. This noisy conversation eventually became a disturbance to Qiao Zhuang and he coughed while looking coldly at his daughters-in-law.
“Cough…”
The few of them were so frightened by the sound that they quickly fell silent and obediently did needlework near the fireplace.
Qiao Yu went out even earlier the next day. Now, the family did not even feed her breakfast and they asked her to either go and beg on the streets and find someone who pitied her enough to feed her, or to quickly get married. They did not want her to continue living at her maiden home and be an eyesore to them. They felt that if she got married and received betrothal gifts, they could even use that to find a wife for the fifth son of the family.
This time, she was expressionless when she went to Li Gui’s house and was no longer as sneaky as when she went the first time. Qiao Yu pushed open the door to the courtyard and when she saw Li Gui with some clothes, she enthusiastically went forward to help.
“Oh, sister-in-law, are you doing the laundry, let me help you.” Qiao Yu smiled at Li Gui and grabbed the clothes, looking around to see if there was any food.
“Oh, Qiao Yu! There’s no need! It’s fine… Ah, thank you, Qiao Yu.” Before Li Gui could even reject it, the clothes were taken away from her.
Qiao Yu went to fetch water and washed the clothes. She made it appear as if she put in a lot of hard work and it made Li Gui feel ill-at-ease enough to want to prepare some food for her. However, there was really nothing much left to eat at home.
Zhang Chao was so angry that he wanted to scold Qiao Yu and chase her away but he was stopped by Zhang Wei.
“Elder brother! Why are you stopping me! It’s not as if she can kill me!” Zhang Chao clenched his fists in anger.
Zhang Wei bent down and whispered into his brother’s ear, “Don’t kick up a fuss. I’ll go look for elder sister Qiao Mei. Don’t hit or scold this woman. Even if she leaves today, she’ll still come back in the future.”
Zhang Chao could understand the logic behind what he heard and remained sulking in the house. Zhang Wei asked Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao to look after Zhang Chao while he prepared to go out and inform Qiao Mei about what was happening.