When Qiao Yu saw Zhang Wei going out, she immediately asked, “Zhang Wei, where are you going?”
Zhang Wei did not panic and simply replied, “Ah… I’m going to pick some vegetables. There’s not much left at home.”
“Then why aren’t you bringing your siblings along?” Qiao Yu looked at Zhang Wei in puzzlement.
“We… we… We found a bunch of stuff yesterday! But we were too weak to carry it all, so we hid it under a pile of soil. I’m going back to take a look.” Zhang Wei casually came up with a lie.
Qiao Yu’s eyes lit up when she heard that there were a bunch of good things to be had. She wiped her hands on her clothes and stood up to go with Zhang Wei.
“Then you won’t be able to carry it either. Auntie will go with you!” Qiao Yu quickly came over and wanted to follow him.
Zhang Wei quickly turned her down and said, “No need, no need. There’s not much left so I can carry it myself. You can stay at home and help my mother with the cooking.”
When Qiao Yu heard that, she took it that Zhang Wei had invited her to stay for a meal and she became even more confident. She straightened her back and said to Zhang Wei with a wide smile, “Ah, okay then, Auntie won’t go with you. Be careful!”
After saying that, Qiao Yu went back to wash the clothes with a big smile on her face. Zhang Wei did not say anything else and hurriedly ran to look for Qiao Mei.
“Elder sister Mei Mei! Are you there! Elder sister Mei Mei! Elder sister Mei Mei!” Zhang Wei was so anxious that his forehead was covered in sweat as he shouted at the doorway.
Qiao Mei had felt lazy today and stayed at home to help her grandfather clean up the courtyard. Currently, the grandfather and granddaughter were chatting in the house.
“Isn’t that Zhang Wei calling for you?” Qiao Qiang looked outside in confusion.
“I think so… Grandfather, hang on, I’ll go take a look,” Qiao Mei said.
When Qiao Mei came out of the house and saw the distressed Zhang Wei, she thought that something had happened to Li Gui and asked anxiously, “What’s wrong, did something happen.”
“There’s… there’s a woman who came to our house. She’s been freeloading for a few days and even took away a lot of food. She said… said that she’s our aunt.” Zhang Wei was panting after running over and could not even speak properly.
Qiao Mei wondered where this domineering aunt in Li Gui’s house came from. Zhang Qian was an only child and he was the only one in his own family. She had never heard of him having a younger sister, so she was curious about where this aunt came from.
“Aunt? What aunt? Don’t be anxious, bring me over to take a look. Wait a moment.” Qiao Mei went back into the house and gave her grandfather a brief of the situation before going to Li Gui’s house with Zhang Wei.
By the time the two of them reached home, it was already lunchtime. The weather had gotten warmer and Zhang Wei had earlier told Zhang Qin and Li Gui to say that they would be having lunch in the courtyard today. He would then ask elder sister Qiao Mei to come over to deal with this woman.
Qiao Mei watched Qiao Yu wolfing down the food in the courtyard as Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao looked at Qiao Yu from afar and did not dare to go over and eat. To be precise, it was not that they did not dare to eat but there was nothing for the children and Li Gui to eat at all. All the food had all been eaten by Qiao Yu, and even if Qiao Yu could not finish it, she was going to take it all with her.
“Oh my, I was wondering which destitute aunt had popped up from some nook and cranny. So it’s you, Qiao Yu.” Qiao Mei looked at Qiao Yu mockingly.
Qiao Yu’s back was facing the door, so she could not see the people coming and going at the door. When she heard Qiao Mei’s voice, she was so frightened that she dropped her cutlery on the ground and did not know if she should spit out or swallow the food in her mouth.
“Ah… It’s Qiao Mei. Why are you here?” Qiao Yu turned around nervously and saw Zhang Wei standing beside Qiao Mei.
So this child was lying when he said he was going out to get the vegetables!
In a moment of carelessness, Qiao Yu had allowed Zhang Wei to inform other people about what was happening. Only then did she realize that she had fallen into Zhang Wei’s trap. However, it was already too late and it seemed like she would not be able to bring anything home with her today.
“If I didn’t come, you would probably even eat the house, right?” Qiao Mei walked closer to Qiao Yu and stared at her.
Qiao Yu hurriedly waved her hands and fell off the stool in fright.
“I… I don’t… I don’t have such an ability. Qiao Mei, you really like to joke, hahaha.” Qiao Yu laughed awkwardly.
Li Gui heaved a sigh of relief to see that Qiao Mei had come over to back her up. However, she also felt so useless to need her daughter to help her solve the problem. She lowered her head and did not know what to say.