Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Thank You Gift
Translator: 549690339
With only the meager output from the fields and the pitiful earnings from casual labor, Qiao Qing and the Sun family could not gather enough silver to support his pursuit of education.
Unavoidably, he had to rely on Qiao Changshun and Zhuang Luhe for support.
His other brothers and sisters-in-law were all shrewd and the Sun family had never been fond of Qiao Changshun, thus, he had no choice but exploit Qiao Changshun and his wife.
Thanks to the contributions from that couple and Qiao Qing and the Sun family, he was able to persevere in the academy.
He didn’t want to do this, but seeing his classmates dressed in extravagant clothes and eating well-prepared food while he could only wear rough clothes and eat the academy’s communal meals. No, he could not go on like this; he wanted respectable clothes, he needed money for social engagement.
All these classmates were either rich or noble. They were the connections he would need in his future pursuit of an official career; he had to win them over.
At first, seeing Qiao Changshun’s increasingly aging face filled Junyan with guilt, planning in his heart to compensate him in the future.
But ten years blinked by, wearing down his guilt over time.
Now, his every thought was focused on networking with his classmates and quickly escaping this shabby village.
Sun Junyan shouldn’t be living this way, there was a broad world outside waiting for him to venture into.
Today, he returned to the village as usual, and by chance, he found out that things like cold jelly noodles, tofu and bean curd were made by Qiao Xiaomai. At that moment, sitting at the dinner table, he was ecstatic. With this way of making money, his thorny path to pursuing studies could be smoothed out.
He struggled to keep his expression under control, not letting his thoughts show on his face; as for what the Sun family said about Qiao Xiaomai’s changes, he didn’t take it to heart at all.
A person weak for ten years, even if they toughened up, were still soft at heart. He could shape her as he liked.
Qiao Meipan darted out, so did the Sun family. He had seen this kind of situation too many times, so he slowly stood up and followed the Qiao family.
Along the way, he had to take several deep breaths to resist the urge to run. Mountains of gold and silver lay ahead, waiting for him!
But when he actually arrived, things were not as he had expected. Qiao Changshun was still the same, but Qiao Xiaomai was the variable.
The quiet girl who usually kept her head down and worked without a word dared to talk back to him, even using words to mock him.
It’s worth noting that she used to not dare look him in the face!
Moreover, a bigger surprise was Tong Tiehu. The Qiao family had been bullied for ten years while Tiehu turned a blind eye, but now he was defiantly standing up for the Qiao family.
What happened here?
A flush of green and white washed over Sun Junyan’s face, Qiao Xiaomai saying what she wanted to say without regarding what he was thinking. She looked at Tong Tiehu, and said, “Grandpa Tong, thank you for the trouble today, wait a moment.”
She quickly ran back home and took the vermicelli from the basin.
This was what Yuan Ding had brought today, a total of five jin. They had made stewed pork with vermicelli for lunch and there was much left. She found a basket and put the vermicelli in it.
“Grandpa Tong, this is vermicelli, made from sweet potato. We ran out of sweet potatoes at home, so I bought these from Jiwei Ju. 1 hope you won’t mind. Take it home and have a taste, it’s quite nice.” Saying this, she handed the basket to Tong Tiehu, smiling pleasantly with dimples by her lips..