794 Setting Off
Everyone looked at Wang Qin with disdain and ridicule. Qiao Mei already did not intend to pursue the matter, yet Wang Qin still refused to let it go.
After Qiao Gui went to jail, did Wang Qin go crazy?
“Your son deserves it, yet you still want to blame Qiao Mei. How shameless of you,” Auntie Wang said.
Auntie Zhou could not stand it anymore and spat on the ground. “Pfft! How shameless! Just go home! Don’t embarrass yourself here!”
“Qiao Mei doesn’t even pursue the issue with you, but you still want to put up a show. There are really all kinds of birds in the forest.”
“This is what they mean by birds of a feather flock together. Isn’t that so true of their family? Nothing strange about that.”
“That’s true. Qiao Zhuang really has a good eye for finding his own kind.”
Everyone’s words were as unpleasant as it could get. Wang Qin could not stand it anymore and ran home crying. Qiao Mei did not take it to heart and continued to distribute seeds to everyone.
All the villagers praised Qiao Mei for being kind. Wang Qin had already bullied her to this extent, but she still did not take it to heart.
After everyone took their money and the seeds, they all went home. Qiao Mei’s own seeds were already all sent to the capital and she had given the rest to He Guang as the first batch of goods to do trial marketing. Naturally, she did not get any money this round.
Li Gui carefully hugged the paper bag containing the money and rapidly ran into the house with a whoosh. She even closed the curtains in the middle of the day.
“Mom, do you have to do this? Won’t it make people realize that something is wrong?” Qiao Mei looked at Li Gui in amusement.
Li Gui slapped her thigh excitedly and poured out all the money from the bag. She gathered them neatly one by one and tabulated that she had earned 1,800 dollars. The 800 dollars was from her own sale of seeds. The remaining 1,000 dollars was, in Qiao Mei’s words, the compensation for their hard work!
“Mei Mei! I’ve never touched so much money before! So much money!” Li Gui said excitedly.
Qiao Mei was also very happy to see Li Gui so happy. Ever since Li Gui and Zhang Qian divorced, she had been smiling more and more. This was really a good thing.
Li Gui thought for a moment and took 1,200 dollars and handed it to Qiao Mei. After such a long time, she had already owed Qiao Mei a lot of money. It probably added up to about 1,180 dollars.
“This is the money I owe you after coming to Foshan Village. As for the children’s tuition fees and the meals previously, I’ll give you the money when I earn more in the future. Take this first,” Li Gui said embarrassedly.
Qiao Mei took the 1,200 dollars and thought for a moment before returning it to Li Gui note by note. As she gave it to Li Gui, she muttered, “This 400 dollars is for the four children. Take it as a red packet for the trip to the capital. This 500 dollars is for you. Take it as my filial piety to you. This 100 dollars is for the four children to buy new clothes.”
In the end, Qiao Mei only took 200 dollars. She could not possibly not take a single cent, otherwise Li Gui would feel bad about it.
“This won’t do! I owe you money! Hurry up and take it!” Li Gui refused.
Qiao Mei sighed and said, “We’re biological mother and daughter. You’ve already paid me back. The money I’m giving you now is to show filial piety to you, as well as to give you some money for the four children. Take it. There will be more chances for you to treat me well in the future. There’s no need to dwell on this.”
Seeing Qiao Mei’s firm attitude, Li Gui did not reject her. She put away the money and prepared to leave with Qiao Mei later.
Everyone had lunch together. After packing up, they stood at the entrance of the street and waited for Chen Hu’s car to pick them up. Last night, Qiao Mei had asked Chen Hu to help them buy sleeper train tickets to go to the capital and also to send a car to pick them up. The journey was comfortable and there were no incidents on the way.
It was the children who were very excited. They leaned against the car window and did not even want to blink, afraid that they would miss any beautiful moment. It was already at night and it was impossible to see anything outside, so no one knew what beautiful scenery the children was trying to see.
“Look at them. They’re so naughty,” Li Gui said with a smile.
“It’s the first time they’re traveling, so it’s inevitable that they’ll be curious,” Qiao Mei said.
Qiao Qiang instructed the children, “The few of you don’t make noise later. Many other passengers are already asleep in the train carriage. We can’t disturb them, do you understand?”
The children nodded sensibly. In the latter half of the night, none of them could take it anymore and they gradually fell asleep. They only arrived in the capital at noon the next day.
However, the closer they got to the capital, the more worried the children became.
