522 Taking Advantage of Everyone’s Absence
Qiao Mei had already been back for two days. During this period of time, no matter how Li Gui tried to talk to her, she did not respond.
Li Gui also felt down. She did not know how she managed to anger Qiao Mei and what she had done wrong. In her impression, she did not seem to have done anything.
The relationship between the two of them remained in a stalemate. Even so, life still went on.
Early in the morning, Qiao Mei realized that many of the blankets at home were very old and there were even big holes in them.
Some of these blankets were even made when Li Gui got married. Qiao Mei felt annoyed when she saw them now.
“Grandfather, Xia Zhe and I are going to the county city to buy some cotton and fabric. The blankets at home are all old and the cotton is no longer usable,” Qiao Mei shouted towards the courtyard.
“Go, go. I’ll go to your Grandpa Zhang’s place in the neighboring village later. He wants to play chess with me!” Qiao Qiang said happily.
There were not many elderly people in this village and he did not get along with them.
Grandpa Zhang from the neighboring village was a retired soldier. His wife had died young and he did not have any children. He and Qiao Qiang hit it off very well and the two of them often got together to play chess. Sometimes, they would even meet up to go shopping in the county city.
“Got it. Then remember to come back early. If it’s too late, there won’t be any transport to send you back!” Qiao Mei said.
“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll remember what you say,” Qiao Qiang said.
Qiao Mei and Xia Zhe packed up and set off.
Today was Thursday, the day when the village focused on farm work. It was now the autumn harvest season and every family was focused on working in the fields. Whoever worked the hardest would get high work points and receive more food at the end of the year. During this period of time, no one idled at home.
Li Gui went out to work while Zhang Wei looked after his younger siblings at home. They washed and dried the wild vegetables they had picked so that they could help out more.
This way, they could reduce the burden on Li Gui by a lot. They all knew how much Li Gui had suffered for them.
“The four of you are really capable.”
When they heard this familiar voice, the four children froze. To them, this was the voice of a demon.
Zhang Qian and Zhang Cong stood at the door of the courtyard with smug expressions. During the past two months, they already knew when Li Gui would be away from home.
Zhang Wei hurriedly sent his younger siblings to hide in the shed and said nervously, “My mother… my mother isn’t back yet. She’s working in the fields. Recently, she’s been busy working in the fields and hasn’t gone out to sell vegetables. There’s only wild vegetables hanging out to dry at home now. There’s nothing else.”
Zhang Cong did not even look at the pile of wild vegetables. Who would want to eat such lousy wild vegetables?
“I’m not here to look for Li Gui. I’m here to look for Zhang Chao and… Zhang… Zhang… What’s your name?” Zhang Qian pointed at Zhang Qin and asked.
“Zhang Qin,” Zhang Wei said softly.
He really did not expect a father not to remember the names of his children.
However, it was not something unexpected. He had not taken care of the children since they were born. He only came up with the names for the boys and he did not even look at the girls.
The girls would have to get married eventually. It would be a waste of food if they stayed at home. If not for Li Gui risking her life to protect Zhang Qin and Zhang Miao, the two of them would probably have been thrown away by Zhang Qian long ago.
“Yes! Zhang Qin! The two of you, come with me.” Zhang Qian waved at the two children.
Zhang Qin and Zhang Chao hid behind Zhang Wei. They were unwilling to return to that place, especially Zhang Qin. To her, that place was a nightmare.
“What… what do you want them to do?” Zhang Wei asked cautiously.
Zhang Qian looked at Zhang Wei impatiently and scolded, “You little brat, are you questioning your father now? Aren’t you getting bold! I can do whatever I want with my own children! If I ask you to die now, you have to die! How dare you question me! You don’t even greet me when you see me? The longer you stay with Li Gui, the worse your upbringing!”
Zhang Cong stood at the side and felt embarrassed when he heard the word “upbringing”.
What could someone like Zhang Qian teach? How to make friends with all kinds of widows?
The more Zhang Cong thought about it, the more amused he felt. He could not help but laugh out loud, angering Zhang Qian.
“You’re also my son! What are you laughing at! I haven’t even said anything and you still dare to laugh!” Zhang Qian went up and gave Zhang Cong a kick.
