583 Be A Slave
Liu Ying opened the envelope. The handwriting in the letter was neat and tidy. Although it was not beautiful, it looked good to someone like her who could not read.
“Qiao Mei… wrote this?” Liu Ying asked suspiciously.
Back then, when the people from the armed forces department came to the village, they chatted happily with Qiao Mei. Now it seemed that they really knew one another. No matter, Qiao Mei was the only person in the entire village who could help her contact a place like the armed forces department.
“Yes, you still have to thank your Qiao Hua for this. Qiao Hua has always been nice to Qiao Mei and Qiao Mei has always remembered it. Qiao Mei is the one who finds this job for you. When you join the armed forces department, you’d better behave yourself and not show your face in public. You owe Qiao Zhuang’s family money now. If they find out about this, even the armed forces department won’t be able to protect you,” Zhao Liang said.
Tears welled up in Liu Ying’s eyes. When she thought about how she had bullied Qiao Mei in the past, she felt very guilty.
She did not expect Qiao Mei to be the one to help her in times of danger.
“I understand! Brother Zhao, go back and tell Qiao Mei that I’ll definitely repay her if I have the chance in this life. I’ll be her slave in my next life!” Liu Ying said agitatedly.
Zhao Liang smiled and nodded. At least Liu Ying could be considered a grateful person, unlike the other ingrates in Qiao Zhuang’s family who would not spit out the bones even if you gave them meat!
“No need to be a slave, but you just have to take good care of yourself. Don’t let Qiao Zhuang’s family find out about this and cause trouble for Qiao Mei,” Zhao Liang said.
“Yes! Thank you! I’ll definitely be well! Then my daughter…” Liu Ying said hesitantly.
“Qiao Mei has also secretly made some arrangements for someone to take care of your daughter. She’s living very well now and is already married to the family you mentioned. From now on, as long as she lives her life well, she’ll be fine,” Zhao Liang said.
Liu Ying nodded, feeling touched. As long as Qiao Hua was settled down, she could finally feel relieved.
“I’m leaving. Take care.” Zhao Liang drove back to the village.
Qiao Mei helped Qiao Qiang back home slowly. The three of them sat in the house happily munching on melon seeds.
Over the past two days, Qiao Mei had a good harvest of melon seeds. She made a full pot of stir-fried melon seeds and gave a portion to the women in the village. She also wrapped up a portion and sent it to Xia He in the capital.
Previously, Xia He had been clamoring for Qiao Mei to get her some melon seeds. Qiao Mei was happy to fulfill her wish now.
At night, Qiao Zhuang’s family held a meeting to talk about Qiao Yu’s future. By right, she should be the one marrying into the Guo family, but the Guo family did not seem to like her.
“Father, what should we do now? What if the matchmaker comes over tomorrow to ask for the betrothal gifts to be returned?” Qiao Fu said anxiously.
Qiao Zhuang glanced leisurely at Qiao Fu and said, “I’m not even anxious, so why are you so anxious? Don’t tell me you’re eyeing this 1,000 dollars?”
Qiao Fu laughed awkwardly and said, “What are you saying? Why will I do such a thing? I’m just worried.”
Qiao Zhuang ignored Qiao Fu and turned his attention to Wang Qin. He had taken what Madam Dong said earlier in the day to heart and specially went to ask around. He realized that the Guo family had always used this matchmaker to find new wives for Old Master Guo. Very few people would agree to do such an immoral thing.
Those who “sold” their daughters to the Guo family all admitted that someone in their family took money from the matchmaker.
“Wang Qin, don’t you have anything to tell me?” Qiao Zhuang said.
Wang Qin smiled and said, “Father, what do you want me to say?”
“About the rebate and why the box containing the money for family expenses has 120 dollars in it,” Qiao Zhuang said.
“Well… the matchmaker did give me 100 dollars. I was too embarrassed to take it all myself, so I put all the money in the box to supplement the family’s expenses. I thought that there was nothing much to say about this matter, but I didn’t expect Liu Ying to steal the money…” Wang Qin said.
Now that Liu Ying was in jail, she could just accuse Liu Ying of anything! Anyway, it was impossible for anyone to get hold of Liu Ying now and ask her if she had done all these things.
Qiao Zhuang nodded doubtfully. He had never asked for details about that box at home and only Wang Qin knew about it. Naturally, it was all up to her to say. Even if he suspected something, he had no evidence.
“Father, there are only boys and a few seven or eight-year-old girls at home now. If Qiao Yu gets married, there’s no one to do the chores,” said the fourth son, Qiao Liang.
“Are all your wives just for show! Did I give you so many betrothal gifts to marry into my family so that you can sit there like deities we pray to!” Qiao Zhuang roared angrily.
