Jiang Qiaoqiao realized she had misspoke and quickly chuckled to cover her embarrassment. "Um... your money is yours, I don't care who you give it to. I didn't mean anything by what I said just now, I was just illustrating the importance of money."

Huo Beixiao looked at Jiang Qiaoqiao, opened his mouth, and asked, "Do you believe in dreams?"

Jiang Qiaoqiao's pupils dilated, and she looked at Huo Beixiao in surprise.

Could it be that Huo Beixiao dreamt of his past life with Jiang Yiran...?

She had suspected that Huo Beixiao had also been reborn, but after several attempts, she discovered that Huo Beixiao knew nothing about his past life.

"What did you dream about?" she asked, trying to hide her emotions.

Looking into her moist almond-shaped eyes, Huo Beixiao felt somewhat embarrassed to speak.

After all, as an adult, it's really... ridiculous that he can't distinguish between dreams and reality, and that he can't refuse Jiang Yiran's requests because of the guilt he feels in his dreams.

"It's nothing, I was just asking."

Seeing that he didn't want to talk anymore, Jiang Qiaoqiao didn't press him further.

Let's eat!

Unbeknownst to Jiang Qiaoqiao, while she and Huo Beixiao were having dinner, she had once again become the center of discussion under the banyan tree.

Aunt Zhao gathered the people chatting under the banyan tree together, lowered her voice, and said mysteriously, "Guess what I saw today?"

Her words immediately piqued everyone's curiosity, and they quickly asked, "Aunt Zhao, stop being so mysterious and tell us what you saw?"

Aunt Zhao gestured towards Jiang Qiaoqiao's house with her chin and said, "I saw Huo Beixiao give money to her sister-in-law!"

"ah--"

Immediately, everyone was so shocked that their mouths dropped open.

"Really? Engineer Huo is usually very serious and upright; he doesn't seem like that kind of person!"

"I heard that Qiaoqiao's younger sister married into a rural family. Maybe Engineer Huo is just helping his sister-in-law because he treats his wife well?"

Aunt Zhao rolled her eyes in disgust and said, "You can know a person's face but not their heart. What's with this talk of being upright? Have you forgotten the last time the Jiang family came? Jiang Qiaoqiao didn't give her family a kind look at all. If Huo Beixiao really cares about his wife, he should be just like Jiang Qiaoqiao and not give the Jiang family a kind look."

"Let me tell you, the marriage arranged between the Huo and Jiang families was originally intended for Huo Beixiao to marry Jiang Yiran. It was Jiang Qiaoqiao who didn't want to marry into the countryside and suffer hardship, so she used tricks to break up the two lovers."

"Besides, let me tell you, I listened carefully last night, and I didn't hear a thing next door. They probably haven't consummated their marriage yet!"

Aunt Zhao's account was so detailed and convincing that it astonished everyone.

"Every morning, Engineer Huo helps Qiaoqiao move recyclables to sell, and after get off work, he rushes home. The two of them don't seem to have a bad relationship!"

"Hey!" Aunt Zhao said with the air of someone who'd been there all along, "Both of them have other women outside, and they're afraid of being exposed, so they have to put on an act for everyone to see, right? You've been married to your husband for so many years, has he ever been this considerate?"

Aunt Zhao asked Tian Xiaofang, who had been questioning her, with confidence.

Tian Xiaofang immediately looked disgusted. "My silly husband, how could he be so considerate? If he doesn't lie in bed like a king when he gets home from get off work, I'll be burning incense in gratitude!"

"Do any of you men have a man as considerate as Huo Beixiao?" Aunt Zhao asked the others.

Everyone shook their heads, and some even began listing their husbands' faults.

Aunt Zhao clapped her hands and spread them out, "Isn't that settled? None of the men are that good, and he's the only good one. Isn't that because he did something wrong and is feeling guilty, so he's behaving better at home?"

Everyone immediately agreed that what Aunt Zhao said made a lot of sense.

At this point, someone raised another question, "Aunt Zhao, if that's the case, then it's also Huo Gong who's dishonest. Jiang Qiaoqiao isn't bad at all, so why do you say she has someone else outside?"

Aunt Zhao lowered her voice, "Didn't you see how she dresses like a fairy every day when she goes out? And think about it, isn't she always impeccably dressed when she goes out and when she comes back? Which ragpicker can be as well-dressed as her?"

After hearing what Aunt Zhao said, everyone suddenly realized what was going on.

When Jiang Qiaoqiao first married into the family, she was very thin. Although she looked pretty when she dressed up, she was still not as attractive as she is now.

Now that they're eating well, Jiang Qiaoqiao has gained weight in all the right places, and when she dresses up every day, she looks as fresh and beautiful as a flower.

He certainly doesn't look like someone who spends all day picking up trash.

Everyone immediately smiled knowingly, "That couple really knows how to have fun."

Just then, someone with sharp eyes noticed a fashionable woman wearing a red polka-dot dress and with wavy hair entering through the main gate of the residential compound.

She is Chen Yuexia, Huo Beixiao's stepmother and Huo Yuanshan's current wife.

"Oh, isn't that Director Chen?"

Chen Yuexia is the director of the finance department of the cement plant.

Just then, someone nudged Aunt Zhao and said, "Aunt Zhao, I heard that Jiang Qiaoqiao has been married into the family for so long, but she has never even visited Director Huo's house once. Director Chen is also Huo Beixiao's mother and Jiang Qiaoqiao's mother-in-law. You should go and talk to her about her son and daughter-in-law."

Aunt Zhao was always a busybody, so she immediately went to tell Chen Yuexia.

*

Jiang Qiaoqiao didn't set up her stall in the afternoon; she planned to go to the bank to deposit her money.

Once she has saved enough money, she will open a clothing store.

Although she made a lot of money from her stall during this period, some quick-thinking people saw that she was making money and started to go to the provincial capital to buy clothes to set up their own stalls.

This industry will soon be in turmoil.

Once someone starts manipulating prices, profits will be significantly reduced.

She wants to save up enough capital before prices go down, and then open a high-end store.

Jiang Qiaoqiao took the money and prepared to go to the bank.

Carrying a large sum of money, she walked very cautiously the whole way.

Although there's a crackdown now, public security isn't as robust as it will be decades later. What if she's doing well selling clothes at the market these days and gets targeted...?

Jiang Qiaoqiao was on tenterhooks until she saw the bank's doors and then breathed a sigh of relief.

But as soon as she breathed a sigh of relief, a sharp, cold object pressed against her waist. "Don't move, come with me obediently! If you dare disobey, I'll kill you with one stroke!"