Huang Yan glanced helplessly at Cheng Hongmei and said, "You're her sister-in-law, so no one cares if you argue with her a bit. But I'm her stepmother, why should I get involved? Will she go to Director Li and complain about me again?"

Cheng Hongmei's face fell, clearly displeased: "So you're just going to stand by and watch her insult me?"

"Otherwise what? Getting involved would only add fuel to the fire. You silly girl, can't you use your brain? Can't you see that Fang Qiao has been antagonizing us these past few days?" Huang Yan was truly exasperated.

This girl is simple-minded and doesn't inherit her shrewdness at all.

"Really?" Cheng Hongmei was a little taken aback. "Hasn't she always been like this?"

It was that same sharp tongue; his words stung her.

"It's different! She used to be stubborn, but she was actually a lamb. She panicked as soon as Cheng Baidong got into trouble. Do you still see that now?"

Once Cheng Hongmei thought about it this way, things seemed different.

When she heard about Cheng Baidong's accident yesterday, she was so frightened that her face turned pale and she even fainted for half the morning.

This morning, when he heard others say that Cheng Baidong was dead, he was able to throw clods of dirt outside without changing his expression.

Seeing that Cheng Hongmei had figured it out, Huang Yan quickly lowered her voice and said to her, "Do you think she was completely unaware of our family's scheme? Did she just sit there like a fool waiting for us to plot against her? If she were really stupid, we would have coaxed her into moving into our house yesterday. Otherwise, she would have slipped and fallen on the ice in a panic this morning. And this snake, it can't scare her. That little devil is cunning!"

“She knows exactly what we’re thinking. If things really fall apart, and she spills the beans, what will we do? Should we keep the house Cheng Bodong left behind? If we keep it, the whole village will condemn us to death. If we don’t keep it, can you really accept such a nice brick house?”

Cheng Hongmei was naturally unwilling to give up. Cheng Baidong's brick house was the best in the village, and she had wanted to move in for a long time.

She asked worriedly, "Then what should we do?"

"Didn't your dad say that there are plenty of ways to deal with a woman, especially since Fang Qiao is a widow?"

Huang Yan sneered, "A widow's life is full of troubles. Even if you have money, you have to be able to keep it. Your third aunt is a case in point. Her husband's job was originally meant for her son, but what happened? In the end, he was replaced, and he couldn't stay in town. He had to slink back to the village to make a living. Just you wait and see, that brat Fang Qiao won't have a good ending."

Huang Yan's words sounded nice, but Cheng Hongmei didn't believe them.

It's mainly because of her father; he's a bully at home. He's honest and unassuming when he's out in public, but at home he's incredibly domineering and beats his wife.

To be honest, Cheng Hongmei really looked down on her father.

Only her mother, she's a woman who follows her husband wherever he goes, treating his father's words like sacred decrees.

She pouted: "Mom, Dad talks a big game, but from yesterday to today, it's been the two of us working hard, and he hasn't come up with any good solutions. Is he even capable?"

"Speak up, why are you pouting? That's your dad, show him some respect." Huang Yan rolled her eyes at Cheng Hongmei.

Cheng Hongmei reluctantly replied, "Okay."

"Alright, little girl, stop following adults around asking questions all the time. If you know too much, you might accidentally let something slip." Huang Yan said, then sighed, "I don't know what your brother is up to. He didn't come home all night, and I can't find him to discuss anything. He's always quick-witted; he'd definitely come up with a good idea for the family."

"That's because you spoiled him." Cheng Hongmei snorted and said with dissatisfaction, "He goes out to fool around every day and is almost turning into a good-for-nothing. He will squander all the money in the family sooner or later."

"You brat, you never say a nice thing!" Huang Yan reached out to hit her, but Cheng Hongmei cried out "Ouch!" and ran away.

She ran home without paying attention to where she was going and bumped into Cheng Yajun, who had just returned home.

Cheng Yajun had been drinking last night and had been playing cards all night. He lost his balance, slipped, and fell on his backside along with Cheng Hongmei.

Cheng Yajun lay on the ground, crying out in pain, and cursing Cheng Hongmei for not watching where she was going.

Cheng Hongmei also fell quite hard and was scolded by Cheng Yajun, which made her feel very wronged.

At this moment, Li Jinlong, who had returned with Cheng Yajun, stepped forward and said, "Alright, Yajun, the little sister didn't bump into you on purpose. Just say less."

He reached out his hand to Cheng Hongmei: "Little sister, come here, let me help you up."

Cheng Hongmei looked at Li Jinlong gratefully, reached out and grasped his hand, and stood up from the ground with the help of his strength.

Her pretty face flushed slightly, and she whispered, "Thank you, Brother Jinlong."

Li Jinlong laughed heartily, "No need to thank me, your sister is my sister too. Don't take it personally with your brother, he's always so fierce and doesn't know that you have to cherish your sister."

Upon seeing this, Cheng Yajun frowned immediately.

That Li Jinlong is shameless! He tries to get intimate with every woman he sees. I didn't bring him home to let him ruin my sister's life!

He quickly got up from the ground, dusted himself off, stood between the two, and said impatiently to Cheng Hongmei, "You're always so reckless. Go home and stop embarrassing yourself outside."

Cheng Hongmei hesitated, wanting to say a few more words to Li Jinlong, but Cheng Yajun glared at her fiercely, so she reluctantly went home.

Cheng Yajun then took Li Jinlong to the main room, where his father, Cheng Guihe, was already waiting to discuss with his son how to capture Fang Qiao.

*

While the Cheng family was busy with their petty squabbles, Fang Qiao wasn't idle either.

She wondered if things from the space could be brought out, could things from the real world be brought in?

After trying for a whole afternoon, Fang Qiao finally figured it out.

Daily necessities and food are allowed in, but live animals are not. For example, she can bring in the pot of stewed chicken she made yesterday, but live chickens are not allowed.

Watches and clocks can be brought inside, but their hands will stop moving once inside. However, they will return to normal once you leave the space.

Of course, she couldn't bring anyone in either. Fang Qiao tried to grab Tian Tian's hand and enter the space, but there was no response.

So Fang Qiao simply used the space as a secret storage room, putting all the money and tickets stored at home into a backpack, and then hanging the backpack on a tree in the space, so that she wouldn't have to worry about thieves breaking into her house.

Fang Qiao also brought the bucket into the space, fetched water from the stream, and brought it out again.

She was still hesitant to eat the things she brought out of the space, planning to use them first to water the fields and feed the chickens. If the cabbages in the fields and the chickens at home grew well, she would drink them after giving birth.

Call her timid or afraid of death, but she is pregnant, so it's better to be safe than sorry. It's best to avoid anything risky.