Without hesitation, Chenchen said, "I'm going to find Grandpa Qin."

Qiao Qiqi patted his head. "Okay, then you can go to Grandpa Qin's place starting tomorrow. If you've had enough of staying there, you can go to my parents' house if you want. I'll have your brother Qin take you there."

Qiao Qiqi didn't know how long this trip would take, so she had to explain everything she could think of.

After chatting with Chenchen for over an hour and covering all the issues she could think of, Qiao Qiqi immediately got up and went back to her parents' home.

Upon hearing that she was going to Beijing, Lin Chunying immediately turned around and went inside to get money. "This 180 yuan is all the money your father and I have. We'll keep 20 yuan for ourselves. You can take the rest. There are many expenses in big cities. We don't know how much it will cost to treat Xin Xin. If you don't bring more money, what will you do if you don't have enough and are unfamiliar with the place?"

"Mother, I have money on me, you don't need to give me any." Qiao Qiqi pressed Lin Chunying's hand.

But Lin Chunying slapped her hand away and stuffed the money into her pocket. "I know you have some, but what if it's not enough? This is for crossing the river. If you don't need it, you can take it back to me."

Seeing that Lin Chunying had said so, Qiao Qiqi had no choice but to accept the money.

Because she knew that if she didn't accept it, Lin Chunying would definitely worry.

Feeling cared for, she felt a warmth in her heart and couldn't help but open her arms and give Lin Chunying a hug. "Mom, take good care of yourself at home. Don't skimp on your food. Make sure you take the medicine I asked you on time. If your back hurts, ask Dad to massage it for you."

Seeing her suddenly become sentimental, Lin Chunying smiled helplessly, "Mother doesn't need you to worry. Just take good care of yourself out there. You've only been to the county twice recently, and you've never even been to Heilong City. Now you're going to go to Beijing alone, a place so far away. You won't know anyone there, so you must be careful in everything you do. Remember not to be reckless if anything happens, and also..."

Lin Chunying talked a lot, going on and on.

Qiao Qiqi listened obediently.

She knew this was the feeling of a mother worrying about her son even when he was far away.

If I don't listen, it will only increase Lin Chunying's worries.

She couldn't help but recall that when she was in modern times, because the university she was admitted to was more than a thousand kilometers away from home, Ms. Qiao's eyes would always be red when she saw her off.

Now that it's in the book, Qiao Qiqi can understand Lin Chunying's feelings even better.

"Alright, it's getting late. You're leaving tomorrow, so head out early!" Lin Chunying finally finished speaking.

Qiao Qiqi stepped out of her embrace and saw that Lin Chunying's eyes were also red. She wanted to reach out and wipe them away, but Lin Chunying quickly turned her head away and wiped away her tears. "By the way, Miss Fang and Director Sun took you to Beijing. That's a huge favor. I don't have anything good to offer. I heard that city people like to eat wild vegetables from our countryside. I happen to have some dried wild vegetables and dried mushrooms. You can give them to them. Don't let people think we're stingy."

Qiao Qiqi was also going to talk about this.

Seeing that Lin Chunying had prepared these for her, she was moved again. "Mother, I'll take these. I won't come over tonight. Please remember to tell my father about my trip to Beijing."

"Okay, I've got it."

Qiao Qiqi tied her pockets up. "I still need to go to my in-laws' house to tell them, so I'll be going now."

Just as she was about to leave, Lin Chunying suddenly remembered something, called her back, turned around and went back into the house to take out a new pair of pants and new cloth shoes. "These pants are what I made for you a couple of days ago. I was thinking of giving them to you for your birthday next month. And these shoes are what your dad bought for me. Our feet are the same size, so you can take them too. Change your clothes often when you're out. Our clothes may not be expensive, but they absolutely have to be clean so that people don't think we country folk are unhygienic."

"..." Qiao Qiqi held the pants and shoes, feeling both amused and exasperated.

That makes it sound like she's unhygienic! She's perfectly clean, you know!

However, she didn't argue with Lin Chunyu. She put her pants and shoes into a bag, and only after confirming that Lin Chunying had nothing else to do did she finally leave the house.

Thinking about what Lin Chunying said about her birthday coming soon, Qiao Qiqi did the math and found that there were indeed only eighteen or nineteen days left until the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.

By then, she would definitely have returned from Beijing, and the autumn harvest would be almost over. It would be a good time to invite both sets of parents to our home for a proper family reunion dinner.

When she arrived at the Qin family home, Qin Baojun learned that she was going to Beijing. He immediately gave her a series of instructions and took out 5 yuan from his pocket. "Is this enough money for you to go to Beijing? I don't have much money on me. If it's not enough, I'll go out and borrow some for you."

"No need, Father. I have money. You and Mother can keep this money for yourselves. You and Mother aren't well-off, so you don't need to give me any money." Qiao Qiqi knew that the Qin family had already emptied their savings with the dowry she received, and this 5 yuan might be all they had left.

But Qin Baojun insisted on giving it to her no matter what.

Qiao Qiqi had no choice but to grit her teeth and take the money. "Okay, Dad, I'll take this money. If you don't have any money at home, just ask Qin Huai for it."

"Okay, okay," Qin Baojun replied.

Seeing that it was getting late and she still had to go to the Su family to cook, Qiao Qiqi left immediately.

When they arrived at the Su family's house, Zhang Hongyan had already laid out all the ingredients for dinner in the kitchen. Tonight, they would be having stewed dishes in an iron pot and cold dishes.

While Qiao Qiqi was cooking, Zhang Hongyan suddenly noticed the gentian violet on her palm. She grabbed her hand and saw a bunch of small cuts on her palm, and quickly asked, "How did this happen? Why are there so many cuts?"

Qiao Qiqi said calmly, "It's nothing, I just fell off my bicycle. It's just a minor injury, it doesn't hurt."

Zhang Hongyan frowned, "Look at the mess you've made. If I had known your hand was injured, I wouldn't have let you cook."

"It's okay, I really don't feel any pain, and it'll be done in no time." Qiao Qiqi quickly tossed the last few flatbreads into the pot and put the lid on.

Pour in all the seasonings for the cold dish, and you're all done.

She washed her uninjured hand. "Aunt Su, there are still a few eggplants here. I'll make you some garlic eggplant. I also made a lot of flatbreads, so there should be some left over. Tomorrow morning, you can just cook a pot of porridge and that will be enough for breakfast."

"Oh dear, your hand is injured. Don't bother with all that work, go back and rest!"

"It's nothing, just something I did on the spur of the moment."

Qiao Qiqi finally finished making the garlic eggplant before going back. Seeing that the sun was about to set, she figured Qin Huai must have already gone home by then, so she quickened her pace.

When they got home, they found that Qin Huai had indeed returned.

But he ignored him.

He clearly saw her return in the yard, but immediately turned around and went into the kitchen.