Wang Xiaomai's eyes widened suddenly, "Limin..."

Su Limin didn't linger and quickly turned and left.

Half an hour later, as Qiao Qiqi was driving Fang Jingru back, she suddenly heard the beeping of a bus behind her. She immediately pulled over to the far right of the road and cleared the way.

Soon, the bus caught up and overtook the bicycle.

Just as the two passed each other, Qiao Qiqi happened to see Su Limin sitting in the car and glance in her direction.

Qiao Qiqi didn't pay attention. Seeing that there were no cars behind her, she turned slightly towards the middle of the road.

Rural dirt roads are difficult to travel on, with a lot of sand on both sides, making cycling particularly bumpy. In contrast, there is less sand in the middle of the road, making cycling more stable.

Su Limin got off the bus at the village entrance, already feeling annoyed, and then she stepped into a ditch and twisted her ankle.

When she limped home, her ankle was so painful she couldn't move it.

"What happened? How did you sprain your ankle after just going out?" Zhang Hongyan saw her daughter's injury and quickly got some medicated oil to rub on it.

Su Limin pouted and refused to speak.

Zhang Hongyan was already used to her daughter throwing a tantrum again and didn't pay much attention.

But just as she was putting away the medicine bottle and about to leave, Su Limin suddenly spoke up: "Mom, can you buy me a bicycle?"

"Why buy a bicycle? Don't we already have one at home?"

“That bicycle belongs to my dad. He rides it every day to work, so I never get to ride it. Besides, he’s ridden that bicycle for many years, and it’s completely worn out.” Su Limin frowned, then suddenly said hopefully, “Could you buy me a new one?”

"You might as well sell me!" Zhang Hongyan rolled her eyes. "Do you know how much a bicycle costs? Even without the ticket, it's still 150 yuan. Where would we get that kind of extra money?"

Su Limin knew this would be the outcome, but she did know that Zhang Hongyan had money. She had seen Zhang Hongyan's bankbook before, and there was a full four hundred yuan in it, more than enough to buy a bicycle.

She kept pestering Zhang Hongyan to buy her meat, but Zhang Hongyan said that the money was for emergencies and couldn't be touched.

Su Limin was particularly indignant. What urgent matter could her family possibly have? Wasn't it just to save money for her younger brother's wedding? Seeing Zhang Hongyan's favoritism, she asked for something a little more expensive for the first time, only to be directly rejected by Zhang Hongyan. Su Limin angrily jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed).

But he forgot that his ankle was still injured, and he immediately cried out in pain.

"Oh dear, you child, don't you know you twisted your ankle? I think you don't want to get better!" Zhang Hongyan had just turned around to put out some medicated oil when she saw her jump down, and she was speechless.

But Su Limin retorted, "If it's not good, it's not good. Anyway, you're not going to buy me a bicycle."

Zhang Hongyan frowned. Seeing that she was jumping because she hadn't agreed to buy her a bicycle, she angrily reached out and slapped her on the shoulder. "You child, did you see someone riding a bicycle again and now you insist on having one?"

"Who else could it be? Besides our family, who else in the village has a bicycle?" Su Limin became more and more unhappy, pouting. "Qin Huai bought Qiao Qiqi a bicycle as soon as they got together, why can't you buy me one?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hongyan realized that she had seen Qiao Qiqi riding a bicycle, and she was speechless. "Qin Huai is capable, and when the two of them got their marriage certificate, both sets of parents gave them money. He can buy a bicycle whenever he wants. If you want one, you should find someone to marry and have him buy it for you!"

Su Limin scoffed, "Who knows where she got that bicycle? Everyone in the village said that when Qiao Qiqi got married, both sets of parents gave her 150 yuan, which was barely enough for a bicycle. But ever since Qiao Qiqi got married, she's been going to town every day, bringing back loads of things. Don't those things cost money? I heard she even bought Lin Chunying a sewing machine, which cost over a hundred yuan."

Su Limin's sarcasm became more and more obvious as she spoke, "Everyone says the Qin family is not well-off, but the Qiao family isn't much better off. Lin Chunying has a bad back, and all the family's money has gone to medical treatment over the years. They also have to support Qiao Tianyou's schooling. Where would they get any extra money for her?"

"So everyone in the village says that Qiao Qiqi went to town to do something shady, exchanged the money, and that's why she was able to buy so many nice things!"

Zhang Hongyan's eyes widened suddenly. Seeing that her daughter's words were becoming increasingly outrageous, she immediately reached out and covered her mouth, "You brat, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Su Limin yanked her hand away and said defiantly, "I'm not making this up. That's what everyone in the village says."

“Let them say what they want, but you can’t. You’re still a young woman. How can you gossip like those old women in the village? Besides, Qiao Qiqi came to cook for us every day recently, and we still owe her a favor. How can you say such things about her?”

Su Limin didn't take it seriously at all. "She came to our house to cook because my father promised her work points. Why should we owe her a favor? It's a matter of mutual consent, and we clearly owe each other nothing!"

"You child!" Zhang Hongyan was so angry that her chest ached when she saw that she had given birth to such a daughter who talked nonsense and didn't know how to be grateful.

Su Limin didn't notice that Zhang Hongyan wasn't going to buy her a bicycle anyway, so she angrily limped back to her west room.

She knew perfectly well where the Qin family's money came from.

When I ran into Ren Tengfei in the village before, he said that he had been seeing Qin Huai and Zhang Qing going up the mountain at night for a while.

What could those two be doing up the mountain so late at night? There are other people in the village who hunt too.

Therefore, Su Limin knew that Qin Huai must have gone up the mountain to hunt every night to earn money and then gave it to Qiao Qiqi, which was why Qiao Qiqi could often go to town to buy delicious food and live such a comfortable life.

She liked Qin Huai, so naturally she wouldn't report him, but she couldn't stand seeing Qiao Qiqi living such a carefree life!

The next day, Su Limin was strolling around the village, looking depressed, when she suddenly saw a girl walking towards her.

Seeing a fair face in the distance, she initially thought it was Qiao Qiqi and was lamenting that fate had brought them together. However, when the person got closer, she realized that it wasn't Qiao Qiqi, but the woman who had been with Qiao Qiqi in town yesterday.

As Fang Jingru approached, she recognized Su Limin and asked with a smile, "Hello, I'd like to ask if you know how to get to Lu Xiufen's house?"

Su Limin frowned: "Why are you asking about Lu Xiufen's family?"

She knew that Qiao Qiqi brought back a woman when she returned from Beijing, and that the woman looked quite similar to her. She realized that the woman in front of her was the one. But weren't Qiao Qiqi and Lu Xiufen sworn enemies?

So when Su Limin saw the woman in front of her asking about Lu Xiufen, she immediately felt strange.