This wasn't just baseless speculation; after all, there was an example right there at the east end of the village.

The old man in that family also adopted a boy and raised him with great difficulty. But after the boy got married, he forgot his father and beat and scolded him, and even refused to feed him. Last year, when the old man was sick and paralyzed, the old man cut off all ties with him!

Everyone in the surrounding villages knew about this, and they all cursed that kid as an ingrate.

Finally, when the kid realized he couldn't stay in Qingyang Brigade any longer, he moved away. As for where he moved to, nobody knows.

"Didn't Qiao Qiqi like that educated youth surnamed Hou before? How come she suddenly married Qin Huai? This is really strange..."

They discussed it all the way, but couldn't come to a conclusion.

Meanwhile, Qiao Qiqi, who was adding fuel to the fire in the village, had already filled the water tank at home halfway with spiritual spring water while Qin Huai was away.

She dared not replace all the water with spiritual spring water, fearing that its strong effects would be discovered.

It's good to keep things in half like this, so that fatigue can be relieved and no one will notice.

After confirming that everything was alright, she had just stepped out of the kitchen when she saw a middle-aged man standing at the gate of the yard. Upon seeing her, he immediately smiled and said, "Qin Huai's wife, I'm Wang the carpenter from the village. Qin Huai came to see me yesterday and asked me to come to your house to make two cabinets."

Upon hearing that it was Wang the carpenter, Qiao Qiqi immediately opened the courtyard gate, saying, "Please come inside and sit down."

"I won't sit here. Just tell me what kind of cabinet you want to make, and I'll write it down and make it for you when I get back."

Even if there's a significant age gap, it's still best to avoid being alone together, especially between a man and a woman.

Qiao Qiqi was just being polite. Seeing that the other party was quite tactful, she immediately went back into the house and brought out a drawing she had prepared in advance.

"Look, I need three cabinets like these made. I've marked the exact dimensions. Please see if this is acceptable."

Carpenter Wang took the blueprints handed to him by Qiao Qiqi and his eyes lit up immediately.

Qiao Qiqi's drawing was three-dimensional, with the length, width, and thickness clearly marked, as well as the height and width of the drawer and the bottom shelf.

Even Wang the carpenter himself couldn't draw such blueprints; he had only seen them once in the hands of a carpenter from the city.

This is the second time.

When Wang the carpenter saw that Qiqiqi could actually draw it, he looked up in surprise and asked with a look of astonishment, "Qin Huai's family, you just said that you drew this blueprint yourself? How did you draw it?"

Qiao Qiqi blinked. Of course, she couldn't say that she had studied solid geometry in school, so she could only lie and say, "I just drew whatever style I wanted. What? You can't understand it?"

Seeing that others could draw so well even with minimal effort, while he, a carpenter, couldn't, Wang felt ashamed.

I could only awkwardly say, "I can understand it, but you have a lot of drawers. Three cabinets together would require eight drawers. Making drawers is not only wasteful of materials but also labor, so the cost will naturally be higher... Are you sure you want to make so many drawers?"

Qiao Qiqi hadn't looked into the price of the cabinets yet, and asked directly, "Could you tell me first how much it would cost for three cabinets if I made them the way I see in the diagram?"

"Wait a minute, let me calculate."

Carpenter Wang squatted down and started calculating how many pieces of wood were needed. He did this for about five minutes before replying to Qiao Qiqi.

"Most people in the village use cheap willow wood to make cabinets, but although willow wood is cheap, it is easy to warp and will not be good after a few years. If you are willing to spend money, I suggest you use beech wood, which is sturdy and durable and will not warp no matter how many years it lasts."

Qiao Qiqi nodded, "Okay, then let's use beech wood."

Since we've gone to so much trouble to make this, we naturally want to use the best materials.

Besides, this cabinet isn't a house, so you can take it with you when you move in the future. It's a one-time investment that you can enjoy for decades, so it's still a great deal.

When Wang the carpenter saw that she agreed to use beech wood, he pointed to the lower right corner and said, "If you use beech wood, the top cabinet will cost 16.5 yuan, the kangqin cabinet will cost 22 yuan, and this last one, although it is tall, has fewer shelves in the middle, so just give me 18 yuan. The three cabinets together will cost 56.5 yuan."

While quoting the price, Wang the carpenter kept observing Qiao Qiqi's reaction, thinking to himself: 56 yuan is quite a lot. Qin Huai can only earn about 20 yuan a month by working in the fields. The three cabinets together are more than his wages for two months.

But he really had already reduced all costs to the lowest possible level, and he even demanded: "At this price, Qin Huai has to come to my house and work as a laborer for me for a few days after work, because my son hurt his foot yesterday and needs to rest for a few days."

Qiao Qiqi immediately made the decision: "Okay, we'll do it your way. I'll give you a deposit of 30 yuan first."

Seeing how readily she agreed, Wang the carpenter naturally nodded in agreement.

Since Qiao Qiqi's drawings were very clear, Wang the carpenter had no further questions. He accepted the deposit and then took his leave.

Qiao Qiqi escorted the person to the gate of the courtyard. Just as she was about to lock the gate and go back, she saw a woman who looked to be around 40 years old standing at the intersection with a little boy who looked to be around 5 years old, looking at her with a hesitant expression.

Qiao Qiqi immediately learned from the original owner's memories that the woman was Qiao Qiqi's second aunt, and the little boy in her arms was her youngest son, nicknamed Gou Dan, whose real name she did not know.

Seeing that the two must have come to see her, Qiao Qiqi walked over and asked, "Second Aunt, did you come to see me?"

Qiao Qiqi asked this question because she knew from the original owner's memories that although her family and her second uncle's family lived in the same village, they hardly ever interacted.

In addition, there were two other families, one living on the east side of the village and the other on the west side. They rarely saw each other, and they didn't even visit each other during holidays. So when the other party suddenly came over, Qiao Qiqi was a little unsure whether they were really looking for her.

Qiao Qiqi's second aunt, Liu Jiao'e, looked visibly reserved when she saw Qiao Qiqi approaching. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "I heard from the villagers that you and Qin Huai got your marriage certificate, so your second uncle asked me to come and see."

As she spoke, she raised her hand and handed over a cloth bag. "There are 20 eggs in here, and some dried mushrooms that I picked up on the mountain a few days ago. They are a wedding gift that your second uncle asked me to bring. It's not much, so please don't mind."

How could Qiao Qiqi dare to complain?!

You know, there aren't many families these days that can afford 20 eggs. Didn't you see that when Qin Huai ate at the Qiao family's house yesterday, Lin Chunying only fried 4 eggs?

Even so, many families still can't afford it.

Seeing that her second aunt had given her 20 eggs right away, Qiao Qiqi was immediately flattered and said, "These are too many eggs. Why don't you take 10 home?"

Liu Jiao'e was successfully amused by her, "No need, my chickens lay five eggs every day, I can save up these eggs in four days."

The village stipulates that each household can only raise a maximum of 5 chickens. When Qiao Qiqi heard that her second aunt's chickens lay 5 eggs a day, she realized that each chicken was laying eggs every day!

Upon discovering that her second aunt was actually a chicken-raising expert, Qiao Qiqi quickly invited her to her home.

After everyone sat down, she immediately asked, "Second Aunt, why do your chickens lay five eggs every day, while my mother says her chickens only lay two or three eggs a day?"