Niu Dajun had signed his name in black and white on the notebook, so Qi Shuli couldn't say he hadn't received the letter. If things escalated, with Qi Xiaoyan involved, he wouldn't be able to explain himself to Secretary Qi.
After a moment's thought, Qi Shuli had weighed the pros and cons and made the most advantageous decision. He smiled and said, "Oh, Comrade Niu, seeing you reminded me of the letter I sent a few days ago. I was so busy that I left it at the village branch and forgot to deliver it to Comrade He. I'm really sorry, it was my fault for not doing my job properly and making Comrade Niu and Comrade He make an extra trip."
Niu Dajun was stunned. He hadn't even had a chance to question Accountant Qi, but she had already admitted to forgetting to deliver the letter, leaving him feeling incredibly frustrated. If he hadn't come today, would Qi Shuli have forgotten about it altogether?
It felt like punches were hitting cotton; Niu Dajun and He Tiantian felt incredibly frustrated.
He Tiantian was secretly surprised. Qi Shuli had confessed without being asked, which immediately changed the atmosphere. Being busy with work and forgetting to deliver a letter is different from deliberately not delivering one, and it hadn't been long. He Tiantian couldn't refute it.
"Then I'll trouble Accountant Qi to go and get the letter. We can give it to Comrade He in person, so it won't be considered a mistake on my part," Niu Dajun said with a dry laugh. He wasn't a naive young man, and it wouldn't be worth the trouble to have a conflict with Qi Shuli over this matter. It was good that the letter had been found this time. As for future letters, he would find Qi Xiaoyan when he got to the village and ask her to tell He Tiantian to go to the village branch together and give the letter to He Tiantian in front of Qi Shuli.
"Okay, okay, you guys go to the village branch first. I'm going to the outhouse, I'll be right there," Qi Shuli said. It was better to admit his mistake now than to be pointed out, and he admitted he had forgotten. All he had to do was give them the letter. However, the letter had been taken by his nephew Qi Jianguo. While he was in the outhouse, he went to his eldest nephew's house behind the house, retrieved the letter, and then took it to the village branch.
“Alright, we’ll wait for you at the village branch,” Niu Dajun said. Qi Shuli had already admitted it, so he wouldn’t go back on his word. Rather than being scrutinized by Qi Shuli’s wife and two daughters here, it was better to go to the village branch.
When Aunt Qi heard that Niu Dajun was leaving, she quickly tried to persuade him to stay, saying, "Old man, why don't you just go to the village branch and get it? You're making Comrade Niu make a wasted trip."
Qi Shuli seemed not to hear his wife's grumbling and quickly walked out, slightly covering his stomach as if he was about to urinate.
Niu Dajun quickly turned around and went out, but after a few words of Qi Ershen's "enthusiastic" face, He Tiantian followed closely behind.
"Aunt Qi, we have something to do, so we won't sit down," Qi Xiaoyan said softly, bidding farewell to Aunt Qi. Under Aunt Qi's gaze, even a person made of stone could melt.
Aunt Qi was very regretful and pouted, saying, "Then you must come often in the future! Daya, Erya, you see Xiaoyan and Comrade Niu off."
As for He Tiantian, who was of no use to their family whatsoever, Aunt Qi didn't bother with her at all. She was even worried that the pretty He Tiantian would steal her daughter's thunder!
He Tiantian lowered her head, secretly amused. Qi Shuli's wife was truly bizarre. Birds of a feather flock together.
The Qi Shuli family and the Qi Jianguo family are both wicked. Although it's not very obvious, truly intelligent people can still see it. For example, in her past life, Grandma Qi would remind He Tiantian whenever He Tiantian mentioned Qi Jianguo and Qi Fangfang told the truth.
Qi Fenfen and Qi Zhenzhen followed, their faces flushed.
"Brother Dajun, being a postman must be really tough," Qi Fenfen said sweetly as she walked quickly to the front, ignoring the other people around her.
Niu Dajun quickly stepped aside to keep his distance from Qi Fenfen, looking at her warily, and said, "Serving the people is not hard work."
Oh my god! Niu Dajun was very vigilant; he didn't need to worry about being harmed by Qi Fenfen. Being ambiguous with a female comrade, touching her inappropriately, would be considered indecent behavior, no small matter. Niu Dajun dared not have such close contact with a woman as proactive as Qi Fenfen.
Qi Fenfen was displeased to see Niu Dajun acting this way, but in order to maintain a gentle demeanor, she couldn't lose her temper, so she could only walk at a distance from Niu Dajun.
Meanwhile, Qi Shuli ran from the alley entrance to his elder brother's house behind the house, and just then he saw his elder brother's family eating.
"Second brother's here, come eat with us?" Qi Shuming put down his bowl and greeted Qi Shuli, also curious as to why his second brother wasn't eating at home at this hour. Food was scarce these days, and cooking was just enough; few people ate at other people's houses.
Qi Jianguo's mother looked at her brother-in-law warily, worried that he would eat at their house.
Qi Shuli saw a pot of braised pork with potatoes on his elder brother's table and swallowed hard. Normally, he would have sat down and eaten without hesitation, but he had something to do now, so he could only wave his hand and say to Qi Jianguo, "Jianguo, come here for a moment."
Seeing that Qi Shuli had left, Qi's mother finally breathed a sigh of relief. There wasn't enough meat for the family, and she didn't want to give any to Qi Shuli.
Qi Jianguo was taken aback. Seeing that his second uncle looked unwell, he didn't know what had happened. He got up and went outside with his second uncle, asking in a low voice, "Second Uncle, what happened?"
"Get me those two letters right now. That He Tiantian is no simpleton; she went straight to the post office in the county town. The postman brought He Tiantian over and asked me for the letters, saying they were at the village branch office." Qi Shuli said in a low voice, "This can't be done. You'd better watch yourself."
When his second uncle mentioned the two letters, Qi Jianguo's face turned ugly. He Tiantian was not as weak as she seemed. He had really underestimated her before.
However, not wanting to put his second uncle in a difficult position, Qi Jianguo quickly said, "It's in my room, I'll get it for you, second uncle."
Qi Jianguo returned to the room and took out two letters from a box by the bedside, but the letters had already been opened. There was no glue in the house, so Qi Jianguo used some rice porridge paste to stick them back together. Although it was a bit wet, it was enough to get by.
Qi Shuli took the letter, put it in his pocket, and took a shortcut to the village branch. He finally arrived at the village branch before Niu Dajun, He Tiantian, and Qi Xiaoyan arrived.
"The two letters were pressed down and got damp, but it doesn't affect reading them," Qi Shuli said apologetically. "I'm really sorry, Comrade He. I'll send you your letters as soon as possible in the future. Otherwise, I'll forget about them if I have other things to do."
He Tiantian smiled and said nonchalantly, "Since Accountant Qi didn't do it on purpose, there's no need to feel guilty."
Qi Shuli's fake smile made Niu Dajun very uncomfortable. He thought this was only good for fooling young educated youths like He Tiantian. Niu Dajun wanted to argue with Qi Shuli, but then he thought that even if he won the argument and Qi Shuli left, He Tiantian would still need to continue living there.
Sigh, I'll let it go for now. I'll have a good talk with He Tiantian later and tell her to be careful.
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