"If you don't believe me, you can come with me to the supply and marketing cooperative right now and ask if the schoolbag costs 8 yuan." Xia Qingqing was suffocated by Grandma Huang Guoqiang's tone and took a few steps back while covering her nose.
"I don't care, you have to pay me back, or I won't leave!" Grandma Huang Guoqiang couldn't get anything good from Xia Qingqing, so she rolled her eyes and collapsed to the ground.
Qi Xue'er was furious at her shameless behavior: "Grandma Huang, you can't do this, the students still have to go to class."
The old lady was a master of throwing tantrums and making a scene; how could she possibly be persuaded by Qi Xue'er's few words? Not only did she refuse to get up, she even rolled on the ground, shouting, "You have to pay me! If you don't pay me, I won't get up, and nobody can have class!"
Several children were already seated in the classroom. Looking at the old lady's appearance, they began to discuss her in their childish voices:
"Why is Huang Guoqiang's grandma like this? She won't let us attend class. She's so mean."
"My mom said that I'm not allowed to roll around on the ground when I'm angry, or I'll get a spanking."
"Huang Guoqiang is a bad guy too. He ruined Xia Jiale's new schoolbag. That schoolbag was so nice."
"That bad guy's grandma is a bad guy too, hahaha, that's really interesting."
Hearing the students' chatter, Huang Guoqiang yelled at them fiercely, "I'm not a bad guy, don't talk about my grandma."
His face was already swollen, and when he became fierce, he looked rather frightening. One timid girl was so frightened that she burst into tears, and things became even more chaotic.
Xia Qingqing looked at the old lady rolling on the ground, her temples throbbing. She picked up the old lady's clothes with one hand and walked out of the classroom.
The old woman suddenly felt herself suspended in mid-air, and screamed in terror, "What are you doing? I'm so dizzy! You little bitch, put me down!"
Xia Qingqing threw the person directly at the school gate, crossed her arms and coldly looked at the old lady on the ground, saying, "Now we can have a proper discussion about compensation."
The old lady was frightened by her fierce appearance and scrambled to her feet. Pointing at Xia Qingqing, she threatened, "You little bitch, how dare you hit someone! My son won't let you get away with this. You just wait!"
Without waiting for Xia Qingqing's reaction, she ran away. Huang Guoqiang saw his grandmother run far away, glared angrily at Xia Qingqing, and quickly followed after her.
Xia Qingqing became famous at school after this incident. All the children knew that Xia Jiale had a formidable older sister, and from then on, no student dared to bully Gou Dan.
——
He Xiaohua felt that her parents were acting strangely today.
Her mother, Li Lanfen, told her to get ready early in the morning and wouldn't let her go to work, saying that a very important guest would be coming today.
Although He Xiaohua didn't understand what important guest it was that required such formal treatment from her parents, she dared not disobey her mother's orders.
She obediently put on her best outfit and braided her hair into two jet-black braids.
Li Lanfen looked at her daughter, who was neatly tidied up, with satisfaction. She was much more pleasing to the eye than her usual rough appearance.
Seeing her daughter's dry skin, Li Lanfen reluctantly took out a box of clam oil from her room:
"Xiaohua, scoop out a little clam oil and rub it on your face. Be careful when scooping it out, don't waste it."
He Xiaohua looked at her mother strangely. This clam oil was her mother's treasure, costing 5 cents a box. She usually wouldn't even let her look at it, but today she was actually willing to let her use it.
"I don't want it, Mom, you keep it for yourself," He Xiaohua said softly, refusing.
She dared not use it. Her mother might have lost her mind right now. What if she realized later that she had used her clam oil? She would probably beat herself to death.
Li Lanfen's eyes immediately widened: "Just use it as I say, does that mean your mother's word doesn't count?"
He Xiaohua trembled slightly, then scooped out a tiny bit of clam oil from the box and slowly applied it to her face.
Li Lanfen frowned in dissatisfaction, then personally scooped out a large dollop and applied it all over He Xiaohua. Looking at her finished product with satisfaction, she said, "Oh my, after applying this clam oil, Xiaohua's face looks so much smoother and prettier."
He Xiaohua was a little shy when she heard her mother praise her for the first time. She pursed her lips and didn't dare to reply, afraid that she would be beaten again if she said something wrong.
"Alright, you go cook first. The guests will be here soon, so be careful not to get your clothes dirty," Li Lanfen carefully covered the clam oil and turned to go back to her room.
Before long, He Daqiang led two people into the house: Cai the matchmaker's son and a middle-aged man.
When He Daqiang entered the house and didn't see his daughter, and heard noises coming from the kitchen, he frowned in displeasure.
That lazy woman! Didn't I tell her to cook today? Why did she leave it to her daughter again? She looks so disheveled and dirty.
Upon hearing the noise, Li Lanfen immediately ran out of the room, glanced cautiously at her husband, and said with a forced smile, "Oh, our distinguished guests have arrived! Please have a seat, I'll make you some tea."
He dashed into the kitchen, saw his daughter busy at the stove, and said with a sour face, "Xiaohua, stop what you're doing, I'll take care of the rest. You go and make tea for the guests."
"Ah, okay," He Xiaohua replied subconsciously and quickly went to make two cups of tea.
These tea leaves were all picked by them from the mountain. The quantity was small, so they would only brew tea for very important guests. Even He Daqiang himself was reluctant to drink it.
He Xiaohua carefully carried two cups of tea into the main room, noticing that the guest He Daqiang had brought back was staring at her intently.
He Xiaohua secretly glanced at the other person and found that he was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, who looked to be about the same age as He Daqiang. He was wearing brand new clothes without a single patch.
This made He Xiaohua glance at the other person with envy. She happened to meet the eyes of the middle-aged man, whose aggressive gaze made her heart tremble. A few drops of scalding water from the cup spilled onto her hand.
He Xiaohua gritted her teeth and managed to keep from screaming.
"Daqiang, this must be your daughter. She's quite a pretty girl," said the middle-aged man named Wang Xiong. He hadn't had high expectations for the country girl he was visiting today, but he was surprised to find that she was very delicate-looking.
He took a liking to it at first sight and nodded repeatedly to He Daqiang.
He Daqiang received his hint, and his face instantly lit up with joy.
When he went to the village entrance to pick up the person, he heard Wang Xiong say that he needed to take a look at the person first, and if the person did not meet his expectations, the matter would not be settled.
He panicked immediately. How could something that seemed certain change so suddenly? But he couldn't do anything about Wang Xiong, since money talks.
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