Chapter 243 I heard he used to like Xue Jiao?
Upon hearing Liang Qi's name, Qin Suisui was genuinely taken aback.
Seeing that her expression had become wary, Tu Xiaoqi quickly explained, "Don't worry, I don't want to harm him... On the contrary, I want to thank him."
Qin Suisui asked suspiciously, "What are you thanking him for?"
Tu Xiaoqi suddenly felt embarrassed: "To be honest, I didn't have a good life at home before. You know my eldest sister, so you should know that my mother gave birth to seven daughters and didn't have a son. She couldn't accept it, so she blamed all the problems on us seven sisters. When we grew up, she demanded that we give her money for her old age every month."
“My sisters are all married and can afford to pay, but I’m not married yet. Since I was fifteen, she’s been demanding that I pay her two yuan every month, or she’ll kick me out of the house.”
“Back then I was still in school, so I could only pick up things like wire and glass shards on the road to sell for money when I didn’t have classes. Or I could secretly pick up rice grains that had accidentally fallen from other brigades during the autumn harvest. But all of these were risky, and I could easily get beaten up.”
"Later I discovered that people in our town were picking wild vegetables to sell on the black market, and the market was quite good. So I found a way to make money and started picking wild vegetables before dawn every day."
“But I had to pay three cents to sell vegetables on the black market, which I couldn’t bear to do. So whenever they weren’t looking, I would grab women who looked like they were going to buy vegetables at the entrance of the black market and sell them to them. Although it was risky, I did make a lot of money.”
“The black market people warned me several times, but I always changed locations, like playing guerrilla warfare, and they couldn’t do anything about it.”
“This went on for several years, and I used the money to finish high school. Then last year, I ran into a police officer on duty and almost got arrested before I could react. Luckily, Liang Qi showed up in time and told the officer that I was a relative from the countryside who had come to bring him food, which saved me.”
"Afterwards, he asked me why I was selling vegetables outside the black market. I was scared by the red armband at the time, so I told him all about my situation. Unexpectedly, after listening, he only asked if I had an older sister in our residential compound. After getting my answer, he directly told the person in charge of the black market to let me sell things in the black market from now on, without charging me money."
“From then on, I sold wild vegetables and fruits on the black market in our town. Sometimes I would also secretly pick some fresh vegetables from home to sell. After it rained, I could catch some fish and shrimp in the streams to sell. When the tide came in, I could also go to the beach to collect some things to sell. That’s how I slowly saved up more than fifty yuan.”
“I thought things would get better eventually. If the college entrance exam were to be reinstated, I would use the money I had saved to go to school and get away from my mother. But unfortunately… my sister suddenly passed away.”
Tu Xiaoqi finished telling the rest of the story in tears. No girl who is beautiful, has attended high school, and has received higher education would want to be a second wife to a man more than ten years older than herself, but Tu's mother had finally managed to get her hands on Shen Shen, a "golden bachelor," and was unwilling to give him up, so she insisted that Tu marry him.
Fortunately, Shen Shen treated her very well. He handed over his salary to her and didn't restrict her too much. He supported her when she was at home reading and studying or cooking.
Even after getting married, Tu Xiaoqi never gave up her plan to save money. Born in Guangdong Province, she had been making all kinds of desserts and sweet soups since she was a child, so she would occasionally make some sweet soups and desserts and sell them on the black market along with freshly picked wild vegetables.
Coincidentally, she ran into Liang Qi again at the black market in East Third Alley a while ago. She wanted to thank him, but Liang Qi didn't appreciate it. After learning that she had also married into the family compound, he said that if his sister encountered any difficulties in the family compound in the future, she would help her if she could, and that would be her way of thanking him.
It was through this experience that Tu Xiaoqi learned that Qin Suisui was actually his sister! That's why he started to get closer to her.
Unexpectedly, this was a detail Qin Suisui had never heard Liang Qi mention before. However, after learning these details, Qin Suisui and Aunt Tang changed their opinion of Tu Xiaoqi.
She didn't marry Shen Shen willingly. But after she married him, she took good care of Liangliang and the family. Moreover, even in adversity, she never gave up her desire to study. Qin Suisui felt that she was very worthy of respect.
She reached out her hand to Tu Xiaoqi: "Comrade Tu Xiaoqi, I want to apologize to you. I had some prejudice against you at first, but now I know that you are an amazing comrade. Even in adversity, you are doing your best to shine. I want to learn from you!"
Tu Xiaoqi was amused by her seriousness and reached out to hold Qin Suisui's hand, her eyes sparkling: "I know you are standing up for my sister. My sister is very good to me, so I won't be angry. Besides, I don't care about other people's gossip, and I will continue to walk my own path."
Qin Suisui recalled the contents of the original book. The college entrance examination would indeed be reinstated a few years later, and many people would have their lives changed because of it. She nodded: "Yes! Your persistence is right. Keep studying, and you will definitely be able to live the life you want in the future!"
Sister-in-law Tang also wiped away her tears: "We were narrow-minded. You are a very capable woman. Let's keep in touch more often in the future. Your sister would definitely want that too."
The three chatted for a while longer. Tu Xiaoqi even taught Qin Suisui how to make several kinds of sweet soups and desserts. They also agreed to invite her along next time they went to the black market before they all went home.
During our chat in the afternoon, she had already sliced and marinated the fish, and washed the sauerkraut. They were just waiting to be cooked in a little while.
As the sun began to set and it was almost time for school to let out, Qin Suisui rode her bicycle to pick up Zanzan. Before she even left the residential compound, she bumped into Jia Zhenzhen, whose face was flushed.
"Zhenzhen, where have you been? Why is your face so red?"
Qin Suisui's sudden voice startled Jia Zhenzhen. She touched her face, a little embarrassed, and said, "Is your face red because it's hot?"
Qin Suisui looked at her suspiciously. Jia Zhenzhen was wearing a white shirt, a navy blue suspender skirt, and fashionable leather shoes. She looked like she had dressed up carefully.
"What are you doing? Did you go on a date?"
It's unclear whether the word "date" triggered Jia Zhenzhen's reaction, but she immediately jumped up, completely disregarding her image: "Date! What date! How could I possibly date Chen Zheng!" She then immediately covered her mouth and lightly patted it, having accidentally let it slip!
Qin Suisui raised an eyebrow. Had he admitted it without being asked? But Chen Zheng? That name sounds familiar; I feel like I've heard it somewhere before…
Seeing that she didn't ask any more questions, Jia Zhenzhen couldn't suppress her desire to share. She pulled her to the corner and said shyly, "Sui Sui, now I think Chen Zheng is pretty good. My dad finally found me a reliable one this time."
Qin Suisui finally realized that this Chen Zheng was none other than Xiao Chen! He was originally Xue Shan's bodyguard, but was later promoted for meritorious service and transferred to another department.
I heard he used to like Xue Jiao? How come he's getting all intimate with Jia Zhenzhen?
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