Jiang Qiaoqiao almost burst out laughing when she saw the old woman's hypocritical and obsequious smile.
This old woman just cursed her this morning, and she's probably still making up stories about her in the family compound. Now she turns around and comes to ask her for meat.
This shamelessness is truly astounding.
But since the old woman had already said that, she couldn't very well refuse directly.
She said with a smile, "Aunt Zhao, how much meat would you like? I'll weigh it out for you. I also bought this meat on credit today, and I'm planning to pay you back after I sell the scrap tomorrow. I'll sell some to you, you pay me back, and I'll go pick it up with the fellow villager who sells the meat tomorrow."
Aunt Zhao's expression changed several times, and finally she managed to stammer out, "You ate meat on credit?"
Jiang Qiaoqiao smiled and said, "Yes, Aunt Zhao, do you still want some meat? I can cut you a piece and weigh it; it's no trouble at all. If it's inconvenient for you to pay now, I can ask Brother Zhao for it when he comes back later."
The smile on Aunt Zhao's face froze completely.
"No more, no more..."
She carried the large bowl and strode into the house in just a few quick steps.
She was afraid that if she was a step too slow, Jiang Qiaoqiao would grab her, stuff the meat into her mouth, and then go ask her son for money.
Jiang Qiaoqiao glanced at the closed door next door, raised an eyebrow, and went back to her own home.
"Pah!"
When Aunt Zhao saw Jiang Qiaoqiao leave, she spat fiercely.
"What a greedy, spendthrift woman! You don't have a single penny in your pocket and you're still buying meat on credit. You want to use my money to pay off your debts? Dream on!"
Zheng Yulan had just returned from outside when she heard her mother-in-law utter this curse.
Knowing her mother-in-law's temperament, she didn't intend to pay her any attention and went straight to cook.
Aunt Zhao pulled her aside and warned, "Yulan, let me tell you, you can't follow the example of that new wife of Engineer Huo next door. She's not a good one. She's so greedy, she even goes to buy meat on credit when she doesn't have money."
That's why she doesn't live with her in-laws; if she did, she'd be in trouble long ago!
Zheng Yulan frowned slightly and said perfunctorily, "Mom, I know. Dacheng and the children will be back soon. I'll start cooking now."
"Okay, you cook, I'll go out and chat." Aunt Zhao fanned herself with a large palm-leaf fan and went to the banyan tree again.
Jiang Qiaoqiao took out the braised pig tails and offal to dry, and put the blanched pig's feet and soaked kelp into the pot to stew.
The lean meat was almost marinated, and Jiang Qiaoqiao prepared the tools to start baking the meat slices.
There was a lot of meat, and she didn't have any suitable tools at home, so she used a makeshift baking rack and baked it for almost two hours, but half of the meat still hadn't been processed.
By this time, the family compound had already started to get lively.
People who had gone to work or school returned home, and the sound of parents calling their children to eat filled the residential compound.
Jiang Qiaoqiao poured the meat slices that were almost done grilling on the baking rack into a winnowing basket and put them away. The stewed pig's trotters and kelp in the stew pot also gave off a rich aroma, and the rice steaming on top of the pig's trotter soup was also cooked.
Jiang Qiaoqiao glanced outside the door.
At this time, those who were supposed to come back from the factory have already done so, and those who haven't probably don't plan to come back either.
There's not even a trace of Huo Beixiao; he probably won't be coming back.
She ladled herself a bowl of braised pig's trotters with kelp and then served herself a bowl of rice.
I plan to eat my fill first, and then continue baking the rest of the pork jerky.
It's better that Huo Beixiao isn't coming back; she'll be more comfortable living alone.
*
"Engineer Huo, aren't you going home yet?"
In the cement plant, Liu Yuan was about to leave his office when he saw Huo Beixiao still sitting there.
They had just done a full overhaul of the factory's machines a few days ago, and these machines are now running normally, so they don't need to work overtime.
However, Huo Gong, who is newly married, was very eager to go home at noon today. How come now that he can go home after get off work and sleep in the same bed with his wife, he is not in a hurry to go home?
"Okay, you go back first, I'll leave right away." Huo Beixiao replied, flipping through a book on mechanical engineering in his hand.
"Professor Huo, I'll be going now!"
After Liu Yuan left, the office area fell silent.
As Huo Beixiao read the book, he felt his mind becoming increasingly chaotic.
Jiang Qiaoqiao's angry words "It has nothing to do with me" and "Don't drag me into this" kept replaying in his mind.
Jiang Qiaoqiao has never hidden the fact that she dislikes Jiang Yiran.
He also knew that Jiang Qiaoqiao had handled the matter correctly today.
Jiang Yiran was in the wrong first; only a sincere apology and compensation can settle the matter peacefully.
Since the incident was caused by Jiang Yiran, she should naturally be responsible for the compensation.
He just didn't know why, but when Jiang Yiran cried today, he thought of the way she cried hysterically in his dream.
Overwhelmed by guilt, he took out the money without thinking twice.
After taking out the money, he realized that Qin Haiyang was now Jiang Yiran's husband, while his wife was Jiang Qiaoqiao. He worried that Qin Haiyang and Jiang Qiaoqiao might misunderstand his relationship with Jiang Yiran.
That's why I had to say that polite remark again.
Huo Beixiao irritably closed the book and left the factory area.
As he walked, he suddenly smelled a rich fragrance.
Looking up again, he realized he had already reached his own front door.
Huo Beixiao was startled. Why was he back?
He stood at the door, hesitating for the first time in his life, actually because of whether or not to go inside his own home.
He wanted to go back to live in the factory, but the tempting aroma kept wafting into his nose.
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