"Why should our family apologize? What did we say to you? Didn't we just let you go?" Zhou Xing said with a face full of disdain.
"Zhou Xing! Apologize!" Commander Zhou roared, startling everyone in the room.
"I'm sorry." Zhou Xing could only lower his head reluctantly.
“If you two are willing to continue helping, please stay. I, Zhou, will be extremely grateful. If you insist on leaving, Aunt Wang, please take good care of her.”
Commander Zhou is a man who has weathered many storms; he can handle this small matter clearly. He was misled earlier, assuming Qin Xiaoyu had taken the earring, which is why he didn't speak up. Now that he's realized his mistake, he needs to correct it immediately. Otherwise, if word gets out, it will sound terrible—that his family is abusing their power.
"Let's leave, we can't stay any longer." Master Wang just wanted to get away from this troublesome place as soon as possible. These words made Zhou Yue nervous, and she stared at Qin Xiaoyu with almost pleading eyes.
"Master, let's help each other out completely, let's stay."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after Qin Xiaoyu's words.
The Zhou family had to admit that, thanks to Qin Xiaoyu, Zhou Yue had become the most perfect bride ever; she had never been so beautiful in her life.
Although Zhou Yue wasn't conventionally beautiful, she had a striking face; with the right makeup, she could be stunning. Without double eyelid tape, Qin Xiaoyu used eyeliner and eyeshadow to make Zhou Yue's eyes appear twice as large, while blush was used to slim her face and soften her thick nose. Zhou Yue's lips were too full, and bright lipstick would only accentuate this flaw, so Qin Xiaoyu gave her a slightly lip-biting look, paired with a classic hairstyle, a bright red embroidered floral jacket and skirt, and a gentle smile that captivated everyone's attention.
The groom, who was initially dissatisfied with the arranged marriage, seemed to be meeting Zhou Yue for the first time, beaming with pride as he led her around to toast everyone.
"Master Qin, thank you so much for your hard work this time. This is a small token of our appreciation, please accept it." Mother Zhou handed the red envelope to Qin Xiaoyu.
"You're too kind, it's just my job." Qin Xiaoyu weighed the red envelope in her hand; it was quite large, so it seemed her efforts hadn't been in vain.
Back at the shop, some regular customers were already getting impatient. They quickly washed their hands and started working. When they finally had a moment to themselves, Qin Xiaoyu remembered the red envelope and handed it to Master Wang so she could have some.
"My God! Six hundred and sixty-six! Can you really accept this?" Master Wang couldn't believe his eyes.
"Who would give so much money?" The customers were curious and gathered around to see.
Qin Xiaoyu knew this money wasn't just for the service, but also for an apology, so why shouldn't she accept it? Thinking back to Zhou Xing's timid demeanor yesterday, a smile crept onto her lips. "You've finally fallen for my tricks, huh? What goes around comes around!"
It was snowing again, and the wind was blowing so thickly that everything was foggy and obscured. Qin Xiaoyu vaguely saw someone coming in, slipping and sliding, and wondered who was so determined to look good. When the person, whose face was covered in snow, came in, she jumped up to greet them. It was Grandma Hanhan.
"Mom, what brings you here?" Qin Xiaoyu's shop has been open for so long, and apart from Wenwen, no one from the Tang family has ever come here.
"You left last night and didn't come back during the day. I was worried something might have happened to you." Grandma Hanhan was getting old and was panting heavily.
Qin Xiaoyu brushed the snow off her body and then pulled her to the heater to warm her hands.
"What could possibly happen to me? Look at this weather, how dare you go out like that? What if you slip and fall!" Qin Xiaoyu complained, both anxious and distressed. She never imagined things would turn out this way. The fact that Grandma Hanhan cared about her safety made the grievances she suffered last night seem insignificant.
"Isn't this because your mother-in-law cares about you? What are you complaining about?" Seeing the harmonious relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Master Wang was deeply moved and his eyes welled up with tears.
"Mom, wait a bit, let's go home together." Qin Xiaoyu was worried about letting her go alone.
"It's alright, I still have to cook. I've left Hanhan and the other two with Madam, she'll be worried if I don't go back." Grandma Hanhan got up to leave.
"Xiaoyu, you should go back now. There's not much work to do." As he spoke, Master Wang winked at the drawer. They had just finished counting the money and locked it in, so Xiaoyu could take it.
"Oh right, I almost forgot." Qin Xiaoyu went over to get the red envelope, counted out 330 yuan, handed it to Master Wang, and said with a smile, "Half for each of us. Mom, let's make dumplings, let's go buy meat."
"No, I didn't do anything last night, you did all the work, I don't want this money." Master Wang refused to accept it no matter what.
"If you don't want it, just say so. The contract is all written, we'll split the profits 50/50, why don't you want it?" Qin Xiaoyu pouted and pretended to be angry.
Grandma Hanhan finally understood. It turned out that she had earned more than 600 yuan last night. Half of that was equivalent to half a year's salary for Grandpa Hanhan. She wasn't greedy and immediately said, "You should keep it, otherwise the child won't feel at ease. If you ask me, let's all come and have dumplings together. It's more lively with more people."
"Mom is so thoughtful. This job will be done soon, let's go together." Qin Xiaoyu started packing her things. Master Wang had already made up her mind. She was alone in her small room every night, feeling lonely and cold. At Qin Xiaoyu's house, there would be food, drink, a warm bed, and someone to chat with. Just thinking about it made her happy.
"Sister Xiaoyu!" Wang Lei was walking in a bit too fast and almost slipped as he entered the house. Luckily, Qin Xiaoyu was at the door and quickly caught him. Wang Lei held her hand for a little too long, so Qin Xiaoyu had to pull it away.
"What are you doing here in this heavy snow?"
"I heard from my mom what happened last night. Zhou Xing went too far! Don't be afraid, Sister Xiaoyu, I'll get revenge for you!" Wang Lei's voice was so angry that it became rough.
"It's all in the past, it was a misunderstanding. You've been friends since you were little, there's no need for you to become distant because of me," Qin Xiaoyu quickly reassured her.
"I don't care if you bully others, but you can't!" Wang Lei said, turning and walking into the snowstorm, leaving Qin Xiaoyu, disheveled and exhausted, behind. Grandma Hanhan didn't ask anything, but seemed hesitant to speak.
Qin Xiaoyu told Master Wang and Grandma Hanhan to go home first, and then went to a nearby grocery store. When she returned, she was carrying several bags of things.
At this time of year, only sauerkraut filling is the best for making dumplings. Qin Xiaoyu bought two jin of meat, which was quite a generous amount. Even the sales clerk and other customers looked on with envy.
Grandma Hanhan had already washed the sauerkraut and was chopping it up. When she saw Qin Xiaoyu come in, she was indifferent, unlike her usual warm greeting.
Qin Xiaoyu was preoccupied with the two children and didn't think much of it. Hanhan hadn't slept much last night because she hadn't seen her return. She rushed over and hugged her neck tightly, and when she finally let go, her eyes were already red.
"Go have some candy with your little sister." Qin Xiaoyu had a lot of things to arrange, so she took out a bag of flower petal candy and handed it over. Her little sister's eyes lit up and she came over to grab it, but Hanhan was afraid that she would have a toothache if she ate too much, so she quickly took the candy and coaxed her to go to the side.
My cousin's wife had been taking care of her child all night yesterday. When she heard the noise, she rushed over to check. Qin Xiaoyu immediately asked her to help out, saying they would have dumplings together that night. Seeing the bowl full of meat filling, how could my cousin's wife refuse?
The women of the Tang family were all efficient workers, and they quickly finished wrapping the dumplings. Just then, the men came home from work, and the whole family gathered together in a lively atmosphere. The eldest sister-in-law, being an opportunist, had long wanted to curry favor with Qin Xiaoyu, and she was busier than anyone else. It was just a pity that the eldest aunt was the only one who couldn't come, and she had to say that she had a stomachache.
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