Mother Shao was stunned for a moment: "No."
Father Shao came down from upstairs and said, "No, I often saw her taking out the trash before, but these days it seems that it's the daughter next door who goes downstairs to take out the trash."
"I'll go over and ask." Shao Sheng'an said. Qiao Qingqing once told him about the nanny next door who froze to death, and he knew his wife suspected that something had happened to the nanny.
I knocked on the door and it was Mrs. Zheng who opened it.
"It's like this. My mom heard from your sister Ping that she can knit socks, so she wants to learn from her." Shao Shengan smiled, "I won't take advantage of your family for nothing. My family will give you a pound of wool as a reward."
"She is busy and won't teach you. You can find someone else." Mrs. Zheng said as she closed and locked the door.
The smile on Shao Shengan's face disappeared, and he turned around to look at Qiao Qingqing standing at the iron gate.
"Let's go home first."
At home, Qiao Qingqing said that she would wait until the next time she picked up the supplies to see if the Zheng family's nanny would come out to collect them.
"If she hadn't come out, and the Zheng family had received her share of supplies, then Zheng Tiehui would have had no chance of keeping his position as the volunteer team leader." Qiao Qingqing held a grudge.
"good."
On the day of distributing supplies, Qiao Qingqing's family went to collect the supplies twice. The couple first took Qiao Songzhi and Shao's mother to collect them, and the second time they accompanied Shao's father and Shao Shengfei to collect them.
"That's Zheng Liangying and Mrs. Zheng. They go to that window every time to get supplies. Zheng Tiehui has also been there. It seems that a volunteer team leader meeting is going to be held today. The meeting should be over." After receiving the supplies, Shao's father took Shao Shengfei back first. Qiao Qingqing and Shao Shengan stayed there and finally waited for Zheng Tiehui's family.
Zheng Tiehui stood beside his wife and daughter, smiling and chatting with the staff. The staff handed him the supplies with a smile, one, two, three...
"They received five copies. The fourth copy was for Zheng Liangdong. He never goes out to get supplies. The fifth copy should be for Sister Ping." Shao Shengan said softly.
Qiao Qingqing stood up and stamped her feet: "I'll go report it, you watch."
Ten minutes later, Zheng Tiehui and his family of three were stopped by the police. At this moment, Zheng Hui's face turned uncontrollably ugly.
He forced a smile: "Is there any misunderstanding——"
"Someone has reported you for claiming supplies under your real name. Please put down the supplies you have received. I want to check them. Please cooperate with the investigation."
"I didn't claim it on behalf of someone else. I claimed it on behalf of my son. He's in poor health and can't go out..."
People passing by stopped to watch, point and talk.
Not far away, Qiao Qingqing watched quietly for a while, then took Shao Shengan's hand and went home.
"Don't want to continue watching?"
"I won't watch it anymore. It's enough to know that he will be punished."
Soon after returning home, Zheng Tiehui and his team also came back, along with the police. The police searched next door at 802 but did not find Sister Ping's body.
"She suddenly disappeared a few days ago. She is from another place and has been missing her relatives there. I told her to wait until the situation gets better before going back, as the roads are difficult to travel on, but she didn't listen and ran away secretly. When she left, she also took my gold necklace. Well, I didn't make a fuss about her. Her ID card was accidentally left behind, so I thought about helping her get supplies to at least make up for the loss of my family..." Mrs. Zheng's explanation voice could be heard faintly, and the people on the seventh floor gathered at the stairs and looked at each other with suspicion in their eyes.
Everyone was muttering.
"Has anyone seen Sister Ping go out?"
"No, I haven't seen him for several days."
“I don’t think he ran away by himself, it was—” Wang Jiale made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Hiss, that's scary, stop talking nonsense... The police are coming downstairs, get out of the way."
Zheng Tiehui enthusiastically escorted the policemen downstairs. After the policemen left, Zheng Tiehui did not move for a long time.
"Honey, come upstairs. It's cold outside." Mrs. Zheng came down and called him.
Zheng Tiehui moved and went upstairs in silence. As he went upstairs, his eyes swept across 701, 702, and finally 801. His eyes were filled with emotions, but finally calmed down.
"He should be able to guess that it was us who did it." Shao Shengan saw Zheng Tiehui coming home through the peephole and turned back to Qiao Qingqing. There was ruthlessness in his eyes, and he was ready to deal with Zheng Tiehui's revenge.
Qiao Qingqing smiled: "It's okay, he won't. After this, he will be quiet for a long time and won't provoke us again."
802, Zheng Liangying said in a hateful voice: "Someone must have reported it! Dad, it could be someone in this building, or it could be someone outside. We should have been seen by others when we were collecting supplies just now. How could someone be so idle! You have nothing better to do than to meddle in other people's business!"
"I think someone reported him for collecting the supplies just now. If Liang Dong hadn't been sick, it would have been great if he had gone with us to collect the supplies. It would have been too conspicuous for three of us to collect five supplies." Mrs. Zheng loved her son very much, but she couldn't help but feel distressed at this moment. She didn't know if her husband's job would be affected, and the people who helped them get through the back door might suffer, because that was their network of contacts!
Zheng Tiehui shook his head, "No, it was reported by someone I know. You forgot, they said someone reported me by real name, and Sister Ping's information was also given by the reporter. How could a stranger know Sister Ping? It was most likely reported by someone in the building, and only they would have noticed that Sister Ping hadn't appeared for a few days."
Mrs. Zheng was furious: "How could they do this? How much have you contributed to this building since you became the volunteer team leader? You are so busy with your meager salary. A few days ago, the supply ship issued a new notice, and you had to copy it and post it. How dare they repay you with evil?"
"Is it 801 next door? Or 701 downstairs? Or 702?" Zheng Liangying helped analyze and thought that these families were all possible. She suddenly stopped talking. Their family... seemed to have offended everyone in this building? Originally, their family had such good relationships. When did it start to change?
Yes, it was that day when Qiao Qingqing chopped the door with a kitchen knife...
Zheng Liangying pursed her lips and said, "Dad, are we going to suffer this loss? Should we confront the neighbors and warn them?"
Zheng Tiehui closed his eyes and huddled into the sofa. "What's the point of not taking this loss? I can't make a big fuss about it. After all, I've been caught by someone."
Zheng Liangying was shocked: "Dad!" Her father shouldn't be like this.
He opened his eyes and rubbed his hair tiredly: "Do you know how bad the situation is now! This is a natural disaster with no end in sight! Holding on to the relief supplies is just waiting to die. I can't lose this job. I have to save more things for my family. Your brother looks like he's dying..."
Mrs. Zheng couldn't help crying.
"I'll go and use my connections to find the bottle of wine at home. I'll have to apologize to Lao Wang. If he loses his job, who will dare to associate with me in the future? Give him the wine and let him find a way to make a living." Zheng Tiehui stood up and told his wife and daughter, "No matter who reported the people in this building, I won't care anymore, and the same goes for you."
"Dad! I can't swallow this."
"Are you stupid? This is a warning. They don't like me so they threaten me. If they really wanted to kill me, Sister Ping's body would have been dug out! Listen to me, let's just let this go! Go find some wine, what are you standing there for?"
Zheng Liangying stopped talking. Sister Ping's stiff and terrifying face appeared in front of her eyes. She remembered the cold and fear when she dug through the ice to bury the body late that night.
"Oh oh." Mrs. Zheng wiped her tears and quickly went into the house to find something.
Later, Qiao Qingqing learned that Zheng Tiehui had not lost his job, but the person who helped him to claim the supplies was transferred. Zheng Tiehui treated his work more diligently. He was always the first to notify the superiors of any new notices. When the superiors distributed disinfectant spray bottles for the volunteer team leader to do the disinfection work, he also carried the spray bottle and sprayed every corner of Building No. 4 carefully. The Zheng family's attitude towards neighbors has also improved a lot. They greet each other politely when they meet. Other families are puzzled, but they don't hit smiling people. Seeing that the Zheng family is polite, they also respond politely.
The atmosphere in Building No. 4 of Jinyuan Community was very good. During this period, Qiao Songzhi's health recovered.
"I'm going to take a class with Dr. Wei." On Saturday, Qiao Qingqing packed her bags and prepared to leave. Shao Shengan insisted on picking her up, and Qiao Songzhi and the others agreed, so Qiao Qingqing had no choice but to agree.
After two days of study, Shao Shengan came to pick me up in the evening.
"How's your study going?" He put a hat on Qiao Qingqing.
Qiao Qingqing was in a good mood: "That's great. I didn't have the opportunity to have one-on-one tutoring from a famous teacher like this before."
"That's good. Everything is fine at home. Just go to class with peace of mind."
Dr. Wei has more and more holidays. She is a little helpless: "Medicine is a big problem, and not all diseases can be cured by acupuncture."
But for Qiao Qingqing, she had more opportunities to attend classes. She was like a sponge, absorbing knowledge diligently and seriously.
That day, Shao Shengan came to pick her up from get out of class again and told her the bad news: "Zheng Meng came to your house to look for you, and I said you were not at home."
Qiao Qingqing raised her eyebrows: "Why is she here? For Du Jie? Du Jie was fired by Lin Mingyong?"
"My Qingqing is really smart. That's right. Didn't we meet them that day? Du Jie must have gotten some benefits from Lin Mingyong, but later Lin Mingyong probably didn't want to use him anymore, so Zheng Meng came to our house to talk to you, saying that Du Jie lost his job because of you."
Qiao Qingqing sneered: "You are quite good at passing the buck."
"She wanted to wait for you at home, but I asked her to leave. That happened in the morning. Before I left, I told my parents not to let Zheng Meng in if she came again."
But two days later, when Qiao Qingqing was at home, she met Zheng Meng again. She didn't let her in and took her to the power room.
"Why are you here? Go somewhere else." Zheng Meng knew what was going on at a glance. The bodies were also buried in the same way in the vacant land in her community.
"It's quiet here, just tell me what you want to say."
Zheng Meng opened her eyes wide and looked at her strangely: "Qingqing, you have changed so much, I thought I recognized the wrong person."
Seeing Qiao Qingqing looking at her, waiting for her to talk about something, Zheng Meng already believed her husband's words. Qingqing's temper really changed. She sighed, "Qingqing, your husband should have told you what happened. I have no choice but to come to you now. After all, you are biological father and daughter. Broken bones are connected. My husband was swept by the tail of the typhoon. Now his life is not easy. He lost his job and our whole family is affected. Please help me to ask for mercy for the sake of our friendship for more than ten years."
"Are you asking me to plead for mercy? Do you want me to slap Lin Mingyong again?"
Zheng Meng was shocked: "Qingqing! Why are you like this? That's your dad!"
Seeing Qiao Qingqing sneer, Zheng Mengmeng knew what was in her heart and continued to persuade her: "Although, although he and Auntie are divorced, he still cares about you all these years. Knowing that my husband is your friend, he is very enthusiastic to help you, all for your sake. You are being unfilial like this."
Qiao Qingqing chuckled: "It turns out that Du Jie got the job because of me."
Zheng Meng said hurriedly, "Yes, yes, Uncle Lin is really good to you, just apologize to him, there is no overnight hatred between father and daughter. Qingqing, listen to my advice, now is different from before, I know what you are thinking, you have always been resentful of your father, but let's be realistic, there are natural disasters constantly now, and we don't know how long they will last. You should reconcile with your father and have more options in the future. This is for your own good and for your aunt's good. It is a fool's thing to make yourself suffer for the so-called dignity and pride."
Listening to Zheng Meng's earnest exhortation, Qiao Qingqing felt that the good friend in front of her was so strange.
Obviously, Zheng Meng was a simple and innocent love-brained person before. She and Yuan Xiaowen had spent countless efforts to persuade her to break up with Du Jie. In the end, they broke up and got back together again and again, and finally got married...
"Okay." Qiao Qingqing interrupted her, "Since Du Jie's job was obtained through unclear origins and was not obtained through normal procedures, and now that he has been fired by Lin Mingyong, he has nowhere to go to seek justice. It's no use for you to come to me."
"Qingqing, you are not——"
"It's not my fault. It was my business to beat Lin Mingyong. Why did Lin Mingyong vent his anger on Du Jie? The question is how Du Jie introduced my relationship with you and your wife in front of Lin Mingyong. Just like you said, Lin Mingyong gave Du Jie a job for my sake. Now he wants to take it back, and you can only bear it. Zheng Meng, we should stop associating with each other in the future. Go home."
Looking at Qiao Qingqing's back, Zheng Meng looked incredulous.
"Qingqing! Qingqing, wait a moment, let's talk more."
Zheng Meng followed him, but was blocked by an iron gate after going upstairs.
“Stop knocking, pretty girl! You’re disturbing others!” Wang Jiale poked his head out of the corridor. “If you continue to disturb others, I’ll tell the volunteer leader of our building to take you away. Look, the house next door is the leader’s home, so hurry up and leave!”
Zheng Meng bit her lip, stomped her feet and walked away.
Later, Zheng Meng did not come again, and Qiao Qingqing did not dwell on it too much. In her previous life, Du Jie's cousin took away her house, and from that time on, Zheng Meng was different in her heart, and she did not feel too sad to lose such a friend.
Every day, she exercises and reads, and when Dr. Wei is free, she goes to attend his lectures.
"The shelter and greenhouse are almost finished, life will slowly get better." Father Shao sighed after returning from collecting supplies, "I just don't know if they will hire people to grow vegetables. Your mother and I have experience in growing vegetables. We have been growing them since we were young."
Shao Shengan smiled and said that if they were hiring, he would give it a try: "It doesn't matter if I can't go. We have a place to grow vegetables at home, so it's the same if we grow some vegetables for ourselves."
The newly planted vegetable seeds in the three rooms all germinated successfully, and the trembling little green sprouts made people love them at the sight.
The first thing to be harvested was the Chinese cabbage that Shao's father had planted as an experiment. Shao's father observed it for several days and said, "I should have kept it for another month, but it seems that it has stopped growing. It would be a waste of effort to keep it growing. Forget it, let's pick it first!"
Although the cabbage was not growing well and was skinny, everyone was still very happy. Shao's mother carefully stewed the cabbage with dried tofu, and Shao's father instructed, "Add some red pepper to make it look good." Qiao Qingqing watched with a smile, feeling that this day was really promising.
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