The people were tied together with hemp ropes like piglets, and there were people in the village who escorted them to work at the brick factory.
Director Li was fair yet compassionate, allowing them to go home before leaving to get a few changes of clothes and personal items.
When Fang Qiao and Cheng Baidong returned home, Tian Tian had already finished breakfast and was sitting on a small stool in front of the main room. The old lady was standing behind her with a comb, braiding her hair.
Seeing Fang Qiao come over, the old lady quickly reached out to greet her: "Fang Qiao, you're finally back! Come and braid the little girl's hair. She insists on having the cat ear braids you used to braid for her, but I'm an old lady and I can't do it."
"I'll do it."
Fang Qiao took the comb from the old lady, took off the top braid on Tian Tian's head, combed it smooth, divided it into sections, and braided a small braid on each side. After braiding, she folded it in the right place to fix it, and the two upright cat ears were done, cute and lively.
"alright."
After her braids were finished, Tian Tian admired herself in the mirror for a while, then said in a clear voice, "Thank you, Auntie."
Then she asked, "Auntie, can I go out and play with Panpan today?"
Fang Qiao nodded, then instructed, "You can go out to play, but you're not allowed to go into the river or onto the ice, understand?"
Sweetie replied obediently, "Auntie, I'm not going. I'll stay at Panpan's house and play the cook game."
"Okay, go ahead."
Fang Qiao saw Tian Tian to the door, and when she turned around, she saw the old lady talking to Cheng Baidong, so she lingered at the door for a while.
A moment later, Auntie San came from the back alley. When she saw Fang Qiao standing at the door, her eyes lit up, and she ran over in a few steps: "Little Qiao, I've been looking for you."
"Third Aunt, what do you need me for?" Fang Qiao, supporting her pregnant belly, slowly walked down the steps.
"Nothing else, just wanted to invite you to go see some fun." Third Aunt took Fang Qiao's arm: "Come with me."
"W-what's all the commotion about?" Fang Qiao was unsure.
"What other excitement could there be that I could invite you to see for yourself? Of course, it's that family's." Third Aunt gestured towards the Cheng family's direction, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction: "When it rains, it pours. Cheng Yajun has asked the woman to break off the engagement."
Fang Qiao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "Really?"
In his previous life, Cheng Yajun and his wife never argued about breaking off their engagement. They were inseparable and lived a very comfortable life in her house.
“The head of Daxuzhuang Village personally brought the matchmaker; how could it be fake?” Third Aunt was afraid Fang Qiao wouldn’t believe her, so she pulled her to her house: “Come on, let’s go to Third Aunt’s house. My house is just a wall away from hers; we can hear everything they say in my yard.”
The two houses are not far apart; it only takes half a minute to walk there.
When it was time to start work, no one went to work; they all gathered around to watch the commotion.
Auntie pulled Fang Qiao into the house and told her daughter to bring Fang Qiao a stool: "Xiao Jing, bring a small stool over to your sister-in-law."
Xiao Jing is introverted and a little afraid of people. After bringing the small stool over, she whispered "Sister-in-law" and then shyly hid back in the house.
Auntie said, "Xiao Qiao, listen, it's so noisy."
Actually, Fang Qiao heard it even without her third aunt saying anything.
After all, Huang Yan had the loudest voice in the entire Chengzhuang Village.
She had just extorted 300 yuan from Li Jinlong as a bride price that morning and was feeling quite pleased with herself!
Although their whole family was to be forced to work at the brick factory and wouldn't be able to earn work points until the New Year, work points were only worth a few cents. Li Jinlong's bride price was three hundred yuan! They couldn't save up the meager amount left over after distributing grain with work points even in five or six years.
So Huang Yan was not only not flustered, but also very proud of herself, thinking that she was really clever to have found a good husband for Hongmei!
Who knew that less than half an hour later, a bolt from the blue would strike!
Jiang Moli, that little slut, actually wants to break off her engagement with her runner-up?
What happens to the betrothal gifts her family gave after the engagement was called off? Also, what about the gifts given out during holidays since the engagement was finalized?
And every time the runner-up took that little vixen to town, the money he got for cloth, clothes for the tailor, food, and snacks always cost him several dollars.
All in all, it must cost at least one or two hundred yuan.
If the engagement is broken off, wouldn't everything be for nothing?
No! She disagreed!
Huang Yan threw a tantrum, and although you couldn't see her through the wall, you could imagine her shrewish behavior just by listening to her voice.
"She always looked down on everyone, as if she had eyes on the top of her head and looked down on everyone. Now she's getting her comeuppance."
"Retribution may be delayed, but it will come!"
Auntie San's face showed undisguised schadenfreude. In the years she had been widowed, she and her child had suffered a lot of bullying and harassment from Huang Yan. She had been waiting for this day for a long time!
“It’s not easy for young men to find wives these days, let alone someone like Cheng Yajun who’s been rejected before. Huang Yan used to always look down on other people’s daughters. She’d complain about their height, their dark skin, their small eyes, their big mouths, and how much they ate. She went on blind dates for two years before finally finding someone she was satisfied with, Jiang Moli. Now that Jiang Moli is gone too, I’ll just wait and see what kind of angel she finds for her son!”
"I don't care what kind of wife he finds, it's none of my business."
Being single is the best!
Fang Qiao felt depressed whenever she thought about her past life. She could never forget how Jiang Moli, after Huang Yan had spoken ill of her, pretended to comfort her but actually stabbed her in the heart with every word. She was the epitome of a hypocrite.
Speaking of which, Cheng Yajun and she are a perfect match in terms of character. One is ruthless and the other is cunning. If they are not locked up, either of them would be a menace if they went out.
But what does this have to do with her?
She had such a miserable life in her past life, and no one stood up to help her. Why is she worrying about someone she doesn't even know?
The more Fang Qiao thought about it, the more bored she became, and she lost interest in watching the spectacle.
"Third Aunt, I'm going back."
Third Aunt was taken aback by Fang Qiao's impending departure and asked, "Really not going to watch anymore?"
Fang Qiao shook her head: "I'm not watching anymore, it's boring."
"Then I'll take you back."
"No need, it's just a short walk."
Fang Qiao waved to her third aunt and left her third aunt's house, supporting her pregnant belly.
Cheng Baidong was already waiting for her outside, and he gently supported her waist as they walked home.
Behind them came intermittent sounds of Huang Yan throwing a tantrum and Cheng Yajun roaring.
"I won't back down from this marriage! No matter who comes along, I won't back down!"
"She tricked me and now she wants to run away? What does she take me for? Her dog? Someone she can summon and dismiss at will? She's dreaming!"
"Go back and tell Jiang Moli to prepare her dowry. I'll come to marry her on the appointed day! If she dares not to marry me, don't blame me for turning my back on her!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
