"I see." Fang Qiao nodded to indicate that she understood, and then asked, "The tiles are broken, but are the two of them hurt?"
"No," Xiaojing said with a smile. "They're tough and resilient. Even if they fall off the second-floor platform, they can roll around, get up, and keep fighting."
"That's good."
“It’s sunny outside, let’s go inside and talk.” With that, Fang Qiao pulled Qi Miao inside, introducing them as they walked: “Miao Miao, this is Xiao Jing, my sister. Xiao Jing, this is my colleague Qi Miao from the daycare. We’re having lunch at our house today.”
"Come in and sit down."
Once inside, Xiao Jing poured water for Qi Miao.
Qi Miao quickly extended both hands to take it, saying, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Xiaojing said with a smile. "This is my birth year in the Chinese zodiac. How old are you this year?"
Qi Miao replied, "I'm twenty-one years old this year (by Chinese reckoning), so I'll call you Sister Xiao Jing."
“Okay. Miaomiao, you’re so young.” Xiaojing said, “I’m three years older than you.”
Qi Miao pursed her lips and explained, "I got married early; I got my marriage certificate as soon as I reached the legal age."
She grew up in a blended family, and when she reached marriageable age, she quickly got married to Xiao Lei because she was eager to escape her family of origin.
It wasn't until she married into the Xiao family that she realized her stepmother wasn't as harsh on her as Xiao Lei's mother.
Her stepmother was somewhat biased towards her own two children, but she wasn't a bad person, just had a bad temper. She not only didn't treat her well, but she was also cold to her father and her younger siblings.
Ultimately, it was because the family was too poor and life was hard, which is why there was never a smile on their face.
Her marriage to Xiao Lei was the envy of all her relatives and friends.
After all, Xiao Lei is tall, good-looking, and a combat hero who has served on the battlefield and made meritorious contributions. There are few people like him in the surrounding villages.
All I can say is that some people are just too good at pretending.
Who would have thought that such a respectable family on the surface would be like this behind the scenes?
Fang Qiao noticed that Qi Miao's eyes were a little red, so she changed the subject and said, "Wash your hands and eat first. We can talk later, otherwise the food will get cold."
Qi Miao nodded: "Okay."
An'an stumbled over and carried a chair, saying in her childish voice, "Auntie, please sit down."
"Thank you, sweetie, Auntie will do it herself." Qi Miao reached out to take the chair.
An'an shook her head, insisting on putting the chair on the ground herself: "I'll put it down."
While gently protecting her from all sides, Qi Miao said softly, "Then slow down, don't hurt your feet."
An'an made two "hmm" sounds.
Because Qi Miao was invited to our home for dinner at the last minute, we had a simple home-cooked meal: stir-fried green peppers and eggs, and eggplant with minced garlic, along with steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat flour and sweet potato porridge. It wasn't a lavish meal, but Qi Miao ate with great relish, finishing every last grain of rice at the bottom of his bowl.
Putting down her bowl, she said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm not afraid to tell you this, but I haven't eaten a big bite of egg in a long time. My mother-in-law always says that I don't do any chores at home and just eat for free. She feeds me cornbread and salted radishes every day and can't stand me eating a single bite of vegetables. Forget about meat, even if I just put my chopsticks into a fried egg, she'll immediately hit my hand with the chopsticks."
"What's the big deal? It's not your fault. If anyone's going to make fun of someone, it's that old woman. She wants the horse to run but doesn't let it eat grass. She's so stingy and vicious."
Fang Qiao patted her shoulder and comforted her, "It's all in the past. From now on, you can earn your own salary and spend it as you please. You can buy as many eggs as you want."
"Yes!" Qi Miao nodded emphatically, his eyes filled with hope for the future.
The next morning, Qi Miao successfully completed the divorce procedures and returned to work, her overall condition visibly improved.
It is evident that ending a bad marriage can greatly improve a person's mental well-being.
On her way back, Qi Miao bought half a bag of crisp persimmons and shared them with the nursery workers.
The crisp persimmons were grown on the trees in the homes of the local villagers. They carried them on shoulder poles and sold them at the black market. Because they had to avoid the red armbands (referring to police officers on duty), and in order to sell them as soon as possible and go home, the price was very reasonable. Half a bag of persimmons weighed more than ten kilograms, and Qi Miao only spent one yuan in total.
She was warm and cheerful, stuffing two or three into people's arms whenever she saw them. This made the caregivers who had previously gossiped about her behind her back because of her divorce a little embarrassed, since they felt indebted to her.
She gave Fang Qiao six, but Fang Qiao didn't want so many. She chased after her and forced them into her handbag.
Refusing again would seem too distant, so Fang Qiao took it home, washed it, cut it up, and shared it with the children.
The crisp persimmons were sweet and crunchy, and not only a few children liked them, but even Little Zhuque and the White Tiger cub liked them. Fang Qiao thought about asking his fellow villagers to buy some some another day.
But before she could even go there, she heard that the market had been closed.
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