Fang Qiao's teasing words successfully shut up Auntie's attempt to refuse. She accepted the red headscarf with embarrassment and turned to call Xiao Jing out.
"Xiaojing, your sister-in-law bought you a red headscarf. Come out and thank her."
Xiao Jing slowly moved out of the house, still looking shy and introverted with her head down.
She took the red headscarf and unconsciously clenched her fingers, her voice barely a whisper: "Thank you, sister-in-law."
Xiao Jing spoke so softly that Fang Qiao could barely hear her.
She wanted to offer some advice, but her third aunt clearly knew about her daughter's problem and would shake her head whenever she mentioned it. After a while, Fang Qiao didn't know what to say anymore.
After delivering the red headscarf, Fang Qiao prepared to leave.
"Want to play a little longer?"
Third Aunt grabbed Xiao Jing's arm and helped her out.
Fang Qiao waved her hand: "I'm not playing anymore, I have other things to do. You guys keep going."
After leaving her third aunt's house, Fang Qiao did not go home, but instead turned around and went to the educated youth settlement in the northwest of the village.
It was called a youth settlement, but it was actually just a large courtyard surrounded by a low wall about half a person's height. There were four rooms in the courtyard: two for female youth and two for male youth, separated by a low wall made of adobe bricks.
In addition, a simple kitchen was built on the west wall using adobe bricks and wood, where everyone took turns cooking.
Of course, there were also those who didn't eat at the educated youth's place; they would usually find a fellow villager with whom they had a good relationship and partner with them.
The courtyard of the educated youth settlement was not small, and a small vegetable garden was set up against the wall. However, it was cold today, and there were only a few frost-resistant Chinese cabbages in the garden.
The weather was nice today, and it wasn't time to go to work yet. When Fang Qiao arrived, many educated youths were squatting in the yard washing clothes.
Unfortunately, she arrived at an inopportune time; before she even entered the door, she overheard people gossiping about her and Wang Yun.
"Wang Yun, you're really naive. Fang Qiao is clearly treating you like a little maid, yet you still eagerly fawn over her and let her do whatever she wants. Even I, an outsider, feel sorry for you."
The speaker was Liu Qing, who was always competitive and ambitious. Fang Qiao didn't get along with her, mainly because of Cheng Baidong.
Back then, Director Li arranged for many people to go on blind dates with Cheng Baidong, the first being Liu Qing.
Liu Qing disliked that Cheng Baidong's biological mother had died and that his stepmother was the head of the household. She thought that there would be a lot of trouble after marriage, so she was unwilling. Of course, Cheng Baidong also didn't like Liu Qing. He felt that she was asking too many questions about his salary on their first meeting.
The two didn't like each other at first, and even went on dates with a teacher and a nurse in town before finally settling on Fang Qiao.
As luck would have it, Fang Qiao had just gone to town to pick up a package sent from home that day. She hadn't gone far from the post office when someone snatched the package from her. It was Cheng Baidong who chased after the thief at top speed and caught him, bringing the package back intact.
Although the trope of a hero rescuing a damsel in distress is cliché, it is a good matchmaker for marriage.
So when they met for their blind date in the afternoon, they hit it off immediately. Afterwards, Cheng Baidong used his connections to quickly build a house for their marriage and entrusted all his savings to Fang Qiao for safekeeping. Even after he left, he would send his salary back on time every month.
This made Liu Qing extremely jealous.
The main reason she didn't choose Cheng Baidong was that he didn't own a house, and she thought she'd have to live in the same courtyard as his stepmother after marriage, leading to endless chaos. But who knew that Cheng Baidong would build a new house for his wedding?!
Without having to deal with a stepmother, there's no need to worry about conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
So Liu Qing felt both regretful and angry!
She was angry that Cheng Baidong hadn't told her earlier when they were going on a blind date, so that she would have been the one to marry him, and Fang Qiao wouldn't have had a chance!
On one hand, she was angry that Fang Qiao was so unscrupulous. They were all educated youths from the same courtyard, and she knew that Cheng Baidong had been on a blind date with her, yet she still married him!
Long-term psychological imbalance caused Liu Qing's mentality to become distorted. The more she looked at Fang Qiao, the more she disliked him, and she liked to say sarcastic things and pick fights for no reason.
Fang Qiao wasn't the type to fawn over someone who wouldn't listen to her, so over time, the two of them tacitly stopped talking to each other.
Wang Yun was engrossed in washing clothes and didn't bother with her, but Liu Qing felt that she was right, which was why Wang Yun couldn't refute her, so she got more and more excited as she talked.
The female educated youths were squatting on the ground washing clothes with their backs to Fang Qiao, and for a moment they didn't notice that Fang Qiao was standing at the door.
"If you ask me, Fang Qiao is no good. When she needs you, she'll call you to her house to live with her with just a word. When she doesn't need you anymore, she'll send you back. She's played you for a fool. You can't even kick someone after they've served their purpose this quickly. Wang Yun, Wang Yun, what are you trying to achieve by moving back and forth like this?"
Wang Yunzhen had no idea what was wrong with Liu Qing. She and Fang Qiao were close and often helped each other out. Wasn't it only right that she lend a hand when Fang Qiao was in trouble? How did she end up acting like a little maid?
Wang Yun rolled his eyes speechlessly. "None of your business."
"I'm just feeling sorry for you. You're really biting the hand that feeds you, not recognizing a kind heart." Liu Qing glared at Wang Yun with a wronged expression.
Wang Yun replied absentmindedly, "Oh, thank you then, but you don't need to worry about me and Fang Qiao. I've heard that people who worry too much age quickly, and I can see you have forehead wrinkles."
No woman doesn't love beauty, and Wang Yun's words really hit Liu Qing's sore spot!
In a fit of anger, she slammed the clothes she was washing into the basin.
"Wang Yun, I also heard that Fang Qiao went to the county today, and Cheng Baidong personally accompanied her in his Jeep. It was incredibly impressive!" Liu Qing said through gritted teeth, her tone sour.
"Your face cream is almost gone, isn't it? You told someone a few days ago that you wanted to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some. Why didn't you ask your best friend to take you to the county supply and marketing cooperative today? They have a lot of things there, and you even get to ride in a jeep. Why didn't you go? Is it that you didn't want to go, or that she wouldn't take you?"
Li Dong finished washing the clothes and was about to hang them up when he saw Fang Qiao standing at the entrance of the educated youth center. He was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he quickly reached out to grab Liu Qing's arm.
"Qing, Qingqing, you, you stop talking..."
Liu Qing didn't understand her signal and shook off her hand: "Why can't I speak? I just can't stand what she's doing! It's just a marriage, right? Look how smug she is. If it weren't for Cheng Baidong, she'd be nothing!"
"Stop talking, she, she's here..."
Unable to dissuade her, Li Dong simply stood up with the basin in hand and greeted Fang Qiao somewhat awkwardly: "Fang Qiao, you're here. Are you looking for Wang Yun?"
Fang Qiao nodded.
Upon hearing Fang Qiao's voice, Liu Qing froze, stiffly rising from the ground.
However, after a brief moment of guilt, she immediately regained her confidence.
Fang Qiao is annoying because she's ungrateful and has nothing to hide. She didn't say anything wrong, so why should we be afraid of her?!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
